2012: The Year of the Video Game

Clearly, we’re all pretty much partying here on Aussie-Gamer.com instead of actually doing any work as we count down to the end of what has been a fluctuating year of emotions and individual sanity.

2011 ushered in some interesting changes to the video game landscape. Nintendo were first to release some new hardware with the Nintendo 3DS; the world’s first gaming device that produces 3D visuals without the need for special glasses.

Sony also released the new PlayStation Vita handheld console which features a very sexy OLED screen and the ability to play Android games. Meanwhile, the current generation of home consoles kicked into overdrive with a slurry of awesome releases, from Eldar Scrolls V: Skyrim to Battlefield 3, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword to Uncharted 3 — and pretty much everything in between.

Xbox 360, fuelled with a new look and finally some motion controls was thrust into number one spot for 2011, toppling Nintendo’s Wii juggernaut in sales for the year. It was scary year for PlayStation 3 owners, with the “Great PlayStation Network Breach of 2011” officially being written in the history books after hackers made their way into Sony’s servers and published millions of credit card details and taking the entire network offline for 23 whole days.

So, with a huge year of video games already behind us, what is in store for 2012?

The Consumer Electronics Show, which is to be held in January, will be the starting point of the Year of Video Games. Sure, Sony will be the only company there with gaming hardware in a booth, but gamers will get a glimpse of the gadgets and technologies that will undoubtedly make their way into the video game world at some point. Most exciting for the hardcore gamer is the look at the new generation of high-end televisions.

Next will come Nintendo’s investor’s briefing which is usually a good place to hear what the company is planning for E3. That briefing will happen sometime in February and leads us to the biggest week in video gaming of the year: E3.

The Electronic Entertainment Expo will be held in LA from June 5–7 and will showcase tonnes of unannounced games that will most likely be in our consoles by the end of the year. The theme for the show next year is “Innovation Unveiled” — a more fitting title there has never been for it will be the year that Nintendo will declare their intentions for the next generation of home consoles, starting with the Wii U.

Nintendo will not likely be the only ones — both Sony and Microsoft will be scrambling to produce something at the show — be it a “shell” of a prototype for their next consoles, or something more concrete. Either way, it’ll be a week that nobody will want to miss!

And then the inevitable cycle will continue — the rumors, the hardware launches, the “Game of the Year November” as it’s starting to be known as… 2012 is as mysterious as it is exciting, and we can’t wait to bring you all the latest as it unfolds.

We also some some mighty, sweeping changes planned for Aussie-Gamer.com. You’ll hear more about those closer to when they’re ready to be let out of the stable. So from everyone here, we wish you a happy new year and will see you on the other side!

Now, back to my hole.