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Annual releases never sat well with me. With so many great games to choose from these days, I’ve learned to cherish franchises that have 2-3 year breaks between sequels. Some sequels however become really popular, and when games are popular, there is plenty of money to be made. When a developer starts to release a game every year, it feels as if my dedication is being exploited, as if my pockets were being emptied because they know I’ll grudgingly do so.

Assassin’s Creed, a franchise I’ve committed to, has eliminated any remaining desire to ever play another Assassin’s Creed game. Brotherhood was supposed to be the end of Ezio’s story; yet again we play as grandpa Ezio in Revelations, who is strangely as nimble as he was in his prime. Also making his return is Altair, which for some reason Ubisoft thought was a good idea. How is it that a character we have not seen for two games now has become instantly relevant again? Instead of Revelations bridging together the story that really doesn’t need mending, it immediately feels as if Ubisoft needed to release something at the end of the 2011 year to improve their fiscal numbers.  

Battlefield 3's a huge title this winter holiday, and for EA focus marketing on the small PC community where piracy has increasignly become a problem for developers, isn't the best approach when the goal is to sell copies reaching seven figures. However, their choice to keep absolutely quiet about the console versions almost as if they didn’t even exist, to focus on the outstanding visuals Battlefield 3 offers on PC, has created an enormous amount of hype that cannot possibly be satisfied.

The biggest mistake EA has made thus far was releasing the Battlefield 3 beta to the public, allowing players to finally have an actual taste of the game they have been fantasizing about for months.

Sometimes if you keep trying something, you will eventually grow to like it. After many attempts with Japanese RPGs, I would say that it is not one of those things.

I wanted to try one more JRPG before I would seriously give up on the genre, so based on a recommendation from a friend; I picked up The World Ends with You on the DS. Like a lot of other JRPGs, this game had a unique battle system that utilized both the top and bottoms screens. The top screen featured your partner who you would control using the directional pad, and on the bottom screen, you controlled the main character exclusively with a stylus. This combat reminded me of that thing you always tried to do as a kid, where simultaneously, you would tap your head with one hand and rub your stomach in circles with the other.