I got to a point in my life earlier this year where I started to wonder about video games as a hobby. Hell, I even had a couple of posts about it here. As the calendar changed to 2013, there weren’t a lot of titles on the horizon that I was excited about. AAA heavy hitters like Tomb Raider and Bioshock Infinite didn’t interest me all that much, the Wii U had a floundering launch lineup, and Microsoft and Sony had yet to announce their big new systems.

Video games have always been a place for me to try to unwind. It’s why I enjoy RPGs with great stories and sports games where I can immerse myself in a solid career mode. So it wasn’t like I was going to stop playing them all of a sudden. I did wonder, however, if my time with games was going to be reduced by a lack of interest. I’m going on 30 years old, after all.

Fortunately, a wave of news early this year about some great franchises reminded me that it wasn’t games I was losing interest in, just awful games. That’s reassuring.

I started to make a list the other day of upcoming titles that I was excited about. This is only a list of things with definite release dates (or at least an announced window), so some big names like Super Smash Bros. won’t even make the cut.

THE DEFINITES

Tales of Xillia (Aug. 6): I’ve written about Tales games many times before on this site, so this should not be a surprise in the slightest. I’m just a couple of weeks away from another game with a fantastic combat system, great characters and a mediocre story — but those first two are more than enough for me.

Saints Row 4 (Aug. 20): You know, there are times when I love a story that sucks me in. Great narratives will always have a place in my heart. But there are also times when the idea of making random people on the street dance to dubstep and then sucking them into a black hole is appealing to me. Some will say that SR4 doesn’t take itself seriously; I see that as a selling point.

Grand Theft Auto V (Sept. 17): After finishing IV, I thought I might be done with the GTA series. That game was on the opposite end of the spectrum — it took itself so seriously that it resulted in a boring, plodding experience. V has two things going for it: everything from the story to the minigames to the graphics have improved, and I’ll have the option of switching protagonists if one of them is as awful as Niko Bellic.

NBA 2K14 (Oct. 1): It’s not a question of if, but when. The PS4 trailer for this game looked amazing, and while I’m not certain that buying either a PS4 or a One at launch is a great choice, this title might be enough for me to pull the trigger. Worst case sccenario: I end up picking up the current gen version just as the NBA season starts. Either way, it’s happening.

Pokemon X/Y (Oct. 19): You can sit here and bitch all you want about the formula being stale. When the formula is this good, I give it a wide berth as long as the little improvements beneath the surface keep happening. This edition will transition the series into full 3D and appears to have a ton of little boosts under the hood, like smarter trading and better battle animations. I’m in.

A Link Between Worlds (Q4): It’s a sequel to the best Zelda game ever made. So yeah, there’s probably a good chance I’ll play it.

THE STRONG MAYBES

Kingdom Hearts HD (Sept. 10): This is important for a couple reasons. One, it would allow us to do a Game On in shiny HD. And two, now that they’ve finally announced Kingdom Hearts 3, I can start paying attention to all the other titles again.

Wind Waker HD (October): See above. Personally, I think the original Wind Waker still holds up pretty damn well, but having a reason to play the game on a more recent system is nice. The only reason this is a question mark is because we don’t own a Wii U at the moment.

Beyond Two Souls (Oct. 8): I enjoyed Heavy Rain despite its gaping plot holes and convenient ending, so an improved version of that setup is appealing to me. I certainly don’t care about the whole “it’s not really a game” argument.

Watch Dogs (Oct. 19): From what I’ve seen of the trailers, this looks like it could be a rock solid open world game. Everything I’ve had a chance to look at seems like it would be fun. We’ll see as we get closer to release.

THE “MAYBE, IF”

Dead Rising 3 (November): I’ve always wanted to play the first couple Dead Rising games, and 3 looks like a damn good title in its own right. If I have the time to sit down with Frank West and company and I enjoy the predecessors, DR3 will turn into a lock.

So that’s it for my list through the rest of the year. What about you? What titles are you excited for in the latter half of 2013?