For the best parts of gaming history for 2018 would be

The Division 2
Pokemon Lets Go
Themed Console Releases
Amazing Spiderman Game
Ultimate Alliance 3 announcement
E3 2018
PAX 2018
EA/DICE Summit 2018
Microsoft announcing its acquisitions for various studios
Release of two movies based on games Tomb Raider and Rampage
Amazing release of 2983 games
Bethesda being owned by the fans for scamming a half baked release
Replacing a unfit product without an explanation
Issuing players with a very bad apology gift for the trouble
Announcement that they will send out the actual canvas bag.
Nintendo and Pokemon Company announcing a film based on a game they made called Detective Pikachu "Pika Pika"
MadCatz company being saved at the last minute
Yuji Naka announcing joining Square Enix
Major Gaming companies acquiring other development studios.

Definitely Crash Team Racing announcement. It was among the first games I played in my PS1 and I have spent an unhealthy amount of time in it. It's still the best Kart Racing game ever made.

Doom eternal announcement

New Elder Scrolls game in the works.

Spyro reignited trilogy finally coming out even tho we knew about it for months before anouncment, Crash racing, and red dead 2 sticking to it's release date without more delays.

Sunset overdrive pc rumours then sudden release if that counts

Probably Microsoft showing a clear intent of putting their focus back on core-gaming, by buying a bunch of studios, and the news that the talented Forza Horizon studio is working on a non-racing title (probably a new Fable).

It's no secret Microsoft lost its way halfway through the 360's lifespan, and Sony seized that opportunity at the end of last gen, and certainly coming into current gen. MS made a whole bunch of terrible decisions, like wanting to force-feed Kinect through everyone's throat, as well as multiple anti-consumer implementations which luckily were reversed after the huge criticism it received.

They released the original XBO with less powerful hardware, and as a surprise to no-one, many gamers shrugged and simply stayed, or went to, the Playstation side of gaming.

Microsoft first fixed their hardware problem with the absolutely excellent XBO X, and 2018 was all about showing a clear intent to put their focus on 1 thing: Gaming. So that's been an extremely positive and promising development, cause as gamers, we all benefit from multiple strong platforms that compete with each other.

I'm certainly not saying Microsoft is back yet. None of these games are out yet, and often we don't even have a clue yet about what they're working on. They've shown a teaser for a new Halo and there was a bunch of Gears stuff, but that's not the kinda output that's going to win them any NEW fans. Personally, I'm not much of a shooter fan so those titles mean very little to me.

But I have high hopes for the future, because they realise and acknowledge where they have fallen short these past couple of years, and they seem intent on righting those wrongs.

So yeah, Microsoft's potential for coming back into the game, in 2019 & beyond.

Edit: That was my industry news highlight for 2018. On a personal level, there were a few highlights that made my day(s):
- Mark of the Ninja Remastered, free for those who already bought it last gen.
- Winning the Day 2 challenge/contest here on N4G, of course.
- Receiving Ni No Kuni 2 for free earlier this year because of a local e-tailer compensating for a pre-order mistake they made.

Finally hearing the release date for Kingdom Hearts 3. "It's been 84 years" is kinda how it felt when I saw that announcement. Even though I knew it was in development, and we had a few trailers and screenshots, I was so happy when they finally settled on a release date.

Everything regarding Devil May Cry V. DMC is one of my favorite franchises ever and to see it return better than it’s ever been feels like a dream tbh.

Yuji Naka joining Square Enix. Looking forward to seeing what he's been up to.

You know that is the hardest question yet, so much good gaming news and games came out this year but for me the highlight was back in March when Super Smash Bros was feasted. It was one of those days when I was excited to be a gamer and I have not stopped playing it since it came out.

Cyberpunk 2077 releasing on current gen hardware. I've made the decision that I will not be buying a next gen console at launch. I refuse to double dip and I want the most powerful option available so I will wait a couple years to see each platform's plans for mid gen refreshes. Knowing that I can play this game this generation was the best bit of news this year.

I'm going with a game announcement myself and day the Resident Evil 2 remake. I always wanted it and didn't even expect the level they went to

Mine would be Dreams beta release announcement which has bought back find memories with one of MM's past games

LBP has been a special game in my heart, spent so many hours on this with a best friend creating alot of stuff. He is no longer with me now but the creations we made still exist to this today. Having seen MM creating a lbp level a while back literally almost destroyed me =(

Now with Dreams, a much more powerful creation tool. I look forward to re creating some of our past creations and also something new

Judgment getting announced for the west the same day it was announced for Japan, It's really exciting as a fan of yakuza to see the series has become popular enough in the west that Sega was willing to confirm localization has the game was announced.

