Hiding the Body in Dishonored

Due to a combination of circumstances that include ill-health and the fact that I never actually had the opportunity to fully play-through the video game Dishonored on my Xbox (I played it on PS3 when I did the review), and due to my curiosity about whether it would feel different on Xbox as opposed to PS3, I finally got around to playing Dishonored on my Xbox.

Being ill sucks.  That is not a gray-area issue.  Having a video game to play that you can really and truly immerse yourself in - and especially when that game has a good story line and interesting alternate play options - well, let me just say that when you are ill that sort of thing really can go a long way towards helping you get through your day.

The mask is about the story and the protagonist shifting from protector to avenger and assassin!

Gotta Hide the Body?

The way Dishonored is engineered, there are basically two ways you can play the game...

(1) As a stealth action-adventure title in which your primary goal is to be a literal ghost, not be seen at all, not set off any alarms, not kill anyone and not allow any of the bodies you incap to be discovered.

(2) Play it as a bloodbath adventure in which you go all out, killing everybody.

While it may seem like the latter would be the more difficult method, considering the huge number of enemies and potential targets in the game, it turns out that it is the former that is really the challenge.

I have a lot more respect for CIA wetwork agents now, particularly when I consider the potential issues that are associated with hiding bodies.

What I mean by that is that it is easy enough to not kill anyone - that is basically a choice you make - while it is slightly more difficult to not kill anyone AND not trigger any alarms or be seen not killing anyone, but not killing anyone while you are not seen not killing anyone and at the same time not setting off any alarms while AT THE SAME TIME finding places to hide the bodies so that none are discovered, well, that is hard.

I say it is hard EVEN while acknowledging the mechanism in the game that causes the previous bodies of the targets you have incapped past five to disappear (basically the game will only allow you to have five bodies in a zone at any one time, so each time you incap or kill a new one, the oldest body in your collection despawns).

Game play is surprisingly fluid and the game is largely bug-free.  But you expect that from Arkane.

Remember the Hitman Series?

The whole stealth action-adventure approach in Dishonored was not a real challenge until I reached the mission called "Return to the Tower" which was, let me tell you right now, a bitch.  Really really challenging.

In fact it was so challenging due to the random patrol pattern of non-combat NPC's who somehow kept stumbling upon incapped bodies and sounding alarms - even when those bodies were on the other side of walls, hidden in shadows - that I finally came to the realization that I was going to need to really hide the bodies well.

The solution I devised was to kill the pack of rats in the Torture Chamber after incapping the Wolfhound and Torturer, and then haul every body down there after I choked each out.  Granted there was never a huge stack of bodies due to the five-body limitation (in the Hitman games I would often end up with a HUGE stack of bodies), it was still close enough to the feeling that I used to get playing the Hitman games to give me pretty decent flashbacks to that series.

I should mention that I have always been a fan of the Hitman games - it being a game series that somehow took on a subject that IRL I would never go near, but due to the approach that was used in the game and its back story, really helped to define "entertainment" for that genre.

But getting back on the subject, if you happen to have played Dishonored AND you did the no-killing and no-alarms play through AND you managed to do the "Return to the Tower" mission without staking bodies in an out-of-the-way location, would you please email me and tell me how you did it?

I am particularly interested in hearing from you if you managed to do this level in full-on stealth mode by avoiding dealing with any (or very few) enemies.

Seriously, I couldn't figure out how to play that mission without clearing the enemies floor by floor, so it took me longer to complete that one mission than it did for me to do all of the previous missions combined.  Which was really odd when I thought about it later.

While the selection of enemy types is very narrow for this type of game and its genre, there is still plenty of challenge and variety to be found in Dishonored, which is one of only a handful of games to earn a perfect 10 out of 10 review score.

Achievements in Dishonored

One of the really cool aspects of the game was the collection of Achievements / Trophies that they devised for the game.

