POTW: The Christmas game glut

360 Feature | How many games will bankrupt you this holiday season?

It seems that every year, the videogame industry follows the maxim of saving the best 'til last. Publishers seem to stack the year's releases with a heavy emphasis on the Christmas season, and this year is no exception. Despite a handful of blockbusters landing earlier in the year (such as Grand Theft Auto IV and Metal Gear Solid 4), it still seems like we'll soon be inundated with a plethora of high-profile videogame releases. A brief glance at our release list confirms the worst: between now and December 25, we'll be looking at Gears of War 2, Resistance 2, Fallout 3, Fable II, Guitar Hero World Tour, the usual smattering of yearly sports games, and many, many more.

So, with the months-early sales of Christmas decorations already occurring in a store near you, we thought it time to take stock and prepare for the onslaught ahead. How many games do you plan to purchase this Christmas season?

Vote | View Results

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32 Comments

tbenton

3 years ago

How many games does Guitar Hero 4 count as?

Cramsy

3 years ago

tbenton wrote

How many games does Guitar Hero 4 count as?

HIOH!

There is a heap of games coming, And even more work will be following close behind.

bleach1st

3 years ago

only the ones on special that I want in the Boxing and New Year sales XD
I've never really ever get games for Christmas as most of my family/friends are all computer/game illiterate and would likely do something like buy me an XBOX game for my PS3 or something like that

or are too poor to even bother thinking about a game... plus I'm very picky about what games I like so yeah, not too many unless they're on sale

Rabscallion

3 years ago

Too many i am afraid: A tentative list

From october:

Saints row 2
Fable2
Skate 2
Fallout 3
Gears of war 2
Guitar hero 4
Brothers in Arms
Call of Duty 5

scary stuff

The Genius

3 years ago

The top games I am definitely getting on launch

Resistance 2
COD5
Prince of Persia
MK vs DC
GOW2
Midnight Club
PES2009
Dead Space
Far Cry 2
Bioshock (just bought my 360 so rather get the PS3 version)

Getting all those games is one thing, finding the time to accomodate them is another. And I really fear for my internet bandwidth with so much gaming time I will be spending online

unlachs

3 years ago

i think fallout3 should keep me going for quite some time

everything else is just an unnecessary distraction!

Buttmouth

3 years ago

It hardly makes sense to buy so many games on launch. Why not finish one then move to
the next on your list? This way they come down in price and you'll lose waaay less moneys!

Meh.

jomonjin

3 years ago

Top tier for me is Skate 2 and Prince of Persia.

2nd tier that I will almost certainly get unless something unexpectedly terrible happens:
Mirror's Edge, Fable 2, Left For Dead, Guitar Hero: World Tour, Tales of Vesperia, Saints Row 2, Fallout 3, Rock Band 2 (if it ever actually comes out), Shaun White Snowboarding, Bionic Commando, Brutal Legend

And THIRD tier that I'm keeping an eye on:
Dungeon Hero, Destroy All Humans, Spiderman: Web of Shadows, Midnight Club: LA, Rise of the Argonauts, Dead Space, Silent Hill: Homecoming, Velvet Assassin, Call of Duty: World at War, Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising, The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon

Bloody hell.

fatpizza

3 years ago

All of these for PS3:

Silent hill Homecoming US Version (Preordered from Playasia as I'm not waiting till late november dammit))
Eternal Sonata (Preorderd from Playasia)
Little Big Planet
Bioshock
Motorstorm 2
Fallout 3
Resistance 2
Valkyrie Chronicles
Tomb Raider Underworld
Mirror's Edge
+Soccer Game...(Usually PES but this year I'm not sure yet...)

mipac

3 years ago

There should have been more options to differentiate above 5 or more

LittleBigPlanet
Resistance 2
Mirror's Edge
MotorStorm: Pacific Rift
Gears of War 2
Call of Duty: World at War
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
Guitar Hero: World Tour
SOCOM: Confrontation
Wipeout HD
Saints Row 2
Far Cry 2
Left 4 Dead

ANDYBALLINA

3 years ago

BoomBoom wrote

It hardly makes sense to buy so many games on launch. Why not finish one then move to
the next on your list? This way they come down in price and you'll lose waaay less moneys!
Meh.

I think it makes alot of sense to buy on Launch.....you can get some great Collectors Editions, you get a game you've been waiting and are excited for striaght away and its often cheaper.

On Launch pretty much every game is on sale for $15-$20 cheaper.......then it goes up to normal retail price, so often you don't save money waiting. For instance. I got Call of Duty World at War for $45 threw the EB sale. It was the deal at GAME for trade 3 get it free. I highly doubt this title will be $45 for a long time. So I saved money.

But I also see where you're coming from.....You get several games at once and have back log. But I can't resist getting games on launch...There's something about getting a highly anticipated game on day 1.

As for games I'm getting, here is a list:

De Blob
Warioland
Midnight Club LA
Fable 2
Far Cry 2
Call of Duty World at War
Guitar Hero World Tour
Dead Space

Rabscallion

3 years ago

zeldamario wrote

On Launch pretty much every game is on sale for $15-$20 cheaper.......then it goes up to normal retail price, so often you don't save money waiting. For instance. I got Call of Duty World at War for $45 threw the EB sale. It was the deal at GAME for trade 3 get it free. I highly doubt this title will be $45 for a long time. So I saved money.

zeldamario wrote

but I bought 2 360 games at EB for $45 all up and used it with a game I already had to get
Call of Duty World at War at GAME.

So $45 for Call of Duty World at War

well from the looks of your post here, you didnt really get it for $45, you got it for $45 + a game you already had, to which you most likely payed $50 or over, even so even if you did pay $25- 30 odd, thats not saving you much more than if you went to JB and got it for $79 or bought it a few days later on the forums for like $60.

djrussell

3 years ago

Definately five or more.. definately:

Dead Space
BioShock
LittleBigPlanet
Fallout 3
MotorStorm 2: Pacific Rift
Resistance 2
Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe
Tomb Raider: Underworld
Fable 2
Left 4 Dead
Gears of War 2

tootie_kicks

3 years ago

I said, and plan for, two (I don't have a high PC or Xbox/PS3 so that wipes out a lot that I would like to purchase), but I will no doubt find some 'bargins' and end up spending way too much even though I'm trying to save money...

Kaiden

3 years ago

someone told me we're all dying in 2 months so i didn't bother to vote.

MikeCrick

3 years ago

I have to buy all my games on launch. I have a funny habit of finishing games within a day or so, so Christmas actually keeps me going for a long time

Thank god for games like Spore and Guitar Hero which can keep me gaming whilst I wait for the new stuff.

doofus

3 years ago

GTA4 PC + a new video card to make it pretty...

Qbert

3 years ago

I voted two (Gears 2 and GH:WT) but that would be three if I had a PS3 becasue of Little big Planet. GH:WT is going to last me months and months and is a steal for $290 (apparently JB is selling it for this price). Sure it's the price of three games, but I'll play it for longer and get more fun than I would out of playing three games. Also Gears is my second or third favourite game this gen, so of course I will be buying its sequil. Recap, my answer is two.

mattstep

3 years ago

5 or more for me... sheesh, always an expensive time of year!

matrix-cat

3 years ago

Mirror's Edge
Fallout 3
Prince of Persia
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
Lego Batman
Tomb Raider Underworld

And that's being quite judicious. If I extended that list to all the games I might buy I'd be in serious peril.