Assuming the world doesn’t end in 2012, here are the videogames we’re most looking forward to playing this year.

Although you may find this hard to believe, the editors of Wired and Ars Technica are gamers just like you. While we do our best to see through all the marketing spin, it’s tough to keep ourselves from salivating a little over upcoming games. It is entirely possible that we’ll discover a variety of new indie games that take up more of our gaming time in the coming year, but as of today our view of the future is clouded by all the sneak peeks of 2012’s blockbusters.

As with our list of the best games of 2011, editors of Wired magazine, Wired.com and Ars Technica have teamed up this year to present 19 games that we’re most looking forward to the most in the next 12 months. Then, each editor will add in a few personal picks. But first, the ground rules and caveats:

• This year, we’ve tweaked the rules a little: Games with a “TBD” release date may now qualify if we have strong reason to believe they will come out in 2012. (Call it the Diablo III rule.)
• Only games that have not yet been released in any country were eligible. (Rhythm Heaven Fever for Wii is incredibly good, but it’s hard to anticipate something that’s already available.)
• As with last year’s list, one or more of these will almost surely end up in our inevitable roundup of 2012's most disappointing games. And several will almost surely be delayed into 2013. We wish we knew which ones, so we could give you a heads up. But we don't.

Above:

What it is: Ken Levine’s follow-up to his 2007 masterpiece BioShock.

Why we’re excited: As if I wasn’t already champing at the bit for this after talking with the director and his voice cast, the latest trailer has me jonesing even harder. Listening to the Elizabeth character sing “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” gives me goosebumps. It’s like those “Gears of War” trailers except for one crucial difference—the tenor and tone of this trailer will probably be reflected during the actual game.

Where, when: TBD 2012

—Chris Kohler

Image: 2K Games