Happy New Year everyone! I’d like to kick off the festivities with a list of games that I’m looking forward to playing in 2012. Of course, not ALL the games coming this year have been announced yet, so I’m sure they’ll be more. But here’s a list anyway!

One announcement before I get started, though. Last week my computer got hit with a virus, so it’s being fixed right now. The good thing is that I back up my files regularly, so I didn’t really even lose anything. I know that nowadays, anyone can get a PC virus, even just by casual internet surfing, and even though I have very good virus protection software, nothing is 100 percent guaranteed to work. But it makes me scared how easily that can happen now, as I am very careful about what I do on the web. I wish I knew what triggered the virus to happen, so I know not to do that again. But I don’t think there’s any way to know that. The people who think up these viruses have to be really smart, so I wish they could use their smarts to do good instead. I guess the only thing I can do is continue to be careful and back up my files as always. I wonder if I should get a Mac PC next time instead since I hear they don’t have these kinds of problems. But then, what do I know? I only know enough about computers just to get by and that’s it. Well, let’s just hope that in 2012, my computer will be virus-free, and we’ll have lots of fun games for me to play and review! So let’s get started!

360 Games

First let’s look at upcoming games on the 360, as that’s probably my favorite game console right now (but I do like all the consoles for various reasons).

Soul Calibur V (360)

This is probably one of my most anticipated games in 2012. I’ve already got the special edition pre-ordered. I probably put in more time on SC4 than nearly any other 360 game I’ve got. But mainly I spent most of that time creating characters, which was a lot of fun. So I can’t wait to do that again in V. I made a lot of neat fighters in the last game, though. I especially liked my Reiko Nagase, Ulala, Cammy, and Phoenix Wright characters! Maybe I can show them to you all sometime. But I also like Soul Calibur games because they are easy to get into and play, which is crucial for me because I’m not very good at fighting games. And the existing characters are fun, too. My favorites are Nightmare, Taki, and Cassandra. Who are your favorite Soul Calibur characters?

Street Fighter X Tekken (360)

Speaking of fighters, this crossover brawler is coming out in 2012 as well. I may not get it right away, because I’m not the biggest Street Fighter or Tekken fan around. But crossover fighters like this do tend to crack me up, so I may get it eventually or at least take a closer look at it. Hopefully my favorite fighters from both games will be in here. Who are your favorite Tekken and Street Fighter characters? Speaking of Tekken, over the Christmas break I watched a live action Tekken movie and it was horrible. And that’s saying a lot since as a MST3K fan, I’m pretty tolerant toward bad movies!

Lollipop Chainsaw (360)

Even though I put this game on my list, I probably won’t get it. I just think the premise is silly, as you play a cheerleader who uses a chainsaw to fight zombies. It sounds a bit immature and juvenile, so if I do get this one, it’ll be after the price goes way down. But I’ll still keep an eye out for this one and read a review or two just for laughs.

Capcom Digital Collection (360)

This is just a collection of a bunch of Capcom’s Xbox LIVE games on a disc. It’ll just be nice to have some of these on physical media. I wish more companies would do stuff like this. I want a Twisted Pixel collection on disc!

PS3 Games

Looks like the PS3 will be king of RPGs this year, at least for me, as the two PS3 games I’m looking forward to are in this genre.

Tales of Graces F (PS3)

I’m a big fan of Namco’s Tales RPG series because of the action packed battles and fun characters. So I’m glad they’re releasing this here since Namco is pretty stingy about which ones they bring to the US. My favorite Tales game is Legendia on the PS2 because of the funny cast and music by Go Shiina, my favorite video game music composer. What are your favorite Tales games?

Ni no Kuni (PS3)

The only thing I know about this RPG is the animation and characters were done by Studio Ghibli, the folks behind some of my favorite anime cartoons like Ponyo and Howl’s Moving Castle (and many more). So I know that this should be a charming game, at least. Namco Bandai is releasing this one here as well, so hooray for Namco!

Wii Games

2012 may be the last big year for the Wii, since the Wii U is supposedly coming this year. As a Nintendo fan, I’ll probably get the Wii U regardless. It looks interesting at least. Hopefully there won’t be so much gimmicky shovelware this time. At least the original Wii will have a couple of fun games before then.

Rhythm Heaven Fever (Wii)

I actually didn’t like the DS version that much because of the flicking controls and the game was pretty unforgiving and challenging. So hopefully the Wii sequel will be better. I want so badly to like these games because they’re made by the same folks who did WarioWare.

PokePark 2: Wonders Beyond (Wii)

I actually like the non-RPG Pokemon games better sometimes. The first PokePark game was a cute 3-D platformer for the younger set, but I enjoyed it anyway. I wish they’d make another Pokemon Channel game. That one was so weird, yet addictive!

3DS Games

The 3DS had a rough first year, but if you remember when the DS first came out, it was pretty lackluster for a while, too. But I think things will be better in 2012. Even though I can’t see the 3D effects since I’ve been blind in my left eye since birth, there are still a lot of fun looking upcoming 3DS games.

Crush 3D (3DS)

I missed out on this puzzler when it first arrived on the PSP, so I’m definitely going to check it out on the 3DS. It reminds me of the 2D to 3D switching you did in Super Paper Mario.

Tales of the Abyss (3DS)

Again, I do like Tales games, so this PS2 port should be interesting to play on the 3DS. Maybe I’ll even play through it all here, as I don’t think I did that on the PS2 one!

