Ben’s Week In Review: January 3

It's tough for me to believe that it's already 2010 but all we can do is soldier forth. It's like when Apollo Creed says to Rocky at the end of "Rocky III;" "it's a shame we gotta get old," and Rocky replies, "just keep punchin', Apollo."

Do we already know what next year's GotY nominees will be?

Now that last year's Game of the Year Awards are in the books, we're already looking down the road to see what titles might be vying for ultimate supremacy at the end of 2010. Does anyone else think it's going to come down to God of War III , Gran Turismo 5 and Final Fantasy XIII ? I mean, I have difficulty thinking of any other games I want more this year, although I suppose I have to include Heavy Rain , The Last Guardian and Alan Wake on my "most anticipated" list. However, i have little faith that any of the previous three will be in the running, and I do have my reasons for that. GT5, FFXIII, GoWIII…what's stopping these games from being totally awesome? Well, I suppose there are skeptics out there for just about every hyped title but even so, the way things are shaping up now, it's almost as if we have three nominees for GotY 2010 already. Okay, we're not about to jump the gun like this (and we never would) but it's fun to think about, isn't it? 😉

So what if GT5 won't come out until November?

I'm well aware that GameStop never has the final say when it comes to release dates, although I was – initially – disappointed to hear they had moved their date for Gran Turismo 5 from May to November 2, 2010 . It could be a placeholder date but for the sake of argument, let's say it's true: well, so what? Look, there are some games that really drain a big chunk of my time, and Gran Turismo 5 will most definitely be one of them. The only other title in 2010 that's almost guaranteed to suck up an equal amount of time is FFXIII; the likes of God of War III , Heavy Rain and others I will certainly play, but they won't take anywhere near as long. Therefore, I'd want FFXIII and GT5 to be as far apart this year as possible; with the RPG coming on March 9, I honestly don't know what I'd do if GT5 came out that same month, or even in April. I need time to fully take care of both games and I'd hate to have to choose between the two.

Sometimes, it's all about timing. We have more than enough promising titles landing in the first quarter alone so if GT5 wants to come out for the holidays, fine. Frees me up a bit, you know?

Personal gaming update

So after trading in Left 4 Dead 2 , which I absolutely despised (yes, yes, I know it's mostly for multiplayer but that's no reason to give the LAME-ASS single-player a free pass), I started in on Halo 3: ODST . See, I own all the Halo s and I've found them all enjoyable, although I'm not quite siding with the fans who deem them to be the best FPSs around. The only reason I didn't get ODST when it came out is because I knew it was basically just an expansion, and I wasn't about to drop $60 for it. But if someone wanted to give it to me for Christmas… They did, so now I'm playing it. It's fun, and I really like Nathan Fillion as Buck. Fillion just rules in anything he does, and that's a nice touch for this game. I've never been the biggest fan of the weaponry or level design in these titles, and ODST doesn't really change this belief, but it's still entertaining. When I'm done, it's on to Resident Evil 5 .

I'm still debating on whether or not to pick up Bayonetta this week. I really love the idea and style but…well, I'm just not sure if I can handle the chore of beating that game. We'll see. February will be huge, though, what with Dante's Inferno , Bioshock 2 , White Knight Chronicles and Heavy Rain . Good Lord. LOL Outside of gaming, I have nothing to add. It's like 15 degrees out with a crazy wind…it's nights like these that make me want a big house with a roaring fire and stuff. Sadly, I ain't rich yet, nor have I met a rich girl. 😉