Introduction

Ah, summertime. A time to head to the pool or the beach, lay down in a hammock or go see the latest multi-million dollar popcorn movie at the theaters. It's usually a fun time for all (except for hurricanes) but in the past the video and PC game industry has typically gone on vacation for the summer months. While there are usually a few major games released in between Memorial Day and Labor Day, in the past they have been few and far between as the publishers usually wait for September to start releasing their major AAA titles.

However for the summer of 2007 an interesting thing has happened. The summer months actually have a number of new major game titles that are scheduled to ship to stores. Perhaps it's because there are so many major games scheduled for release this fall, from Halo 3 to Grand Theft Auto 4 to Super Mario Galaxy to Call of Duty 4 among others. Perhaps publishers are seeing that the competition for shelf space will be extremely tight this fall and as a result games that might normally wait for the fall/holiday shopping season are being released a tad early this year. Or maybe its possible publishers have figured out finally that some people like to stay at home and play games and are frustrated when they go to their local retailer and find nothing new to buy over the summer.

Regardless of the reasons, this summer definitely looks like it will be a bit brighter for gamers when it comes to new releases than in the past. Here at FiringSquad we decided to look at our most anticipated games of the summer (more accurately from between Memorial Day and Labor Day) and came away with a surprisingly lengthy list of over 20 new titles that we want to buy for our long hot season. Before we get to it, we have to remind you that release dates are always subject to change so don't hold us to the ship dates for these titles. This list is made based on our best and most current info on when these games will be released.

Forza Motorsport 2 (late May) Xbox 360 owners get to thumb their noses once again at the Gran Turismo series with this second game in the Microsoft developed and published racing sim series. There lots of cars, lots of customization, cool graphics and a robust multiplayer feature set planned for this Xbox 360 exclusive title. Players will even be able to buy and sell items in the in-game auction feature.

Shadowrun (late May) Microsoft and developer FASA Studio have generated a lot of chatter (some good, some not) about this controversial multiplayer shooter based on the classic "cyberpunk" pen-and-paper RPG series. However, this game might prove some of the naysayers wrong with its unique take on player classes, weapons and abilities in a mix of tech and magic. Oh, and did we mention it will be the first game that will allow PC and Xbox 360 owners to play each other online? Yep, that's the game.