Maj's Choice Games of 2012

Recently, there has been a massive influx of great games being released at a rapid pace. Most of these are due to the Western mantra of "BIGGER," "NEWER," "BETTER," but most importantly, "RIGHT NOW." Admittedly, I've only seen a small fraction of the planned list of 2012 releases, but these are the ones I'm personally excited for.

Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock - PC, Playstation 3, Playstation Vita

A few months ago, the BBC announced they would be releasing more games taking place within the Doctor Who-verse. More? Yes, more. The reason why this may be news to those of us in the Western hemisphere is because previously, all of the Doctor Who games had been limited to sales within Great Britain. Now that the long-running series has been enjoying a new surge of worldwide popularity, the BBC has been open to sharing upcoming Doctor Who game titles with the rest of us. So far, Doctor Who: Mazes of Time was released in the iTunes store last year and Doctor Who: Worlds in Time, an online MMO, was released late last year. However, this game will be available for PC, PS Vita, and PS3 sometime this year. The BBC has been keeping a very tight lid on information about this game. So far, all we know is that the 11th Doctor and River Song will be the main characters.

Game of Thrones - PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360

Yes, this is going to be a reality, but it will be very different from the CollegeHumor version of the series. This game appears to revolve around characters of the Night's Watch, though it will be an RPG. As far as I know, it is unknown if we will run across Jon Snow or anyone else from the [TV] series. There is also another game being released as well: A Game of Thrones: Genesis, but that will be a real-time strategy for PC.

Lollipop Chainsaw - Playstation 3, Xbox 360

For me, the zombie scenario is becoming a bit played-out. However, this title takes a more Buffy-esque spin on the genre. Rather than just a survival horror title, this game aims to be a bit more humorous & action-based with a bit of the gory-ness of Machete. Not to mention that Juliet, the main character, apparently comes from a long ling of supernatural slayers.

Mass Effect 3 - PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360

This should be no surprise. Mass Effect 3 is possibly the most anticipated game of 2012. The previous two games have been nothing short of spectacular in terms of gameplay, visuals, and storyline, which means the new edition has a lot to live up to. However, BioWare has been fairly consistent in exceeding expectations when it comes to their titles and I expect ME3 to be no different.

Naruto Shippuuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations - Playstation 3, Xbox 360

I. am. a. Narutard. Have been for about 8 years now. Naruto remains the only manga title that I HAVE to see the brand new scanlation for as soon as it's released in Japan's Weekly Shounen Jump. I also have [almost] every Naruto Playstation title released. It should stand to reason that I would be extremely excited about the most expansive Naruto game ever to be released. Over 70 characters including the pre-time jump versions of characters, post-time jump characters, and every other major character ever previously known including Obito Uchiha, Minato Namikaze (4th Hokage), Young Kakashi Hatake, Danzou Shimura, and the 3 other Kages (Tchuchikage, Raikage, Mizukage). Not to mention it will include OVAs of side stories, like Kakashi Gaiden (still crossing my fingers for Konoha Gakuen though).

One Piece: Kaizoku Musou - Playstation 3, Xbox 360

This may come as a surprise to people that know me. I've never been a One Piece fan. However, when I found out that Koei was incorporating another anime series into their Musou/Dynasty Warriors franchise (the Dynasty Warriors: Gundam series and Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage were the previous titles), I couldn't help BUT to get excited. After all, it's because of Dynasty Warriors: Gundam that I like the Gundam franchise now. It seems as though all the characters of the Straw Hat Pirates will be playable and the time jump will be accounted for.

South Park - PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360

This game will actually mark a first for this franchise's long gaming history. That first is that this is the first time that South Park creators Trey Parker & Matt Stone will actually be involved in the creation. Previously, the duo freely admitted to simply handing the title to developers to do whatever they wanted with it and would just hope that it made some kind of income. However, now that games are available to be created in high-definition (meaning that the game can actually look like the series), they are extremely excited to lend their ideas to this game. And as any South Park fan can attribute, this can make the storyline extremely interesting.

Pokemon Generation 0?! WHAT?!

This picture has been generating some buzz lately around the internet for the past few months. It is the promotional ad for two games called Pokemon Sepia & Monochrome, prequels to the world-famous Pokemon video game series. The main two characters were to be the young versions of Professor Samuel Oak (Dr. Yukinari Okida in Japan) and Agatha (Kikuko in Japan) of the Indigo Plateau's Elite Four. This game was set to take Pokemon in a different direction similar to how the Pokemon Ranger has done in the past few years. Some of the new features were to include:

• Only 100 Pokemon total, with dual types not existing yet.



Agatha with her favorites. Fanart by Kitsuene

• Rather than using traditional Pokeballs, the Apricorn balls from the Johto-based games (Silver, Gold, Crystal, HeartGold, & SoulSilver) would be the primary method of catching Pokemon.
• Option of befriending Pokemon before catching/battling would be available.
• After catching a new species of Pokemon, a cutscene of Oak/Agatha would be shown of them taking notes on the species including a drawing minigame.
• Instead of Pokemon boxes, drop overflow Pokemon off at daycares in each town. Each daycare can hold up to 12 Pokemon, and any overflow Pokemon can either be released or dropped off in what will become the future Safari Zone where they can be visited.
• The games would end with various cutscenes of the two getting older, growing apart, and finally with Oak handing two faceless children prototypes of his brand new invention: the PokeDex.

The most hardcore of Pokemon video game fans should recognize the name Monochrome as one of the early working titles for what ended up becoming Pokemon Black. Between that and the copyright of 2009 in the corner, what that most likely means is that this was concept art for an early idea for a new Pokemon game, but was scrapped in its early stages. Nintendo of Japan, there IS demand for this game. As long as you continue to make quality Pokemon titles, there will ALWAYS be a demand for more games no matter where (or when) it takes place. To close out, I leave with the echoed initial reaction of many Pokemon fans upon hearing about this, a quote from Philip J. Fry of Futurama: