VideogameVagabond.com

October is typically a crazy month for videogame retailers and this year is no exception; titles are flooding the market and sending GameStop managers into drug treatment for all the stress they’re under as their stores stock up for the holiday shopping season.

In fact, I know of a couple EB managers who are still going through drug rehab stemming from last year’s holiday rush, but that’s beside the point; as consumers, this is one of our top months, so we must spend our dollars more wisely than ever, so as not to get caught with a stink-bomb game. Here’s our list of the best Xbox 360 games for October 2008:

Dead Space

Available October 14, this is one of EA’s rare entrances into the popular survival horror genre. You’re a communications tech trying to repair the damage done to ship’s communication on a mining vessel in space, cut off from all sources of help, when you discover most of your fellow crew have been massacred by an alien entity that now has you in its sights. Looks to be can’t-miss stuff.

Rock Band 2

Available October 19, this sequel to last year’s genre-growing title guarantees your investment by being completely backward compatible with all original Rock Band songs: instant music library! And because we’re recommending RB2… no, Guitar Hero World Tour does NOT make our list for the 360.

Fable 2

Several years in the making, Fable 2 is the game many people bought their Xbox 360 to play. Well, it’s finally here October 21 and looks like it’ll live up to all the hype. Nuff said? You bet.

Fallout 3

Available October 28, the folks who brought you the first great RPG of the 360 era are back and pushing the envelope again! Bethesda’s Fallout 3 is among the most anticipated RPGs of the year, and a great way to round out a very very strong month for the Xbox 360.

You may need contact lenses to see our list of the top Nintendo DS games for October 2008… it’s not very long.

In fact, it’s completely empty, and considering there are over 50 titles releasing next month for Nintendo DS, that’s saying something. Sure, there’s a couple titles by SquareEnix, but they’re not RPGs and SquareEnix never does well at non-RPGs.

And then there’s one RPG, but it’s by Disney Interactive and is a sequel to boot. It just doesn’t capture my interest; sorry. And then there’s a Fantasy Harvest Moon title, but it’s a sequel that doesn’t look to bring much new to the table.

So let it be said this way: there are well over 50 DS titles coming next month, but not one of them are anything I’d spend my money on, so I’m not going to suggest anyone else does, either.

September marks the beginning of a rush of great titles for all game systems and never let it be said that VideogameVagabond.com doesn’t lend a helping hand! Whether it’s an RPG or a game about cat supplies, here’s the list of titles we’re looking forward to this month on the Nintendo DS.

Dragon Quest IV - SquareEnix

The Dragon Quest titles are finally getting their due alongside Final Fantasy with this strong remake of Dragon Quest IV; originally an SNES classic, DQ IV is a must for any fan of the series. Available September 15.

Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure - Atlus

Released at the end of the PSone’s life cycle and overshadowed by PS2 releases at the time, Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure is a classic music-based RPG that has been hard to find, and expensive to acquire on secondary sources like eBay. Definitely a must-have for fans of quirky RPGs everywhere, this DS reissue should help anyone wondering what all the fuss was about. Available September 23.

Disgaea DS - Atlus

Following up on the success of the PSP reissue of Disgaea last year, the Afternoon of Darkness package, this DS version is remade from scratch to take advantage of the DS system and its unique features. There’s also a new story focus and a brand new ending, so even if you’ve played it on PS2 or PSP, this DS version may be worth having. Available September 23.

Those are our top three favorites for September on Nintendo DS!

It’s quickly becoming clear that the Xbox 360 is becoming the new platform of choice for RPG fans, and Atlus’ Spectral Force 3 release is a clear case-in-point. As a Tactics-style RPG with a strong Japanese influence, Spectral Force 3 is exactly the kind of RPG that, in the previous generation of hardware, would have appeared on PlayStation 2 without a second’s hesitation; so its appearance on Xbox 360 with no announcements of a PS3 version could signify a lot about the direction of RPGs in this generation.

