The Big Games of 2013 According to IGN and...Yours Truly!

First off, take a look at this video, which has been around for over over two weeks now. Been meaning to post it here and most of you have probably seen it, but it's worth another viewing. It's beautifully done, with great editing showing quick snippets from a variety of major releases slated for 2013. Some of these are console exclusives, but most will be on PC, and some, like Crysis 3, will shine on PC as their home base platform.

The video:

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajsmMuC4Z9w[/video]

If you like the music in the video, then you can listen to it to your heart's content at Killer Tracks. It's called Electric Ride by Daniel O'Donnell and Jonathan Dix. Love that track!

Among the games shown, BioShock Infinite is obviously a major draw for PC gamers, as well. It's been delayed for a while and its late February release is indeed something to look forward to. Dead Space 3 should be great, and the new Devil May Cry stands out because it's available on PC day one, which is very unique for what is considered a console-centric franchise.

Remember Me is somewhat of an unknown quantity, but I love the name and there's significant promise there. There doesn't seem to be an official site yet, hence let's hope it materializes. It's published by CAPCOM, who also have Lost Planet 3 in store for us.

The two games I'm looking forward to most though are Watch Dogs from Ubisoft, which rumors speculate will be sort of a launch title for a new generation of gaming, with DX11.1 capabilties and the like on PC. Plus it takes place in Chicago, which actually looks mostly like Chicago in the trailer.

Aliens: Colonial Marines is the other one, and has been in the making so long, it's almost unbelievable that we'll get to play it, but I am very interested. Published by SEGA, Gearbox are developing it, which brings to mind mixed feelings regarding long-awaited games, if you remember Duke Nukem Forever. With a release date in mid Feb and already available for pre-order, we really don't have long to wait to find out.

One game I would like to finally get released is of course Prey 2. We've been waiting and waiting, and there hasn't been much word about this lately. My favorite game of 2006, Prey helped shape the current phase in gaming, and so its sequel is certainly something to be excited about, even if it doesn't have a whole lot to do with the first one. As you can see, the official site from Human Head Studios still states a 2012 release date, so it clearly hasn't been updated in a while.

I would also love to have Alan Wake come back in a proper sequel, this time optimized for PC. The first one was a solid debut for the IP, and the DLC since then was also good, plus Alan Wake's American Nightmare was fantastic. If Remedy can pull off a full-on sequel for 2013 and have it on the PC, we'd be most grateful.

Rockstar - again, hopefully this is the year they start giving PC gamers more love. How about Red Dead Redemption for PC, for example? Would be awesome playing it in high res. And GTA V...we can hope it'll be on PC upon launch and make good use of the platform's considerable resources. However, this is possibly hoping against hope as right now the game is only listed for 360 and PS3.

There are a few other big games that suffer from this "can't let go of 2006" syndrome. For example, Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel is one of my personal most anticipated games of 2013, but it's console-only at this point, developed by Visceral. This will not do. We ask EA please bring this game to PC. Please. We'll pay!

While first party-developed console exclusives are fine, the above mentioned games, including GTA V and Army of Two, are obviously third party and have no business being kept off the PC. But let's not forget 2013 is slated to be a wildcard year, with new hardware coming in thick and fast, both for PC and consoles, so a lot could change in the interim.

And I won't mention the sequel to this one.  But who knows?

So, 2013 is only a few days away and seems to have much in the way of good gaming to offer. You can start getting stoked right about now, and do petition publishers to include the PC in on more of the action.

Happy New Year!