To me, 2011 was pretty dull until the 3rd/4th quarter, with Deus Ex, Skyrim, Batman Arkham City, Assassin's Creed Revelations etc spicing things up quite a bit.
However, looking at the lineup of 2012, I can't help but getting eagerly excited due to the amount of promising games coming out AND them being pretty well spread throughout the year. And with the Japanese gaming marked struggling, I have a feeling they will get back on their feet again next year!
Here's my to-buy-list of 2012:
Tales of Graces F
Mass Effect 3
Ninja Gaiden 3 (they promised better story than their previous entries, crossing my fingers for that!)
Ni No Kuni
Final Fantasy XIII-2
The Last Story
Xenoblade Chronicles (US release)
Asura's Wrath (looks CRAZY)
Transformers Fall of Cybertron
Assassin's Creed III (finally it's Desmond's turn to whoop @sses)
I haven't had a long buy like this since the PS2 era, barely even then lol
So what games are you excited for next year!?