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Your Move: 2017 Looks Like A Good Year For Gaming

I think at this point, we’re all tired of 2016, but there is a lot to look forward to in 2017, especially if you’re into video games.

The Mass Effect series was one of my favorites on the Xbox 360, and this coming spring we should see the first release in the series on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Called Mass Effect Andromeda, not much is known about the story, other than it is set outside of our own Galaxy. Many staples of the series are set to return, though, including the different species, free exploration of planets and solar systems, and a story that you get to mold yourself with the many different choices you can make throughout the game.

A brand-new Sonic the Hedgehog game is coming out in the second quarter of the year. Sonic Mania is being made by a team of Sonic fans recruited by Sega that are dedicated to keeping the gameplay as close as possible to the original Sonic games from the 90s. Previous attempts, like Sonic 4, never nailed the feel of the older games. From the gameplay footage of Sonic Mania I’ve seen so far, though, it looks like they’ve gotten it just right.

And Nintendo’s much-anticipated new system, called the Switch, will be released in March. The system will likely be launching with a brand-new Mario game, a new Just Dance game, and the newest Legend of Zelda adventure, which will be released simultaneously for the Switch and the Wii U. The system will work as both a portable game system and a home console, and may replace both the Wii U and the 3DS in Nintendo’s lineup.

2017 looks like a good year for gaming. I’m thinking I’ll have a happy new year.

Samuel McConnell is a games enthusiast who has been playing games in one form or another since 1991. He was born in northern Maine but quickly transplanted to Wichita.