The game focuses on a band of military mercenaries under the leadership of grizzled veteran Judo; when he receives a mortal wound early on, he makes a split decision to pass leadership of his ragtag group of warriors on to the raw, mostly untested Begina, rather than a more veteran member of the cadre.

It’s a decision that seems destined for ridicule and to drive Begina to an addiction to weight loss pills, though eventually the rest of the group comes ‘round and decides to give him a chance.

As for the gameplay itself, it is standard Tactics-style RPG fare. This, of course, is a good thing if you consider games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea to be the pinnacle of an enjoyable gaming experience; many do. The game offers a solid mix of storytelling and action, loads of side-quests and a challenging battle system that keeps adding new elements to maintain freshness throughout the epic storyline.

The leveling up system is quick and easy, and allows you to make gains right in the middle of battle, as soon as you reach the necessary level of experience to advance. Each battle also rewards you with some pooled experience points you can distribute as you see fit, post-battle, and is useful for helping newly-acquired characters catch up to the rest of your party if they join up later in the game.

The backdrop is a European-like continent that is in a continual state of war as multiple sides fight for dominance; early on, you’ll receive most of your missions from one side only and the main missions will help turn the tide of battle to their side. However, as the story progresses, you’ll be able to change allegiances like any true mercenary.

The story itself is rather generic when it comes right down to it; the characters do not aspire to grow beyond genre expectations and the plot developments won’t surprise veterans of this genre much. Still, the dialog is witty at times and the core attractions, really, are the lovely complex battles.

Sure, the graphics are nothing revolutionary and could just as easily have been pulled off on last-gen hardware; but then Tactics-style RPGs have rarely been noticed for their cutting-edge graphics – game play is king.

Due to some great depth, smart map design and a wide variety of foes offering various challenges to success, Spectral Force 3 is a solid entry into the genre that won’t leave you bored after the first dozen or so battles. The only thing holding it back from true greatness is a more engaging and original storyline. Beyond that, the challenge level ramps up at a nice, accessible pace while still offering a chance to be outwitted every step of the way. Good show!

Rachet and Clank has been a popular franchise throughout the life of the PlayStation 2, and even now extending into the PlayStation 3 era; but Secret Agent Clank is a solo outing on Sony’s handheld platform for the platform hero, and it’s an entertaining, if mildly predictable outing.

In the game, Clank’s pal Rachet has been framed for a crime he didn’t commit, and the driving force of the plot is for Clank to overcome the enemies and obstacles in the way of clearing his friend’s good name and overcoming the enemy who did it all.

From action to stealth to puzzle-solving, Secret Agent Clank offers a variety of levels and gameplay styles for folks to enjoy as the action plays out. It’s an enticing recipe. Unfortunately, the game is held back by shoddy design.

In what way? Well, my wife, who poured in more time than I did, found the auto-save scheme to be very frustrating; the game operates on a series of checkpoints as you play through, and although there is a pause-menu option that allows you to play anywhere, even if you save between checkpoints, the save will only put you back to the last checkpoint you passed.

Then why even have a “save anywhere” option, if it’s not going to work that way? Stupid.

Also, the graphics were pretty much boilerplate stuff with an uninspired color scheme that stays the same a bit too much and tends to blend together, making the levels seem too much the same and lacking in any real variety.

In the end, Secret Agent Clank has some enjoyable gameplay variety, but its overall appeal is held back by its flaws. Only play this one if you’re a Rachet and Clank fanatic.

The TNT drama Witchblade, based on the Top Cow comic book written and drawn by Marc Silvestri, never really lived up to its full potential. The biggest mistake was one of the first, when Yancy Butler was cast to portray police detective Sara Pezzini, the title character of the show.

The problem is that Butler simply didn’t look the part; other than having the right colored hair, her build, personality and “cuteness” were just way off-target. Another mistake was the Witchblade armor; in the comic book, it’s usually scant and enhances the character’s visual appeal; on the show, it was a full suit of medieval armor that completely hid Butler from view and had as much visual appeal as a bunch of kitchen faucets.

