It wouldn’t be the start of a new year without baseless speculation, hopeless dreaming and unattainable goals. With 2011 all but forgotten already, it’s time to look forward towards the next 12 months and decide RIGHT NOW whether 2012 will be awesome or not. Since I can’t keep up with the “Bloggers Wanted” topics, I’m here to provide my own better hybrid. PREDICTIONS! ANTICIPATED GAMES! RESOLUTIONS!!


I’m an no fortune-teller. Hell, I have enough trouble deciding what I’ll be doing in the next five-minutes let alone knowing what will happen in five months!! Still, that doesn’t stop me from entering a hypno-toad trance and becoming one with the cosmos where I DEFINITELY can see the future. If I can make drunk girls believe that they’ll end up sleeping with me on that night, how hard can it be to convince gamers to believe I’m psychic? Let’s find out!! Oh and um...can you guys take a few shots before you start reading?? Thanks!

- Every single one of my resolutions, both of the personal and gamer variety, will fail

- Wii-U will be a hard sell for Nintendo; “hard” in that this is the last generation we buy physical games.

- Xbox Live and PlayStation Network will break down at the same time; there becomes so much impotent rage on the internet that fanboys literally start hunting each other down to stab each other in the face.

- The 3DS will be redesigned; 2 slider pads will be included, also in 4D.

- A Microsoft handheld!? Nope.

- OnLive will provide legitimate competition for Steam; LOLOLOLOLOrigin.

- Nintendo finally releases the timeline for Super Mario Brothers

- No new Legend of Zelda: Four Swords game will be announced; I’ll take this terrible oversight way too personally.

- Pikmin 4 will be announced, still no mention of Pikmin 3.

- The PlayStation 3 finally gets a game.

- Call of Duty and Battlefield will get drunk at a party and then totally make out together; they spend the rest of the year pretending they’re not gay for each other.

- Final Fantasy-branded (re)hash browns revitalize the Japanese breakfast industry

- The PlayStation Vita will get a Pokemon-like game in which you must collect all the kills by battling with weapons like guns, knives and grenades. It’ll be an FPS and actually nothing like Pokemon.

- Sega will be fire-bombed if they don’t release another Jet Grind Radio. More of a threat than a prediction.

- Shigeru Miyamoto‘s new game turns out to be horribly racist; despite the feelings of the Irish, people still consider it less offensive than Wii Music.

- Sonic the Hedgehog arrested on prostitution charges; his pimp, “Sonic Team”, is still at large

- After nearly a decade of speculation, the Phantom finally releases; now just an exclusive fart app on Android.

- I will run out of predictions

- HOLY SHIT THE LAST ONE WAS RIGHT!! :O


No matter how much I don’t want to accept it, we’re heading towards the end of this generation. With the Wii-U set to hit shelves later this year and the successor to both the 360 and PS3 expected to be revealed at some point over the next 12 months, developers are winding down development on the consoles we come to love over the last six years. Scary! It’s not over yet though and we still have many games to be excited for. Here are some of my most anticipated games for 2012:


With the innovative “Build & Battle” system that allows you to call down structures from the sky, this third person shooter-turned-tower defence game has long been on my radar. A spiritual successor to the reason I bought my PlayStation 3 in the first place, Warhawk, the game seamlessly combines troop warfare, vehicular combat and aerial dogfighting to create an action-packed experience. While there’s still much work needed, the beta for Starhawk assured me that this may be the only multiplayer shooter I need in 2012. Grab a jetpack and see why I love them.


The original Borderlands was one of those rare games which was much more addictive than it had any right being. It was almost as addictive as the drugs it seems to frequently reference (read this awesome cblog by nekobun for just how frequent). I’ve put in a couple hundred hours between the PC and PS3 versions, and I’m once again trying to convince my roommates to do another round of it. Borderlands had a ton of room for improvement but it’s synergistic quality just makes me salivate for the sequel. I cannot wait to play it!


Back in the day, vehicular combat games were my favourite type of games. While I didn’t play much from the Twisted Metal series since I never owned a PlayStation or PS2, I’ve sunk countless hours into games like San Fransisco Rush 2049, Vigilante 8, Toy Commander and Mario Kart. This generation has been severely lacking in the genre so the new Twisted Metal is high on my anticipation list. So far the game sounds like it may be a bit complicated but the gameplay itself should be solid. Much of the old Incognito Entertainment team has moved on to Eat Sleep Play and I enjoyed enough of Warhawk to give them the benefit of the doubt. With vehicles, mechs, helicopters, destructible environments and 4 player splitscreen, I hope this game findings a footing in online communities.


I can blame all of YOU for having this game on my list. Mass Effect is a series with critical acclaim...that I have yet to play yet. Wait, I’m not done!! People’s excitement for ME3 has rubbed off on me and has given me the desire to play through the first two games. So basically I’m anticipating playing this series. That counts, right? Actually the same could be said for Bioshock and Dead Space which I hope to play through at some time this year. Now I just need to decide if I should start this series before getting to Dark Souls.


Life is the ultimate RPG and we should always try to max out our stats. While I’m happy with who I am, there’s always room for improvement in various areas of my character. Pushing yourself outside your boundaries allows you to gain experience points in aspects that may be underdeveloped or rarely used, helping to flesh out your persona. Anyways, here are some ways I would like to grow as a gamer:

- Play more games!
I know I technically should be cutting back on my gaming time but I don’t play enough games for the amount of time I play. Too often I say I’ll be getting a game and then never do. I just need to start opening my wallet a bit and expand my library. I should probably try and get multiplayer games around the time they release too instead of waiting until everyone’s moved on already.

- Use voice chat!
You may have picked up on it already but I’m a pretty boring guy. I’m socially awkward at all times. It’s probably the main reason I never use a headset. Well when I’m back home it’s difficult to use chat since I tend to play at night when everyone goes to bed and blah blah blah blah blah. I say it all the time but I’ll try and use my headset more often. I’ll try and be less self-conscious and more outgoing, stepping outside my comfort zone. I guess It is also dependent on whether my roommates are playing or watching.

- Force myself to play single player games!
I know I should only play games I enjoy, or that’s what I say all the time anyways, but too often I give up on a game because I rather be playing in a multiplayer match. I can already feel it happening between Deadly Premonition and Reach. That adrenaline rush you get while competing against other people is like a drug to me. I don’t really get the same satisfaction beating up on bots, though it’ll be a good skill to have whenever the robot uprising happens. Even still, I want to play single player games from time to time. Mass Effect is probably the game I want to play most right now, and I still want to get into the Metal Gear Solid, Dead Space and Bioshock series. I haven’t forgotten about you either, Dark Souls!!

- Host some game nights!
This is another thing I say pretty often but I really do want to host more gaming nights. Friday nights are usually an inconvenient time for me to game, something I’m sure other Dtoiders feel the same way about. I’m not sure what games would attract a crowd but I think hosting it early on a weekday night/late evening could accommodate both East & West coasters. Unless everyone is going to be playing Team Fortress 2 on the Dtoid server because I’d be totally fine with that too!!

- Blog more!
While I’ve never been much of a blogger on here, or more importantly interesting, I feel like I should be contributing some sort of amusement for those who want something to read. I only published one blog all of last year which was just sad. I’m just saying it now though, I’m not paying for your psychiatrist bills when I eventually say too much and scar you mentally O__O

Have a great year, ‘toiders!!