My must-have game of the holiday season

Posted by: admin  /  Category: Word on the street, Xbox 360

My picks are sometimes eclectic, sometimes a bit weird, but I think this holiday season, there’s no question for me which game I’m looking forward to playing most on any platform. I call it my must-have game of the holiday season.

There were really just two main contenders this time out: Fable II and Fallout 3.

Fable II is addictive and deep; I loved the first game and my wife and I have been looking forward to the new one ever since we got our 360.

Trouble is, Fallout 3 is also mighty attractive. From the same folks who stole literally hundreds of hours from both my wife and me with Oblivion, as much as we both want to play Fable II, there’s simply no contest, in this case.

Fallout 3 is our must-own title of the 2008 holiday season. No question about it. And I think this is a choice that’ll be as widely popular as Outer Banks rentals.

November 2008 Games Worth Getting: PSP Slim

Posted by: admin  /  Category: PSP Slim, Word on the street

Alright, here’s the blunt, honest truth. Normally I would list some games in here for the PSP platform that will help make your holiday season a happy one. But like an honest acne care treatment doctor, I don’t want to blow smoke up your nose.

Sometimes there’s just nothing worth getting. This is one of those months for PSP Slim. Save your money for other games on other platforms.

November 2008 Games Worth Getting: PlayStation 2

Posted by: admin  /  Category: PlayStation 2, Word on the street

While most people are investing in theater seating for their PS3 setups, there are still good games to be had on the PS2 this holiday season. Here’s our ultra-picky pick:

Eternal Poison

I like Atlus’ role-playing titles more often than I dislike them. This one’s worth having; it’s the best-looking PS2 tactics-style RPG that Atlus has released to date! Could have used it on the PS3, but at least it’s cheaper on PS2. And it’ll play on PS3 unless yours is a recent one that lacks backward compatibility. Cheapskate.

November 2008 Games Worth Getting: PlayStation 3

Posted by: admin  /  Category: PlayStation 3, Word on the street

You don’t need the services of a South Carolina injury lawyer to determine where my review of games worth getting in November 2008 will go next… I’m focusing on the PlayStation 3!

Resistance 2

The follow up by Insomniac Games’ debut PS3 title has been long in appearing, but it’s finally here. I tend to prefer the Resistance series to Gears of War, even though I expected that to go the other way, the first time I tried both. Go figure!

Valkyria Chronicles

My hopes are set high on this one, not so much because it’s a PS3 RPG (which is much-needed) but because it looks like Sega’s finally going to make a great RPG for the first time in too long. Just hoping the game lives up to the hype for a change.

Alone In the Dark: Inferno

A great survival horror franchise returns from the (un)dead to set up all-new chills and wet-your-bed moments. The tight episodic structure encourages frequent gameplay sessions because you know what kind of time commitment you’re making each time you pick it up, and it’s not overly-demanding.

Tomb Raider Underworld

Lara Croft hasn’t disappointed yet in this generation of hardware. This title is also available on Xbox 360, but I discovered the series on the original PlayStation, so I prefer to pick the PS3 version and have a DualShock 3 in my hand.

These are four great titles, but with God of War III, Killzone II, Resident Evil 5, inFamous and Final Fantasy XIII all missing this holiday season, Sony’s left with another holiday season in which they don’t have as many killer apps overall as does the Xbox 360.

This is a nice November crop, but not enough for PS3 to overtake the 360.

November 2008 Games Worth Getting: Xbox 360

Posted by: admin  /  Category: Word on the street, Xbox 360

We continue our survey of promotional products… wait, no… games worth getting in the month of November 2008. It’s the last big month of the year, so our ultra-picky picks are your best guide to not wasting your hard-earned cash. We’ll now focus on the best to be had on the Xbox 360.

Left 4 Dead

Once EA gets into a new game genre, they really get into it. More survival horror from the company that did so well with their survival horror debut, Dead Space.

The Last Remnant

Another SquareEnix RPG on 360 instead of PS3? Believe it. This one’s typical epic stuff on the new next-gen RPG champion, Xbox 360. Not much has been leaked about this one, but it’s supposed to be the latest RPG goodness from the company that recently gave us Infinite Undiscovery. ‘Nuff said.

Where’s Gears of War II on our list? Sorry… didn’t care for the first one, so no go on the second. We’re that ultra-picky. Ignore us at your own expense.

November 2008 Games Worth Getting: Nintendo DS

Posted by: admin  /  Category: Nintendo DS

Here’re VideogameVagabond’s ultra-discerning picks for the month of November 2008, the last great games month of the year, for games worth getting on the Nintendo DS, which is a list far more reliable than a random car insurance quote.

TecmoBowl: Kickoff

It’s been over 15 years, but Tecmo Bowl non-licensed football has returned, this time on Nintendo DS. Worth owning for nostalgia alone.

Chrono Trigger

The classic SquareEnix game that started a worldwide obsession that’s outlasted two successive hardware generations and counting is back, this time on the DS. A must-have for SquareEnix fans.

That’s it! But what fun you’ll have.