Best holiday season ever for gamers, worst for wallets?

bruin

I just spent a few minutes making a list of games coming out between August and the end of the year that, at this point at least, I think I'm going to buy. Looking at it, I really think we've got the best holiday season in recent memory on our hands here, but I'm scared about how much it's going to cost me. A quick estimate (adding up rough prices) puts my total at between $1100 and $1200. That is kind of a ridiculous amount of money to spend on games in just a few short month. I'm going to have to cut out everything that I don't absolutely have to play on release day, and not spring for any special editions (except probably Halo 3).


Here's my list. Dates are pulled from Wikipedia and Gamestop.com, so they're not 100% accurate.

August
20 - Brain Age 2
21 - Bioshock
27 - Metroid Prime 3
28 - Blue Dragon

September
3 - Project Gotham Racing 4
5 - Skate
17 - Eternal Sonata
25 - Halo 3

October
Lost Odyssey
Guitar Hero III
1 - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
16 - Grand Theft Auto IV
30 - Call of Duty 4

November
Assassin’s Creed
Mass Effect
Rock Band
Left 4 Dead
5 - Fire Emblem Goddess of Dawn
6 - Geometry Wars DS
12 - Super Mario Galaxy

December
3 - Super Smash Bros. Brawl
3 - Professor Layton and the Curious Village


So, best holiday season ever? What are you looking forward to? How are you going to afford it all?

solsovly

It's a cruel world. Now that I have a pretty decent paying job. I have no time to play the games I can afford to buy. Back when I was in college, I had all the time in the world to play the games, but none of the money to do so.

/sigh

Lunker

I started a running total but when I realized Rock Band and GH3 may potentially run me close to $300 alone, I started to feel sick. I also made the mistake of watching that Mass Effect dev walkthrough and playing the Ace Combat 6 demo.

Needless to say, I'll be GameFlying like a mother this fall and buying only select titles. This is what I tallied elsewhere strictly for buying:

Wii:
• Mario Strikers Charged: $50
• Metroid Prime 3: $50
• Super Mario Galaxy: $50
• Zack and Wiki: $40
• RE: Umbrella Chronicles: $50
• Tiger Woods '08: $50
== $290

360:
• Assassin's Creed: $60
• Rock Band: $80-$200
• Guitar Hero 3: $80-$100
• Tomb Raider Anniversary: $30
== $250 to $390

DS:
• Phoenix Wright 3: $30-$35
• Contra 4: $30-$35
• Zelda: Phantom Hourglass: $30-$35
• Professor Layton: $30-$35
• DQM: Joker: $30-35
== $150 to $175

PSP:
Castlevania: Dracula X: $40
== $40

TOTAL: $730 to $895.

And this is not including any VC or XBLA titles.

Speakeasy

Is there anything coming out for the PS3 this holiday? Summoning Unco-ordinated or DarkWarrior.

bruin

Speakeasy wrote: »

Is there anything coming out for the PS3 this holiday? Summoning Unco-ordinated or DarkWarrior.

Between now and the end of the year, Warhawk, Lair, Little Big Planet (maybe), Uncharted, Ratchet and Clank, Heavenly Sword, and a few others. It's actually a pretty good list, but, for me at least, it pales in comparison to the lineup on 360.

Speakeasy

bruin wrote: »

Speakeasy wrote: »

Is there anything coming out for the PS3 this holiday? Summoning Unco-ordinated or DarkWarrior.

Between now and the end of the year, Warhawk, Lair, Little Big Planet (maybe), Uncharted, Ratchet and Clank, Heavenly Sword, and a few others. It's actually a pretty good list, but, for me at least, it pales in comparison to the lineup on 360.

While it might pale in comparison or not, I'm just wondering if it's worth keeping the thing. It's looking like the answer is no more and more.

Also looking at Wiki, there are like 5 other games coming out for the 360 that I want, in addition to the OP list. Oy.

Tofystedeth

for the 360, I could get by with just Halo 3, though Assassin's Creed could be pretty damn tasty. Oh, and Mass Effect. And Rock Band. Crap.

Ok, for Wii, SSB would make my life complete, but then there is MP3, Mario Galaxy, Zelda and Fire Emblem.

Fuck!
I don't even own one of those systems.
/me tears his hair and wears sackcloth and ashes.

Also, I am in the same boat as Solsovly. Stupid damn irony.

Xenogears of Bore

Yo Lunker, no Brawl on your list? SHAME.

