To follow up on last week's weekly poll, I thought I'd make this edition of List 'em another Most Wanted Edition. Like last year, feel free to list the most anticipated games on your want list and feel free to explain why each one is important or interesting. Holiday 2008 promises to cram everything good in a 2-3 month span, doing 2D8 damage to our wallets while overwhelming us with so many games to choose from at the same time.

Now I have to admit, this year doesn't feel as exciting in terms of huge releases as last year did. The DS and PSP seem to have quieted down a bit. The PS2 is slowing down in new releases of note and first party titles for the three current systems seem a bit scarce for the second half of the year. With over 40% of our voters suggesting they'll only be getting 1-5 titles, I think it's safe to say many of you feel as I do. Or is that a sign of the economic downturn which has affected just about every corner of the globe?

In any case, here are my personal top 5 most anticipated titles of 2008:

• Samurai Shodown Anthology - I like SNK, always have. While I may still be trying to track down a copy of SNK Arcade Classics: Volume 1 without resorting to buying online, I'm very much looking forward to yet another compilation, this time my beloved SS series. I've been playing SS since II came out 14 years ago. I still pop a few quarters in when I spot a cab in the wild. With 3rd party arcade sticks for home consoles being of comparable quality these days, it'll be great to finally have a nice setup in my living room without using MAME. Available in a few months for the Wii, PSP and PS2, it's supposed to contain Samurai Shodown, I, II, III, IV, V, V Special and VI. Yep that's right, SSVI as well! That's a lot of bang for the buck and a lot of nostalgia all in one package.

• Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise - Those of you who have played or beaten the original VP, can attest to just how special and addictive this deceivingly childish looking game truly is. Micromanagement on a scale that rivals any of the Tycoon series of games while being something anyone regardless of gender or age can enjoy. It's actually one of the few X360 games I have every achievement for and a testament to how good RARE still is despite the biased criticism from longtime Nintendo fans who downplay their departure even to this day. While not on my top list, I'll also mention there's a DS version coming as well which may be a getter if it's anything like it's console counterpart. Candy incest and cannibalism runs rampart sometime in September is all goes on schedule.

• Two Worlds: The Temptation - Despite general scorn by gamers and reviewers alike who couldn't see past the bugs this game had (since been patched BTW), I enjoyed it tremendously. It rivaled Oblivion but in some ways was even better. It had a level of humor I found refreshing and was fun to go questing for hours on end (as long as you didn't use a horse lol). Ask Tynstar about that, me kept me amused to no end with his frustrations and curses at his horse's inability to even walk in a straight line while on XBL. Well the sequel promises to address many issues the first game had right off the bat and from the screenshots it looks a lot more fun with the added gameplay elements like boating and interacting more with the environment. This game may actually be my most anticipated of the year. But then again I'm always a sucker for "Western RPGs".

• Fallout 3 Oblivion with guns? Well that wouldn't be so bad now would it? I've been on a bit of a post-apocalyptic kick lately. Between re-watching Jeremiah again and reading novels from the Deathlands / Outlanders series, I've gotten a taste for a new game in that genre. Now I won't go out and buy that survival edition for $120 but I will probably get the next limited edition down. As usual Bethesda is sparing no expense for this title and voice acting is no exception. Ron Perlman and Liam Neeson are among those signed for major roles in the game.

• Just Cause 2 That screenshot at the top of this article, is courtesy of Avalanche Studios and their upcoming game Just Cause 2. It's a sandbox type game that takes place in South America and in my humble opinion, an easy source of mindless relaxing fun on so many levels. The first title lets you do so many things that I couldn't adequately describe it in a paragraph or two. Everything from racing, to urban assault in tanks, to paragliding and flying jets, airliners and helicopters. Base jumping, watercraft & boats, assassination and high speed chases you name it. A mix of Hitman. Crackdown and Vice City all in one. Sometimes I just like to fly around for hours in an aircraft, just because it's that fun. All that in a last gen game ported to the X360. So you can imagine how good a ground up new game for the same system would be! My only concern is whether that same freedom of movement in a non-linear environment will be in the second game. Some sources have said there will be no side missions. That may or maynot be a good thing.

So that's my top 5. But on the periphery of my gaming radar, the following games also interest me on a smaller scale: Zoids Assault, Fable 2, Spore, the various band/guitar games, Banjo Threeie, Sonic RPG and prob more I'm forgetting right now.

So now it's your turn folks! Name your "big list" and then in say 7 months or so, we'll revisit our choices like a cyber time capsule and see how everything turned out!

Permalink | Comments [7] | Digg This Article