The 10 most-anticipated games for Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii are all sequels

It’s beginning to look a lot like your respective non-denominational gift-giving holiday … or just October. Although for many businesses, that is the first month of the “season.” Likewise, many customers are bracing themselves for a merry December by preparing their gift-receiving wish lists.

In regards to video games, consumer-tracking firm Nielsen determined customers’ most anticipated titles for holiday 2012.

Let’s break this down by console.

Most anticipated Xbox 360 titles:

1. Halo 4
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops II
3. Assassin’s Creed III
4. Resident Evil 6
5. NBA 2K13
6. Need For Speed: Most Wanted (2012)
7. Medal of Honor: Warfighter
8. WWE ’13
9. Hitman: Absolution
10. Fable: The Journey

Most anticipated PlayStation 3 titles:

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops II
2. Assassin’s Creed III
3. Resident Evil 6
4. NBA 2K13
5. WWE ’13
6. Need For Speed: Most Wanted (2012)
7. Hitman: Absolution
8. 007: Legends
9. Medal of Honor: Warfighter
10. LittleBigPlanet Karting

Most anticipated Wii titles:

1. Just Dance 4
2. Zumba Fitness Core
3. Lego The Lord of the Rings
4. Just Dance: Disney Party
5. Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
6. NBA 2K13
7. WWE ’13
8. Transformers Prime: The Game
9. Skylanders Giants
10. Nickelodeon Dance 2

Most notable about this data is just how similar the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 lists are. In fact, they’re nearly identical except for Microsoft’s pair of exclusives (Halo 4, Fable: The Journey) and Sony’s one exclusive (LittleBitPlanet Karting.) It’s possible that the companies reallocated the bulk of their first-party resources to next-generation systems, which many expect the manufacturers will debut next year, and third-party publishers are hesitant to restrict any of their big games to a single console.

Every single game on each list is either a sequel or part of an existing franchise. Again, we’re at the end of a generation. That’s when publishers tend to withhold new franchises so they can prep them to ride the hype of a new console launch.

Nielsen did note that Bethesda’s Dishonored, a new property, only narrowly missed the top 10 most anticipated games on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The Wii’s list is the most depressing, but Nintendo has the Wii U due out in November. Nielsen did not provide a most-anticipated list of Wii U games.