The hangover month has been full of horrific discoveries of holes in everyone's bank accounts as the holiday madness revealed its ugly consequences. Don't fret, though, the holes will get a whole lot bigger when you see what February has in store for the world of gaming.

Kicking things off are several sequels and spin-offs, such as S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat, Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth and Napoleon: Total War.

EverQuest II and FIFA 10 are getting expansions in the form of Sentinel and Ultimate Team, respectively.

Expanding to new platforms, Rome: Total War is being released for the Mac and Risen's horrible Xbox 360 version is finally coming to North America. Oh joy.

Working towards a whole new medium, Star Trek Online is yet another prospective new victim of the sci-fi MMORPG curse.

And starting a whole new franchise by defacing something very old, Dante's Inferno shows a lot of promise, and employs yet another Hollywood dissident – Will Rokos, the writer of Monster's Ball – to make sure it delivers.

Without further adue, the game releases of February, 2010:

Title: Star Trek Online
Platform(s): PC
Publisher(s): Atari
Developer(s): Cryptic Studios
Date: 2/2/2010
An MMORPG based on the popular sci-fi franchise by Gene Roddenberry.

Title: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
Platform(s): PC
Publisher(s): GSC World Publishing, bitComposer Games, Viva Media, Koch
Developer(s): GSC Game World
Date: 2/2/2010
Sequel to the highly acclaimed S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, Call of Pripyat is a survival FPS set in the same universe.

Title: Astro Boy
Platform(s): DS, PS2, PSP, Wii
Publisher(s): D3
Developer(s): Artoon (DS), High Voltage (PS2, PSP, Wii)
Date: 5/2/2010
Based on the CGI feature film of the same name, Astro Boy will allow players to become Astro Boy, a young boy robot with incredible powers. Yes, it's on the list again.

Title: Rome: Total War
Platform(s): Mac
Publisher(s): Feral Interactive
Developer(s): The Creative Assembly
Date: 5/2/2010
A critically acclaimed strategy game, combining turn-based strategy and real time tactics; finally being released on the Mac.

Title: Dante's Inferno
Platform(s): PS3, PSP, 360
Publisher(s): Electronic Arts
Developer(s): Visceral Games, Artificial Mind and Movement (PSP)
Notable Names: Will Rokos, Garry Schyman
Date: 9/2/2010
An action-packed 3PS that puts a gory spin on Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy.

Title: Battle of the Immortals
Platform(s): PC
Publisher(s): Perfect World Entertainment
Developer(s): Perfect World Beijing
Date: 10/2/2010 (Closed beta)
Battle of the Immortals is a 2.5D multiplayer game that incorporates eastern and western cultures ranging from Norse Mythology to the Qin Dynasty.

Title: Making History II: The War of the World
Platform(s): PC
Publisher(s): Mamba Games
Developer(s): Muzzy Lane
Date: 12/2/2010
Sequel to Making History: The Calm & The Storm, The War of the World is a grand strategy game much like its predecessor.

Title: Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth
Platform(s): DS
Publisher(s): Capcom, THQ
Developer(s): Capcom
Notable Names: Tsuyoshi Yamazaki, Noriyuki Iwadare
Date: 16/2/2010
A spin-off of the popular Ace Attorney series, Miles Edgeworth has already enjoyed a lot of popularity in Japan.

Title: EverQuest II: Sentinel
Platform(s): PC
Publisher(s): Sony Online Entertainment
Developer(s): Sony Online Entertainment
Date: 16/2/2010
A long anticipated expansion to the popular MMORPG.

Title: Family Party: 30 Great Games Winter Fun
Platform(s): Wii
Publisher(s): D3
Developer(s): Tamsoft Corporation
Date: 19/2/2010
As the title suggest, this is a megapack of 30 winter games, full of wintery fun in the winter.

Title: UK Truck Simulator
Platform(s): PC
Publisher(s): Excalibur
Developer(s): SCS Software
Date: 19/2/2010
Successor to the Euro Truck Simulator, truck simulation fans can now hit the road in the UK.