While the Achievements are not really divided into logical groups with respect to which set of goals you ended up choosing (either the no-kill / no-alarm approach, or the bloodbath approach) what I discovered was that they really do sort of split into three distinct groups: (1) the ones you will unlock during the no-kill / no-alarm play-through; (2) the ones you will unlock during the bloodbath style of play-through; and (3) the ones you had to go out of your way and do things you would not ordinarily do in order to unlock them sort.

Actually there is a 4th type but it does not really count, being as it is the small number that are part of the story and so will unlock no matter what method you chose to play...

If you are playing the game (or are contemplating playing and I really recommend you do play if you are looking for an immersive and fun stealth game that you can replay Rambo-style after you beat it all Ninja-Ghost style), I recommend the following Achievements / Trophies logical grouping:

Note: There are 70 Achievements worth a total of 1,420G for the Xbox 360 version of Dishonored, with 50 of them (worth 1000G) from the base game, and 20 (worth 420G) from the DLC.

Category I: Stealth Run Achievements

These include all of the Achievements that are unlocked as a natural consequence of playing through the stealth action play through.  There are 10 in total, worth 330G and when you add the 170G from the story-based automatic ones, you get a grand total of 500G, which appears to suggest based on the other numbers that the Stealth Play is really the intended method of play.

1. Clean Hands (100G) You completed the game without killing anyone
2. Faceless (20G) After escaping Coldridge Prison, you completed a mission without alerting anyone
3. Ghost (30G) You completed all missions after the prologue, alerting or killing no one but key targets
4. Just Dark Enough (50G) You completed the game in low chaos (S)
5. Poetic Justice (30G) You neutralized all key targets using indirect means (S)
6. Political Suicide (10G) You brought about the Lord Regent's fall from grace by broadcasting his crimes
7. Shadow (30G) You completed all missions after the prologue without alerting anyone
8. Specter (20G) After escaping prison, you completed a mission, not alerting anyone and killing less than 5 people
9. Surgical (30G) You played from the first mission through Kaldwin's Bridge killing fewer than 10 characters
10. Vanished (10G) You escaped prison and navigated the sewers undetected (S)

Category II: Bloodbath Run Achievements

These include all of the Achievements that are unlocked as a natural consequence of playing through the bloodbath (killing-action) play-through.  There are 4 in total, worth 80G and when you add the 170G from the story-based automatic ones, you get a grand total of 250G, which is like half of what you got on the Stealth play-through, and that appears to suggest that this is the secondary approach at least in terms of G, and maybe the fun-factor too?

1. Cleaner (10G) You fought 5 enemies at once and none of them survived 
2. Dunwall in Chaos (50G) You completed the game in high chaos (S) 
3. Razor Rain (10G) You killed 5 characters with Drop Assassination 
4. Rogue (10G) You assassinated 10 unaware enemies

Category III: Achievements you have to actively unlock

These are the ones you will need to actively work towards unlocked, which means in theory they are missable.  There are 28 in total, worth 420G.

