Walk the dog, listen to podcast, get exercise, repeat. This is an evening ritual for me as it is likely for you if you have a dog. Walks with my best friend yield many discoveries. Signaling the changing of the seasons is one I don't often realize until I have my trusty partner meandering beside me. With the changing of the seasons comes the beginning of the holiday release schedule and the inevitable anticipation it brings for our favorite hobby. As I often do on my walks, I clicked to the latest episode of Beyond! on the handy iPhone and couldn't help but smile when Colin Moriarty raved about Assassin's Creed 3 and how much he is looking forward to Ubisoft's latest offering in the franchise. American history is something we all know he loves, but to hear it in his voice, it reminded me of myself and a wave of nostalgia washed over me......

Anticipation and waiting for our favorite video game is something we've all felt, maybe you have it right now with an upcoming release. Reading every snippet in a magazine or on a website, watching trailers just to get a glimpse of what a release six months from now could hold, hitting the forums to discuss the might be's with the world wide web, however you want to describe it, we've all done it.

My question to you is this: what game in the past or now, have you been so hyped in anticipation for that you could barely contain yourself? Give me the game and some things you remember about the build up to it. Did it live up to your expectations or did it leave you empty when thinking about what could have been? Share your thoughts below and here's to a happy holiday season of gaming.

Oh you want mine? It has to be Final Fantasy 7. Almost 16 years ago, but I remember everything about the build up and what this game meant for me even now. I bought every magazine I could find even if it held just a hint of information, if there was something to garner about Square's latest release I had to have it. PSM's full cover story blew the doors wide open, but Gamefan did a great job bringing FF7 to life with their gorgeous glossy pages that adorned my walls back home. When the character of Sephiroth was initially revealed, he was thought to be a party character. Turned out he actually was, but just not how we thought  Anyway, the game came out and it lived up to every expectation and then some. Unlike most, I was already in love with RPG's at the time, but Final Fantasy 7 will be the one that I'll always remember.

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