Games of November Control the Holidays

The month where sales records are set and broken is upon us. We’ve also got a pseudo-console release when the final motion gaming device, Microsoft’s Kinect, hits the market. Core gamers get some sequels they did and didn’t ask for, while Mickey looks to return to gaming in dramatic fashion. We sort through the holiday gaming flood and talk through the games we are most excited about:

Week of Nov 1

• James Bond 007: Blood Stone – 360, PS3, DS, PC
• Kinect – Dance Central, Kinect Sports, Kinectimals, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved, Kinect Joy Ride- 360
• Blood Drive – 360, PS3
• GoldenEye 007 – Wii

Week of Nov 8

• Call of Duty: Black Ops – Everything
• The Sly Collection – PS3
• Raving Rabbids: Travel in Time – Wii

Week of Nov 15

• Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit – 360, PS3, PC, Wii
• Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood – 360, PS3, PC
• EA Sports Active 2 – 360, Wii, PS3
• Sonic Colors – Wii
• NBA Jam – 360, PS3
• Create – 360, PS3, Wii, PC

Week of Nov 22

• Splatterhouse – 360, PS3
• Crazy Taxi – XBLA, PSN
• Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom – 360, PS3
• Donkey Kong Country Returns – Wii

Week of Nov 29

• Nail’d – 360, PS3, PC
• Disney Epic Mickey – Wii
• Golden Sun: Dark Dawn – DS

Here’s What Has Our Attention this November

Kinect Launch Titles

Colefacekilla – With the Kinect purchase, that means I’ll be getting Kinect Adventures with it. Even though it’s a pack in game and I’ll probably tire of it quickly, I’m glad they didn’t pack in the sports title like the Wii and Playstation’s Move. It’s a game that will be fun to show off to friends and will be a hit at parties for sure. It just doesn’t seem like it has any lasting appeal for myself.

Since I’ve already bought Dance Central (just waiting for it to ship), most of my time will be spent looking like a complete idiot in the comfort of my home. I’m actually really looking forward to it, I just hope I don’t have to change my living room all around to use the Kinect, though I’m willing to do so. Besides using it to get some exercise, it will be fun to be able to game alongside my wife.

JDevL – Dance Central is my entire motivation for buying Kinect. It just looks like the best execution of this new technology. The game will be a hit at parties and date nights for anyone with a sense of humor. I also hope it shows the potential of the Kinect to gamers, Microsoft, and developers so that we get more of this rather than the vaporware on the Wii.

I’m anxoius to try out Kinect Sports, just to compare its execution with the other sports motion titles. I think this game stands more of a chance of pulling people in than Kinect Adventures. And of course, even though it isn’t really for me, I have to get Kinectimals for the gf’s kid as well as my nieces and nephews. I’m a sucker for seeing kids absorbed in new technology. And also for giving their parents no choice but to buy it for them.

Call of Duty: Black Ops

Wizardtrain187 – The only item listed that I know I’m going to pick up is Call of Duty: Black Ops. The multiplayer component looks like its just going to be an enhanced version of Modern Warfare 2 but that doesn’t really matter as I’m a bit more excited about the single player story. I love that time period (Vietnam/Cold War) and MW2 absolutely pulled me in despite what most would consider an unsophisticated purely action story. There’s just something about those games that I love and from the trailers I’m sure I won’t be dissappointed. Plus, I’ve read interviews with the military consultant and he sounds like pure hardass. Its interesting knowing that real experiences are the backdrop to a game we play.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

Robeque – I will most definitely be picking up Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. I used to love Hot Pursuit 2 on PS2. That was one of my favorite games back then. I wanted to play it really badly not too long ago, but before I heard that Criterion was doing a new version. I went out and found a copy for the original Xbox and …. yeah… it sure didn’t look as awesome as I remembered from back in the day. Funny how that works. We get spoiled with the graphics of the current gen games. So anyway, yeah… I am stoked about the new one! It’s gonna be a release day purchase for me, which I don’t really say very often anymore.