Luigi’s Mansion 2 (3DS)

I actually really liked the original GameCube launch title, so I’m glad to see it’s finally getting a sequel. I played it at E3 last year and enjoyed it, although it did take a while to get used to the controls. But then, it was the same way on the GameCube one. I think Luigi is way cooler than Mario.

Paper Mario (3DS)

Speaking of Mario, his RPGs have always been fun, so I bet this one will be, too. I think my favorite was the Paper Mario game on GameCube. It never got boring, and the writing was some of the best I’ve read in a video game. But all of the Mario RPG games are great. Which ones are your favorites?

Mutant Mudds (3DS)

I haven’t been paying as much attention to the downloadable side of things as much as I should, but this one seems neat. It looks like a 2-D 8-bit retro game that plays like Mega Man, but you can jump in and out of the backgrounds and foregrounds like in the DSiWare Shantae game. Speaking of WayForward, I just downloaded their newest game: Mighty Switch Force on the 3DS and it’s pretty fun, too. That’s another company that I’d like to see a disc collection from.

Kingdom Hearts 3D (3DS)

I do like the Kingdom Hearts games, but I don’t care about the story. I just enjoy tromping around Disney worlds and bashing bad guys in them. Hopefully this portable entry will be a lot like Birth By Sleep, which I enjoyed. I hear one of the new worlds is from Hunchback of Notre Dame, which was a horrible movie, so let’s hope for some better worlds. I hope the Winnie the Pooh and TRON worlds make a comeback, as well as the black and white vintage animation one. I’d like to see a Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers world, but I bet that’ll never happen. What are your favorite Kingdom Hearts worlds and characters?

Animal Crossing (3DS)

I love love love love love the Animal Crossing series. In fact, the GameCube version is one of my top five favorite games of all time! So this game is one of my most anticipated of 2012. When this one comes out, I will buy my mom a 3DS since she loves these games, too. And I hope I get to play online with you folks as well!

Rumored Games

There are a lot of rumors of games coming in 2012 that haven’t been officially announced yet. I have a few of those on my list, so hopefully we’ll hear more about them this year!

Rocket Slime 2 (3DS)

Nintendo is pretty good about bringing Dragon Quest games out to the US. Heck, they even brought over the video board game Fortune Street. So I bet they’ll release this one here, too, especially since the first (actually the second) came out on the DS in the US as well. I really enjoyed the ‘first’ Rocket Slime game, it’s my favorite Dragon Quest game and I loved the tank battles. And the 3DS sequel has pirate ship battles! I hope it’s online, too! I can’t wait! Hurry up and announce it already, Nintendo!

Epic Mickey 2 (360)

This is just a rumor, but I’ve heard a few things about this sequel. One, I heard it’ll be cross-platform, and not just appear on the Wii. I’ve also heard that it’s two-player simultaneous, and the second player controls Oswald! We’ll just have to see if/when they do announce it.

Prof. Layton vs. Phoenix Wright (3DS)

Nintendo is pretty good about releasing all the Prof. Layton games in the US, as is Capcom with their Phoenix Wright titles. So this one seems like a no-brainer. But you never know. I don’t like the Prof. Layton games because it feels too much like math homework. But put Phoenix Wright in there and I guess I’ll have to get it, as the Ace Attorney titles are my favorite games on the DS!

Dragon’s Crown (PS3)

I enjoyed VanillaWare’s other 2D titles like Odin Sphere and Muramasa, so I hope this comes to the US. I thought I read somewhere that it was, but I’m not completely sure. Can you guess which character I’ll play as?

Convince Cary!

We’ll conclude this blog with some games that YOU can help me decide if I want them or not! If you really want me to get them, do your best to persuade me!

Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii)

I do think it’s neat that Nintendo is releasing this in the US for the fans, but why should I care? Don’t tell me I should get it to support the fans; I only want to get this game if it’s fun. So tell me why I should want to play this RPG. Know that I am partial to classic RPGs that are easy to get into and not too complicated, so if this game is like that, you might have a chance to convince me.

Mario Party 9 (Wii)

If you’ve played one Mario Party game, you’ve played them all, as they are all the same. I only have the first one on the N64, and one on the GameCube (and the only reason why I have that one is that it was sold at a charity auction). But maybe there is a neat new feature in this one that I don’t know about that I would like.

Kid Icarus: Uprising (3DS)

I don’t understand why so many people liked the NES game, I thought it was awful. So this one doesn’t have my interest from the get-go. But I heard that it’ll use the AR cards, and I like that gimmicky stuff, so maybe you can go that route to convince me.

PS Vita

Actually you won’t have to do much convincing, as I really enjoyed the PSP and thought it was one of the only consoles (aside from the Neo Geo Pocket Color) to truly compete with Nintendo’s handheld behemoth. But I always get anxious about new consoles. I feel like I only just started to figure out the last batch, now I have another one to deal with? There are some neat games that the Vita has, though, like new Ys and Katamari titles. What other Vita games do you think I would like? And is the Vita easy to use? Help me to learn more about the Vita and ease my ‘new console’ anxiety!

Conclusions

And that’s all the games I can think of that I’m looking forward to in 2012. What games are YOU looking forward to? Next time on my blog, we’ll look at all the 3DS Ambassador GBA games! Later! –Cary

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