Established franchises will rule 2012's remaining releases, according to a Nielsen poll, while there's encouraging news for Borderlands 2, NCAA Football 13, and Fable: The Journey.
Top five favorites
Halo 4 is the most anticipated Xbox 360 game, due November 6, and just squeezing out Call of Duty: Black Ops II.
Black Ops II heads up the PlayStation 3 list, while party favorite Just Dance 4 is top of the pops on Nintendo Wii.
Madden NFL 13 is looking strong, second on PS3 and Wii, and third on 360, while Assassin's Creed III is the third hottest property on both HD consoles and Resident Evil 6 charts high as well.
Disney is in for a fair return if the survey's 4,800 interviewees are to be believed, with three licensed games for the cartoon giant taking the Wii's 3rd, 4th and 5th spots.
Encouraging news
NCAA Football 13, which focuses on North American college teams, rides high in 360 and PS3 charts (7th and 5th respectively), likely due to its release close to the time of the survey and a brand profile boosted by the 2011 NFL lockout.
Good news also for relatively young franchises Borderlands and Darksiders, both of which feature distinctive art-styles and a mish-mash of influences: imaginative, off-kilter shooter Borderlands 2 is marked 6th most anticipated on PS3 and 360, while mythological action-adventure Darksiders II came in at 8th and 11th respectively.
Surprise entries
Motion-controlled Kinect game Fable: The Journey ignored skeptical online chatter to make 10th on the Xbox 360 list, but Skylanders: Giants will surely fare much better than a lowly 13th on the Wii chart might infer -- 2011 predecessor Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure was the best selling console and handheld title for the first six months of 2012.
2012's Most Anticipated Video Games
Xbox 360
1. Halo 4
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops II
3. Assassin's Creed III
4. Madden NFL 13
5. Resident Evil 6
PlayStation 3
1. Call of Duty: Black Ops II
2. Madden NFL 13
3. Assassin's Creed III
4. Resident Evil 6
5. NCAA Football 13
Nintendo Wii
1. Just Dance 4
2. Madden NFL 13
3. Just Dance: Disney Party
4. Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
5. Disney Princess: My Fairytale Adventure
