After the release of the new generation of consoles we see each of the three consoles enter the holiday season where selling games for is a must.
Throughout the past few generations of consoles, the last few months of the year tend to see an increase in game releases. Tons of multiplatforms, exclusives, annual sport games, and casual games are put up on the market to compete against each other. While some may argue too many great games that were slated for this fall have been pushed backed to 2015, there is still an excellent slate coming out over the next few months.
There are three big games that should be on everyone’s radar this fall. Last week saw the release of Bungie’s massive online, open-world, first person shooter, Destiny. Released for the Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One, Destiny is Bungie’s first game outside of the Halo series.
Taking place in a future post-apocalyptic universe, the players are the last defenders of humanity; expected to protect Earth’s last city. Customization is key, giving the player the choice of picking between three different races, weapons, and costumes. Bungie claims that there is ten years of content available within the game.
“Given the different ways of playing Destiny, and given the fact that the game is completely dynamic and will be different every time you experience it with other people, the amount of time that we’ll be relevant to the gamers who decide to play it is something that we think will be a very long life-cycle,” Bungie Community Manager David Dague stated.
The game already has been the most successful new gaming franchise launch of all time with the game shipping over $500 million worth of product in 24 hours.
One of the most anticipated games of the Fall is a party favorite, Super Smash Bros. Coming out for the 3DS next month and the Wii U later this year, the game is set to please both fans of Nintendo and fighting games alike. Due to the 3DS version already being out in Japan, there has been at least 48 characters found and possibly even more hidden in the game. Featuring newcomers such as Mega Man, the Wii Fit Trainer, Rosalina, Little Mac from Punch Out, Greninja from Pokémon, Pac Man, and even the Villager from Animal Crossing, amongst fan favorites from the previous games, the game has an excellent roster with many surprises in store.
This November many will be reliving their childhood, when Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are released for the 3DS. As 3D remakes of the original third generation Pokémon games for the Gameboy Advance, it is perhaps for many students, their first Pokémon game. In addition to the game’s world being brought into full 3D, it will feature new mega-evolutions for many Pokémon favorites even more options to decorate your secret hideout, and new features being brought into Pokémon contests. Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are looking to be a great flashback to a decade ago.
Outside of the release of Super Smash Bros and Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Nintendo has two other games set for the Wii U.
Coming out this month, Hyrule Warriors sees the characters from The Legend Of Zelda series in unexplored territory. Featuring a wide cast of characters from past games Hyrule Warriors will give Zelda fans a completely different experience.
Next month, sees the return of the witch Bayonetta for the Wii U. All of the deep, fast-paced combat and highly stylized characters, will also contain exclusive Nintendo-themed costumes for the witch.
Outside of the exclusives, several multi-platform sequels will be released for both the Xbox One and Playstation 4. The annual Call of Duty, Call of Duty Advanced Warfare will be taking place in 2054 with brand new technology available and starring Kevin Spacey as the villain of the game.
Two separate Assassin’s Creed games will be released this fall, one for the current generation and the other for last generation. Assassin’s Creed Unity will take place during the French Revolution and is set to come out for the PS4 and Xbox One. Assassin’s Creed Rogue will be a direct sequel to Assassin’s Creed IV, taking place during the Seven Year’s War and will be released on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Ubisoft’s Far Cry 4 off the success of the previous game has players playing as a Nepalese native that gets caught in a civil war.
More open world exploration of different kind can be done in Bioware’s Dragon Age: Inquisition, where it would supposedly take 150 hours to accomplish everything in one play through. Lastly the king of open-world games, Grand Theft Auto V, after being released last year on last generation systems, will be released for the PS4 and Xbox One.
With all of these games and many more expected to become available in the next few months, the challenge to keep up with everything one wants to play may be challenging. Hopefully that’s what Winter Break and J-Term can provide to those who indeed want to play it all.
-Dan Vruno