Games that you may forget about

[Elbren]

With all of the great games being released between early summer and Christmas, I think it's easy to say that this is one of the best years for gaming in quite some time. The one drawback to this is that ... well, you only have so much free time and money. Because of this, alot of games are going to be left out in the cold.

Anyone care to guess which games they think won't sell very well this holiday season? My peronal list:

Eternal Sonata: Fantastic looking visuals, great gameplay and completely original story, but I have a feeling this will lose out to Mass Effect.

Half-Life 2: The Orange Box: Easily one of the greatest values in gaming I've ever seen. One of the top games of the past 5 years, 2 full expansion packs, another game based mostly around physic's and a full online multiplayer game. Unfortunately, considering this game has been out already on PC for several years and the online multiplayer has to compete against Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4, I don't see this game moving many copies ... at least not around this holiday.

Jericho: Another FPS that will probably lose out to Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4.

[Baroquen131]

There's one that just came out that I think might get overlooked. I almost missed it.

MLB Power Pros. "New" baseball game for the PS2/Wii. Apparently, a translation of a long-running(?) Japanese series. It has very cartoony graphics... the players are more blobby avatars, than real likenesses. But it actually has a ton of options/stats and is a lot of fun. There's the obligatory league mode, exhibition games, home run derby, etc. Then there's also a season mode (which can actually run 10 years if desired) with some sim elements thrown in, and a "Success" mode which is kind of like a mini-RPG where you take a player through college trying to make it to the big leagues.
There's also a Wii-mote enabled game that I haven't tried yet, and lots of unlockable content about baseball cards, stadiums, batting/pitching stances, etc.

The game has it's quirks, but it's pretty fun IMO. And I hadn't even heard about it. I thought it was another one of those cheap baseball games like "The Bigs" and it looked like Backyard Baseball. Only caught wind of it through another message board. Glad I did.

[Leitch]

I'd like to see a baseball game that lets you do impossible things only seen in cartoons, like have a guy who can peels four wooden bats like a banana with a metal bat in the center or a guy who can throw a changeup about .0043 MPH that travels on a straight line or pitches that break upwards or like a wiffle ball. Guys literally screwing themselves into the ground. Stuff like that.

[Spoonless]

I'd like to see a baseball game that lets you do impossible things only seen in cartoons, like have a guy who can peels four wooden bats like a banana with a metal bat in the center or a guy who can throw a changeup about .0043 MPH that travels on a straight line or pitches that break upwards or like a wiffle ball. Guys literally screwing themselves into the ground. Stuff like that.

That would take somewhere around 2 and a half hours to get to home plate.

[HoodGuy007]

If Eternal Sonata does not sell well, I will be shocked. It's amazing. Just amazing. Best sounding game I have EVER played.

[Elbren]

If Eternal Sonata does not sell well, I will be shocked. It's amazing. Just amazing. Best sounding game I have EVER played.

I love RPG's and I was very impressed by the Demo. But with so many high profile titles coming out, I just think there will be an overabundance of games that get overlooked this year. For an example, everyone that I know that's played the demo really liked the game, but out of the 80+ people on my friends list, you're the only one playing Eternal Sonata. That's not a knock on the game. I will definitely own it, but I just doubt it will be any time soon. Like I said in the original post, people only have so much money and free time.

Some other really good games that I think will get overshadowed:

Overlord
Blue Dragon
Blacksite: Area 51

America's Army: True Soldier - This game looks good, but are people really going to pay $60 for a game that's free on the PC?

Timeshift - I was down on this game until I played the demo. It's seen delay after delay, but the company used that time to completely rebuild this game from the ground up. I don't think I've ever seen that happen when a game was 85 - 90% finished. The difference between the old version and the new one that will be hitting stores is amazing.

[The Wedge]

Half-Life 2: The Orange Box: Easily one of the greatest values in gaming I've ever seen. One of the top games of the past 5 years, 2 full expansion packs, another game based mostly around physic's and a full online multiplayer game. Unfortunately, considering this game has been out already on PC for several years and the online multiplayer has to compete against Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4, I don't see this game moving many copies ... at least not around this holiday.

It's getting a lot of play in the gamer community, so who knows. A whole X-Play episode, Penny Arcade mentions, etc.

[Tank]

Mass Effect got a 9.75 from Game Informer and a gushing review. I can't wait for it.

They also gave Halo 3 and The Orange Box 9.75s.

[Elbren]

It's getting a lot of play in the gamer community, so who knows. A whole X-Play episode, Penny Arcade mentions, etc.

I think, overall, this game will do well but not as well as it should. IMO, it should be one of the top two or three games being sold this holiday. Unfortunately, I have a feeling it's going to have a problem getting into the top 10. Just too many games this holiday.

[Elbren]

GameStop Ad

Here's another game that falls into this category: The Darkness. I didn't include it because I thought it would do very well during the summer, but GameStop is already selling it for half-price ($29.99) only 3 months after it's initial release. Not sure if it's only a sale or a full price cut, but either way, I doubt it means it's doing well.

This is another game that I really want, but again: I don't own it, none of my friends own it and, most importantly, no one on my XB Live Friends List owns it. Everyone on my Friends List is someone that I met playing some type of FPS or shooter (Halo 2, Battlefield 2: MC, Gears of War, etc.) so this game is right up their alley ... yet none of them own it. Hopefully, that changes with this weekends sale.



EDIT: This is my one big fear about this holiday. With so many games coming out, some are eventually going to be left out in the cold. Hopefully, lackluster holiday sales won't companies enough that they'd stray away from original IP's. Games like Halo, GTA, Guitar Hero, etc. are fun but I feel deprived that I probably won't see another Good vs. Evil, Psychonaughts or Viva Pinata. (no, a party game doesn' count)