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The 15 biggest games of winter 2011
Winter is always the busiest time for video game releases, but this year is more packed than most with a vast range of triple-A titles competing for space on overloaded Christmas lists. From the defining conflict between first-person shooter giants Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 to the continuing adventures of Batman, Nathan Drake and Marcus Fenix, hardly a week will go by for the next few months without giant queues outside the world's game retailers. To get you ready, here are 15 of the biggest titles, complete with release dates. Your piggy bank is in for some serious damage …
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User Comments
Riadsala
1 September 2011 2:06PM
man, that's a depressing list. Sure, quite a few of the titles look pretty good, but there's only one original title on that list. And not a single strategy game, which confirms the "strategy games are just not contemporary" argument.
roopman
1 September 2011 2:24PM
I count 6 of those that I want.
6 x £40 = £240. Yikes.
May have to prioritise. With DE:HR, Demon's Souls, Skyrim and Mass Effect 3 in March, I hereby declare this the 'Winter of the RPG'.
I think I'll be getting all of these. Now I just need to find someone willing to tell my girlfriend.
Icarusty
1 September 2011 2:25PM
Can't wait for F1 2011, I am a racing nut :) Shame the (good) wheels are so expensive...
Tweedskin
1 September 2011 2:46PM
SO many good games!!! So little time!
BF3, Batman Arkham City, F1 2011, Forza 4, GOW3....
I'm going to have to get a better paid job if I'm to afford all these gems.
Wulfa
1 September 2011 3:19PM
Gears, Uncharted, Batman, Modern Warfare 3 are the primary ones on my list. The Ico/Shadows re-release is something I want to get, but that can wait.
Battlefield 3 wasn’t originally on my buy list as I figured it was just going to be like Bad Company, but after reading some about it and finally getting around to playing the last Medal of Honor game I’m interested to see what DICE have to offer. MW3 wins over it, mainly because it continues on from 2 story wise. Gotta find out what happens to Soap!
Sadly, Uncharted, Batman and MW3 all come out in the same pay period for me and £150 on games is a little too steep for one month and with Christmas just around the corner from these release dates.... one of them is going to have to be dropped from the pre-order list.
Kezabien2
1 September 2011 3:44PM
I've already pre-ordered Uncharted 3, Ico/SotC, Skyrim and AC Revelations.
I've also pre-ordered Silent Hill Downpour and Halo Anniversary, which you missed off the list.
Will definitely buy Gears of War 3, Batman AC and Resistance 3 at some point very soon.
I might give MW3 a go this year too (I missed Black OPs) as the trailers look pretty good.
Goodbye social life...
FistofFun
1 September 2011 4:06PM
Any game that isn't sport or racing on that list is pretty much on my list also... and to think there's also the likes of Super Mario 3D, Halo Anniversary, Starfox 3D and a whole mess of other titles to come before the end of the year as well.
courtneylove
1 September 2011 4:25PM
More of the same. Even Rage just looks like Fallout with better shooting and a driving mini-game. Might get that if it turns out to be any good.
Valten78
1 September 2011 4:52PM
Batman, Battlefield 3 and GoW3 for me please.
I'll be sure to check out a few of the others next year when they are cheaper and my schedule is clearer.
Smike
1 September 2011 8:47PM
Sod the cost. Haven't got enough time. I've still got a big backlog to get through so I'll just have to resist the shiny new games.
Or give up work.
manchurian123
1 September 2011 8:56PM
FIFA 12 is all I need. It's the game with the most longevity, for sure.
Magpawacar
1 September 2011 9:54PM
Weird. I would have imagined Diablo 3 being on this list somewhere.
SandySleaze
1 September 2011 10:01PM
Keef, what on earth are you playing at...this list doesn't have nearly enough games I want and focuses purely on the most generally anticipated titles...
Keef
1 September 2011 11:48PM
@SandySleaze
That was the point. We just wanted to collate all the massive titles into one gallery. I was very careful with the title - it's not our most anticpated titles, or the most interesting, it's the biggest. That said, I did sneak Dark Souls on there. And Zelda should have been included.
SandySleaze
2 September 2011 12:50AM
Keef
Honestly, your list pretty much exactly matches what I'd come up with. Now its just about finding the money for them all...
MrGrumps
2 September 2011 1:00AM
Good grief. Apart from Batman I have no interest in these titles whatsoever. But then I have some pretty far out tastes when it comes to games. I'm sitll waiting on Rhythm Paradise Wii...
IsThisIt2001
2 September 2011 1:11AM
I think your right about Zelda but what about the other ninty classics getting released this winter?
Super Mario & Mario Kart 3DS!
Which will surely improve, the lagging sales of the console itself.
Also Harry Potter Lego years 5-7 will be a fantastic game like it's predecessor(s).
amipal
2 September 2011 8:50AM
Uncharted 3 and Skyrim are my must-haves here. I've booked a week off work for the latter.
Diop
2 September 2011 9:05AM
Uncharted 3 and Skyrim are my must-haves here. I've booked a week off work for the latter.
Glad to hear I'm not the only one to have booked a week off for Skyrim.
Lot's of good games coming up, unfortunately Im expecting to buy a new computer in November (for Skyrim) so I'll probably not afford as many as I would have liked. I just hope that Star Wars: The Old Republic doesn't make its 2011 release date!
