...including a few that we'd almost given up on seeing by now!

10. Warioware DIY
Release Date: April 30^th

There are so many DS’s either flying out of Nintendo or about to that it’s hard to take much notice of the actual games being released. Apart from the buckets-o-awesome that are the remakes of Pokémon Gold and Silver there’s not much else of note this year. Not that it matters; the console will still quite happily sell quicker than shitty crime novels at a boot fair. Warioware DIY comes packaged with enough mini game madness to justify the price but the DIY part of the title is the biggest draw. Players can now create their own games using the touch screen and the ability to share these makes the gameplay pretty much endless. Should be a must buy for any DS owner.

9. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Release Date: TBC

I’m not a fan of World of Warcraft but I’d be fool not to mention Cataclysm in this list. Arguably the year’s biggest title it’s going to change that crazy game forever, altering the entire map and delivering more content than any expansion before it. In fact it’s less of an expansion and closer to a fully-fledged sequel. Expect this to be one of the year’s biggest sellers.

8. Gran Turismo 5
Release Date: October

This game was announced a very long time ago. To put that into perspective for you, back then Sony were taken seriously, Robert Downey Jr barely had a career and Wispa bars were a distant fond memory. A lot can change in an eternity, but apparently the game’s popularity hasn’t, and it's sure to enjoy success - assuming it makes the planned October release. After so long though, people will demand perfection, and for once they wouldn’t be wrong to do so. The World Rally Championship and Nascar are going to be in GT5, adding to an already stacked list of content. It’s going to be one massive game.

7. Alan Wake
Release Date: May 14^th

Another game that’s been long in development with an unbelievable weight of expectation to burden. The pitch is Twin Peaks: The Game, a prospect that certainly has a fair few people drooling over it. Footage shown so far has been impressive, but how the final product will shape up isn’t quite clear yet, and Wake doesn’t have the gravitas of past games to help it, like a certain long-standing series you at number 8 on this list. I can guarantee however, that there isn’t an Xbox-owning soul out there that isn’t hoping for and expecting greatness from the team behind Max Payne.

6. Metroid: Other M
Release Date: October

The Metroid series has already undergone one major revamp in its lifespan and it was a huge success, so with side scrolling and first person perspectives wrapped up, Nintendo look to Team Ninja of Ninja Gaiden fame to revitalise the series. There’s going to be a greater focus on story, and by the looks of things action, in the new game. It’s a welcome change that fits the series quite well and it seems a natural progression, especially with modern games being so much more story-driven than ever before. Arguments over the visuals erupted across the interwebs after a wave of screenshots but in motion the game silenced a few critics. Hopefully, come October, the actual game will silence a few more.

5. New Zelda
Release Date: TBC

We know nothing about this game that hasn’t been deduced by the legion of nerds that went over every inch of last year’s teaser poster. The conclusion many have come to is that the little blue gal is the Master Sword in some way and it certainly fits, but for any nailed-down information, we’ll have to wait until summer, when Nintendo might well throw a curve ball and release something entirely different from the poster we’ve seen. I certainly wouldn’t put it past them. Regardless though, the series never disappoints and hopefully Link’s next adventure will finish off a marvellous 2010 line-up of Wii games later this year.

4. Halo Reach
Release Date: October

Halo. Halo, Halo, Halo. I have an odd relationship with the series. I never owned the original, I only had a fleeting experience with the second and the third was bought for multiplayer alone off the strength of its beta. It was a solid single player game, no doubt about it but there was something hollow about it. Multiplayer was and probably always will be the heart and soul of the series and Reach looks to be no different. However this is series creator Bungie’s last Halo game, and all the stops are being pulled out. Currently it sits among the highest tier of visually-stunning games, with a whole new engine powering the planet-wide battle that forms the prequel. It’s apt that the series (for Bungie at least) will end where it all began, and there’s no doubt from me that they will deliver something unforgettable. Just a little prediction though: Master Chief will return in some form.

3. Red Dead Redemption
Release Date: May 21^st

Rockstar have a style and confidence unmatched in the industry. They handle adult games and material with a swagger and sense of humour some studios will never successfully imitate, as hard as they may try. Red Dead Redemption is the open world follow-on to the last generation title Red Dead Revolver, a unique shooter that quickly acquired a cult following. There won’t be a pre-existing cult following for this game, though it’s going to be a success and the review scores are expected to be high. It’ll take a lot to top Mass Effect 2 for my Game of the Year but and outside favourite to the following favourites would certainly be this. Will Rockstar deliver or will it leave gamers as empty as the wastelands it's set in? Yeah, probably the first one.

2. Super Mario Galaxy 2
Release Date: June

Nintendo seldom make direct sequels, especially ones with numbers at the end. You’d have to go back to the original 2D Mario games for that. When it’s the sequel to one of the greatest games ever created though it’s easy to forgive, then they go and throw Yoshi in it and I once again become Nintendo’s bitch. Expect more exquisite level design, more boundless energy and more fun than you can shake a Wiimote at! It should be a legal obligation to play these games. Put that into your manifesto political types and you’re guaranteed my vote. Except you, Labour.

1. The Last Guardian
Release Date: TBC

All Team Ico had to do to kick start the hype machine for the third game in their gorgeous trilogy was release an image of a chain going into a hole. Doesn’t sound like much does it? And, well, it wasn’t; but it still had many people’s pants tightening across internetville. Reactions to the first footage shown last year was either “Wow”, “Awwww”, “Looks gay”, “O_O” or a mixture of those. It was a truly astonishing trailer and admittedly I was one of the many people going gaga over it last summer, championing it as the saviour of the Playstation 3 and the best thing since sliced Jesus. The two previous games in the series were related only in tone and looks, not in story, but the themes of those two classics (which will hopefully be released over PSN for a whole new audience to find) will find their way into The Last Guardian. And if the emotions run as high as in those two games, we’re in for something truly special.

IF YOU ENJOYED THIS ARTICLE, PLEASE HELP SUPPORT OUR SITE, AT NO COST WITH ONE CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK 'LIKE' BUTTON BELOW: