Sorry folks, this is just a filler blog because I can’t think of anything interesting to write a blog about. So this is the typical “What games am I looking forward to this fall” blog. A massive amount of games gets released this season for the holidays. But aside from Kingdom Hearts on the PSP, there really wasn’t anything else I was looking forward to in September. So I like to call it the ‘Calm Before the Storm’ because now that October is here, all the cool games come out soon! I imagine in September, most people were looking forward to Halo: Reach. But not me! I’m rather sick of that game myself. I couldn’t care less about Halo games, and brother Jeff plays Reach all the time. But anyway, enough of that. Here are some games I’m looking forward to playing in the next couple of months!

One game that comes out early in October that I’m kind of on the fence about is Wii Party. On the one hand, I’m probably one of the only ‘hardcore’ gamers who enjoy the casual Mii games like Wii Sports and Wii Music. But on the other hand, I’m kind of sick of mini-game party titles on the Wii. So I’m not sure if I’ll get Wii Party right away or not. What do you all think?

Another upcoming game from Nintendo that I’m on the fence about is the third Pokemon Ranger game on the DS. Considering that I never picked up the second one, chances are I may not get this one either. But I did like some of the ideas behind the first game. I usually tend to enjoy the ‘side’ Pokemon games, such as Pokemon Pinball, Pokemon Snap, and Pokemon Channel, more than the main titles.

Speaking of which, this fall another Pokemon game comes out on the Wii called PokePark: Pikachu’s Adventure. I’ll probably get this one because it looks adorable and I can’t resist anything cute. And it kind of reminds me of Pokemon Channel on the GameCube. Has anyone ever played that? It’s a pretty weird game where you sit and watch Pokemon themed TV channels with Pikachu! Really! It was geared toward younger Pokemon fans, like I imagine the new PokePark game will be, too. But that’s OK. As a game reviewer, I actually have a strong interest in games geared towards kids, so I’ll definitely be taking a visit to the PokePark on the Wii.

And while I’m talking about games that most hardcore gamers would turn their nose up at, I’ll also be getting Nintendo’s Art Academy for the DS. Like I said before, I actually like a lot of Nintendo’s casual fare, like their Touch Generation puzzle games and interactive cookbooks. Art Academy looks to teach art topics, and that sound fun on the DS. And since I do have a bit of interest in art and drawing as well, I think I’ll enjoy it. Plus it’s only 20 bucks.

I’m a big fan of the ‘Mama’ series like Cooking Mama and Gardening Mama, and this holiday there will be two more of these games coming out! One is Crafting Mama on the DS. I guess she’s gotten into scrapbooking and crap. Babysitting Mama on the Wii looks really weird, as I’ve read it comes with a doll you put the remote inside to play! I might just have to get it for that bit of weirdness alone!

As a fan of arcade classic collections, I’m also eyeing Intellivision Lives and Atari Greatest Hits vol. 1 on the DS. My cousin had an Intellivision and I loved to play Frog Bog with her, and this collection is a heck of a lot cheaper than buying each game in the 360 Game Room. Hopefully the Atari collection will be better than the last one was on the DS.

Speaking of classic games, Pac-Man is celebrating his 30th Anniversary this year with a party game on the Wii called Pac-Man Party. Only problem is there already WAS a Pac-Man party game on the last generation of consoles called Pac-Man Fever, and it wasn’t very good. Pac-Man Party doesn’t look any better. But I’ll probably break down and get it since I’m such a hopeless Pac-Man fan.

However, there ARE some new Pac-Man games I am looking forward to, though. Like Pac-Man: Championship Edition DX on Xbox LIVE (and for other consoles with downloadable features). I loved the first Pac-Man: CE. In fact, it was one of the reasons that got me to get an Xbox 360 in the first place! Even better, there’s also going to be a new Pac-Game in arcades called Pac-Man Battle Royale. It’s a tabletop four player competitive Pac-Man game, and I hope I can find an arcade that has it!

Probably the biggest game I’m looking forward to this fall is Kirby’s Epic Yarn. I’m a HUGE Kirby fan, and I like Kirby games even more than Mario ones. In Kirby’s latest on the Wii, he is made out of yarn and the world looks like a scrapbooking catalog come to life (did Crafting Mama have anything to do with this?). You can probably guess what I’ll be doing on October 17. Do you think that GameStop will have Kirby launch parties like what they did with Halo: Reach?

And speaking of epic, I’m also looking forward to another cute Wii game: Epic Mickey. I don’t hold it in as high regard as many others have, because when I played it at PAX, it looked like just another 3-D platformer to me. But that’s not a BAD thing! I’ll gladly play a good 3-D platformer, and Epic Mickey looks to fit that bit and have lots of classic cartoon references, too. Heck, the last blog I wrote about my favorite Disney games was partly in response to my anticipation for this game. I am getting a little tired of everyone using the word “Epic,” though. Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Epic Mickey…I think I’m going to try and not use the word ‘epic’ so much in my writings!