1. Alive Without Breath (10G) You took possession of a fish (S)
2. An Unfortunate Accident (10G) You killed Morgan Pendleton with steam (S)
3. Art Dealer (50G) You collected all the Sokolov paintings
4. The Art of the Steal (10G) You got the Art Dealer's safe combination for Slackjaw, but robbed the safe first (S)
5. Back Home (10G) You grabbed a live grenade and threw it back, killing an attacker
6. Big Boy (20G) You killed a tallboy using only your sword
7. Bodyguard (10G) You protected Callista's uncle, Captain Geoff Curnow (S)
8. Creepy Crawly (10G) You used a rat tunnel (S)
9. The Escapist (10G) After Coldridge Prison, you eluded 5 pursuers at once without killing them or leaving the map
10. Food Chain (10G) You assassinated an assassin (S)
11. Gentleman Caller (10G) You completed all the Granny Rags side missions (S)
12. Harm's Way (10G) You caused 5 unintentional suicides
13. Hornets' Nest (20G) You killed 4 enemies in less than 1 second using the crossbow
14. Inhabitant (10G) You stayed in possession of others for most of a 3 minute period
15. King of the World (10G) You reached the top of Kaldwin's Bridge (S)
16. Lights Out (10G) You deactivated at least 5 security systems on Kingsparrow Island (S)
17. Manipulator (10G) You made others kill 5 of their own allies
18. Merchant of Disorder (20G) You acquired 15 equipment upgrades
19. Mercy is the Mark (10G) You spared Daud’s life (S)
20. Mostly Flesh and Steel (50G) You finished the game without purchasing any supernatural powers or enhancements, besides Blink
21. Speed of Darkness (10G) You traveled 30 meters in less than 1 second
22. Street Conspiracy (10G) You completed all the Slackjaw side missions (S)
23. Tempest (20G) You killed 6 enemies in less than 1 second
24. Thief (20G) You pickpocketed items worth a total of 200 coins
25. This Is Mine (10G) You recovered your belongings
26. Versatile (20G) You killed characters with each weapon and offensive gadget
27. Wall of Sparks (10G) You killed an enemy with the Wall of Light
28. Well Mannered (10G) You completed the Boyle Estate mission without spoiling the party (S)

Category IV: Automatic (Story-Based) and the like

These are basically automatic Achievements unlocked as a natural consequence of playing through the story, so they apply to both styles of play.  There are 8 in total, worth 170G.

1. Capturing Genius and Madness (10G) You abducted Anton Sokolov, Royal Physician
2. Child Care (10G) You located Lady Emily Kaldwin, heir to the throne
3. Dishonored (5G) You escaped Coldridge Prison
4. Excommunication (5G) You eliminated High Overseer Campbell
5. Long Live the Empress (10G) You saved Empress Emily Kaldwin (S)
6. Occultist (20G) You collected 10 bone charms
7. Regicide (10G) You assassinated the Lord Regent, Hiram Burrows
8. Resolution (100G) You completed the game

Category V: Optional DLC Achievements

These are unlocking inside the two DLC expansions for the game - note that to obtain these you will need to spend money (well, Microsoft Points on Xbox Live anyway).  If you did not pay for these, and then download them, you cannot unlock them!

1. Assassin Vs. Machine (15G) Complete Train Runner before the train arrives at the station*
2. By My Hand Alone (15G) Get to Wave 13 in Back Alley Brawl killing all combatants personally*
3. Cleaner Hands (40G) Complete The Knife of Dunwall without killing anyone**
4. Daredevil (15G) In Bonfires, perform all the special combination jumps in 1 round*
5. Headhunter (15G) Complete Assassin's Run with 100% accuracy using only head shots*
6. Just Business (15G) You got the information you needed from the Rothwild Slaughterhouse**
7. Long Way Down (15G) Perform a drop assassination of at least 150 meters in the Kill Cascade challenge*
8. Message from the Empress (10G) You performed a drop assassination from atop the Empress statue in The Knife of Dunwall** (S)
9. Missing Pieces (15G) You obtained Delilah Copperspoon's identity from Thalia Timsh** (S)
10. Mrs Pilsen's Remorse (30G) Find Emily's doll hidden in each of the 10 challenges*
11. Natural Talent (15G) Finish Mystery Foe without using any active supernatural powers*
12. No Regrets (35G) Complete The Knife of Dunwall in High Chaos**
13. Rare Collector (15G) Find all of the collectable figurines in Burglar on Expert*
14. Rats and Ashes (10G) Attach an arc mine to a rat, resulting in a kill**
15. Redemptive Path (35G) Complete The Knife of Dunwall in Low Chaos**
16. Stone Cold Heart (10G) You spoke with the statue of Delilah in Timsh's estate** (S)
17. Time Management (15G) Finish Chain Kill or Bend Time Massacre without failing any wave, including bonuses*
18. Void Star (50G) Complete all Normal and Expert challenges with a 3-Stars rating*
19. Well Connected (10G) Purchase all of the Favors in The Knife of Dunwall**
20. Whisper Ways (40G) Complete The Knife of Dunwall without alerting anyone**

(S) Secret Achievement.