This is a list of what all the games I will get would cost me...if I bought them all new

DS

Rune Factory $35
DQM:J $35
Phoenix Wright 3:$35
Phantom Hourglass:$35
Bleach:$35

Wii
DBZ:BT 3:$50
Mario:$50
Brawl:$50
Corruption:$50
Naruto:$50
Madden: $50
Fire Emblem: $50


I guarantee I am missing at least four or five Nintendo games. Add this to the 360, Halo 3, and Blue Dragon I am doubtless to get eventually, and a $50 a month budget. Yeah. I might have to collect some soda cans and skip the halo box for a year.

NexusSix

The second half of this year is going to be total wallet rape.

Not only that, but I have no idea where I'm going to find the time to play the games I want, not to mention try and finish up my current backlog.

Between now and 01/01/2008, I want:

BioShock
Mass Effect
GTA IV
Halo 3
Half-Life Orange Box (WTF is up with that title?)
CoD4: Modern Warfare
Assassins Creed
Mercenaries 2

So in there we have the sandboxiest of sandbox games, a massive Bioware RPG, 2 FPS titles with massive replay value (not to mention Halo 3 and Xbox Live), yet more Half-Life goodness...

I suppose if I cut off both legs I could get a least a couple of weeks off of work to get some extra time for all these games.

Lach

I'm looking forward to
Blue Dragon, Mass Effect, Halo 3, Rock Band, Call of Duty 4, Phantom Hourglass and Bioshock.
$300+

I migth scoop up one of those new PSPs (Also considering a PS3 because of a Walmart deal ).

suadeo

Just the list in the OP, my total would come to $650. And these are pretty much 'must have title'. And there are 2-3 titles I would like to own but could pass on them (Halo 3, Rock Band, CoD4).

This also doesn't include some other games I am really looking forward to.

RainbowDespair

Looking at my must-have titles, I'm looking at $200-$300:

Blue Dragon (Already purchased import for $40)
Super Mario Galaxy $50
Bioshock $50
Lost Odyssey $50
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles $50
Wii Zapper $20
Half-Life 2: Episode 2 $20
$240 ($280 if you count Blue Dragon)
Plus throw in some $ for whatever cool XBLA & VC games come out between now and then.


However, that's with me being very stringent with the must-haves. If you count every single game that I'd really like to buy this season, the list also includes:

Nights 2 $50
Persona 3 $50
The new Growlanser game $40
Wild Arms 5 $40
Eternal Sonata $60
Assassin's Creed $60
Smash Bros. $50
Metroid 3 $50
Trauma Center 2 $50
Zelda: Phantom Hourglass $30
Dragon Quest: Joker $30
Civilization IV Expansion $30
Mass Effect $60
Total: $600 + $240 = $840

And I'm sure I'm missing some titles in there.

JCRooks

I was planning to finally get a Wii this holiday season, for Galaxy, Smash Bros, etc., but it looks like just to keep up with all the 360 games (both in terms of money and time), I'm going to have to put off my waggle fun till next year.

Lunker

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

Yo Lunker, no Brawl on your list? SHAME.

I'm one of the eight people in the world not terribly excited about Brawl -- none of my local friends play it, so I never got into it. Still, I'll likely GameFly it, along with a shitload of 360 stuff (Mass Effect, Skate, Ace Combat 6,
Bioshock, GTAIV and that Walo 3 game). Plus I'll likely have to bump some stuff off of my master buy list down to rentals until post-holiday.

Tofystedeth

Lunker wrote: »

Xenogears of Bore wrote: »

Yo Lunker, no Brawl on your list? SHAME.

I'm one of the eight people in the world not terribly excited about Brawl -- none of my local friends play it, so I never got into it. Still, I'll likely GameFly it, along with a shitload of 360 stuff (Mass Effect, Skate, Ace Combat 6,
Bioshock, GTAIV and that Walo 3 game). Plus I'll likely have to bump some stuff off of my master buy list down to rentals until post-holiday.

I know how you feel Lunker. For some reason, I was one of 2 people at my college who was any good at Smash Bros. And one like 4 who played ever. It made me sad that I couldn't find many people to play with.

Darlan

I have a fully two page Word list, single spaced, 10 pt font of upcoming games I'd LIKE to get. It'll probably be something like this realistically, though:

Mario Galaxy $50
Half Life 2 Episode 2 $20 (?)
Portal $20 (?)
Metroid Prime 3 $50
Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword $35
No More Heroes $50
Majora's Mask, Super Metroid, Mario 3 and Yoshi's Island VC hopefully: $31

Total: $256.

And yup, I'm another one of those rare Wii owners who is pretty "meh" on Brawl. Already got a Japanese verison of Phantom Hourglass, too.

Edit: Forgot Left 4 Dead. I am a bit "wait and see" on it though.

DarkWarrior

Speakeasy wrote: »

Is there anything coming out for the PS3 this holiday? Summoning Unco-ordinated or DarkWarrior.

