It’s finally gaming’s slow season

I remember a time when gamers would have to dig deep for quality releases in spring. Now, publishers seem more than eager to unload blockbusters before their fiscal year ends. Even the months of April and May saw big releases as things led into E3 in June.

Finally, things have calmed down. The excitement of the Electronic Entertainment Expo is gone, the Summer Steam Sale is finished; our wallets can relax in peace for a month or two. It’s about damn time, because this break won’t last for long.

I’m not saying that I don’t want every month of the year to be filled with must-buy games, but it’s incredibly stressful on my wallet, especially since I’m big into both board games and Magic: the Gathering. My wallet knows no such thing as an “off-season.” This means that I’d be missing out on some pretty big releases, such as Tomb Raider. Now take my scenario and consider others in the same boat. Plenty of gamers are on tight budgets, and may only get to choose a handful of games to purchase throughout the year. While it’s disappointing to miss out on anticipated titles, it shows the strength of the industry today.

Inversely, there is plenty of good to come out of this scenario. For those that are on a renter’s plan via a GameFly or RedBox, it means their monthly subscription is always well spent. Sure, this might mean that some miss out on working through their back log, but that’s a pretty first world problem. Having too many games to play is never a bad thing.

Wait, did that last sentence just entirely invalidate this entire article? Crap, I think it did.

Enjoy the summer, folks, and catch up on your back log while you can… because