That said, the show had a lot going for it; produced in 2001-2002, the show ran for two seasons and a total of 23 episodes, nearly all of them written or at least plotted by Witchblade creator Marc Silvestri, with help from J.D. Zeick. This means that, story-wise, any changes from the comic book were made by the guy who knew the character best – Silvestri.

Of course, the whole series went in the tank in the middle of the second season when star Yancy Butler was ordered into rehab for a bout of alcoholism and TNT decided to cancel the show rather than wait it out for Butler’s return or attempt to re-cast the role.

For what they are worth, all 23 episodes are in this collection; they are largely hit or miss, and the show is at its worst when that lunky metal suit is on-screen. Yet any fan of the comic book will be pleased to note that all the relationships are maintained from comic to the small screen, a rare thing when comics are translated into filmed entertainment.

The DVD collection includes a competent set of special features, although what’s really lacking is the real “behind the scenes” stuff; a documentary on Butler’s bout with alcoholism and fight back to sobriety might have made things interesting, but instead it’s mostly a collection of fanboy mini-documentaries about how the armor was utilized in the show. Yawn.

In the end, you either liked the show or you didn’t. If you did, this collection is solid enough, if several years late in appearing.

Tony Shaloub has been portraying obsessive-compulsive detective Adrian Monk for over six seasons now, as his seventh season just recently debuted on USA Network. This collection of the complete sixth season is a grand example of why his show has been so well-received for so long.

With a just-right mix of comedy and crime drama, Monk has always been Shaloub’s antidote to the several seasons he spent on NBC’s Wings, performing formulaic, cliché-ridden comedy. Just as that show was not reflective of what Shaloub considered funny, Monk embodies everything he thinks comedy ought to be; understated, realistic, a bit angst-ridden, but charming and goofball and quirky, without abandoning believability.

Sure, there are some episodes where Monk becomes a bit cartoonish, but by and large the show has grounded characters with grounded concerns. And it’s a show that’s a magnet for solid Hollywood talent to do guest cameos on; season six most notably featured Sarah Silverman and Snoop Dogg.

Some top guests over the years have included Willie Nelson as himself, Jason Alexander, Nestor Carbonell, Danny Bonaduce, Emma Caufield, Tim Curry, Tim Daly, Rachel Dratch, Larry Miller, Malcolm McDowell, Chi McBride, Howie Mandell, Alfred Molina, Kevin Nealon, Judge Reinhold, Andy Richter, Nicole Sullivan, Stanley Tucci, Steven Weber, and Rainn Wilson, just to name a few.

I’ll always prefer Sharona as Mr. Monk’s assistant, since Bitty Schram was there first; but Traylor Howard’s Natalie Teeger has grown on me over the years and it’s not the point of disappointment it once was. It should also be noted that Season Six is the final season in which the late Stanley Kamel appears as Adrian Monk’s therapist; he’ll be missed greatly by Monk devotees.

The sixth season collection has some fine episodes, and potentially one of the best Christmas episodes of Monk in the entire run of the series, but no luxury watches. The collection includes both video and audio commentaries on the episodes, and although there could have been a few more special features, the end result is still a package worth owning.

The comedy of Robert Smigel is often hit-or-miss, but always offensive. He is Conan O’Brien’s head writer, the creator, puppeteer and voice of Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog, and he is the guy who does all those animated shorts on Saturday Night Live over the past decade or so, also called TV Funhouse.

Smigel’s comedy is edgy and often appalling. He’s not made for prime time, and he’s not part of the Bill Cosby, polite comedy crowd. Now, that either makes him appeal to you, or it doesn’t, and your response to that will largely determine whether you find this DVD collection, Comedy Central’s TV Funhouse, to be an entertaining romp, or an offensive pile of garbage.