Title: Endless Ocean 2: Adventures of the Deep
Platform(s): Wii
Publisher(s): Nintendo
Developer(s): Arika
Date: 22/2/2010
A scuba diving adventure game, complete with a plot and underwater action.

Title: Napoleon: Total War
Platform(s): PC
Publisher(s): Sega
Developer(s): The Creative Assembly
Notable Names: Stéphane Cornicard
Date: 23/2/2010
The latest iteration in the Total War series, promising to expand upon its predecessors' glory.

Title: Adventures To Go
Platform(s): PSP
Publisher(s): Zushi
Developer(s): Natsume
Date: 2/2010
A supposedly hilarious and innovative strategy RPG where you can design your own dungeons.

Title: City Builder
Platform(s): Wii
Publisher(s): Virtual Play
Developer(s): Collision Studios
Date: 2/2010
A puzzle game full of pipe-connecting and conurbation-constructing.

Title: Dawn of Heroes
Platform(s): DS
Publisher(s): Wicked Studios
Developer(s): Majesco
Date: 2/2010
Dawn of Heroes features all the classic RPG elements such as character development, epic combat, quests and puzzle solving, yet promises to be completely different. Go figure.

Title: FIFA 10 Ultimate Team
Platform(s): PS3, 360
Publisher(s): EA Sports
Developer(s): EA Canada
Date: 2/2010
Like the previous version in FIFA 09, this add-on allows for the creation of a custom team based on the collection of various types of cards.

Title: KillSkill
Platform(s): PC
Publisher(s): Playnatic
Developer(s): HBM
Date: 2/2010
Advertising itself as a MMO3PS with RPG elements, KillSkill is an action-packed free-to-play MMOG.

Title: M.U.D. TV
Platform(s): PC
Publisher(s): Kalypso Media
Developer(s): Realmforge Studios
Date: 2/2010
A business simulation game, where players can run their own TV stations.

Title: Risen
Platform(s): 360
Publisher(s): Deep Silver
Developer(s): Piranha Bytes
Date: 2/2010
A fantasy-themed single player action RPG. It's banned in Australia, so you know it's good. The drastically inferior Xbox 360 version is finally being released in North America; do yourself a favor and get the PC version instead.

Title: The Daring Game for Girls
Platform(s): DS, Wii
Publisher(s): Majesco
Developer(s): WXP
Date: 2/2010
An entertaining and informative adventure that lets players virtually experience activities straight from the popular book The Daring Book for Girls.

 

 

Predicted GOTM Winner

The world of Napoleon was always full of surprises, and was one of the most unpredictable times in history . The Total War series has always been filled with surprises as well, but its been extremely predictable, giving strategy gamers an experience that worked well on both tactical and strategic levels.

Napoleon: Total War promises to be one of the strongest Total War titles in history. The series, which started in Japan during the clan wars of the 1600s, now takes a shot in the world of Europe. Command armies filled with soldiers from different nations. Take charge with the Austrian Guard or French Cannon. Will you be Napoleon and take Spain early? Risk the Russian excursion and change history? Perhaps you change the ineptitude of the Prussian army and stop Napoleon there? There are plenty of ways to try to tackle Europe.

What ever you do, you can expect plenty of surprises, regardless of what side you pick.

Generic disclaimer: The information contained within this article may be – and probably is – incorrect, incomplete and subject to change. Everything you read here, including any supposed facts, is completely and utterly subjective; except for the prediction, we called a psychic hotline. 
Note that the listed release dates correspond to North America and may vary in your geographical location.
The Gamer Studio is not liable for the wholeness and correctness of this list, nor for hurt feelings of people not mentioned in the 'Notable Names' sections, nor for the tears of fanboys whose beloved game wasn't mentioned in the preface or even on the list, nor for any damage received, dealt or spontaneously occurred as a result of this article, whether it's financial, physical, mental or otherwise. (Pics or it didn't happen)
Read at your own peril, you've been warned. Unless you're one of those weird people, who don't scroll down to the end of the article to read the disclaimer first, that is.

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