Depends what games you want. Before the end of the year we should be getting:

Heavenly Sword
GTA4
Ratchet and Clank Future
Time Crisis 4
GT5 Prologue
Uncharted
Warhawk
Tiger Woods 08 (If youre into Golf, I'm not)
Lair
Plus the general things like Nascar, Singstar, Madden, etc.

Evangir

Ugh, let's see. Prices are in Canadian Funbucks.

Xbox 360
Halo 3 (Collector's Edition) - $79.99
Mass Effect $69.99 (May be bumped when they announce the contents of their Collector's Edition)
Bioshock (Collector's Edition) - $79.99
Blue Dragon - $69.99
Ace Combat 6 /w Flightstick - $Rape
Lost Oddysey - $69.99
Assassin's Creed - $69.99
Grand Theft Auto IV - $69.99
Eternal Sonata - $69.99
Call of Duty 4 - $69.99

PC
Half-life 2: Episode 2 - $39.99?

Total - ~$800. And that's not including the dozen or so Live Arcade games I'll buy.

My wallet is fucked.

subedii

So yeah, I'm going to have to say that even if half this stuff doesn't make release, this has been by far the best year in gaming in a long time.

Also, my wallet weeps. I'll do a list later and see what the damage comes to. I suppose not currently being a console owner at the moment probably helps some, but not by much.

Janson

My must haves:

Phoenix Wright 3
Mass Effect

I generally save money by avoiding most gaming news and not getting hyped.

However I usually hear of this or that game that is good or worth a play-through and I suspect that there will be a fair few DS games I end up buying

Phoenix Wright 3 handily comes out just before my birthday (that is, if I import it) so I'll likely receive it as a present.

I'm also definitely going halves on GTA4 and Rock Band.

I agree that this is an excellent gaming year.

dopplex

Darlan wrote: »

I have a fully two page Word list, single spaced, 10 pt font of upcoming games I'd LIKE to get. It'll probably be something like this realistically, though:

Mario Galaxy $50
Half Life 2 Episode 2 $20 (?)
Portal $20 (?)
Metroid Prime 3 $50
Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword $35
No More Heroes $50
Majora's Mask, Super Metroid, Mario 3 and Yoshi's Island VC hopefully: $31

Total: $256.

And yup, I'm another one of those rare Wii owners who is pretty "meh" on Brawl. Already got a Japanese verison of Phantom Hourglass, too.

Edit: Forgot Left 4 Dead. I am a bit "wait and see" on it though.

How is the JP Phantom Hourglass?

My assumption has been that it isn't one of those games that you can fully enjoy without understanding Japanese, but if I'm wrong...

Dr_Keenbean

I remember when I had no job in...98 was it?

The year MGS and Ocarina of Time came out. No money.

Merry fucking Christmas though. I my mom!

cj iwakura

Goddess of Dawn was confirmed? Great.

Now I have to get a Wii by November.
(Same with Castlevania X and the PSP... you know that'll be out of print in days.)

And Assassin's Creed would make a nice PC acquisition. I'm glad I won't need a 360 to play it.

Rock Band... dang it Harmonix, why you gotta bankrupt me.
Wait, I don't have either system anyway...

Bioshock = August? But that's when IIDX 13 comes out.... that's just not right.

Darlan

dopplex wrote: »

How is the JP Phantom Hourglass?

My assumption has been that it isn't one of those games that you can fully enjoy without understanding Japanese, but if I'm wrong...

I LOVE it. I've ran into one snag that I had to fetch my Japanese-reading brother to help me with, but for the most part, most of the puzzles are very visual and it's do-able. Of course, I'm missing out on some of the plot, but it seems to be rather throwaway-ish like the GBC Zeldas were anyways. Importing is a workable choice, but waiting is probably the best thing to do. I mostly got it because is was in Japan for my first time the last few days and it was simply impossible for me to walk out of Akihabara empty handed.

Edit: If nothing else, there's always those early english-walkthroughs like this if I get stuck.

Alfred J. Kwak

Okay, let me see:

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii)
Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)
Advance Wars 2 (DS)

on the maybe-list:

Super Paper Mario (Wii)
NiGHTS: Journey Of Dreams (Wii)
Forever Blue / Endless Ocean (Wii)
Battalion Wars 2 (Wii)
Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games (Wii)


and of course Paper Mario on the VC

this will keep me statisfied long enough until the Europe release of SMBB and MK Wii

Vanilla Coke

Crap, I'm gonna be out at least $300 on 360 games alone.

baddman

So far Rock Band is my only "must buy". I live with three other gamers, so I imagine we will be able to split the cost of any non-multiplayer games.

