The Ones to Watch - March 2012

After a much needed break, VG30 is back and ready to look into the future of 2012.  We have a lot of plans, and a lot of news that will be happening this year, as well as some expected announcements from the big three.  Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's take a look at what's coming out in March.

Street Fighter X Tekken - 3/6/12 - Multiple Systems

Capcom continues to beat its cash cow by crossing over with Tekken in a something that fighting game fans should probably be excited about.  Controls for both sides are designed to work for their respective games, meaning that playing as Heihachi won't be a bastardization of the Tekken scheme.  One note of warning, however.  Based solely on Capcom's track record, there's very likely going to be an "Ultimate Edition" by the end of the year for $40, so if you're just curious about it, save your money until then.


Mass Effect 3 - 3/6/12 - Multiple Systems

The sequel to VG30's 2010 Game of the Year is about to come out, thus heralding the 2012 age of gaming.  Oh sure, there's been some news in the past few months, the Vita came out, Kingdoms of Amalur wasn't too shabby, but let's face it, there hasn't been a block buster yet this year.  Mass Effect 3 is very likely to be that blockbuster.  There's lots of controversy going on right now in regards to EA's Origin system, and some rumors that the source of the Xbox Live account hacks are tied directly to it, but I'm willing to bet many people will choose to forget about it for a little while while Mass Effect 3 shows us what games are supposed to be like all over again.


Mario Party 9 - 3.11.12 - Wii

The franchise that will never say die, Mario Party 9 returns to us just in time to watch the Wii get sunset without anybody ever officially saying it's being sunset.  A new mechanic allows the players to all move together, creating some questions on how useful the board design is at that point.  Time will tell if the masses will accept it into their collections.


Silent Hill: Downpour - 3.13.12 - Multiple Consoles

The latest Silent Hill offering is about to be released, likely disappointing fans everywhere.  For newcomers to the series, somebody is inexplicably drawn to the foggy town of Silent Hill in which their nightmares come to life along with various other unsettling creatures inhabitants.  The last couple of Silent Hill games have been met with less than stellar reviews, can they bring it back into the lime light with this one?


Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City - 3.20.12 - Multi-Release

Capcom's latest attempt to bring the action back to Zombies and the T-Virus as well as the backdrop for the second best Resident Evil game, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is a "3rd Person Team Based Shooter".  There hasn't been much success with this formula in the past for them, and with Resident Evil 6 on its way, this feels like a way to placate fans for little while.