Yours, in Anticipation!

Dear sirs,

I write to express both my delight and my concern at the range of titles we have coming up over the next few months.

I realise that we’re coming up to the ‘holiday’ season – that’s Christmas for the rest of us – and that this is a significant time of year for you in terms of marketing, sales and units shipped but do we really have to be faced with such a glut in such a short space of time?

Yes, I know that I’m being a bit previous with my concerns here, but the previews, the trailers and teaser videos the special editions we’re promised for pre-orders, all of these things conspire to build up a head of steam with can, on occasion, lead to disappointment.

I hope that the games on my wish list don’t lead to that let down and I don’t think that they will, but here they are just in case you feel the need to give them a final tweak:-

1. Mass Effect 3. Yes, I know that you pushed this one back a little bit and for that I’m grateful. I’m happy that the quality of the end result and the satisfaction of us, your customers, is being put before the numbers game of Christmas.
2. Need for Speed: The Run. The NFS titles carry with them a mixed pedigree and along with that a certain amount of risk on behalf of the game buyer… of me! From what I’ve seen of The Run so far it looks like it could be fantastic – I’m prepared to forgive the QTAs I think! – I’m even tempted to do a pre-order which is something which I don’t usually do.
3. Assassins Creed: Revelations. The third part of the second part of the Assassin’s Creed trilogy. Or something like that. I like Ezio, perhaps more than I did Altair or maybe it’s just that I’ve had more of a chance to get to know and to be Ezio I’m not sure. Revelations and the evolution of that world is something which fills me with massive anticipation and, once again I’m tempted by the special ‘Animus’ edition of the game for all of the extra bits therein.
4. Forza 4. Well, what can be said which hasn’t already? You can hold up your GTAs, your Gran Tourismos and, yes, even your Need For Speeds but when it comes to racing games which are about racing, Forza takes the cake. I have them all to date and ‘4 with all its promise will make its way into my hands with a speed matching its gameplay, of that I have no doubt.

There are others of course, every time I take a look at the ‘coming soon’ pages I see something which I mentally add to my ”yep, I need to get my hands on that’ list. And of those I’m sure that there will be some which don’t make it and that I’ll pick up in 6, 9, 12 months time and play through in the same way I have with titles like Vanquish, Front Mission and others: a little late to the game but with a few pounds off and with just as much fun. I’m also sure that I will get some of them only to get a few hours in and know, just KNOW in the pit of my guts that there’s something wrong, something missing, something that’s just not quite right and I’ll feel sad.

So in conclusion let me make this simple request: don’t rush to hit a date, only to miss the mark with your games. Don’t worry about the short term numbers when you could have a longer-tail of happy buyers. In short, make these games good!

Yours, in anticipation

John Brown – a gamer and a fan.