Artoria

This holoday season is going to break me bad. Even though I have a new job that pays a whole lot more than I make now my time to play is going to be reduced so I have to pick and choose what to spend my time on. as for what I plan on geting well.

360
Bioshock LE $70
Halo 3 Legenday $130
GTA 4 collectors Edition $100
Assassin's Creed $60
Gear of War LE $70 (On the way to me now)

PS3
Heavenly Sword $60
Ninja Gaiden Sigma $60 + (I plan ong etting the LE if I can find it)

So that's at least $480.. Ai-ya..

subedii

dragonsama wrote: »

This holoday season is going to break me bad. Even though I have a new job that pays a whole lot more than I make now my time to play is going to be reduced so I have to pick and choose what to spend my time on. as for what I plan on geting well.

360
Bioshock LE $70
Halo 3 Legenday $130
GTA 4 collectors Edition $100
Assassin's Creed $60
Gear of War LE $70 (On the way to me now)

PS3
Heavenly Sword $60
Ninja Gaiden Sigma $60 + (I plan ong etting the LE if I can find it)

I don't mean to make comments about your choices (really I'm just curious), but if you're worried about money, why not switch some of those Special Editions for Regular Editions? Looks as if you could save somewhere in the region of $100 by doing that.

MegoDrDoom

alright, this is fun... figuring out how much money is gone in the coming months.

Xbox 360
Halo 3 (Collector's Edition) - $79.99
Mass Effect - $59.99
Ace Combat 6 /w Flightstick - $149.99
Grand Theft Auto IV (Special edition) - $89.99
Call of Duty 4 - $59.99

Wii
Mario Galaxy $49.99
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles $49.99
Metroid Prime 3: $49.99
Wii Zapper $19.99

Like a few others, Im sure that I'm missing something. The sad part is, this is shit that I NEED. I can hardly talk myself out of any of it...

$609.91 (ballpark, no tax) Good bye Wallet...

YodaTuna

bruin wrote: »

December
3 - Professor Layton and the Curious Village

WAIT, Is this game coming out in the US? When did they announce it? I want a press release! How come no one told me?

Bedlam

You forgot Portal/TF2/Orange Box is coming october 9th

And Im pretty sure someone makes a thread like this every year.

Kami

The only two, must-buy, gotta-have-them titles for me this year are Bioshock, and Mass Effect.

Now, I know I'll end up buying the heavy-hitters, but those two, for me, are 2007.

Xenogears of Bore

YodaTuna wrote: »

bruin wrote: »

December
3 - Professor Layton and the Curious Village

WAIT, Is this game coming out in the US? When did they announce it? I want a press release! How come no one told me?

Also coming out here out of nowhere is the silly punchout esque boxing game for the Wii.

slacktron

NexusSix wrote: »

Half-Life Orange Box (WTF is up with that title?)

It's because "Valve's Pants-Shittingly Awesome Bundle: Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2!" wouldn't fit on the box.

Darth Aardvark

Halo 3
Mass Effect
Orange Box
Bioshock
Assassin's Creed
Too Human (maybe)
Phantom Hourglass
Ninja Gaiden DS
Banjo Kathreeie (maybe)
About 50$ worth of XBLA stuff

And I don't even have my Wii yet.
D:D:D:

supersloth

I already started paying games off in anticipation. Halo 3 and Bioshock are good to go. I'm just going to play everything else by ear. I just won't have a lot of time come the end of the year, and I figure why bother spending tons of money in the fall like I always do, when I can just get the games I HAVE to play right away, and just get the others as I come into some extra time. Will probably save a bunch of money too.

I really need to figure out the best way to go about Rock Band/Guitar Hero accessories though. Fuck that is gonna drive me nuts.

spectra

My PS3 is going to be getting lots of play time:

Lair
Heavenly Sword
Mercenaries 2
GTA IV
Stranglehold CE (HD Hard Boiled!!!)
Time Crisis 4
Assassin's Creed
Uncharted

I thought I was going to pick up a wii or 360 this christmas, but between those and PC gaming i will have no money or time.

Woodroez

Down to the essentials...

Halo 3 Legendary $129.99

GTA IV $89.99

Call of Duty 4 $59.99

Half-Life 2 360 $59.99

Guns lol. If I'm a really good boy (or I sell my non-digital guns, which oddly I never touch), I might consider a PS3...Killzone 2 is this year right?

Anyway, KZ2 and the subsequent PS3 aside, we're looking at $279.97usd before tax.

Zenitram

My Christmas list will consist of:

Wii console
Super Mario Galaxy
Mass Effect
Team Fortress 2
Any other Wii/360 games that get above a 90% rating on Gamerankings

supersloth

I wasn't going to pre-order GTAIV but god damn, that special edition looks hot like sauce.