Up and Comming

[Josiah]

Manga Gamer doesn't ship anything, even in Europe, but yeah. I certainly wouldn't mind seeing more of their titles show up on JList.

[Doodleshark]

Dammit... After the zombification Infinity Ward I told myself I wouldn't get excited for Modern Warfare 3. Apparently, I lied.

Curse me for being the type of person that actually enjoys cookie-cutter military shooters.

[Josiah]

The big fall/holiday rush is coming up. On my list: Kirby (both the Wii and DS ones), Professor Layton 4, the Bit Trip collection, Mario Kart 7, Super Mario 3D, Zelda Skyward Sword, Assasin's Creed Revalations, and probably a couple others I'm forgetting at the moment.

Also, I'm seriously considering importing a European Wii if Nintendo keeps stupidly refusing to bring Xenoblade, Last Story, and Pandora's Tower to the US. Really, I have no idea what Nintendo is thinking these days. Those three games have gotten great reviews, there's a massive online movement to get them released in the US, and they've already been translated into English for their European releases. Not to mention Nintendo's crazy panic mode reaction to 3DS sales, which made no sense at all seeing as sales were pretty much guarenteed to pick up later this year once some big games were released. Seriously, it's not like the DS was breaking any sales records during its first few month. That's just the way things go. Expecting it to continually top the sales charts on the launch library would be moronic.

[SuzuTitor]

Hack your Wii once the Wii U is out. Serves NoA right for not giving us games we're all begging for. I'm annoyed that the 3DS is also region locked.
On the bright side, Sony just stated that the Vita is region free.

[Josiah]

How easy is it to break the Wii's region lock? Thing is, even with a Wii U, I wouldn't want to risk losing my virtual console games, or those locked game saves (like Brawl).

On a different topic, when figuring out which of the upcoming big games to pre-order, I discovered that Aksys apparently localized Fate/Extra and it's going to be out at the beginning of November! I already have the Japanese version, but there's no telling when I'll know enough kanji to really play it. Oddly, you can only get the pre-order bonus if you get it off Gamestop's web site (not in store), but anyway, that was a pretty pleasant surprise. Not that I really need more games to get this holiday season...

[SuzuTitor]

Yes yes yes yes yes. So bought.

Also, the Wii's simple to hack. It's just loading a file off of your SD card and you're done. No risk of corrupting anything. If you have your doubts, back your stuff up like usual. Whenever Nintendo releases a new firmware, it causes no harm to a hacked Wii either.

[Josiah]

It's that simple, huh? Well, if Nintendo doesn't wise up and announce a US release for those games soon, I'll have to look into it...

[Josiah]

Double post but this can't wait.

I was moderately excited about Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance from the get go seeing as it's a new Kingdom Hearts game and a direct follow up to KH2 and KH re:Coded but now I absolutely can't wait. It's got Neku!!! Even better, Nomura hinted that a new The World Ends With You game may be in the works! I hope they say more soon. Heck, I'd even be thrilled if all they announce is an enhanced 3DS port of the original.

[Doodleshark]

Roller Coaster Tycoon, one of my favourite franchises that I had long thought dead and buried, is returning. On the 3DS, for some reason. But still, ROLLER COASTERS WOOOOOO!!!

[SuzuTitor]

Oddly, you can only get the pre-order bonus if you get it off Gamestop's web site (not in store).

I just noticed this, what? I already pre-ordered it at the store. It's probably to late for me to switch by now.
EDIT: Not available for in-store pickup either? That's annoying.

[Pikachu127]

Roller Coaster Tycoon, one of my favourite franchises that I had long thought dead and buried, is returning. On the 3DS, for some reason. But still, ROLLER COASTERS WOOOOOO!!!

OH MY MOTHER DID YOU JUST SAY THAT. *squeals not fit for an adolescent*

Interesting. And a side note: I'd love the get The Old Republic, but... can't. Coming just before Christmas, though. I'd love to do something like this...

[Josiah]

Agreed, Colly. The lack of in-store pick-up is strange. Though, knowing Gamestop, you may still have time to pre-order online. If not though, you're just missing out on the art book. We unfortunately don't get the Figma model they got in Japan.

So, I may as well list all my game holiday pre-orders.

Already Got:
Kirby's Mass Attack
Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection

Backordered
Kirby's Return to Dreamland
Professor Layton 4

Pre-Ordered
Uncharted 3
Assassin's Creed Revalations
Fate Extra
Super Mario 3DS
Mario Kart 3DS
Zelda Skyward Sword
Sonic Generations

I wasn't originally planning on pre-ordering Sonic (though I did like the demo) but Gamestop's pre-order bonus won me over. Sometime in the not too distant future I should pre-order FFXIII-2, but it doesn't come out till the end of January so that can wait a bit. The only problem now is finding the time to play them all. I'm thinking I may be able to get through at least most of the portable games (and finally finish up the end game stuff in Pokemon Black) over winter break but I'll be traveling the whole time so no consoles.

[Blivsey]

I'd say I'm looking forward to Sonic Generations, but I can't. Because I have an account over at Sonic Retro, where insanity is the rule right now because some Best Buys all over the country have broken street date and released it early.

[Josiah]

Xenoblade is coming to the US in April!!! Though a friend who works at Gamestop said the initial shipment is likely to be pretty small so pre-odering is a good idea. Now if they'll just announce Last Story and Pandora's Tower...

[Doodleshark]

Borderlands 2: now with 96.5% more "Wub Wub".