2009 is coming to its close and while it’s been a great year for gaming, we couldn’t welcome 2010 with wider arms. Although 2009 was great, it’s all in the past so we’re going to say “fuck it” and look forward to what’s coming at the start of the next decade.

2010. Wow it looks exciting. Thinking about the year kind of makes me feel like I’m watching a movie preview. “Are you ready!?” says the guy who always voices over movie previews. “Next year, you’re in for the ride of your (gaming) life. Underwater. Above ground. Wherever. You can’t get away from the madness.”

Okay, let’s stop. Serious mode.

Honestly, I don’t know what I’m going to do next year. I’m still working on completing Assassin’s Creed II and Bayonetta hits stores on Monday. The fact that I’m in Philadelphia for the holiday’s doesn’t help either considering my game consoles are back in New York. Luckily for me, there’s a considerable break between the next game release, which is Mass Effect 2 on January 26th. Then there’s the debate of whether or not I’m getting MAG, which also comes out on the 26th.

Then there’s this dilemma.

White Knight Chronicles is right around the corner from both of those on February 2nd. The pain my wallet must be foreseeing. There’s more, though. BioShock 2 and Star Ocean: The Last Hope International follow a week later on the 9th. Then Heavy Rain on the 16th.

Are they intentionally throwing these AAA games at us all at once? Do they want us to suffer like this? I guess technically we’re not suffering, since we’re getting all these great games, but where in the world will we get the time to play them all? Afford them all?

Splinter Cell: Conviction is the 23rd. Bad Company 2 is March 2nd, Final Fantasy XIII the 9th, Metro 2033 the 16th, Quantum Theory the 30th, and Yakuza 3 and God of War III that same month.

You would think that’s the end to your nightmares, which doesn’t really help in this economy. No. There’s more. A shitload more.

In the months following, Super Street Fighter IV, Alan Wake, Backbreaker, Red Dead Redemption, Split/Second, Crackdown 2, Mafia II, Skate 3, 3D Dot Game Heroes, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Nier, Fallout New Vegas, ModNation Racers, Alpha Protocol, Dead Rising 2, Final Fantasy XIV, Halo: Reach, Arkham Asylum 2, Brink, True Crime, Medal of Honor, and The Last Guardian are all to come. Don’t forget the announcements of games next year that will arrive in stores that same year.

It looks like 2010 will truly be one of the biggest years in gaming. How all these big games are just piled on top of each other is above my knowledge. What I do know is that they’re coming. We can’t really do anything to stop them, only to embrace them with open arms. Or else, they’ll kill us on the inside, knowing they’re out there and we don’t have them.

2010 is actually a significant year, not just for games, but for a certain type of game. That’s the role-playing game. While this generation has seen a lack of such games, with the majority on Xbox 360 as of yet, 2010 really brings on what seems to be a re-entry of the genre. There looks to be an RPG for every type of person as well. 3D Dot Game Heroes for the old-school action RPG lover, Final Fantasy XIII for every RPG lover, White Knight Chronicles for the modern action RPG lover, Resonance of Fate for the new-school RPG lover, and more of course.

I really expect 2010 to bring not only a huge slew of games, but big changes regarding firmwares on both game consoles. I expect even the Wii (which we don’t cover) will get a significant boost via firmware. PlayStation Network looks to finally be getting cross-game voice chat, along with a new premium subscription. Xbox LIVE I expect will continue to add third-party services, because honestly, LIVE is already pretty amazing as it is.

Regarding other things, Nomura will announce a new game that fans have been dying for (Final Fantasy VII remake, please?), Final Fantasy Versus XIII will hopefully be dated, motion control will finally be introduced to PS3 and 360 — succeeding, we hope — and I’ll finally cover E3 straight from the show floor (I hope – gotta gather funds).

It’s a promising year and it’s only a couple of days away. Press start.