GDC 2012: Top 5 Announcements Rumored to be Made at the Game Developers Conference

As GDC 2012 nears, here are the top five announcements video game insiders say are rumored to be made by various at the 2012 Game Developers Conference.

The highly-anticipated annual Game Developers Conference is being held this year at the the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, Calif., from March 5 to 9.

A number of major announcements are made at each year's Game Developers Conference, and GDC 2012 is shaping up to be no different. Here's a rundown of the top 5 announcement rumors surrounding this year's GDC:

1. A New Sim City: EA Maxis recently revealed that it will make a major announcement at GDC 2012, which set the Web afire with buzz about a possible new SimCity title. Though the SimCity series was not directly referenced, any allusion to a pending announcement by Maxis automatically stokes gamers' hopes that a new SimCity could be on the way.

The following Feb. 16 dispatch by ComputerandVideoGames.com started the rumor mill churning: EA has promised to announce something new from Maxis at next month's Game Developers Conference, kicking off speculation that a new SimCity might be on the way.

And earlier this week, new screenshots emerged that are supposedly of the new SimCity game, which reignited the excitement about the rumored announcement.

2. The Repopulation: Industry folks are also getting excited about what's happening with The Repopulation, and it looks like there is poised to be a big reveal about that title at GDC 2012 as well.

Being developed by Above and Beyond Technologies, the game is one of the most-anticipated titles of the year. Above and Beyond describes the game as follows:

The Repopulation is a Science Fiction Massive Multiplayer Online Role Player Game by Above and Beyond Technologies. You begin your adventure as a second generation clone colonist on the planet of Rhyldan, with mankind on the verge of extinction, and in the midst of a civil war. We've taken a fresh look at every feature of the Massive Multiplayer genre, with an eye on revolution, rather than evolution. The end result is a unique feature set aimed towards old school fans and new players alike.

3. New Release(s) by Spiral Game Studios: Spiral Game Studios has indicated that it will be making two major announcements at GDC 2012, and it has released a teaser trailer video that has built some anticipation about what looks to be an exciting new game. Another string of trailers has also been released by Spiral, introducing the game Orion, which seems to be a first-person-shooter featuring an exciting new world of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. So make sure to watch as the GDC progresses to see what Spiral ends up announcing.

4. Fable: The Journey: Lionhead Studios seems to be teasing on its Website that it will be making a big announcement at GDC 2012. It has pretty much directly come out and said that the conference will be monumental for the company in some way, as it has a countdown timer on its Website that ends on the first day of GDC 2012, accompanied by the following mysterious message: It's time for a fresh look and feel for our website. Who knows what other surprises are coming... Video game fans have taken that to mean that Lionhead will be releasing its XBox Kinect-only title Fable: The Journey, the next installment in the popular Fable series. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

5. Apple iPad 3: The Apple iPad 3 looks poised to be released (though not at GDC 2012) on March 7, in San Francisco, right in the middle of the conference. Though the new-generation Apple tablet is not a video game-related in itself, any new platform of such power would be able to run advanced games. So if Apple really does release the iPad 3 on March 7, that would only fuel the excitement that already surrounds the Game Developers Conference.