2010. January is Murder!

-Bayonetta: Jan 05 2010
-Dark Void: Jan 12 2010
-Mass Effect 2:  Jan 26 2010

Total Cost = $180.00

In the past, December and January have been video game dead zones. Those were the days when you would play catch up and finish all the games you got for Christmas. It was the best time of the year to jump into a long RPG or do some much needed achievement hunting.

Now, the first month of the year is made of my most anticipated games of 2010.

Why did this happen?

The short answer: Cowardice, Capcom and Dragon Age.

Giant boot made of hair...check! Image from Giantbomb.com

Cowardice - Bayonetta was going to be an October release. However, it jumped ship in America to avoid being eaten alive by Halo 3: ODST and Modern Warfare 2. I think that Brutal Legend and Borderlands benefited from this move. Personally, I never thought it should have jumped ship and can't wait to play a crazier sexy version of Devil May Cry.

All this game needs is Timothy Dalton. Image from Giantbomb.com

Capcom - Dark Void needs to come out so I can make my mind up about Capcom. In 2009, they gave use the amazing RE5, the corrupt SFIV and the war crime that was Bionic Commando. Dark Void was pushed back to 2010 out of fear, changes to gameplay and Capcom desire to control Q1. Everything I have seen about Dark Void has looked awesome, but so did Bionic Commando.

Awesome. Image from Giantbomb.com

Dragon Age - I think Mass Effect 2 is complete and is just waiting for Dragon Age to cool down. Mass Effect 2 has a very good chance of stealing game of year before the end of January. I can't wait.

Sorry about the song, but I have heard that you can get rid of an illness by spreading it. You may want to listen to "It's a Small World" or "The Duck Tales Theme" if you want to replace what is in your head.

Anyway,  that song was talking about Defense of the Ancients (DotA), a Warcraft III mod that everyone but me has been playing for the past 5 years. From what I can tell, DotA is team based multiplayer arena game where you play as a hero trying to wipe out the other teams base. You level up by killing other heroes and taking out small computer controlled characters. It is a microcosm of everything that was awesome about the main game of Warcraft III.

Sounds like a good time.

However, I am 5 years late to the party and have no desire to be beaten to death repeatedly by Europeans who play this game while writing catchy pop songs.

The good news is that corporate America has been moving at my pace had has recently created a new market for DotA games.

Where should I go?

1. Demi God
     I ignored this game when it came out a few months ago. It had a poor launch thanks to the combined efforts of pirates and Gamestop. I also have this sick feeling that no one is stilling playing this game.
     However, this is the best looking version of DotA .

2. League of Legends
     This is a free game created by the dude that started this madness. There is a good chance that I will give this game a go.
     It came out on October 27. It is free online or you can buy a boxed copy that has more content.

3. Heroes of Newerth
     This game looks awesome. From what I have seen, this looks like the most refined out of the 3. Unfortunately, it sounds like all the big DotA players are heading to this title and they freak me.
     I really don't want to be digitally beaten to death with a keytar. I hope there will be a demo.

?. The Valve Game
     No real data on this game. All we know right now is that the makers of money, pretentiousness and undeserved praise bought the current guy that was running DotA. There is a good chance that this game will not be the most fun to play, but it will be the highest scored and reviewed. Pre-Order on Steam as soon as you can!