There’s a storm brewing this holiday season. A perfect release schedule poised to break every monetary record set by the years prior and we’re days away from diving in. The things that we as gamers dive into aren’t localized to a small set of activities, but instead spread throughout a myriad of action and adventure. We’re slinging guns, driving fast cars, assassinating power figures, terrorizing fictional towns, being superheroes and saving the world. On Tuesday, one of the biggest titles of the year will be released upon us without remorse. Battlefield 3 is going to dominate the sales figures for the coming week, holding strong onto the first person shooter fan base and not letting up for anything, if but for only a mere two weeks. In the beta alone 1.5 billion kills were recorded, with a total of 47 billion shots fired – which is enough, if you had one empty 9mm shell casing for every bullet fired, to build around 3,900 SU-27 Flanker jets. The numbers are staggering for a beta that lasted only a few weeks and spanned two total maps, one only being for a few days. Think of the massacre that will occur when we have access to every map, every gun, every vehicle, etc. The numbers will nearly knock you over trying to think about it.
Following the glory that is Battlefield 3, a week later, brings us to Uncharted 3. The follow-up to Uncharted 2′s game-of-the-year award will be no easy task; but Naughty Dog is set to do just that by bringing us a more compelling story, better graphics and characters that are as believable as your friends in real life. Early access to the full multiplayer is in full swing right now at Subway as well. You can literally be playing and unlocking rewards for a game that isn’t even out yet, by enjoying a sandwich or a large drink or some other dribble that Subway is peddling down the street. The games coming out this year are so important, that even Subway is on board.
The week following November 1st is going to change gaming as we know it. The most anticipated game in history (read: to a young teen demographic) will be released – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The title is set to break every record of every Call of Duty game released ever, and send the video game business into a record-breaking holiday season as well. The team behind the original Modern Warfare games has been all but disbanded, yet it seems no one even minds due to the incredible brilliance behind their PR team. The way the franchise slowly leaks information is part of the hype and only gets people more excited. Call of Duty doesn’t do ‘open beta’ or a demo pre-release because they don’t need to. Modern Warfare 3 is going to be the destroyer of souls and the taker of lives. November 8th is, in fact, D-Day.
Without so much as a break, the season will still be firing on all cylinders. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will be releasing that Friday the 11th and then the new Assassin’s Creed: Revelations on the 15th (the following Tuesday, which also happens to be the release date for Saints Row: The Third and Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary respectively). The caliber of these games coming out will be unrivaled and like nothing the world has ever seen. With the incredible amount of detail invested into Elder Scrolls, and the historical accuracy of Assassin’s Creed, there will be no shortage of games for months to come.
The real point I’m trying to make is that – well, several things – that we as gamers will be broke. We won’t have money, or cigarettes or hardly a place to sleep with all the time being invested into these things that we hold so dearly. Secondly, that even in a time of economic crisis, the gaming industry is booming. We still have money to fund development of these games and release them at a high price that people will gladly shell out the money for. Is the gaming industry really that unlike the business of drugs? Things people want and ‘need,’ and are willing to spend good money to get doesn’t sound too far off. I proudly embrace the fact that I buy video games for the full price and will openly buy all of these games coming out this holiday season as well. Thirdly, these games are important to not just us as gamers, but I think our culture as well. These games are important because they will be the pinnacle of what technology can do and what we have the power to create using a team of people and dedication. Recently, the Smithsonian added a ‘The Art of Video Games’ exhibit to their halls with games like Fallout 3 and Portal among them just to name a few. Those games, even a few years later are technological history. We’re moving at such a breakneck pace through the field of computer engineering that it is refreshing to see games like Elder Scrolls and Uncharted really push the limit of what a game can look like and be as a whole.
Keep your eyes peeled and bunker down. The end of November will come and we can all breathe easy.
