The summer never floods with video game releases, but it's typically an improvement over the winter and early spring, when new games are few and far between.
Oddly enough, Q1 2009 was impressive as far as new games went. "Street Fighter IV," "Resident Evil 5," "Dawn of War II," and "F.E.A.R. 2" were released, among others.
Next month will be busy for the console world. "Sacred 2," the sequel to the 2004 "Diablo" clone, hits stores May 12. The highly anticipated "Punch-Out!!" remake will contribute to the destruction of Wii remotes and televisions everywhere on May 18. "Bionic Commando," a current-gen retread of a classic platformer from the 8-bit era, comes out on May 19. On May 26, gamers get to return to the violent Old West world of "Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood." On the same day, "inFamous" gets released for the PS3, giving gamers the choice of whether to use their superpowers for good or evil.
In June, things will start to heat up. Batman will start beating the crap out of criminals again when "Batman: Arkham Asylum" comes out on June 1. On June 16, "Prototype" and "Ghostbusters," the last two survivors of the dismantling of Sierra On-Line, will hit the streets. A new "Indiana Jones" game will crack whips on the Wii on June 30. After that, the cupboard is pretty bare all the way until September, when "The Beatles: Rock Band" will start selling its inevitable millions.
For the PSP, the only notable game in the near future is the June 9 release of "Rock Band Unplugged." It's hard to imagine what "Rock Band" without instruments is going to be like, or worse, without multiplayer. Given Harmonix's track record, it seems likely the company will have figured it out, no doubt brilliantly.
The dearth of games is even more noticeable on the DS platform, with "Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming" being the only platform-exclusive game coming out between now and the fall. Odds are, the release of the DSi and its downloadable content library has distracted developers from the cartridge format for the near future.
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On the PC, the first big exclusive is "The Sims 3," which will start lowering office productivity on June 2. On June 23, "Overlord II," space MMO "Jumpgate Evolution" and the long-delayed "Splinter Cell: Conviction" will crowd the shelves of Wal-Marts everywhere, along with the three Gamestops in the U.S. that still sell PC games. If you were looking for "Duke Nukem Forever" on this list, you can stop now - if that game ever comes out, it will be a sure sign that the world is about to end.
May and June look good for gaming overall, though things are a little dry for the portable systems. Sony has scored a few exclusives, desperately needing to keep the PS3 afloat through the economic downturn. Microsoft still steams ahead at full speed, and if it weren't for the Wii, the Xbox's success in the console world would be unparalleled. The dearth of exclusive games for the portables is a little worrying. One has to wonder if the iPhone market hasn't started to cut into the popularity of the traditional portables. For now, the summer seems good for gamers, but be prepared for the flood to return in September.