Getting a release date for Kingdom Hearts 3!

Spyro reignited trilogy release this year. We knew about it for so long before they announced. Ithought to myself yesssss finally. Also red dead 2 kept it's release date this time.

God of war winning goty at the game awards. Was so happy too see SSM recognized.

The best bit of gaming news for me was the crash of crypto-mining. For anyone wanting to upgrade to a better graphics card throughout most of 2018, the mining craze was nothing short of the apocalypse with prices skyrocketing to lunatic extremes.

Gaming Industry reaching $135(134.9) billion this year. Gaming just keeps growing, and that's great to see.

The Crash Team Racing annoucement! I have waited sooo long for this!!!

KH3 mos important release for whole next year except if death stranding released.

Announcement of Sekiro. From Software souls type game but channeling some Tenchu vibes. Seems like my cup of tea.

Microsoft fixing their mistake and lacking of good exclusives. Competition is necessary for Sony to thrive and provide their best without getting over their head. This gen Sony didnt have much of competition.

I have two different ones. Gamepass announced in January that frist party titles would launch same day. I'm interested to see how this all plays out next gen between Sony and MS.......Second, I'm always a sucker for news on next gen consoles. So all the little tidbits about both systems sporting a much more powerful CPU (crossing fingers). Would impact things like AI, Physic and the like. An area that consoles have always lacked and I feel has held gaming back. Excited to see how it all plays out...peace

For me, it'd have to be Kingdom Hearts III has gone gold and impressions are great from outlets whose played.

The news that GOW got extremely good to almost perfect reviews, and the video of Cory Barlog crying because of how the good the reviews really made my year. To see someone so passionate in their product makes me believe that the game industry still has companies that emphasises on quality rather than quantity.

From MS E3, Scarlet being worked on by Xbox X team.

Shadows Die Twice and the Last of US 2 (Joel is alive!)

Onimusha remaster, that topped it for me.

Congrats to The 10th Rider (the previous 9 were already taken)!

Hmmm...I'm thinking of combining a theme rather than a singular event. From Ninja Theory's continued mental health charity promises for reaching x amount of sales, Xbox Adaptive Controller, and various gaming streams, you literally see a push from all corners of gaming to tackle physical & mental handicaps affecting so many worldwide. Granted, some of these are tied to selling products, but I think the emphasis and attention has been worth noting.

RDR2 releases to thunderous applause, kinda? Been waiting so long.

I was happy to see Xbox and the deals they have made with developers this past year. Obsidian, Ninja Theory, Playground Games, and Undead Labs to name a few. They will probably never admit to their dropping the ball with exclusives this generation, but I think they recognize their faults and are taking steps to rectify that. It shows that they are serious about putting out games for their gamers. I enjoy playing on all systems and don't confine myself to a single platform. Having exclusives and inspiring competition between the companies is healthy and we as gamers benefit with companies pushing better games, better hardware, and innovations all striving for our hard earned money.

Seeing RE2 finally revealed at E3, and looking amazing. Capcom were so quiet on that game for so long, but boy oh boy was it worth the wait.

that God of War won GOTY, got really good results and was almost flawless game.
PS5 coming together nicely, people calling it a monster of the console.
Granblue Fantasy Relink and YS 9 news.
Days Gone coming in April.
Metro is gold.
Cyberpunk coming in 2019.
a lot of news coming in 2019 about sony

First medievil ps4 gameplay, what a joy <3
i'm so exited by it that i put medievil as my profile pic

The confirmation of Dragon Age 4 being in development. I'm still so excited!

Lootboxes being made illegal in some countries. Ir's a start to stop the horrible trend of microtransaction led gaming.

The gameplay reveal of Cyberpunk 2077. I still watch it from start to end from time to time.

A new Animal Crossing has been confirmed for 2019.

Panic Button and their Switch port superiority. puts other devs on notice

Probably that the Switch is continuing to do well. I think it's better for the industry to have all 3 major console makers doing well and being competitive. Plus, it's good news in a selfish sense for me as this means there should be strong support for it from other developers.

The new DmC game

MS seemingly getting on a better path

Seeing that the rumored Starfield was true.

This is going to be unpopular, but when Telltale went down I was just thinking: "Finally!" You can't run a gaming company that way, mindlessly expanding, cranking out stuff and looking for a big pay day. That's how startup companies roll: high risk, high reward. The Telltale Tool was stagnating and they were in dire need to reinvent themselves.

That aside, I'm looking forward to the Crash Team Racing remake and Kingdom Hearts 3. Both long awaited. Still not sure about whether the Final Fantasy 7 remake is coming next year or not.

