That said, the reason for my surprise was twofold. They think that both Diablo 3 and Guild Wars 2 are going to be out this year! Whoooooaaa there, Nelly. As much as I’d be in RPG heaven were this to happen, I just really can’t see it… though of course there’s that leaked release schedule document which was all over the interwebz last month suggesting 2011 might be the year after all. Perhaps a combination of waiting this long and being generally cynical about everything has made me over-patient.

Anyhow, as I switched my brain into “lurk” mode in work today, I got to thinking about what games I’d like to play – if elephants could fly – this year. Daydreaming is fun! Keep reading after the jump to find out what I came up with.

I already mentioned two of the big-name games I’m chomping my fingernails in expectation for, but there’s plenty more gaming goodness being prepared that I’m closely keeping my eyes on. I don’t expect to be shockingly controversial, but still – here’s my top 10 in awesometastic chart-stylee reverse order:

10. Elite 4
We’re entering the realms of complete fantasy already! Of course there’s no chance of seeing this game any time before 2013 at the absolute earliest, but I have faith in David Braben and Frontier. When this game is released, those X games will finally be shown who’s boss, oh yes indeed.

9. The Unfinished Swan
This game really took my interest when I first saw it mentioned as part of the IGF 2009′s Student Competition. An entirely black and white world where you can find a path only by firing balls of paint to identify your surroundings could lead to an intensely surreal and spooky experience. Looking forward to it.

8. Unreal Tournament 4
Teehee… it’s another pipe-dream, I know. The original UT was a masterpiece of deathmatch, better than any version of Quake, and UT200x was up there at the same lofty heights of success. UT3 was a big disappointment for me; Epic‘s next installment can’t come quickly enough to dull the pain, and for the love of toast, no hoverboards this time, okay?

7. Fez
Shame I don’t have an Xbox to play it on! Hopefully the PC release will grace our hard drives at some point this year. Gorgeous three-dimensionalised pixels form a kooky-feeling platform world. With the potential for secrets and fun a-plenty, here’s hoping that Polytron can finish things up to bring us those trixels these year!

6. Dungeon Siege 3
All of the previous Sieges were solid action-RPGs and proved themselves as enjoyable alternatives to the behemoths of the Diablo family. With Obsidian developing it and Square Enix‘s involvement as publisher, I have high hopes that this one could be the best yet. I mean, surely it must be better than Space Siege, right?

5. Mythos
Oooh, an MMO! Created by accident from Flagship Studios‘ networking test code for Hellgate: London, this was an online action-RPG whose life has been a rollercoaster ride. With a new closed beta imminent, hopefully Frogster can harness the great potential and prevent it from becoming “Koreanized” too heavily.

4. Subversion
Procedurally generated cities, Mission: Impossible-style gadgets, and daring heists with multiple solutions to each problem: Subversion has all this and more. Having been in development for over four years, Introversion are going for something on an epic scope beyond anything they’ve made so far. Could be seriously awesome.

3. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Some people say that Oblivion wasn’t as good as it predecessor, Morrowind. Regardless of whether this is true or not, Oblivion was a fantastic game which could easily be described as the Elite of the fantasy RPG world. Skyrim has its work cut out to continue the legendary Elder Scrolls legacy but Bethesda have proved with their work on the Fallout series that they’re up to the task. This will be BIG.

2. Portal 2
“These next tests require co-operation…” GlaDOS is making a vengeful return and it sounds like the intervening years since Aperture Science’s computer overmistress first made us doubt the existence of cake have made her even nastier than before! With promises of significantly more content than the original game and a tantalising prospect of co-op gameplay where hilarious disaster rewards even the slightest mistake, I suggest you get your weighted companion cube ready… and bring a willing vict- uhm, I mean friend while you’re at it!

1. Torchlight 2
Runic Games astonished a lot of people with the quality of their underdog smash hit last year and they’re soon going to answer the only major criticism of Torchlight‘s superbly distilled click-kill-loot gameplay. With internet play for up to 4 adventurers at once, a new overworld, weather and day / night cycles, and several other refinements, the sequel seems destined to achieve something close to perfection. If Runic can work their magic again and steal the jump on… well, you-know-what, then the balance of power upon the action-RPG battlefield could be seriously upset. Watch yourself, Blizzard. These flickering shadows of Torchlight might scare your pet demons away…

While us poor old westerners have never been given a solid idea of when we might see our version of the game, this announcement isn’t especially encouraging for those who are still waiting. Conspiracy theories abound (in several places) on exactly what the “production-related” issues are that Sony say have caused this latest delay – their unwillingness to set a new release date is a bit unnerving given how long the title has already been in development.

Now, I own a PS3, and although I can’t say GT5 was ever a game I was desperate to play on it, it bugs me how Sony have swung another hammer blow to a nail in the PS3′s coffin. How many more times are they going to drop the ball? Is it even a ball any more, or a mangled, deflated mass after being repeatedly dumped into a spiky burning pit of doom? Did they release the PS3 purely as an exercise in finding out the most cackhanded and drawn out way of systematically ruining a gaming platform? Sometimes it certainly seems that way.

Yes, I exaggerate. It probably isn’t that bad, and the pit wasn’t actually very spiky at all. Look on the bright side: at least Final Fantasy XIII appears to be on schedule…

Gosh, this time of year seems to roll around quicker and quicker lately. The finalists for 2009′s Independent Games Festival [link] have been announced and you can check the list of finalists and award nominations right here.

Other than the contenders that you may already know about like Cortex Command [link] and – rather inexplicably, I must say – You Have To Burn The Rope [link], here’s a sprinkling of entries that I think deserve an immediate mention…

• Night Game [pictured], a non-violent physics puzzler designed by Nicklas “Nifflas” Nygren alongside other talented folks from Nicalis.
• Dyson [link], from Rudolf Kremers and Alex May. A procedurally-generated RTS with a soothing ambiance but frantic gameplay – it’s come a long way since the TIGSource competition where it originated, and what’s more, it’s made in the UK! Yay!
• Mightier [link], giving that printer and webcam of yours something useful to do! Create landscapes in this 3D platformer from Ratloop by drawing them on a printed piece of paper then scanning them back into the game.

More coverage of this year’s IGF to come in the following weeks, but for now, good luck to all the finalists!

Keep track of the most recent developments as the beta opens up on the European community messageboard.