OK, that is *IT*!!! Stop with the ‘cram everything into the fall’ release mode already!  All I want to do is savor some of the cool games … play some more little multiplayer Call of Duty 4 or Hellgate or Crysis or Painkiller or … oh, just enough already!!!

I know the reality – the Holiday Release Season starts with Madden and doesn’t end until the 2nd week of December.  But for whatever reason this year has absolutely killed me more than any other in recent memory.  And it isn’t just sheer numbers – sure there are mediocre games like Soldier of Fortune Payback for PC & consoles or SOCOM US Navy SEALs Tactics or Panzer Tactics for handhelds … but there are some truly excellent games out for just about every genre on just about every platform.

I play mainly PC, Mac, PSP and DS, and prefer shooters, role-playing and turn-based strategy games  – and I have been overwhelmed this year.  RPG’s like Eschalon Book 1 and The Witcher for the PC; shooters for the PC like Crysis, Call of Duty 4, Half-Life 2 Episode 2; strategy-RPG’s for the PSP like Disgaea, Jeanne D’Arc and Final Fantasy Tactics; and DS games like Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass and Cooking Mama 2.  I recently estimated that I have more than 35 games or game reviews at some state of completion … all of games from the fall release avalanche!

Wait … am I actually complaining about TOO MANY good games?!?!  Yes I am – because with so much stuff crammed into about two months, it is noise pollution of the highest order and all but a few games suffer.  The Witcher is getting reviewed as a ‘B’ game – and this is really a game that is on the same level as Baldur’s Gate 2 and Planescape Torment – as is the Neverwinter Nights 2 expansion Mask of the Betrayer … but that has already been forgotten.  But since most people playing The Witcher are only giving it a dozen or two hours and trying to get through as much content as possible they are missing out on the depth and intricate structure of the plot and romances … which is a disservice to them and their readers.  Let alone games that really are 70 – 80% games – games that are not ‘must buy’ but that *do* deserve attention.  This season has plenty of those games, but they will all be in the bargain bin before anyone even cares enough to think about them.

Who does this ‘throw everything at the wall and see what sticks’ approach benefit?  Publishers?  I don’t think so, because they will have games that could have been hits that will barely even register … except on someone’s ‘overlooked gems now in the bargain bin’ list next spring.  Gaming sites?  No, because all of these games squished together don’t allow them to focus their attention on one at a time in terms of doing features and other focused articles.  What about gamers?  Again, not really – pacing releases so that publishers can properly polish them and that so that gamers can enjoy one before moving to the next seems much more reasonable.  Perhaps retailers?  That seems likely – if they have 25 new shooters on shelves for all platforms then there is BOUND to be something you can get for your son/daughter/husband/wife/whatever.

I know it is a pipe dream, but I would love to see more games in March … more games in July … and fewer games in October.  Yeah, and while you’re at it, keep the Christmas decorations out of stores until Thanksgiving.  Ok?  Thanks.

Tags: Misc