MEMBER BLOG

Droughts and Drizzles
Posted on Wednesday, April 9 2008 @ 21:00:51 Eastern

Year after year, for as long as I can remember, we video game buying people have gone through the same floods and droughts of releases. Like turning gears in some eternal Swiss clock, each season would carry its tell tale titles. The new year would bring little, but would allow us plenty of time to catch up on the overflow games left stranded from the recently ended winter torrent, but once those wells dried up, summer would leave us all parched, our mouths aching for that next drop of salvation.

This Ground Hog's Day like repetition of events nearly had me in a coma no more than a month ago. Now, however, we're in April and it looks to me like Spring is itching to get sprung with a ferocity only displayed before by the likes of Sir Mix-A-Lot. We're headed for some excellent April showers. I'm talking platinum showers, here. You can leave that golden stuff with your grandma, because it doesn't even apply anymore. Think 2girls1cup, but the two girls are both Jesus, the cup is the Holy Grail and their respective loads of feces are Grand Theft Auto 4 and Gran Turismo 5: Prologue. Put in those terms, I bet that video gets you a bit chubbed now, doesn't it? It's okay. You don't have to lie, here. We're all friends!

You, me and the cup may make three, but this is only the beginning of the story. So we get a good Spring. Hey, it's good news, but not unheard of by any measure! As true as that is, I kind of have to hate you for agreeing with me when I said it. Spring? Put those glasses on, Mr. Magoo. There's a much bigger world out there, and a lot of it exists in the months after April! This point makes itself and any doubters need only to read the list of games that follows: Street Fighter 2 Turbo: HD Remix, Soul Calibur 4, Metal Gear Solid 4, Ninja Gaiden 2, Too Human, Mercenaries 2, maybe World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King and a couple handfuls of possible sleeper hits and newcomers. All of those are dated for release by the beginning of Fall. The usual holiday orgy of unfettered buying doesn't even enter this equation. There are some naysayers who fear that a number of these games are shelling out a sunny view of the future, shooting for a date they know they'll miss only to end up hitting store shelves in time for Santa, yet again. Maybe last year. Maybe next year. This year, though, I don't see it happening.

These games aren't new news. I've been getting pumped for all of them for ages, now. Each has had its share of delays and rumors, but most of the whispers are hushing. Its only at this point in time, with the prospect of them all releasing within the next 5 months that the gravity of the matter hits me. Release time is closing in and the only viable reason most of those games have to push it back any further is foolish, blind greed, which I just don't see happening.

For once, just maybe, the muggy days of summer will be filled with gaiety and gamesaves rather than being a few pages of X's in the calendar counting down the coming of the holiday deluge.