Death Stranding will be releasing 2019, way sooner than I thought! So looking forward to this experience.
Hoping for a Vamp cameo somehow!

TLOU 2 gameplay presentation.I find myself rewatching this video all the time.I hope it lives up to its hype

Devil May Cry 5 with Real Dante

Probably Dragon Age 4 and hearing that Borderlands 3 is coming. Really looking forward to those games.

Final fantasy games for nintendo switch. I know they are ports but it is first tome that ff 3d games coming on nintendo home console. Big news for me!

That Medievil remake will hopefully be solid. CTR will also be nice, assuming it fits on one disc. Resident Evil 2 also has me stoked. Why am I obsessed with remakes?

The addition of 7 studios to MS portfolio is great to see that they are investing in xbox.

And sony finally allowing crossplay so my kid and some of his friends that didn’t have xbox can all play together on Fortnite as that is all they wanna play and talk about now

Big news would be MS purchasing studios, Sony relinquishing some control over cross play with Fortnite (which hopefully leads to more games including that functionality retroactively). Ghosts of Tsushima gameplay, new TLoU 2 demo, new Cuphead content, and Sekiro gameplay was all great news as well.

Shenmue 1 and 2 re-release being announced. It's something the fans have wanted for so long and was the only remaster / re-release I desperately wanted.

Best News for 2018 was Bethesda's --Fallout 76-- and DICE's --Battlefield V-- game sales tanking and being owned by the fans for scamming and DICE for making half baked comments before the release about women in games and if you don't like don't buy it, it was like score one for the gamer finally...

-Because for a second there, it was like these companies got so big, they forget that the people your pissing off and treating like dirt, like you can say whatever you want to them, are the ones who actually buy the games, and that maybe you got so greedy and money hungry you forgot about the part where you were suppose to make a really good game first / before you start trying to dig into the pockets of gamers

So hats off to the game companies that understood that and stayed laser focus on just making an amazing game - God Of War - I see you, Spiderman - I see you... Red Dead Redemption 2 - we see you, GT Sport - I see you, Shadow of the Colossus -- can't forget you... Assassin Creed Odyssey - But of course, You shall all be rewarded with epic game sales...

--We the Gamers have spoken--

Seeing RE2 Remake for the first time! After years of rumors and waiting for actual news, it was a joy to see it for the first time. Everyting I've seen since then has only made my anticipation grow!

Also seeing more Death Stranding, TLOU2 and Ghosts was very welcome! Along with the warm reception God of War received made my day! It's a masterpiece and deserves to be played and enjoyed! Spider-Man also seeing similar success was great and also was a huge financial success! Hearing the Forest was coming to PS4 got me pretty.

I can't wait to see what's in store in 2019 and beyond!

Microsoft announcing their studio acquisitions, raises the competetive level a notch across the bar (meaning for Sony, this’ll help them not getting lazy, from their huge lead this gen, and keep them on their toes).

The last of us 2 being announced

Oh yeah, i think that your example of obsidian its perfect. Obsidian its full of talented writers and developers. If Microsoft dont interfere with them, they could probably do better stuff that bw and beth!

Reveal of Sekiro: Shadows die twice for me was the best news of 2018 imo. Even though i would have loved a bloodborne 2 i can't help but get excited for everything from "From Software". DS series is my fav of all time and hearing that it's coming next year made me so happy!

Xbox getting back into the thick of gaming.

Happy that M2 ShotTriggers will be bringing back the Aleste franchise and also ESP Ra.De.

Death stranding release in march 2019.

Luigi's Mansion 3 reveal just pumped me up. I am super excited for all the games to drop in 2019 but the charm of that spooky adventure is just the best. Also, that Oddworld isn't dead and SOULSTORM is still coming.

So glad for Sega's revival of their classic games: Virtual on, Panzer Dragoon, Sonic Mania (Sonic 2d style), Streets of Rage, Sakura Wars, Puyo Puyo (not my favorite)

Crash Team Racing, 2019 *Woahs intensely*

Microsoft buying some good gaming studios to help with there exclusive problem. Also Capcom has been doing very well and I mean RE2 remake whhhaaa!!!

Wow, wasn't expected to win! I was just debating whether to buy a game so it's perfect timing.

I suppose I'll throw my name in the hat the next two days as well.

