A few thoughts on Far Cry 3

Not that it's a conspiracy or anything

So it's that time of year when I start thinking about HoC's Game of the Year and this year it doesn't appear to be a simple choice. Strangely amongst the list of Borderlands 2 and this year's iteration of Call of Duty I ended up thinking about Far Cry 3.

Far Cry 3 is a sequel like both previously mentioned games but strangely it is seeing the groundswell of after release talk that I saw with Crackdown, Saints Row 3, Red Faction Guerilla and (also this year's) Sleeping Dogs.

Far Cry 3 is currently receiving a review aggregate of 89.3 on Game Rankings and 90% on Meta Critic. User scores and Critic scores seem to be scoring similarly.

So am I considering it as our Game of the Year?

Well here's the strange thing. I haven't played it yet. Not cause I don't want to, but because I can't.

Whether it's a conspiracy, low supply, or just bad luck. You can't buy Far Cry 3 in Ottawa right now. In fact, you haven't been able to buy it since boxing day. Or at least I haven't been able to and all the retailer's web sites claim to be out of stock.

Why do I even say the word conspiracy? Okay, I accept intellectually that it isn't but the minute all stores made a price cut down to $39.99 for boxing day Far Cry 3 immediately went out of stock. I assume some were available the morning of boxing day but none have been available since. Best Buy, Future Shop or EBGames. Ditto, technically, Amazon and Walmart.

Out of stock.

And guess what? The price of Far Cry 3 just went back up to $59.99. January 5th for EBgames. Walmart jumped from $49.99 back to $59.99 on the same date. Amazon I believe went back to the regular retail price even sooner but I wasn't watching closely. My Amazon searches keep resulting in third party vendors who are selling it for more than retail ($63.81) so I stopped looking there.

Although to be fair Future Shop and Best Buy extended the $39.99 price to January 10th. Still no stock however.

While I don't think it's intentional on the retailers part it is a peeve of mine that they cut the price when they don't have stock and then jump the price when they get stock back in. I'm not saying that this is what is happening here. It could just be coincidence and to be fair, no one actually has stock at any price, reduced or otherwise.

But it is annoying. And it is out of stock.

So can I vote for a game that I haven't played as HoC Game of the Year? I don't think so but I am heading that direction.

Other games I have in mind for HoC Game of the Year?

• Sleeping Dogs – Just started this one but it looks good
• Dishonored – I see why people like this one but it didn't get it's hooks into me (yet).
• X-Com Enemy Unknown – I haven't played this one either! Isn't that whacked?
• Borderlands 2 – As good as this is at it's heart it's just a bigger and better Borderlands 1.

Left off my list but I am aware of them: Halo 4, Mass Effect 3, The Walking Dead, Assassin's Creed 3.

Is there any one game you have played more than any other this year? Other than Netflix that is...