RocketGoal
2 September 2011 9:32AM
BF3, Rage, GoW3 and possibly Unchartered.
Skyrim would possibly cause a divorce. What am I on about. It would definitely cause a divorce.
HFarnsworth
2 September 2011 9:58AM
I have to say that Dark Souls is the one I am anticipating the most (not counting Mass Effect 3 which doesn't come out until March), with Skyrim and - creature of habit that I am - FIFA 12 very close.
Very jealous of amipal and Diop - I would take a week off for those games in a blink if I could!
I am looking forward to Uncharted 3, Arkham City and (less so) AC: Revelations, but won't be getting them pre-ordered, unlike the ones above.
Also looking forward to the Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill HD collections, plus the new Silent Hill title series. And I still haven't got Yakuza 3 finished yet!
This winter is going to be busy....
McBegbie
2 September 2011 10:19AM
There's too many games I want in the next 3 months, I lack both the time and the money. I'm going to have to restrict myself to AC:Rev and Skyrim. The pair should see me through to the release of ME3 next year.
Uncharted 3 and Skyrim are my must-haves here. I've booked a week off work for the latter.
A week? That's a bit optimistic isn't it?
SterlingArcher
2 September 2011 11:21AM
Booking a week off work for Skyrim... now there's a clever idea.
That and Batman are the big games for me. I like AC but I'm willing to wait till it gets a bit cheaper, I've still not finished Brotherhood.
Chumbaniya
2 September 2011 11:48AM
Skyrim's the only definite buy here for me, though this has reminded me that I shamefully haven't played Ico or Shadow of the Colossus.
Not really a 'winter' release as it's less than a week away now, but Space Marine is the other game I'll definitely be buying over the next few months.
Monchberter
2 September 2011 12:07PM
I'm not seeing much originality there. Even Arkham City looks like a rehash.
We've had Deus Ex (ok practically a remake) and Portal 2 (refined sequel) this year as fantastic games despite being derivative, but where's the innovation?
Streethawk101
2 September 2011 12:25PM
I'm with Magpawacar, Diablo 3 should be on this list, the fact that people are still playing Diablo 2 nearly 12 years after it's release should give some idea of how hotly anticipated it is. Thankfully Blizzard wont be rushed so it should be a really good game.
Diop
2 September 2011 12:30PM
The title of this gallery though is "The 15 biggest games of winter 2011" and not just "The 15 biggest games yet to be released", which is pretty much the only reason they have left Diablo 3 out, since it has no official release date the liklihood of seeing it before christmas is very slim.
guardianistaleeds
2 September 2011 12:32PM
Games are too expensive these days, if they RRP'ed at 30 quid I'd pick some of these up, as it is I'm hoping the gluts gonna drive down the prices of some of the earlier in the year classics like Deus Ex, LA Noire and Infamous 2... These can wait till the jan sales.
ChineseDazza
2 September 2011 12:52PM
Deus ex, Battlefield and Batman please. My life is too short to deal with all these RPGs (except ME3)
TheGuvernor
2 September 2011 3:09PM
RAGE!
Trailers make FO3 look like Dora the Explorer!
Can't believe so many gamers are negative about this title - it looks absolutely stunning.
And BF3 of course.
NICKMX2010
2 September 2011 3:17PM
@ Guardianistaleeds
That's nonsense! Games cost £35-£40 brand new
I remember when a copy of Sonic The Hedgehog 2 would cost you £50.00 - in 1992! Given inflations, ect etc, that was a shit load!
Games for me - Gears 3 and Batman.
Am I the only one not too bothered about MW3? Sure, I'll buy it when it's cheaper, but I have to say it's low down on my list
HFarnsworth
2 September 2011 3:46PM
NICKMX2010
Me neither. I have enjoyed some of the Call Of Duty games (World At War, in particular), but there is so much more that is potentially interesting, exciting and, most importantly, time-consuming. I also hated Black Ops, so that's another strike against.
I wonder if a symptom of the backlash against CoD is that a number of really big titles (Skyrim and Uncharted 3 in particular) are scheduled more or less against MW3 whereas a number of big titles were scheduled specifically so that they would NOT compete with MW2?
Diop
2 September 2011 3:54PM
I remember paying £70 for Turok 2, which was in 1998, I remember most N64 games were £50-60, so growing up on that with £2 a week pocket money I still regard modern games as being quite a bargain.
NICKMX2010
2 September 2011 4:34PM
@ HFarnsworth
I don't think it's a backlash as such, it's just more of the same old same old. I enjoyed MW2, it realy was a step up graphically and so forth, it's just a bit meh to me.
I think I was put off when I joined a Multiplayer session and one of my team-mates was BNPSteve1341 (close enough) and the team talk was shite and no fun.
HFarnsworth
2 September 2011 4:56PM
NICKMX2010
I have heard that the multiplayer can be a pretty dispiriting experience. I haven't tried it myself (online play can be kinda dodgy with my hickband connection, so I tend to stay away from it rather than waste time). I played through the single player and enjoyed it well enough - nothing groundbreaking, but certainly worth a few hours.
What with all the other options this year there's no point going for something that, as you say, is a bit meh. Maybe 'backlash' was wrong, but I do detect a dropping off of interest.
Minion
4 September 2011 12:46PM
Another one here who has booked a week off for Skyrim! I cannot wait.
kingmaker
1 September 2011 1:50PM
Battlefield and Uncharted please. :)