The Ones to Watch For - September Edition

Fall is by far the best time to be a video gamer.  This is when all of the game publishers push out their triple A+ titles out before Christmas to make as much money as they can on them.  Typically, the faucet gets turned on in September and doesn't let up until well into February and it doesn't look like this year is any exception.  Here's the ones that are paving the way for all the rest, here's The Ones to Watch For

The Sims 3 Fast Lane Stuff - PC - 9/7/10

Wait, wait.  Give me a chance here.  The Sims 3 is an extremely popular EA franchise, particularly with women. Now, we have a LOT of good games coming out soon, and we're going to need the TV to play them and even the best of games will have problems competing against the Fall TV lineup.  Pick this one up for your woman and begin booking your game nights with buddies.  This probably won't be the best expansion EA has ever put out for their Sims fans, but it should rekindle the love and let you move on to more important things.Things like...


Halo Reach - Xbox 360 - 9/14/10

Ladies, you just picked up the latest Sims 3 expansion, and all you want is your big dumb (but lovable) husband to go away and let you spend some quality time exploring mummy tombs.  Pick him up a copy of Bungie's latest (and reportedly final) Halo game, Halo Reach, and win yourself the wife of the year award.  Don't worry, your secret is safe with me.  Better yet, teach him how to REALLY play Halo by getting him in your sniper cross hairs a few times.  Just not in front of the friends, save him the embarrassment of not being as good as you are.


MOVE Sports Champions Bundle - PS3 - 9/17/10

PlayStation enters the motion controlled market with their MOVE controllers and gaming options.  This bundle gets you Wii Sports Sports Champions and a Wii Remote PlayStation Move motion controller as well as the PlayStation Eye Camera to get started.  The tech demos of it looked impressive, but I'm not sure how receptive the population will be to this one, especially since nearly everybody owns a Wii.  Keep an eye on these to see what Sony does to bring it into the public eye.


Sid Meier's Civilization V - PC - 9/21/10

 For the PC gamers out there, Civilization V is hitting shelves in September and I know of a few people who are really looking forward to it.  I was never a huge Civilization fan, but I cannot deny that it is a lot of fun to sit down and play.  Beyond that, I'm not going to pretend I know enough about this one to keep talking, so just do yourself a favor and check it out.


Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock - Multi - 9/28/10

Activision brings out it's very successful horse Guitar Hero franchise and beats it over and over gives it an updated story mode in which you rip off the story to Brutal Legend traverse the lands of rock and unlock content as you progress through the quests given to you.  If that sounds awesome to you, be ready to pick up their latest offering in late September.  Personally, I'm waiting for Rock Band 3.


Dead Rising 2 - Multi - 9/28/10

Now here's one that I'm really looking forward to.  I loved the original Dead Rising game because I love to kill me some zombies.  Was it a perfect game?  Hell no.  Capcom has learned many of its mistakes from the previous game and is bringing this one to some very eager fans.  You play as Chuck Greene, a motocross champion who gets caught in Fortune City just in time for the next zombie outbreak.  The selling point this time around is the ability to combine items to create bigger more awesome ways to kill zombies.  Strap chainsaws onto a bike and tear through a crowd or combine a gun and a teddy bear and create a sentry to guard important points.  I can't wait for this one.



Final Fantasy XIV - PC - 9/30/10

It wouldn't be right if I didn't write about Final Fantasy XIV coming out at the end of September.  This is SquareEnix's latest offering to the MMO crowd and as somebody who played Final Fantasy XI and loves the series, I'm not really even thinking about this one.  The Final Fantasy MMO universe prides itself on its difficulty and it's hard to recommend that anybody try out an MMO that isn't World of Warcraft.  In any case, its worth keeping an eye on, especially now that they're showing off all of the stuff that players will be seeing in the game. 


Alright, that's it for September.  These brave games have stepped out as the front line soldiers this fall, and I salute all of them.  Even if I they're not in my "must buy" list, these are the games to watch this fall and see what kind of ripples they'll create in the gaming community.  Looking forward, September has nothing on October.  We'll see you in a month to discuss what's coming up.