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October 2012
Dishonored and XCOM make October a strategy-and-systems month.
A period-context note for the month, written cautiously where the evidence is broader than one exact day.
release calendar card
Gaming History, One Month at a Time
GTM-2012-10
October 2012
October 2012: Dishonored and XCOM make October a strategy-and-systems month.
Wii UKickstarterJourneyTelltale
Timeline archive
Select a year
2012 month drawer
Installed months are active; empty drawers are held for future exhibits.
Gallery 01
News
Five researched month markers or context notes.
02
October 2012
Resident Evil 6 shows the strain of blockbuster expectations.
A period-context note for the month, written cautiously where the evidence is broader than one exact day.
platform notice
03
October 2012
Choice, tactics and fatigue all sit together.
A period-context note for the month, written cautiously where the evidence is broader than one exact day.
shop-window label
04
Across 2012
Kickstarter changes how players imagine funding and following games.
A year-level context marker included to frame the month without claiming a new event happened on a specific day.
community clipping
05
Across 2012
Wii U begins the next home-console cycle before Sony or Microsoft move.
A year-level context marker included to frame the month without claiming a new event happened on a specific day.
context plaque
Gallery 02
Releases
Eight notable releases, led by month-specific anchors where evidence supports them.
October 2012PC / PS3 / Xbox 360
immersive sim
Dishonored
Arkane turns assassination into a clockwork city of choices.
October 2012PC / PS3 / Xbox 360
strategy
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Firaxis makes tactical panic feel modern again.
February 2012PC / PS3 / Xbox 360
RPG
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
A bright RPG launches with big names and a complicated afterlife.
March 2012PC / PS3 / Xbox 360
RPG
Mass Effect 3
A trilogy ending turns player choice into a public argument.
March 2012PlayStation 3
adventure
Journey
Thatgamecompany makes online presence feel wordless and sacred.
April 2012PC / consoles / mobile
episodic adventure
The Walking Dead: Episode 1
Telltale makes episodic choice feel newly urgent.
May 2012Windows / Mac
action RPG
Diablo III
Blizzard turns a long wait into server queues and auction-house arguments.
August 2012PC / PS3 / Xbox 360 / Wii U
action RPG
Darksiders II
A generous action RPG arrives as mid-tier console games start to feel fragile.
Gallery 03
Hardware
Platform, buying and industry context for the month and its wider year.
PlayStation Vita launches in the West
Sony's handheld reaches Europe and North America into a market already changed by phones and 3DS recovery.
Wii U launches in the UK
Nintendo launches its tablet-controller home console in the UK and Europe on November 30.
Kickstarter becomes visible
Double Fine Adventure turns crowdfunding into a serious game-development story.
The old HD consoles remain dominant
PS3 and Xbox 360 still carry the year's biggest software despite Wii U's arrival.
Gallery 04
Magazine Covers
Reconstructed shelf markers for print, digital covers and late magazine culture.
2012
Edge
A reconstructed marker for 2012's changing console and digital culture.
2012
PC Gamer UK
A UK PC marker for 2012's downloads, mods, strategy and online habits.
2012
Official PlayStation Magazine UK
A PlayStation shelf marker for 2012's Sony hardware, exclusives and PSN context.
2012
Official Xbox Magazine UK
An Xbox shelf marker for 2012's Live, shooters, services and hardware arguments.
Gallery 05
Online Life
How the network felt around the edges of play.
Services and servers
Kickstarter makes players feel like patrons, backers and spectators of development.
Downloads and stores
The Walking Dead turns episodic release dates into emotional appointments.
Forums and feeds
Diablo III's always-online launch makes server access part of the launch story.
Everyday connection
Miiverse arrives with Wii U as a strange, handwritten social layer.
Gallery 06
What It Felt Like
A curator's narrative sketch of the month as lived culture.
01
The room
It felt like the industry was asking who got to make games and who got to pay for them.
02
The shelf
Kickstarter gave players a seat too close to the kitchen; thrilling, intimate and occasionally uncomfortable.
03
The conversation
Journey and The Walking Dead made small or episodic games feel emotionally central.
04
The afterimage
Wii U arrived as an idea people wanted to understand, but the old consoles kept shouting over it.