SWTOR isn't really grabbing me so far. Going to give it a little while longer before I give up.

2011 was an outstanding year for video games, but by looking at the abundant amount of releases set to hit shelves in 2012 it seems like this year will be just as great, if not better than last year.  Being that there are already so many games that are supposed to be released this year, it was earnestly hard trying to pick just three, but out of them all these are my top three most anticipated games of 2012.

3. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

 I'll admit it, up until recently I wasn't really looking forward to this game at all.  To me, it seemed like another generic RPG that had been in development forever.  But then Colin Moriarty put up a preview for it on IGN, and after reading about the game and learning about its world I instantly became enamored.  On top of that the game also lets you change your class anytime you choose, which is awesome.

2. Twisted Metal

I fell in love with Twisted Metal: Black on PS2 after playing it at my friends house when I was younger.  That led to me going back and playing the first four Twisted Metal games on PS1 and ultimately falling in love with the series forever.  This new Twisted Metal game looks like it's going to be just as much fun as the older games and with online multiplayer and helicopters it could be even better.

1. Mass Effect 3

 Mass Effect 2 was my game of the year for 2010 and for good reason.  The way the game allowed you to make choices and shape your own experience was and still is unparalleled.  That along with some of the best characters in any game ever is making my hype for Mass Effect 3 go through the roof.  Oh, and they're also promising to improve the combat experience.  Awesome.

Those are just a few of the numerous games announced for 2012.  With even more games like Bioshock Infinite and the new Tomb Raider reboot, 2012 is sure to be impressive year for games all around.  Be sure to leave a comment down below telling me your most anticipated games of 2012!

It's no secret that the Playstation Vita hasn't been selling so great in Japan for the last few weeks.  After launching on the 17th of December and moving about 325,000 units over the next couple of days, sells seem to have fallen off a cliff over the last two or three weeks.  Even though a lot of people are already saying that the Vita is doomed, Sony still seems to remain optimistic about the Vita's launch in other territories.  The CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Jim Ryan commented on the sales of the Nintendo 3DS during an interview with MCV, saying that Sony was encouraged by the fact that it was doing so well because it shows that there is still room in the market for dedicated gaming handhelds.

I do agree that there is still a market for dedicated gaming handhelds, but Sony has to realize that sales of the PS Vita will never reach the numbers of the the iPad or iPhone.  At the school I go to almost every person you talk to owns a iPod Touch or an iPad, and most of those people wouldn't even consider buying a PS Vita.  Sony has to realize that the people who want to buy games like Angry Birds or Cut the Rope aren't going to buy a PS Vita to play them on, they already have an iPad for that.  So in my opinion I think Sony needs to market the Vita directly towards the hardcore gamers and forget about even trying to compete with Apple, because they're never going to be able to reach those people, no matter how hard they try.

All Sony has to do to make the hardcore gamers buy the Vita is to give them the games they want, and from looking at the launch lineup, it looks like they're doing exactly that. As long as they keep the games coming the PS Vita should do fairly well, as one of the only other hurdles I can think of would be the memory card prices, but I suppose that if gamers want to play the games bad enough they will shell out thirty dollars for the cheapest memory card.

So to summarize my point, as long as Sony doesn't have overwhelming expectations for the PS Vita, it should do fine; at least in North America.  Feel free to leave comments, whether you agree or disagree, any feedback is appreciated!

Hello guys your reading my first blog post!  So to start things off I'm going to tell you a little bit about myself.  My name is Austin, and you probably already figured this out since I'm writing a blog post on IGN, but I love video games.  I've been playing video games since I was about 4 or 5 (I'm currently 15) and I like to play just about any kind of game.  Since I'm only 15 I've had to go back and play a lot of games that came out before I was born.  I've heard a lot of my people my age say that they don't like older games and only like to play things like Call of Duty or Gears of War; that's not me (although I do enjoy a good match of Gears multiplayer just as much as the next guy).

One of the reasons I read IGN over other gaming sites is for the podcasts.  I listen to every podcast that IGN puts out and I love everyone one of them (I'm currently writing this while listening to the latest episode of Game Scoop!).  Although from time to time I do read Gamespot and Giant Bomb.  I also like to listen to the OXM Podcast and Gamespot Presents the HotSpot.  In the past three years that I've been reading IGN, its changed a lot.  Out of all the people that were here in 2008, probably a little over half of them have left.  A lot of people will tell you that IGN isn't near as good of a site as it once was, but I disagree.  Despite all of the change that's taken place over the last three years, I think IGN is just as good now as it was three years ago, and is continuously getting better.

Now you might not be able to tell it from reading this blog post (I know my writing is probably horrible), but my dream is to one day write about video games.  So I figured a good way to get some practice would be to start a blog.  My plans are to write reviews for games on here and I hope to be able to get some kind of following.  Well I guess that's all I have to say for now, so I'm going to end it here.  Oh, and by the way if any of you guys are interested in being my friend on PSN or Xbox Live just send a friend request to my PSN ID or Gamertag which are as follows:  PSN - austin189237, and Xbox Live  -  Austin0P0wers. Also, please leave comments on my writing if you see any errors (which I'm sure there are plenty of) so I can improve.

Thanks,

Austin