* DLC: Dunwall City Trials (10 Achievements worth 200G)

** DLC: The Knife of Dunwall (10 Achievements worth 220G)

The image embedded above is from the Trials DLC - if there is any question in your mind as to whether paying for the DLC for this game is worth it, well, yeah, it is worth it.  Big time!

Hindsight is Not Always 20/20

My first exposure to Dishonored was a bit unusual in that unlike almost all of the other AAA titles for console that released in 2012/2013, for some reason I was not on the press release and PR list for it, so my first experience was at last year's E3 (2012).

After we sat through the presentation for Dishonored I remember thinking three things:

(1) It looks like a Steampunk approach to the stealth-shooter genre;

(2) It is being developed by Arkane, and they made the new Batman series, so it is going to be a well-built, graphically sound, and very impressive tight story;

(3) I am probably not going to like it.

So yeah, it very much is a steam-punk-influenced title, and yes indeed it was made by the same studio that made the new Batman series, which means it is very tight in the story, well built, and has very pleasing graphics as well as effective use of game mechanics (which is not always the case when a game combines traditional swords and sorcery with the shooter-fusion-genres).  Ah, but as far as number three is concerned, I got it wrong.

It turns out that I liked it a LOT.  Well, there you go - cannot be right all the time, right?

If you are interested, Dishonored was one of only a handful of games that actually earned a perfect score in its review - you can read my review of Dishonored here -  and I should note that in addition to scoring high, Dishonored also happens to be an economical game (due largely to its high replay potential and score) coming in at an average admission cost of just .74 cents an hour, which is really good for a modern shooter.  Just saying.

. . . the Life of a Modern Day Pokemon Master

Depending upon who you are speaking with, most adults who are not gamers do not think much of Pokemon if they think of them at all.   Although they know what Pokemon are and what a Pokemon Trainer is, more often than not they personally define the world in which Pokemon exist and the respective video games, animated television shows, and feature movies, as realms created exclusively for children in which adults do not belong.  

At least part of the reason for that rather harsh assessment may be due to the disconnection that exists for most adults between the person that they are now, and the person that they once were when they still understood the joys and vivid outlook that I believe is wasted upon children, who have it in such abundance that they can blithely ignore it.  I am not saying that kids do not deserve the gift of that almost magical point-of-view, I am just saying that adults could do with a bit of that themselves.

Recently I found myself in the position of having to explain to a disgruntled and suspicious security agent in the employ of the federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA) the presence of Pokemon video games, a vintage Pokemon electronic Pokedex, and a small notebook containing page-after-page of tiny hand-scribbled notes created by me that among other things included my observations on the locations in which I had encountered each Pokemon, and my assessment for the best tactics to be used in their capture.  In addition to that very useful information and notes of my observations was included a series of addendum that outlined what I thought was the best method for leveling and training each of a short list of core Pokemon whose type and natural abilities struck me as making them ideal members of a regular Pokemon tournament team.

This smiling and friendly TSA Agent was NOT the Agent who was inspecting me...

The occasion that brought the contents of my carry-on bag to the scrutiny and the attention of that TSA Agent was my annual trip to Los Angeles to cover the Electronic Entertainment Expo for the different publications that I write for.  I am sure that I do not have to tell you that E3 is perhaps the most important expo event in the industry and for most gamers, and while there is always plenty to see, think about, and write up, once your work day is over it helps a lot to have something unrelated to the job to use as a way to relax.  In my case these diversions took the form of a nice thick paperback mystery novel and my Nintendo DSi XL with a handful of Pokemon games and the aforementioned accessories and paraphernalia.

