14 DAY TRIAL // This article by no means represents the reality of the video game industry and is not based on any sort of foreknowledge about what will happen with hardware and software during 2012; this is just a number of wild-eyed dreams that might or might not come true in the coming months.
I want to see innovation even in the most formulaic of video games, something impressive and unexpected even when it comes to Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed or World of Warcraft.
I want the next Command & Conquer game to be a good, deep strategy that understands camp and incorporates it while also delivering consistent mechanics for those who still remember Red Alert and Generals.
I would like to see a publisher (probably Electronic Arts) deliver a strategy social game that evolves beyond the Ville formula and really uses small groups of gamers in meaningful ways, without forcing cooperation on them.
I want to like the multiplayer in Mass Effect 3 and finally see how single and cooperative play can work together in order to enhance the overall experience of saving the Galaxy from the Reapers.
I would also like to see BioWare return to the Dragon Age series with renewed confidence and more of an eye towards old school role playing game, abandoning the trends of the second game in the series and deliver something that updates and improves on what Baldur’s Gate 2 gave the gaming world.
And, finally, I would like to see both Sony and Microsoft make digital distribution a major selling point of their new, now in development, home consoles.
On a personal and even more outlandish level I want pills for meals and for simulated sleep time in order to be better able to enjoy the big, important releases that start in March of this year with Mass Effect 3 and will end in November with another Call of Duty game.