'Tis the season to be a gamer

By: Fernando Dutra

Posted: 9/2/08

After the initial excitement of returning to campus wears off, students begin to seek refuge and escape from their classes. One form of escapism comes when playing video games. Couple the end of the fall semester with the onset of the holidays and game companies stand to gain much from the subsequent mounting anticipation, causing key franchises and blockbuster titles to be released between October and December.

This year's sweet spot will see the release of titles like "Resistance 2" for Sony's Playstation 3 (PS3), "Gears of War 2" for Microsoft's Xbox 360 and "Animal Crossing" for Nintendo's Wii. These are the prospective heavy hitters for each of the game companies, though this fall and winter promises much more for console gamers. Dates are always subject to change based on the publisher's discretion, so don't anticipate too much (see Grand Theft Auto IV's missing last holiday, for example).

Last week Silicon Knights released "Too Human" for the 360, the first game in a trilogy-much like Bioware's "Mass Effect." "Too Human" has become infamous for its tumultuous history; problems with Epic's widely licensed "Unreal Engine 3' stalled game development. After a playable demo got panned at last year's E3, studio head Dennis Dyack went on the defensive. Regardless, the game is finally here and was released to reviews running the gamut in their take on the game.

This week sees the release of Rare's "Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise" for the 360, Pandemic Studio's "Mercenaries 2: World in Flames" for the PS3 and 360, and Square Enix's 360-exclusive "Infinite Undiscovery." On Sept. 7, Will Wright's "Spore" will be released for the PC alongside "Spore Creatures" for the Nintendo DS.

On Sept. 14, "Rock Band 2" will be released for the Xbox 360. The PS3 version will be released on Oct 19, while other versions will be released after that date. "Rock Band 2"s official tracklist has already been released and will include AC/DC, Steve Miller Band, Beck, The Guess Who and Jane's Addiction, among others. Six downloadable albums have already been announced, including Foo Fighters "The Colour and the Shape," Red Hot Chili Peppers "Blood Sugar Sex Magick," Jane's Addiction's "Nothing's Shocking" and Megadeth's "Peace Sells … But Who's Buying." Tracks from the first Rock Band will be available on "Rock Band 2," but they must be transferred and there will be a small fee to do so.

A remake of "Dragon Quest IV" will be available for the DS on the following day. On Sept. 16, Natsume's "Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility" will be released for the Wii on the same day as LucasArts Entertainment's "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed" for the Wii 360, and PS3. A week later the "Wario Land: Shake It" and "de Blob" are released for the Wii alongside "Kirby: Super Star Ultra," "Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure" and "Disgaea DS" for the DS.

Survival-horror fans have "Silent Hill: Homecoming" to look forward to during the last week of September. The fifth entry in the series was developed by an American studio, a first for the franchise. Combat has received an overhaul and, taking an idea from the "Silent Hill" movie, Silent Hill turns from normal to gruesome in real-time now. The game will be available for both the 360 and PS3. Bioware's RPG take on Sonic ("Sonic Chronicles: Dark Brotherhood") will also be released for the DS.

"Motorstorm: Pacific Rift" will be released on Oct. 7 for the PS3. A week later, "SOCOM: Confrontation" will be released simultaneously in stores and the Playstation Network. "Saints Row 2" comes out during the same week of the 14th for the 360 and PS3. A week later "Wii Music" comes out for the Wii. Peter Molyneux's "Fable II," an open-ended action RPG that allows players to choose to be good or evil, will be released on Oct. 21. On the same day, the PS3 will receive "Bioshock," the 360 hit from last year that draws on Ayn Rand's objectivism. "Littlebigplanet," a game focusing on online communal collaborations (though this is a grand generalization), will be released on the same day as "Bioshock" and "Fable II." There's a possibility "Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia" might be overlooked as a result of this. On Oct. 24 new Electronic Arts' IP "Dead Space" sees release. It is a survival-horror game set in space. "Guitar Hero: World Tour" sees the franchise add a microphone and drum set to its repertoire-much like "Rock Band." Unlike "Rock Band," the game will allow players to create their own tracks and share them, though without vocals. The game sees release on Oct. 26 and will cost 180 dollars for the full set of instruments. Two days later Bethesda's "Fallout 3" will be released for both the 360 and the PS3. It was the winner of the "Best of Show" award at E3 this year, with many publications anticipating the title as the game of the year.

On Nov. 4, "Resistance 2" will be released for the PS3. Three days later, "Gears of War 2" will be released for the 360. Both promise more action, more multiplayer options, and more refinements to what was introduced in the originals. On the 10th, "Animal Crossing: City Folk" will be released for the Wii. The day after, Treyarch's "Call of Duty: World At War" will be released for the PS3 and 360. It is the fifth in the franchise and will feature both European and Pacific theatre battles. Rare's "Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts" will be released on the same day for the 360 for 40 dollars. This entry deviates from the series' platforming roots and focuses instead on vehicle construction. Valve's "Left 4 Dead," will be released for the 360 on Nov. 17 and promises to elevate the survival-horror medium by featuring unrelenting zombies and focusing on online, interactive group dynamics. If one member of the party isn't cooperative, then the entire team could suffer for it. A day later, three classic franchises receive a reboot for the 360, Wii, and PS3. "Sonic Unleashed," "Prince of Persia," and "Tomb Raider: Underworld" all promise a return to roots that once made each of the series so popular.

The holiday gaming season effectively ends on Nov. 24 upon the release of Chrono Trigger DS. This will be the first time this classic RPG will be available on a handheld console, though Square has not announced whether or not there will be any additions for this version. It seems to be a straightforward port of the Playstation 1 "Final Fantasy Chronicles" version.

Though December appears to be devoid of any triple-A titles or franchises, games are subject to change release dates-and they often do. This holiday season is notably comprised of sequels - there are few buzzworthy new individual games being launched. As consoles get older, developers take less risks and therefore new franchises aren't pursued. This console generation is relatively young, so next year there'd better be some new IPs for innovation's sake.