Approaching The Security Checkpoint at Boston Logan

One of the cool things about living in New England is that under normal circumstances the people who live there are a friendly and gregarious bunch who enjoy pleasing and being pleased by the strangers that they meet.  Well, normally that is the case, but it turns out that there is a small -- nay, tiny -- segment of the population that pretty much always feels angry and  suspicious towards the world: they call them Transportation Security Administration Agents.  

Imagine, if you can, approaching the security checkpoint between the public areas of the airport and the restricted area where the gates are located, and finding a vision straight out of Zombieland -- a long line of passengers being examined by a cadre of security agents, and to a person every single body occupying the security checkpoint have no emotional expression on their faces.  If there had been a few frowns or a smile or two to be had perhaps my impression of the situation would have been different -- but the total lack of emotion on all of the faces (including a few young children) was disturbing on a level that it is difficult to explain.

 These were not the planes that I flew to LA to cover E3 on...

When we approached the entrance to the checkpoint shoes came off, plastic bins were lined up, computers taken out of bags, and watchful eyes tracked the bin holding my day pack with my wallet and other valuables.  I found myself being directed to the side due to my power chair -- where I would be subjected to a hand-pat-down which I was not surprised by because I was expecting it -- but then something happened that I was not expecting: the TSA Agent picked up my day pack and then began to empty it, setting each item on the desktop.

When he got to my game case he opened that and thumbed through the games inside, glanced up at me and asked me why I had so many Pokemon games?  Like an idiot I made a joke out of it, and asked if that was part of the standard security screening -- and was informed that yes, it was.

He then asked me why I played kids games?  I thought about my answer -- how I could just as easily have replied that it was part of my job, that I had to review a lot of games, not just the ones that most people think of as appropriate for adults.  I could have said that they belonged to my son, who was traveling with me, and is perhaps young enough that he would have accepted that...   Instead I told him that I really liked the games.

His reaction to that declaration was to begin removing the games from the case and lining them up on the desktop.  Then he opened my Pokedex and turned it on, and asked what it was.  He did the same for the small notebook full of notes, asking a series of questions that were, as near as I could tell, was intended to be insulting. 

TSA Security moonlighting as the Head of Security for the Electric Company

I briefly flirted with the idea of offering him a cup of tea -- but clearly even the guards in Saffron City have nothing on this guy with respect to grimace -- and then it hit me...  

"I challenge you to a duel!" I screamed, slamming my Pokemon White cartridge down on the desk.

Just kidding...  What I did was smile and nod and refrain from saying what I really thought...  Celadon Mansion was clearly too far away from the security checkpoint, and I was not sure that tea from anywhere else would work as a bribe for security, and a fantasy involving his actually accepting the bribe flitted through my head, closely followed by one in which he pulled out his DS and he and I did battle -- I won of course -- and then I noticed he was putting everything back in my day pack.

"Have a pleasant trip" he said, and that was it.  I was through security and headed to the gate.

It's not easy being a Pokemon Trainer.

. . . The Gaming Season

In addition to being the periodical of recreational reading preferred by people whose interests include investing, finances, and business, Forbes Magazine fills a number of niche interests, from defining just what it means to be wealthy and who is, by those standards, wealthy...

It should not be much of a surprise that the subject of video games and gaming -- as well as gamers -- has slowly ninja'd its way into the magazine as, after all, the world of games and gaming easily fits into that special interest publication thanks to it applying among several subject headings -- from investment (a lot of game studios and some of the major game publishers are publicly- held companies) to recreation.

A lot of wealthy people (and people who would like to be wealthy) happen to be gamers -- I am not going to make hay on the notion that following the stock market and the process of investing in and speculating on stocks is often referred to by the participants as "playing the game" -- or the connection between competitiveness among gamers and that typically encountered in the world of investing and brokerages. Acknowledging it here should be sufficient to bring it to our attention.