Another classic game character is getting some new games this fall that I’m looking forward to as well: Donkey Kong. First is Donkey Kong Country Returns. I played it at PAX and it definitely has that classic DKC feel. I’m a little worried about the Wii controls, though. I don’t like having to wiggle the remote to roll. I’d rather hold the remote sideways or use a classic controller. But I am looking forward to trying the two player co-op mode. When brother Jeff was very young, one of his first words was ‘Donkey Kong’ so he could communicate to me that he wanted to play Donkey Kong Country! Hopefully we’ll get to play this new one together.

Another DK game I might get will be on the DS: Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again. I enjoyed the first DS Mario vs. DK game, but I never downloaded the DSiWare version because it looked like more of the same. This latest one is a cartridge again so I might pick it up. Looks like some more fun Lemmings style puzzling.

At PAX I also played the new Sonic games: Sonic Colors and Sonic 4. I’m not a big Sonic fan, but I don’t hate ALL his games. If I get the opportunity to review Sonic’s newest titles, I’ll definitely give them a try. Sonic Colors MIGHT end up being a fun 3-D Sonic, and Sonic 4 certainly has the classic feel down, from what I played at PAX, anyway.

Another game I’m looking forward to that I’ll probably get to review is Super Scribblenauts. I enjoyed the first game when I reviewed it, despite its problems. Here’s hoping the sequel can fix some of the quibbles of the first game. I hope they let you play around with words in the title screen like in the first one. That was one of the most fun parts of the game to me!

There are a few interesting RPGs this fall, too. One is Final Fantasy: 4 Warriors of Light for DS. It looks like a FF game that’s more my speed, with classic style visuals and gameplay. I’m not sure if I’ll get it or have time to play it, but I will keep my eye on it. Another RPG on the DS that I hope to review is Rune Factory 3. I reviewed the second one a couple of years ago, and it played like Harvest Moon except you get to fight monsters in dungeons, too.

Two other portable RPGs I’ll definitely be getting are Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals for DS and Ys: The Oath in Felghana for PSP. I loved Lufia 2 on the SNES. It was a pretty standard RPG, but had good music and fun, puzzley dungeons. The DS remake is more of a reimaging of the series, with lots of changes. Since I’m not THAT big of a Lufia fan, I’m not upset about the changes yet. Now, if they decided to totally change and remake FF6, THEN I would be mad.

I’ll also definitely get Ys: The Oath in Felghana, a remake of an older Ys game for PSP. I loved Ys Seven so much; it was definitely one of the best games I played this year. So I’ll be glad to give this other Ys title a try. I’ll probably even get the Limited Edition version like what I did with Ys Seven.

And finally, we can’t forget downloadable titles. Soon on DSiWare, the sequel to the Game Boy Color masterpiece, Shantae, will be available. And it’ll be an instant download for me. It’s a 2-D platformer that reminds me of Wonder Boy. You play as a genie girl named Shantae who can change into different animals to help her get past obstacles. It’s by WayForward, a company who can make REALLY good 2-D games when they want to (like A Boy and His Blob on Wii).

Another downloadable title that’s coming out soon that I’ll get is Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley for Xbox LIVE. It’s like a cross between Earthworm Jim and Viewtiful Joe, and has lots of humor. Plus it’s made by the same people who did The Maw, and they’re in Austin, TX. They have to be cool if they’re from Texas, right?

And finally, I don’t know when it’ll come out, but Nintendo has a WiiWare title I played at PAX called Fluidity that’s like their answer to Loco Roco. You tilt the Wii remote to shift the world around to move water from place to place. It played really well, so I may get it when it’s released. Maybe it’ll be out this fall, but who knows?

And that’s about all the titles I can think of that I’ll be looking forward to this fall. I probably won’t get ALL of them right away, but I will keep my eye on them. The reason why I wrote this blog was because recently I was looking at release lists for the rest of the year, and noticed a lot of games I wanted as well as some pretty strange ones I didn’t know existed. For instance, did you know that some company is making a Deadliest Catch game? I guess that show is pretty popular. I wonder if they’ll make an Ice Road Truckers game, too!

There are also some other games I’ll be keeping my eye on because they’re kids games or they’re educational games. I know it’s strange, but I do have an interest in these kinds of games and I like reviewing them for this site. One of the funniest was a Dora the Explorer cooking game! I hope Swiper the Fox is in it!

Seeing the holiday releases, I also noticed a few games that were delayed. Most of the time, I’m a little glad and relieved when a game is delayed since I usually have my hands full enough as it is. But there were two games that I was kind of sad to hear they were delayed until next year: Okamiden and Ghost Trick. Of course, seeing as they’re Capcom games, I’m not really surprised about the delay. They just looked like so much fun when I played them at PAX, that I was hoping they’d be released this year like they said they would be earlier.

Well, that’s all for now. In the comments section, feel free to tell me if I’m off my rocker for my game choices. And let me know what games you’re looking forward to this fall. –Cary

Tags: Misc