JDevL – I admit I’m nervous about this, but if I have on friend on my Autolog list, I will be getting Hot Pursuit. I’m not confident in the series’ history that there will be enough variety in the gameplay to keep my interested. On the other hand, I can’t help but believe Criterion took that into account as they developed the game. The demo was fun (even though it was short) and hopefully they make the full toll price worth the drive.

NBA Jam

Colefacekilla – And of course there is NBA Jam. This is a must have for me, as the series is one of my all-time favorites. I’m glad that NBA Elite 11 got cancelled in order for EA to release a full featured version for the 360 and PS3. The online play for that game will be just the right amount of ridiculous and I see myself going back to that game time and time again.

JDevL – I love everything EA has done to ressurrect my 2nd (to Blitz) favorite arcade sports franchise. They have the core NBA Jam gameplay down, the new remix tour, and ridiculous bosses added to the game. Sure a $40 price tag would be sweeter, but I will forget about that the second I break the backboard against all of you on Xbox Live.

(Others interested – EndlessBen, Blue Awesome)

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

Jadetiger CG – I think the only game in November that I have to get is Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. I’ve been really craving this one since I finished Assassin’s Creed 2. The graphics and gameplay were such a huge step forward, I really wouldn’t recommend playing the first at all now. Since this is a continuation of the second Assassin’s Creed, I’m really looking forward to another game set in old Italy. The artwork is just gorgeous. I’m not going to bother with the collector’s edition. I could care less about a jack in the box. I’m just so surprised that so many people want it. That’s like releasing the Gears of War 3 collector’s edition with a hula hoop. Now if it were a lawn dart, then maybe we could talk.

EndlessBen – I’m really looking forward to Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and hope that those expectations won’t be dashed by a mediocre game. I had such a good time playing Assassin’s Creed II that I was just reflecting the other day on how I wanted to play through it again, whenever I get through my huge queue of games that I’m currently facing. If they can bring the great gameplay with awesome, smooth and violent murders and the beautiful environments into a multiplayer setting, I might be playing that quite a bit.

(Others interested – Colefacekilla, JDevL)

Splatterhouse

Wizardtrain187 – I was slightly interested in Splatterhouse from a nostalgia point of view, but after seeing multiple previews I am going to make a prediction that Splatterhouse will be one of if not the worst game released this season. It looks to be nothing more than a standard beat’em up and while those titles were great ten years ago, today’s gamer needs more from a 60.00 dollar title.

JDevL – If reviews tell me that Splatterhouse isn’t broken and it’s at least mindless fun, I’ll jump all over it… when the price drops. These one-dimensional arcadey titles should never be $60 anymore. There needs to be a pricepoint inbetween downloadable (XBLA/PSN) games and retail games. Hey, and why the hell wasn’t this released before/around Halloween?

Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom

JDevL – Anything reminiscent of Team Ico’s work is worth a mention. This purchase will be based on final reviews, but I was completely charmed by the demo. There aren’t very many unique adventure these days and this game stands apart from traditional holiday game releases. Namco Bandai impressed me last month with Enslaved, and I hope Majin is just as memorable.

Donkey Kong Country Returns

Coopopolopolis – I’m intrigued by Donkey Kong Country Returns. That series was probably one that I played the most on my SNES. If they pull it off right it might make me turn on my Wii. But I expect to be disappointed with it so I’m torn on whether to try it or not. But the reality is that it does nothing for my gamerscore so I doubt I’ll really buy it.

(Others interested – EndlessBen)

Epic Mickey

Blue Awesome – I’ll be picking up Epic Mickey at the end of the month no matter what. I need something to make me plug my Wii back in, and with this game being a little cheaper than the bazillion Xbox games on my want-list, I might just buy it on day one. It looks like a very cool game, and I love me some old-school Disney animated shorts.

What are you picking up this November?

Sources:

Giant Bomb (images)

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