Editor’s Note: We’re now onto the top ten of our twenty-five most anticipated games of 2012. After culminating a comprehensive list of the confirmed games for next year, the MediaKick team voted on the games they are most looking forward to for next year, and after processing the results through a methodical algorithm we’re here to bring you the results. Taking a closer look at both what we know so far and why the team are excited for each game, we’ll have an article at midday everyday until Christmas – when we’ll reveal our most anticipated game of 2012. Be sure to check out the previous games so far if you haven’t already – #25, #24, #23, #22, #21, #20, #19, #18, #17, #16, #15, #14, #13, #12, #11.

Just over five years since the series’ last release, Electronic Arts both pleased and disappointed fans at the Video Games Awards in 2010 with the announcement of SSX: Deadly Descents. The reveal of a new SSX title was certainly one that fans had been clamouring over since this generation’s inception, however, the trailer had one too many parts commando and not enough ‘Tricky’. Deadly Descents was set to be a “stunning reinvention” for the series, pitting the rider against both mountain and man.

Just four short months later though, and we’d already seen the Deadly Descents subtitle dropped, and the game had a whole new look and feel – one that certainly eased a lot of our concerns. Creative Director, Todd Batty, spoke of the three pillar components of the new SSX and how they are trying to stay true to the franchise, whilst also reinventing it. The videos for SSX came thick and fast during April, but it wasn’t until the developer diary focusing on the game’s trick system that we were all beginning to get very excited for the title.

Our News Editor, Ryan, was also cautious to begin with, but as a fan of the franchise, he can’t wait to get back onto the board: “SSX Tricky and SSX 3 are still some of the greatest sports titles available and, apart from the Deadly Descents reveal trailer, EA Sports has shown that it is bringing the crazy back in spectacular fashion with avalanches, wingsuits and even boarding inside a volcano. It looks terrific and I cannot wait until February.”

April continued to be a good month for the snow-bound title, with the first screenshots confirming a fantastic appearance heading for 2012, before two more developer diaries focusing on the game’s level design and characters. The following month brought a very tasty bit of news – an Autolog inspired feature. Later to be named, RiderNet, it acts as a social network that actively encourages players to beat their friends’ best times and score, along with recommendations and more. Given the brilliance of Autolog within the recent Need for Speed games, a feature like this brings a whole new dimension to leaderboards of old and will surely improve SSX immensely.

Whilst gameplay trailers were impressive, it was the enjoyment to play and graphical overhaul – assisted by theuse of NASA satellites to accurately model the mountains, that caught Dave’s attention: “SSX in the past hasn’t really resonated with me so much, mostly because I couldn’t afford to get into it as 1080 Snowboarding on the Nintendo 64 had me hoodwinked into thinking other snowboarding sports games weren’t as good. The SSX series has also been dormant for a long time, so this emergence from the grave was fairly surprising. I only got a brief tryout on this compared to the others at EGX as prior commitments kept getting in the way, but what I did play was a code that despite being incomplete was a blast to mess around with. What impressed me the most though was the graphical overhaul and in particular the snow effects as your board glided over the hills and crevices. It impressed me more than I thought it would and considering the 1080 Snowboarding fascination of my youth, that can only be a good thing!”

“Snowboarding games are few and far between, so with SSX on the horizon what’s not to like,” admitted contributor Rob. “Fluid controls, over-the-top locations, avalanches and helicopters, this extreme sports game has fun written all over it.” Hopefully, we won’t have to wait this long for another SSX title to come along, at least that’s according to communications boss Duke Indrasigamany.

Since E3, SSX has had a steady stream of assets released, from multiplayer features, to some stunning screens, to a reality-defying trailer.

“While I’m still yearning for a new Coolboarders game, I’ve played plenty of SSX in the past and I was impressed by the demo for the new one I played a few months ago at the Eurogamer Expo,” said MediaKick writer Harry. “Snowboarding games are something from the previous generations it could be said, but I can’t help but be excited for a new next-gen SSX game. The presentation looks fantastic and the gameplay is tweaked but still the right kind of challenging, I know I’m going to want to buy this when the time comes and I hope EA don’t balls this one up.”

The hands-on this September at Earls Court sold a lot of people on the title, with its glistening visuals, crisp gameplay and noticeable integration with RiderNet. Thankfully, those that have yet to try out the game won’t have long to wait for a sample, before the full release this February on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. With SSX 3 and Tricky being staples of my PlayStation 2 gaming time, the revamp of the SSX franchise has some big shoes to fill. Luckily, it seems well on its way to doing so.