In the Tech Section on the web-version of Forbes Magazine yesterday there is an article whose title is "Nike Says Video Games Like 2K Sports' NBA 2K12 Helps Sell Basketball Shoes" by games journo and contributing writer John Gaudiosi that, within the body, mentions the past performance in sales for the game and its expected sales, which have been severely impacted by the player strike in the NBA presently underway.

This is interesting largely because it demonstrates the relationship between what most people think of as regular seasons with the unique and completely unconnected Game Season, and specifically how the fiscal side of it relates to real-world events.

In the world of video games when a games journo references the 'season' they are not talking about the four divisions of the year (spring, summer, autumn, and winter) marked by particular weather patterns and daylight hours, or even the Financial Seasons that are typically defined as Financial Winters -- a period in which money is in low supply, Financial Springs -- a period in which there is money but its flow is reduced, Financial Summers -- a period in which the flow of money is increased, or Financial Falls -- a period during which cash flow and investments in a company tends to be increased.

The Gaming Season is defined as a standard 12-month period -- independent of the calendar year -- within which there are three distinct sub-seasons: The Holiday Season, Prime Season, and Summer Doldrums. Based upon their names you should be able to deduce with some accuracy the thematic score for this trio of sub-seasons, but to fully appreciate them it really is necessary to dedicate some effort in understanding -- and appreciating -- their unique natures.

Breaking Down the Sub-Seasons of Gaming

The first thing you should accept is that the gaming season violate the calendar, which we can loosely define as a typical year which runs from January through December, contains 52 weeks and any number of holidays, and is a logical way to define time, dates, and within it, seasons. The Gaming Season does not begin in January, it begins in September, with all of the events that take place prior to the magic date of September 1st being part of the previous Game Season.

We are presently in the 2011/2012 Game Season -- that is how we identify them by the way, using the two regular years in which they take place in order to indicate the package that we call the Game Season and that contains the aforementioned trio of sub-seasons.

The Gaming Sub-Seasons consist of:

• The Holiday Gaming Season
• The Prime Gaming Season
• The Summer Doldrums
  

The Holiday Gaming Season
September 01 thru December 24

As the name implies the first sub-season in gaming also comprises the first four months of the New Gaming Year, and is neatly divided into a pair of ranges, with the first half consisting mostly of games being released partly as a celebration of the end of the traditional final sub-season of the previous gaming year, and partly as a result of time -- more on that n a bit.

The second half of the Holiday Season is just what it sounds like: the period of time in which games that are being intentionally positioned for Christmas sales are released, and promoted.

A question of Time is what largely determined the designation of September as the kick-off point for the New Gaming Year. Several events occur in September of each year, starting with the wholly unofficial but still easily identified rebirth of the working year, the resumption of the education season (which incidentally shares a lot of common characteristics with the gaming seasons) and the cessation of the many elective activities that largely occupy the typical person's weekend leisure activities.

As the physical season winds down and Fall approaches, there is a perception that gamers have more time to play games, and that more than anything else is behind the designation of September as the star for the New Gaming Year.

Games that actually completed the development process in the first Quarter of the previous year have sat on the figurative shelves waiting for the new gaming year to begin so that they could make their way into the traditional starting point and, with luck and judgement of their merits, hopefully find there way into gamer hands, be the subject of much buzz, and claw their way through the cadre that makes up the short list for the competition for the title of Game of the Year.

Around mid-October the pre-release PR process begins for the games that have been held back for release with an eye on the Christmas shopping season emerge from their warm and safe cocoons, and the emphasis in presentation is largely geared towards appealing to the people who buy presents each Christmas (parents, grand parents, that sort of consumer) whose interest is largely limited towards comprehension of the potential value of a game as a gift -- and that translate roughly to convincing them that Junior or Sissy will really like this game!

