14 DAY TRIAL // Christmas is coming up, which means the big releases of the year are behind us. Players can get their hands on Modern Warfare 2, which will probably be the biggest game of the year, Uncharted 2, which has given a boost to the PlayStation 3, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Dragon Age: Origins, Forza Motorsport 3, Assassin's Creed 2.
And yet Christmas might feel a bit incomplete to those who are paying attention to the industry as a whole lot of titles initially set to be released during the year have been pushed back into the first half of 2010 or delayed to other unspecified dates. Mass Effect 2 is set to open up a wave of big name releases that some have dubbed “Second Christmas.”
Developers took the unusual step of delaying titles in big numbers mainly because of the impact of Modern Warfare 2, which has sucked up a lot of gaming money and made a successful first week and month much more difficult for other titles.
Unfortunately, pushing important games like Battlefield: Bad Company 2, God of War III, Heavy Rain or Mass Effect 2 into a period in 2010 which is probably as small as the holiday release window was in 2009 does not make a lot of sense as gamers will probably not have the time to digest the blockbusters of this year before getting hit with those of the new year.
Publishers need to change their tactics and face up to the fact that they might be putting out too many AAA titles during one year. Electronic Arts has already announced that it is cutting back on the number of games it is publishing but Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft or Take Two do not seem to be cutting back.
The big companies should also make sure that they space out their big games, giving players something to worry about around the clock rather than forcing them to make tough choices late in the year and, if the “Second Christmas” trend holds up, early in the year. More simply put: we need better summer games and less games for Christmas.