I think I've got a good comparison to the gaming drought at the moment...

[cheat-master30]

It's basically like Silly Season in the media, where since gaming releases take a break in Summer, silly and generally non newsworthy stories end up taking up all the space in blogs and forums.

For those that don't know what I mean:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silly_season

It's a good comparison in my opinion. No games coming out until Christmas time, hence all the major games publications (and the fanbase) end up either doing one of two things:

1. Heralding the less impressive low budget third party stuff as revolutionary with false hype... see most magazines on off season. This is when you have three page previews given to games that will score 70% maximum in the actual reviews.

2. Posting every piece of fluff news known to man. I'm guilty of this myself, as are most major new blogs. Expect lots and lots of pictures of video game related birthday and wedding cakes, statues, custom plush toys and fan art. Maybe a few parody videos here and there and what not.

Anyone else think this comparison is a fairly accurate one?

[UnknownToaster]

I'd say that's about right.
I haven't had a good game I wanted to buy in a long while. I decided to start playing more classics...and hack them.

[cheat-master30]

And that's another point I'd agree with, As it is at the moment, it's that long summer that seems to never quite end, with the games that aren't always bad, but just nowhere near good enough to be excited about.

[UnknownToaster]

There are some really good games coming out... for 360 at least. I didn't pay attention to the Nintendo or Sony E3 too much.

[cheat-master30]

There's a couple of good games coming out for all consoles. Note the 'couple' bit, as in between 2 and 4 games a console. In September-2010 time.

[kyledude92107]

I'm just waiting for Modern Warfare 2.

[cheat-master30]

Oh, and here's the possible reasoning for game releases:

They basically realised that Summer doesn't really sell games. Events sell games (think Olympics, Wimbledon, World Cup, Superbowl), at least those related to the event, but summer itself is a bad time for game releases due to more people going on holiday and the weather meaning less people are playing video games.

Then, in winter... Weather gets worse in many places. School/University/Work begin (hence less time to go on holiday or do what the heck you like), hence video games are usually good for the times in the afternoon/evening when the player returns from wherever. No choice to go on vacation for weeks. Christmas = best time for games, because they make ideal presents and gifts in general. And because many young kids probably won't be able to get any games before then in the year. Hence big game releases. Hence recovery and news.

In simple: Games being released soon = online activity boom, news blogs and sites having meaningful content. Drought = fluff articles and drought period on forums. Of course, this depends on console and series. If you're backing a dying console or a series which hasn't had a new game for three years, there will be a lot of droughts in forum activity (see DK Vine).

[(DL)*DARK*]

Oh, and here's the possible reasoning for game releases:

They basically realised that Summer doesn't really sell games. Events sell games (think Olympics, Wimbledon, World Cup, Superbowl), at least those related to the event, but summer itself is a bad time for game releases due to more people going on holiday and the weather meaning less people are playing video games.

Then, in winter... Weather gets worse in many places. School/University/Work begin (hence less time to go on holiday or do what the heck you like), hence video games are usually good for the times in the afternoon/evening when the player returns from wherever. No choice to go on vacation for weeks. Christmas = best time for games, because they make ideal presents and gifts in general. And because many young kids probably won't be able to get any games before then in the year. Hence big game releases. Hence recovery and news.

In simple: Games being released soon = online activity boom, news blogs and sites having meaningful content. Drought = fluff articles and drought period on forums. Of course, this depends on console and series. If you're backing a dying console or a series which hasn't had a new game for three years, there will be a lot of droughts in forum activity (see DK Vine).

Yeah, Christmas is the best time for games. That is the time when I got a Wii.

[UnknownToaster]

Yeah that makes sense.

And Kyle, that's what I'm mainly waiting for.
Along with Assassins Creed 2, Halo ODST & Reach, Section 8, Left 4 Dead 2, Crackdown 2, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2

[cheat-master30]

You should still look on the bright side though. At least everyone here is waiting for series that have a relatively regular release schedule (whether they support Nintendo, Microsoft or Sony). The poor people who are fans of Donkey Kong/Rare/StarFox/F-Zero/Duke Nukem on the other hand, are basically stuck watching tumbleweed roll past once a week.

[UnknownToaster]

You should still look on the bright side though. At least everyone here is waiting for series that have a relatively regular release schedule (whether they support Nintendo, Microsoft or Sony). The poor people who are fans of Donkey Kong/Rare/StarFox/F-Zero/Duke Nukem on the other hand, are basically stuck watching tumbleweed roll past once a week.

Yeah well like I said, I went back to the classics. And doing something with bringing the classics to the present :D