The important thing to realize is that TV Funhouse is a satire of children’s television programming, but one that is definitely not in any way intended for kids; it’s intended for adults in their 40s and older who remember the Howdy Doody Show or Captain Kangaroo or Mister Roger’s Neighborhood, and can appreciate the source material Smigel’s making fun of.

The collection includes skits like Wonderman, a near-perfect replica of the old Fleischer Superman cartoons of the 1950s or so, except that Wonderman only performs his heroic deeds to get his civilian alter-ego in bed with a woman.

That’s only scratching the surface; in this complete series collection, you’ll see sights like masturbating chickens, animals snorting “Christmas cheer” in cocaine-style fashion for weight loss, and the host getting “drunk and laid” with Robert Goulet in Atlantic City. Robert Goulet? See what I mean about this being for the 40 and older crowd yet? No one in the “12 and under” crowd would even know who that is. Most 20-somethings wouldn’t.

What it all boils down to is this: the show lasted a mere eight episodes on Comedy Central before being canned, largely because the controversy it generated never translated into ratings. And that’s what Smigel is like; you’ll either think he’s a genius or a parolee of some state’s Sex Offender program, and you’ll either laugh or you’ll think it’s trash. Sometimes, you may even experience both reactions.

But for those who appreciate Smigel, especially when he’s on-target, this collection is a must-have. Those easily offended shouldn’t even bother.

With all the success enjoyed by the Harry Potter film franchise, as well as Lord of the Rings and the first Chronicles of Narnia movie, it seems like a lot more fantasy movies are getting made of late; it’s a hot genre right now, and so does a movie like The SpiderWick Chronicles get made.

Made by Nickelodeon Movies and distributed by Paramount Pictures, The SpiderWick Chronicles is aimed squarely at the younger crowd, though sadly not in as intelligent ways as the Harry Potter films are made.

The plot revolves around the four children of a recently divorced woman who move to the country following the dissolution of their mother’s marriage. Not caring for the house or the country initially, they explore and eventually discover a mysterious field guide that helps them see a world they never knew existed with the naked eye; a world full of brownies and faeries, where magic is real and flash memory is a spell, not a silicon chip.

The plot is obvious an appeal to the Harry Potter crowd, like so many others, yet this film lacks that franchise’s intelligence and solid commercial appeal. Rife with genre clichés, the plot is uninteresting and strangely keeps the kids tied to the house, rather than exploring a giant alternate world in a grand adventure.

This insular tone makes the movie feel a bit claustrophobic and sends a mixed message to younger viewers; namely, when the world gets big and scary… hide away in your house and don’t leave, because the world out there really is as scary and dangerous as it seems… and even more so than you realize!

For this reason, The SpiderWick Chronicles is hard to recommend. Despite some pleasant casting, including Martin Short and Nick Nolte in unrecognizable roles, the story quite simply lacks … magic.

This Dennis Quaid-Matthew Fox thriller focuses on a hypothetical presidential assassination on foreign soil and tells its tale from several different perspectives, giving away new information each time the same events are replayed with a new focal character. The movie is fast-paced, sharp and full of surprises throughout, despite the repetition, and yet … something’s missing.

Perhaps it’s the Class B casting, which aside from LOST’s Matthew Fox, mainly features stars who were at their prime twenty years ago, but are long past it these days. That includes Quaid, as well as co-stars Sigourney Weaver and William Hurt (all in need of some diet pills, perhaps), as well as – arguably – Forest Whitaker.

The casting puts the movie at a dramatically noticeable disadvantage, but that’s not the only one weighing it down. The additional baggage is that Vantage Point came out around the same time as several other “Hollywood wish-fulfillment” movies focusing on presidential assassination plots, including such purely political drivel as “Death of A President,” perhaps the worst of the bunch, which used digital manipulation techniques to fake the assassination of a real, sitting president of the United States – in this case, George W. Bush.

Another such film in the genre, which seems fueled by Hollywood’s Bush-hatred syndrome, is “Death of a High School President.” None of these other movies have any particular charm or interest to them.

