A Drink in the Desert

The drought is coming. Because of game delays, system launches, and bad planning there is going to be about a three month window where nary a game will be launched. The PS3 has GT 5 and a few JRPG's in the pipeline and the Nintendo 3DS has Bravely Default, but by and large its going to be until the end of February until we see some high quality games again.

So what do you do to pass the time but also keep some money in your wallet? Sony and Microsoft both have free games programs to go along with their subscription services on their consoles and handhelds respectively. And while Sony will not have its Gaikai service up before the drought ends for the PS4 (It is tentatively scheduled to launch Fall 2014), their flagship PS3 console is the most fruitful Sony system is terms of old, new and digital-only titles.

It’s always a good idea to try new things every new console generation and while there were few games that really broke the AAA barrier, most notably Nintendo had two or three great games this holiday season on the Wii U and 3DS. I’m the first to take Nintendo to task for a failure to make enough first-party games, it would be facetious to ignore the quality they’ve put out this winter.

 
On the PC side the new console generation is likely to be marked by fewer AAA titles, a tightening of the MMO market, and fewer flagship PC titles. However, all things being equal it’s likely that the PS4 and Xbox One will actually help the PC market get rid of tired and messy ports. With the new hardware, the PC is more closely twined with the newest generation of consoles and that is a good thing for everyone.