The Christmas season has just begun with the video game industry. Last week saw the release of AAA title Bioshock, and this week, we have Metroid Prime on the Wii. We've got a month until Halo 3, but it seems like nothing is really coming out in October. Then on Nov 12th, everything is coming out at once.

What does this Christmas' release schedule actually look like? Well let's see here...

Aug 28th - Wii - Metroid Prime 3
Aug 28th - 360 - Blue Dragon
Aug 29th - XBLA - Puzzle Fighter II HD Remix
Aug 30th - PSN - Puzzle Fighter II HD Remix

Sept 4th - PS3 - Lair
Sept 5th - 360 - Stranglehold
Sept 13th - PSP - Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core (import)
Sept 14th - PS3 - Stranglehold
Sept 20th - PSP - R-Type Tactics (import)
Sept 25th - 360 - Halo 3
Sept 25th - Wii - DDR Wii Edition
Sept 25th - Wii - Dewey's Adventure
Sept 25th - PS2 - DDR Supernova 2

Oct 2nd - PC - Quake Wars
Oct 9th - DS - Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Oct 9th - PC - Half-life 2: The Orange Box
Oct 9th - PSP - Final Fantasy Tactics
Oct 15th - 360 - Beautiful Katamari
Oct 16th - PS2 - Daisenryaku 7 Exceed
Oct 18th - PS2 - Seaman 2 (import)
Oct 23rd - PSP - Castlevania: the Dracula Chronicles
Oct 23rd - PS3 - Eye of Judgement
Oct 23rd - Wii - Table Tennis
Oct 23rd - DS - Phoenix Wright III
Oct 28th - 360 - Guitar Hero III
Oct 28th - PS3 - Guitar Hero III
Oct 28th - Wii - Guitar Hero III
Oct 29th - PS2 - Guitar Hero III
Oct 29th - PS2 - Aqua Teen Hunger Force game
Oct 29th - Wii - Endless Ocean (aka Forever Blue)
Oct 30th - DS - Jam Sessions
Oct 30th - PSP - Disgaea

Nov 5th - 360 - Call of Duty 4
Nov 5th - PS3 - Call of Duty 4
Nov 5th - Wii - Fire Emblem
Nov 6th - PSP - Silent Hill Origins
Nov 6th - PS2 - DDR Disney Channel
Nov 6th - Wii - Ghost Squad
Nov 12th - PS3 - Unreal Tournament 3
Nov 12th - Wii - Super Mario Galaxy
Nov 13th - 360 - Mass Effect
Nov 13th - Wii - NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams
Nov 13th - Wii - Rayman Raving Rabbids 2
Nov 13th - Wii - Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles
Nov 13th - Wii - Soul Calibur Legends
Nov 13th - Wii - Trauma Center: New Blood
Nov 13th - Wii - Geometry Wars Galaxies
Nov 13th - DS - Geometry Wars Galaxies
Nov 13th - PSP - Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops Plus
Nov 19th - PS3 - Haze
Nov 19th - DS - Mario Party DS
Nov 20th - DS - Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings
Nov 20th - 360 - Rock Band
Nov 20th - PS3 - Rock Band

Dec 3rd - Wii - Smash Brothers Brawl

(This is according to gamefaqs, gamespot, and other random sources, but cheifly gamefaqs)

Well actually, it looks like plenty of games are coming out in October. Starting off with Orange Box and Final Fantasy Tactics and continuing on with Castlevania PSP. There's also Guitar Hero III at the end of the month.

But Jesus.. A fair amount of note-worthy titles are actually coming out on November 13th. Especially for the Wii.. Why the hell would any publisher on the Wii decide to release the same week as Super Mario Galaxy. What brainiacs thought that one up? I'll be buying Mass Effect that week, and also MGS:PO+ since it's $20 on amazon, but christ. Under any other circumstances I probably would have picked up Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles and Trauma Center 2. Probably NiGHTS as well. Way to go, dipshits.

There are a couple other uncommon games coming out that will surely be looked over. Like DDR Supernova 2, Daisenryaku 7 Exceed, R-Type Tactics and Seaman 2. R-Type Tactics will probably get localized, so I could wait on that one.. if not, I'm sure it'll be easy to find in Japan when I visit there next. There's a new DDR Disney Mix coming out too..

After looking over this list.. I think I've got my games picked out:

Aug 28th - Wii - Metroid Prime 3
Sept 25th - Ps2 - DDR Supernova 2
Oct 9th - DS - Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Oct 16th - Ps2 - Daisenryaku 7 Exceed
Oct 23rd - PSP - Castlevania Dracula Chronicles
Nov 13th - 360 - Mass Effect
Nov 13th - PSP - Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops

Though, somewhere in there, I might also pick up Endless Ocean, Final Fantasy Tactics and Silent Hill Origins.. Also, I'm pretty sure Daisenryaku will get pushed back or canceled since it's a shmup and people don't care about shmups.

___

In other news, I got Phoenix Wright 3 in the mail today ^_^.

I played through the first chapter, and so far, it's just more of the same. Exactly same gameplay as the 2nd game, with new music that doesn't stand up to the 1st one. This is pretty much what I expected though after playing through Phoenix Wright 2..