Vantage Point, however, is at least a respectful step or two away from the extreme marked by “Death of a President.” William Hurt played the president in Vantage Point and is nothing like W, placing the film’s plot more safely in the fictional thriller category; still, the negative associations to “Death of a President” probably shortened this film’s run at the box office, though the casting of Fox helped it debut at the top of the box office in its first week of release.

Had “Vantage Point” been released in a world that had never seen “Death of a President,” it could have been enjoyed as the fictional thriller it was intended as. Of course, the film could have been helped considerably by smarter casting, as Fox is the only current and appealing star in the film.

The Ruins is a surprising movie in that it is rated R in theatres and is released in an unrated version, and yet contains virtually no nudity and surprisingly little profanity, even in the unrated version. The movie comes by its R/unrated rep the old fashioned way: violence and disturbing imagry.

As a high-tension suspense flick with a supernatural edge, it delivers equal measures of psychological terror and pure gross-out. It’s the kind of movie that may not make you scream a lot, but may give you some sleepless nights or, in the case of this movie, make you get nervous every time you feel an itch…

The set-up is typical of the latest spurt of torture-horror flicks as you have a group of attractive college kids lured to a remote location. Only this time, instead of a cold, dour European setting, it’s Mexico and instead of a bleak hostel, it’s a Mayan Temple that is the location they are lured to.

The young group goes to the ruins in search of some archeological adventure, but once they get there and set foot on the pyramid, some locals show up and become violent about letting them off it, and show a willingness to use lethal force to prevent any escape.

As a psychological mind-pluck, though, the film’s only getting started and things get even more disturbing quite quickly. Boasting some great cinematography and lots of creep-out horror without resorting to having sex perverts cutting the kids to ribbons for kicks, The Ruins is one of the first truly disturbing movies I’ve watched in a while, and whenever I get an itch, the memories of this film come flooding back, unwanted.

With great special features on both DVD and Blu-Ray (click here for online coupons), as well as a nice alternate ending, this is one DVD/Blu-Ray package that delivers the goods. Not for the faint of heart, but certainly entertaining for folks who prefer to be creeped out, rather than grossed out.

Neither my wife nor I are fans of Larry the Cable Guy. Generally speaking, we consider his brand of comedy a bit too loud and obnoxious to be truly enjoyable. And if I never here someone holler, “Gitter done!” again, I’ll be quite pleased, actually. So our expectations when we popped in Witless Protection, the latest film comedy from Larry the Cable Guy, our expectations were already set about as low as they could go.

So color us surprised when the movie came off quite well, earning several genuine belly-laughs and a bit of our admiration for the way it avoided salty language in general and violating our “three strike” rule.

The plot has Larry cast as a sheriff’s deputy in a small town who would like nothing better than to join the FBI … or become the local sheriff. When he witnesses what he believes is a kidnapping and takes the safety of a young woman into his own hands, he’s told he’s screwed up an FBI case by nearly everyone.

Of course, appearances can be deceiving and since this is Larry’s movie, you can just about guess how badly he’s actually screwed up or not. The film is reminiscent of the original Dukes of Hazzard TV show in terms of the level of its humor, but that’s not a completely bad thing, and since Larry never once utters his standup catchphrase, he fits into the role he’s playing a bit better than in other filmic outings.

The movie is still a bit of escapist fantasy; Jenny McCarthy plays Larry’s undyingly-loyal girlfriend who looks like she does diet pill reviews, even though it’s unlikely she’d ever give a guy like Larry the time of day outside of a movie studio set. And even Ivana Milicevic, who plays the attractive gal in danger Larry’s trying to protect, makes a play for him, although to the film’s credit, Larry resists her advances and stays loyal to his girlfriend … a rarity in movies, these days, when most characters hop into bed with each other at each and every opportunity (and without consequences, by and large).

All in all, Witless Protection is hardly a classic film, but as a good popcorn movie, it’s certainly an acceptable choice. Worthy of a rental, at least.