Endless choices for gamers this holiday season

For gamers, the dry season is over. The time leading up to just before Christmas is usually filled with triple-A titles and 2011 is no exception. In no particular order, the following games will be played on consoles across the globe this holiday season.

Rage, available for multiple systems is many years in the making and comes from the same stable as Doom and Quake. Id Software has created a startling version of our world, only one set years after a nuclear apocalypse. Rage is currently available.

For the Playstation 3, Insomniac Studios delivers Resistance 3, a first person shooter which builds lovingly upon the first two titles.

One title which has already sold over five million copies is Batman: Arkham City, the smash-hit sequel to Arkham Asylum. The player is Batman, the Dark Knight of Gotham and the streets become a playground of stealth fighting, dynamic missions and superlative graphics.

One of the biggest launches for both next-gen consoles belongs to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3. Both titles are set in real-world, fictional wartime locales with the emphasis on a strong storyline and potentially endless multiplayer. Of the two, Battlefield 3 in particular emphasis teamwork and exploration over “deathmatch” style online competitions.

Video game industry analyst Michael Pachter said that this gaming season will be the most crowded ever. “They are all going to make money, and this is the season to make money.”

“It is like going to a smorgasbord, and by the time you get to the dessert your plate is full. Everything is so good that people are going to fill up their plates by the time those later games get there… Those out first are the winners and the losers are the guys who come out last; it is not a quality issue.”

Pachter cannot predict any winners and ends by saying, “They are all going to be good”.