Throughout this first sub-season there are sprinkled a handful of AAA titles that are cross-marketed to obtain the attention of the Xmas crowd (who we just discussed) and the gamers themselves, who naturally use a completely different criteria for judging the advisability of purchasing a game and, subsequently, receive a very different focus and pitch from the PR's.

That presents the basic picture for the first Sub-Season of the New Gaming Year and Season.

The Prime Gaming Season
January 01 thru May 31

This is the core of the gaming year -- and it is during this period that the major titles are released, as well as the games that the studios expect you to spend most of the Summer playing. Naturally the games that are targeted for release during the Prime Sub-Season tend to consist of the more complex and deeper (think large) games, and those that have a bigger-than-average online side to them.

The entire focus of PR efforts during this period is directed at gamers, not parents or grand parents, so there is a much more enthusiastic approach to the process.

These five months tend to be the period in which the major share of profits are obtained for the game studios and publishers, and it is during this period that most of the gamer poling takes place that will translate into DLC expansions in the next Game Year.

The Summer Doldrums
June 01 thru August 31

That unfortunate period in each year in which, typically, annual personal holidays take place and during which the majority of gamers have less time and pay less attention to gaming because there are a lot of other things that they do.

The less that is said about these three months the better.

Most gamers spend the Summer Doldrums catching up on the games that they own that they never finished for whatever reason.

---

Interrupt Driven

Web definitions:

Used to describe someone who moves through the a workday responding to a series of interruptions rather than the work goals originally set...

---

So welcome to the New Gaming Year!

As we progress into the hot-phase of the Holiday Sub-Season, you will be happy to learn that the 2011/2012 Gaming Year is shaping up to be a good one!

Here is what you can enjoy now, and what you have to look forward to for the 2011 Holiday Sub-Season:

• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marines (6 Sept) PC /PS3 / Xbox 360
• Dead Island (9 Sept) PC /PS3 / Xbox 360
• NHL 12 (13 Sept) PS3 / Xbox 360
• Resident Evil 4 HD (20 Sept) PS3 / Xbox 360
• F1 (23 Sept) PC /PS3 / Xbox 360
• FIFA 12 (27 Sept) PC / PS2 / PS3 / PSP / Xbox 360 / Wii
• Resident Evil Code: Veronica X HD (27 Sept) PS3 / Xbox 360
• NBA 2K12 (04 Oct) PC / PS2 / PS3 / PSP / Xbox 360 / Wii
• RAGE (04 Oct) PC /PS3 / Xbox 360
• Dead Rising 2: Off the Record (11 Oct) PC /PS3 / Xbox 360
• PES 2012 (14 Oct) PC /PS3 / Xbox 360
• Spider Man: Edge of Time (14 Sept) PC /PS3 / Xbox 360
• X-Men Destiny (14 Sept) PC /PS3 / Xbox 360
• The Sims 3: Pets (18 Oct) PC /PS3 / Xbox 360
• Batman: Arkham City (Oct 20) PC /PS3 / Xbox 360
• Battlefield 3 (Oct) PC /PS3 / Xbox 360
• NCIS (Oct 31) PC /PS3 / Xbox 360
• Puss in Boots (01 Nov) PS3 / Xbox 360 / Wii
• Call of Duty: MW3 (08 Nov) PC /PS3 / Xbox 360
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (11 Nov) PC /PS3 / Xbox 360
• Assassins Creed: Revelations (15 Nov) PC /PS3 / Xbox 360
• Saints Row: The Third (15 Nov) PC /PS3 / Xbox 360
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5 - 7 (18 Nov) PC /PS3 / Xbox 360 / Wii
• Need for Speed: The Run (18 Nov) PC /PS3 / Xbox 360
• WWE '12 (22 Nov) PC /PS3 / Xbox 360
• The Lord of the Rings: War in the North (25 Nov) PC /PS3 / Xbox 360

There are more of course, but the above is the highlight of the AAA titles that are set to rock your New Gaming Year.