Top news of the year for me just has to be how well each company is doing. Too often people look at each console like they're warring against each other, but in reality things are looking promising for all three big companies. PS4 should was expected to slow down this year, but it keeps chugging away and Sony's first party games have been hit after hit lately. Nintendo had an incredible turnaround from the Wii U and even from the 3DS, and now with Smash Bros selling absolutely insane numbers (looking to have the best first month of any exclusive in the US ever) they're sure to have an absolutely amazing quarter. Even Microsoft, while they're lagging behind, has been pulling some solid numbers this year. IMO this year was abysmal for first-party support for them, but it's nice to see the console sales still holding on (in part due to the S and X both being very well designed consoles) and they've been acquiring studios to invest into them for the future. This all culminated in the news that all three consoles sold more than 1 million in the US during the month of November. I believe all three were actually over 1.3 million. Pretty crazy since there's been only like one other time that three consoles sold over 1 million in a single month, and never a time when three home consoles did. (Not 100% sure on those, but it's something like that)

Things are looking good for Sony, Nintendo, *and* Microsoft going into the next decade. It's a great time to be a gamer.

Resident evil 2 remake, gameplay video.

Crash team Racing Reveal

Cyberpunk 2077 getting a gamepley reveal.

Cyberpunk 2077 and Elder Scrolls 6! Tons of great looking games came out and coming out as well.

Ghost of tsushima announcement and gameplay. Big fan of suckerpunch and I love the samurai history

So, so much. Game reveals and development on Days Gone, The Division 2, Anthem, The Outer Worlds, Last of Us 2, Dreams, good god, what isn't coming?!

Kh3 getting a final release date and being greenlit.

New Bethesda IP and Elder Scrolls VI in the works.

I loved hearing that dice is moving away from premium editions and what not that split gaming communities in half.

I have been really impressed by the continual additions to Monster Hunter World in terms of other game franchises. It is exciting to see Capcom branch out in that small way and add weapons, costumes and monsters from other games. So in. Say all the announcements such as DANTE x Monster Hunter are a welcome news sight.

Tales of Vesperia DE coming out for sure! Also was fun to see it get crickets at the xbox conference lol

Hearing that even though Microsoft acquired inxile, that backers of Wasteland 3 for PS4 will still get their copy when it releases.

For me, it was hearing the continued success of the Nintendo Switch, including the blowout Holiday sales numbers it is currently having. I was hesitant to jump in on one after the WiiU failure. I grew up on Nintendo in the 80s and beyond, so I'll always have a fondness for them, even if they are a secondary system. I finally bought a Switch this last month and am loving it.

I honestly game with it more as a handheld, being a big Vita fan before it. I hate that the Vita is fading out, but the Switch has set the bar for what a handheld is capable of now. I hate mobile gaming without buttons, so the Switch was the obvious choice for me.

I find in my adult life between work and family, handheld gaming just works best for me. I can find the most freetime to game here and there. I still love my PS4 most of all, as well as the occasional PC gaming for most of my "hardcore gaming needs", but the Switch is finding a lot of nostalgia into my life and is a great system to have as my daughter is closing in on 2 years old and will be gaming with me more. She already plays Mario Kart 8 w the motion control wheel (auto-gas turned on) and loves it. :)

Western release for Granblue fantasy.

Cyberpunk 2077, ever since this game was revealed i have not been able to stop thinking/talking about it. I loved the Witcher series and can't wait to take the plunge into cyberpunk. I was so happy that it was finally revealed. I can't wait to play it next year. Keep it up Cd Project Red.

The announcement of Resident Evil 2 REmake in late January 2019. Dream game for me.

Joker for smash was pretty damn hype. But that might just be recentcy bias. No one ever saw it coming.

I would say a new Alien game being announced I think Alien Isolation showed what the Alien franchise could do and want to see a true AAA shooter in the franchise.

I was really happy earlier in the year to hear that Divinity Original Sin 2 was going to be ported to consoles. The 1st one was also ported, but I wasn’t sure if they were going to do the same for the 2nd game. I have yet to play it (even though I preordered it) because I’m still working on the 1st game and I wanted to finish it, but I think I’ll give in!

Favorite bit of news was finding out granblue fantasy would be getting an english localization so it'll be understandable to me. Ghost of tsushima announcement trailer makes a close second.

GoW winning GotY. Was pretty happy to see it win over RDR2.

Ms finally showing commitment acquiring known studios. Games matter and we as gamers want Xbox brand to be strong just like ps and Nintendo

I agree with you obsidian deserve some support finally. Bethesda almost bankrupted them by not giving them their bonus over Metacritic. 84/100 was given to fame and their bonus was at 85/100. Bethesda being Bethesda refused and in a way I think they were jealous that someone else made better fallout game than them

For me it was the allowance of Crossplay from Sony. It will surely improve gaming for the upcoming future and is not tied to any single event. people will enjoy this feature for a long long time and it will benefit everyone regardless of the platform.

