I consider myself a pretty serious gamer. I might not be as prolific as I once was (hello, middle school years!), but I probably spend a good 10-15 hours a week playing games of some kind.

I consider myself a pretty serious gamer, yet I’ve bought exactly three new titles in 2011.

One of those was Marvel vs. Capcom 3, a must for a fighting game fan like myself. One was You Don’t Know Jack, which wasn’t even a full retail release (we reviewed that game in the first episode of At the Buzzer). And the last was Pokemon Black. Sure, I managed to milk a lot of time out of catching them all — and by catching them all, I mean catching about 20 that I like, ignoring the rest, and spending the rest of my time battling/breeding — but there was still a pretty noticeable lack of games that I cared about.

Looking ahead, though, there seem to be a ton of games I can get behind.

Let’s roll the tape back for a minute. VG Chartz has a list of the top selling games to this point in 2011. Some of them are automatically disqualified because they weren’t released this year (and most of those are Kinect/Wii gimmicky games). As for the applicable titles in the top 30, listed by rank:

• 1) Pokemon Black: Already mentioned. Good game.
• 11) L.A. Noire: Rented it. It was okay, except for the whole “good luck telling if it’s a lie or a doubt” thing and the crappy ending.
• 12) Killzone 3: Um, no.
• 13) Mortal Kombat: Though I like fighting games, I’ve never cared for this series. It seemed solid for those who like MK.
• 14) Portal 2: Rental. We reviewed it on the show. Great game, but little replay value.
• 18) Homefront: Um, no.
• 19) Little Big Planet 2: Haven’t gotten around to renting it. The original was okay and some of the user-made levels added to the experience, but still.
• 21) Dead Space 2: Nope.
• 26) Crysis 2: No sir.
• 27) Dragon Age 2: Nope.
• 30) NCAA Football 12: Ha ha no.

Needless to say, I haven’t been impressed with 2011 so far. But that’s about to change.

Coming down the chute in the final 4+ months of the year are all kinds of things that I’m excited about. They range from must-buys to maybes, but it’s promising nonetheless.

Saints Row: The Third: I might want this game more than any other — even the new Zelda game, which is confusing to me. The Saints Row series is the perfect mix of open-world gameplay without the boring story and bogged down mechanics of Grand Theft Auto, and THQ is making things even more crazy this time. BUY

Skyward Sword: Shaun wrote about this briefly last week. It’s a Zelda game, the art style seems improved, and I’ll deal with the motion controls because the rest of the experience will be worth it. BUY

Star Fox 64 3D/Mario Kart 7/Super Mario 3D Land: Three solid Nintendo titles, but they’re all on a system that I’m not ready to fork over money for just yet. MAYBE

NBA 2K12: Lockout be damned — if they have enough improvements over 2K11 (which was already the best basketball game ever made), I’ll still fork over 60 bucks. Take my money, 2K Sports. It’s waiting for you. BUY

Kirby Wii/Kirby: Mass Attack: Two different stories. Both look they’ll be fun games. But there’s a key difference between them: The new Kirby for the Wii has four-player co-op similar to New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which makes it a must-buy for me. The DS one does not. BUY/MAYBE

Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten: The Disgaea series is well-written, with solid graphics (especially since the next-gen jump) and hilarious characters. The only problem is that it’s a tactical RPG, which usually make me want to kill someone. Still, it’s a pretty fast-paced system, which is what got me through the third offering. MAYBE

WWE ’12: Look, I like wrestling and I like wrestling games. Deal with it. I grew up in the prime of the WCW/WWF Monday night wars. This year’s game is supposed to let you interrupt moves, which means I can ruin my roommate’s day any time he goes for something that takes 30 seconds to pull off. Sign me up. BUY

Throw in a few other titles (Ultimate MvC3 if it’s a downloadable patch, the Red Hot Chili Peppers eight-song pack for Rock Band on Aug. 30, etc.) and some early 2012 titles like Tales of the Abyss 3DS and Tales of Graces f, and suddenly there’s reason for me to pay attention to the gaming scene once again.