The
new year is almost upon us and that can only mean one thing here at Ten
Ton Hammer; it is time for our annual gaming predictions articles. With
tons of new games to be released in 2012 as well, many more to be
announced and the potential for countless surprises throughout the
year, the gaming world of 2012 promises to be an exciting one indeed.
As a result of this making gaming predictions for 2012 is difficult at
best, however, based on past gaming trends, personal instincts, and a
little bit of luck I will give it my best shot. So without further
adieu let us get right down to it with….

Mem’s 2012 Gaming
Predictions

style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Star
Wars: The Old Republic

style="padding: 10px; float: right; width: 250px; text-align: center;"> href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/210356" target="_blank"> src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/210356/preview"
width="245">The
Force will be with Star Wars in 2012.( href="http://www.swtor.com/media/screens/jedi-shadow"
target="_blank">Source)

Star Wars: The Old Republic,
like most new games, is the talk of
the gaming world at the moment and
players are practically chomping at the bit to get their own copy so
they can finally get the chance to play. My gaming prediction for Star
Wars in 2012 is that it will help revolutionize the market and set a
new standard for future games. Thanks to the Star Wars brand and the
fact that it is just a great game, Star Wars will be the first game to
give MMO giant World of Warcraft a run for it’s money. It
won’t happen overnight, and may take all of 2012 to get
there, but if it can manage to generate enough interest from old school
gamers and new gamers alike, this game has the potential to be huge.

style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">World
of Warcraft

Going hand in hand with my
first gaming prediction for 2012, World of Warcraft will see more
subscriber’s abandoning ship, heading off to other games that
have caught their fancy. Don’t fret WoW fans! I predict that
while World of Warcraft will see some major losses, by mid-year the
rats will have stopped leaving the ship, the water will calm and the
game will emerge with a slightly depleted, but stable fan base. Sorry
for those of you who hate World of Warcraft, my gut instinct is telling
me that this video game giant isn’t going anywhere anytime
soon.

style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Guild
Wars 2

style="padding: 10px; float: right; width: 250px; text-align: center;"> href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/210355" target="_blank"> src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/210355/preview"
width="245">Guild
Wars 2 looks cool, but you probably won't be playing it in 2012. ( href="http://www.guildwars2.com/en/media/screenshots/"
target="_blank">Source)

For those of you who
can’t wait to dig into the next installment
in the Guild
War’s series, it probably just isn’t going to
happen. My gaming prediction for Guild Wars
2 in 2012 is that it simply
isn’t going to happen. While the game won’t be
cancelled entirely, it will be postponed and postponed some more this
time giving players a solid 2013 release late, or very late 2012 at the
earliest. Sorry guys, maybe next year.

style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Farewell
Subscription Fees

2012 has the potential to be a
big year in the gaming world, and I firmly believe that the era of
monthly subscription fees is slowly fading out. Perhaps it is my own
wishful thinking, but my gaming prediction for 2012 is that many of the
newly announced games will say goodbye to subscription fees and hello
to free to play gaming. Gamers everywhere will be able to reveal in the
ability to play a game for just the purchase price as well as the
resulting extra cash which of course can be spent on gaming essentials
such as hot pockets and energy drinks.

style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">New
Consoles

2012 has the potential to be a
big deal when it comes to the gaming console scene with Microsoft and
Sony both rumored to be working on brand new gaming systems.
Don’t get your hopes up to far though, my gaming prediction
for the world of consoles is that only one of these two bad boys will
have anything to show us come 2012. I predict that Microsoft will be
ahead of the game and will have a shiny new toy to show us midway
through the year with a tentative release date set sometime in 2013.
Sony’s new Playstation model will sadly remain what it has
been so far; rumors and speculation by a gaming world thirsty
for new
meat.

style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Diablo
III

style="padding: 10px; float: right; width: 250px; text-align: center;"> href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/210354" target="_blank"> src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/210354/preview"
width="245">Diablo
III...so full of awesome it hurts. ( href="http://us.battle.net/d3/en/media/screenshots/#/1"
target="_blank">Source)

Diablo III. Need I really
say more? My gaming prediction for this
much anticipated game is that is
will be utterly, fantastically, and amazingly awesome. So awesome that
players who play it will literally poo balls of awesomeness afterwards.
Releasing in March of 2012 (no later than St. Patrick’s
Day),
Diablo III will draw players new and old from all over the spectrum and
the gaming world will surely unite in song. Think this is all a little
far fetched? That’s fine, but don’t say you
weren’t warned when you find sparkling balls of awesome in
your toilet come March.

style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">World
of Warcraft: Mists of
Pandaria

Mists of Pandaria, the
controversial next expansion for World of Warcraft, was pretty fleshed
out when we got the chance to view it for the first time at BlizzCon
2011. Basing my gaming prediction off of this theory I see us able to play on
the open beta by mid-year at the latest. However, the game will miss
the 2012 mark and will instead be slated for release in early 2013.
Open beta will convert more than a few players to the pro panda side
but players who have previously quit the game will still be reluctant
to come back. However, in the end the panda goodness will prevail and WoW will easily see their subscription numbers surge well past their previous record.

style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Same
Old, Same Old
style="padding: 10px; float: right; width: 250px; text-align: center;"> href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/210353" target="_blank"> src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/210353/preview"
width="245">Call
of Duty: Modern Warfare 102 because everybody loves blowing things up.

While predicting some aspects
of 2012 when it comes to games is quite difficult there are some things
you can count on for sure. There will be another Call of
Duty/Battlefield first person shooter type game and of course at least
one game revolving around the walking dead (aka…zombies).
Thousands of people love these types of games and they provide the
gaming companies with epic loot when it comes to money. No other
explanation is needed for this gaming prediction. Cheers to more of the
same in 2012.

style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Apocalypse
Postponed

Unless you’ve been
living under a rock somewhere, or perhaps just in your
mother’s basement (not that there is anything wrong with
that), you have probably heard that 2012 is it for us mortals. Thanks
to the handy dandy Mayan calendar we are slated for a quick and
probably painful extinction. Don’t go building that fall out
shelter just yet though. I predict that on January 1st 2012 we will all
still be here. No fiery destruction, no tidal waves, not even a few
zombies. I refuse to believe there will be an apocalypse of any sort,
as there are just way to many great games for me to try. Nevertheless I
propose that we take no chances and game harder than ever before, just
in case these last few days of 2011 are our last. So game on my
brothers and sisters, game on.

We here at Ten Ton Hammer want
to wish you a happy and prosperous New Year and ask you to share with
us your own thoughts (in the comments section below!) on my predictions
and what will be taking place in the gaming world in 2012. See you next
year (maybe)!


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Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

About The Author

Amunet, also fondly known as Memtron, is an organic life form best known for its ongoing obsession with Blizzard Entertainment's numerous properties. To that end, Amu has authored hundreds (thousands?) of the most popular World of Warcraft guides, editorials, and Top 10 lists on the planet. When not gaming and writing, Amu is busy chasing after her three children in a perpetual loop of ongoing disaster.

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