Definitely seeing the way Sony has supported VR and how these efforts will help propel the entire VR industry as it is truly on the precipice of crossing over.

Next gen i fully expect VR to come in to its own with wireless tech and stronger hardware, but it was so important for VR to establish itself as a viable tech this generation. Without Sony VR wouldn't exist on console atm. Sony has delivered quality software at a consistent rate to PSVR this year. When PSVR announced 3 million units sold, that was big. I fully expect PSVR to cross 4 million by early 2019 and 5 million by next holiday. These numbers might not seem large, but they dwarf the likes of Rift and Vive which tells me that VR would be in a bad place if not for Sony.

2018 has seen a multitude of great games released on PSVR including many exclusives.

Astro Bot
Moss
Wipeout
Firewall
Tetris Effect
The Persistence
Creed
Zone of the Enders
Borderlands 2
Evasion

For me it would be Xbox building up their first party stable. Xbox has been essentially out of the competition for so long, it's nice to see them seemingly back on track.

It might not completely pan out well with each new team, but it's still important that Phil Spencer and Xbox are making a serious and conscious effort to improve.

Will it be enough to make me buy an Xbox? Probably not, especially since I have a high end PC. But I think more competition next gen will result in better platforms and better games for all of us. All 3 manufacturers are in a good, healthy place right now for the first time in many years.

I'm glad for ALL the great people that I have met over the last 20 years and got to play online video games with from ALL over the world! I have truly made some life long friends that wouldn't of happened without online gaming!

When Astro Bor was announced and then released.

GOW turning out to be everything what we SP guys/gals ever hoped it would be and then some.

Put real, honest and passionate effort into a game, treat your fans with respect and you deserve every shred of praise we can give you. SSM and Cory exceeded every expectation with GOW... it was an awesome experience playing through it, almost flawless, and that's why its my GotY and my happiest moment of 2018.

Not sure if it qualifies, but the Ghost of Tsushima trailer got me hyped more than anything else all year. Also, I was pretty excited to read the God of War reviews.

Vermintide II port on PS4.

More Death Stranding footage and the release date. Hopefully it comes out early 2019 but I'll be ok if it's pushed back.

RDR2 not being delayed into 2019.

The Walking Dead: The Final Season will be finished at Skybound Games.

Final Fantasy games on Nintendo Switch.

Seeing God of War take game of the year at the game awards. Dont get me wrong, RDR2 is an incredible game, but God of War made you feel mighty, and the team at Santa Monica delivered.

Probably cyber punk 2077 actually getting gameplay shown to us after having it hidden for so long. I cant wait for that monster

Honestly the switch launch was my favorite bit of news. I had and still have the Wii U, but I was beyond excited to finally have a console that would meet Nintendo’s true vision of a portable home console.

Cyberpunk gameplay being shown.. Had high expectations and boy I wasn't disappointed

Onimusha Remaster coming out, and Resident Evil 2 remake coming out early next year.

New elder scrolls game.
I knew it would come eventually but that image they release was great.

as far as announcements go; all the studios microsoft acquired was a big deal to me going into 2019 and beyond...with more to come.

That the PS5 design process is confirmed to be under way.

God of War won GOTY was best new for me and SSM deserves it. Is that count ?

Gameplay reveal of Cyberpunk: 2077

For me is finding out that METRO EXODUS, DOOM ETERNAL , RAGE 2 and the WOLFENSTEIN game are all coming out in 2019 .

I'll go with GOW for GOY to be extra current lol.

I don't think many were expecting it over RDR2 but I think it deserves it...

Tell me again how the multiplatform strategy was supposed to fix everything. Look at your results and compare them to Nintendo, which keeps thriving with exclusives. Your loyal fans are gone. And let’s not forget the pile of IPs you purchased only to let them rot.

The worst thing is this is down from last years numbers/expectations which was down from the previous years numbers/expectations. You think about how long “down” has been a consistent part of the communication and you realize those subscriptions are what’s holding that boat together. The price cut of gamespass is still a price raise in a string of price raises. They are trying to use players to offset the missing revenue. Now call of duty is out of gamespass, which is literally WHY they bought the company. To draw people to the subscription. They realized they missed a boatload of money and that wasn’t sustainable. Now you pay for it like you would have if they never bought the company… so why buy the company? Mind you those billions still need to be paid back. Yeah it gives you a chance to say we make the biggest FPS… but the internal conversations must be brutal at high level on topics that really matter. Like revenue. Profitability. And ROI for the shopping spree.

Is this like the 10th quarter in a row they're down 33% on hardware how is that even mathematically possible. You would think their mediocrity would Plateau