I was digging through old notes and sketches this past week and came across a short list of games I was at one point looking forward to, excluding handhelds. Comparing it to release dates on Wikipedia I've figured that at the latest the list was from early 2005. It may not be interesting to anybody else but I found it neat thinking about what had become of the games, and how I couldn't even remember all of them. It's a list of games I loved, games that were delayed, and a couple games that were cancelled (though one of those two eventually made it out over here in North America). There's also a note on the list about how the impending 360 launch was going to hurt the 2005 me's ability to get the games I wanted and have any money left over. It's pretty bizarre, considering I don't recall ever writing notes of that sort to myself. So yeah, this is pretty damned dorky.





So first on the list was Cowboy Bebop, a game my current self completely forgot existed. Turns out it was a PS2 action game that had it's supposed NA release scrapped, after it already came out in Japan and apparently got past me pretty interested. Considering how little I loved the PS2 Lupin III game, maybe Cowboy Bebop's non-release was a blessing. That said, I'd still like to play that damned DS Gurren Lagann game...

Next up, Dragon Quest VIII. It came out, I loved it, still love it. Happy ending for all. The same can be said for Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, so I'll skip that one later.

Twilight Princess was faced with delays and I eventually got it launch night with my shiny new Wii. I dug it, but can't see myself going back to it, unlike Majora's Mask or Link's Awakening.

Evil Dead: Regeneration, the first Evil Dead game I genuinely liked. I bought Hail to the King and Fistful of Boomstick, but had little to no fun with either. Still I looked forward to Regeneration, and while it was repetitive and derivative, it was also good. Not great, but good. I wish I had an iPod touch to pick up the new Evil Dead game, because as a fanboy I totally would. C'mon folks, give us a new console game!!

Conker: Live & Reloaded. Oi, I hated this fucking remake. I wasn't a fan of the fuzzy graphics. I wasn't a fan of it going from Live & Uncut while in development to Live & Reloaded sometime before release, because somehow it became more censored under Microsoft than the original was on the N64 under Nintendo. And I wasn't a fan of the new multiplayer. I'd have greatly preferred the original's various modes + online play, instead we got an abomination that just didn't feel right.

Soulcalibur 3 was fun, and I dug the character creation addition, but it felt like a letdown after Soul Calibur 2. It's sandwiched between two better games in the series, in my opinion. But I do like Tira, so there is that...

I never actually bought or even played Ninja Gaiden Black. How's that for a game "I cannot wait for"?

The Shield. Ah, The Shield... I'm a massive fan of the television show it was based on, and back when the game was being made the show was in it's "classic" state, before the big twists of the final three seasons had come into play. I had greatly been looking forward to this game, where the player was to be tasked with playing as Vic Mackey while spending their time juggling police work and the character's criminal activities. Get too corrupt and the other cops will take notice, that kind of thing. Then the game got canned while in development. I was extremely bummed. It eventually was revived and made it to shelves two years later as a budget title on the PS2 only, and did it ever deserve that budget release. As I discovered with other games on this list, fanboyism will only take a player so far, and that wasn't far enough with this game.


So that's it. There's my list of games I supposedly couldn't wait for. It helps me remember that all the games I supposedly need to have right now could easily be either mediocre memories or not a memory at all in the future.