Online Shoppers Blog - Become's Pocket Change

The folks over at IGN released their “Most anticipated games of 2007” list {PS3, DS, Wii} yesterday, and it has made me start thinking about which games I will drop my hard earned 50 bucks for. There is very little doubt in my mind that this will be the year of the amazing game. With 3 new consoles on the market, every developer and their little sister is trying to rush their best products to the market in order to be the “killer app” for their respective system. So which games are really worth looking forward to?

5) Super Mario Galaxy – Nintendo Wii – Release date: “when there is snow on the ground”
- Super Mario games have always been a love-hate relationship for me. Super Mario Brothers is the first video game I ever played and the game that launched me into my obsession. Mario also brought us the greatness that was Mario 64, one of the best games to be released on the Nintendo 64 other than Mario Kart (another point entirely) and Zelda: Ocarina of Time. However, Mario has also given us some of the worst atrocities in movie and video game history (see: Super Mario Brothers the Movie, and Mario Sunshine. Since this is a Mario stand-alone title in the vein of the other Super Mario titles I just cannot be sure if this one will be a Mario 64 or a Mario Sunshine). It is still worth looking forward to none-the-less.

4) Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass – Nintendo DS – Release date: Late 2007
- I am a Zelda fan, but I've never been a fan of the Zelda titles for the handheld systems. I remember picking up the old Link's Awakening and only finishing about 1/3 of the game before getting bored with it and putting it down. The same occurred with Four Swords, Ages/Seasons, and so on. I really think that the epic story and masterpiece that is the Zelda franchise needs to be experienced in its full console glory to truly excel. That being said, I think The Phantom Hourglass actually has quite a bit of potential. A lot has changed in the hand held market since the monochrome Game boy. These new system are fully capable of producing that “grand experience” that a game like this needs. With The Phantom Hourglass being inspired by Wind waker; it's all the better. This has a very good chance to be the handheld Zelda game that will finally keep me interested until the end.

3) God of War II – Playstation 2 – March 2007
- We all love bald headed action heroes (Vin Diesel), and Kratos is one of the best. God of War may have been one of the best games to come out on the Playstation 2, period. From the word that is coming out of the reviewers, this game is going to be even bigger and more fun than the last. We can expect more story, more moves, better graphics, and more skills and content to unlock. Sure this game is being released for a “last gen” console, but with the PS3's backwards compatibility fixed in the latest patch you won't even have to go dig around in the dumpster for your old Playstation 2.
2) Spore (maybe) – PC – Release Date: Who knows!?!?!
- This one is a long shot because we just don't know if this is actually going to be a 2007 release title. Will Wright (the brilliant mind that gave us The Sims) is creating Spore to be the next generation in player generated world games. Everything in Spore will be able to be modified by the player. You will play a species all the way through its development from one-celled organism to space travel. The content in the game is constantly being added to by other players around the world as their create their creatures. Eventually your race will be able to travel to other player-created planets to visit and trade. I just can't do this game justice in the small space I have the write here so I'll just point you to the Spore website, and this video.

1)Super Smash Brothers: Brawl – Nintendo Wii – Release Date: 2nd Quarter 2007
- I was a junior in high school when I first learned of the glory that was the original Super Smash Brothers on Nintendo 64. The Super Smash Brothers franchise could very well include the two best games ever created. I have played the Gamecube version for over 5 years now and I still learn something new every time I play it. So now the next generation console has the next generation Smash and all I have to say is that I am ecstatic. Imagine taking your favorite Nintendo characters (Mario, Link, Zelda, Donkey Kong) and putting them into a ring to do righteous battle for no apparent reason. This is truly a recipe for a masterpiece in gaming. Super Smash Brothers: Brawl brings us a a host of new features that promise to bring the game from greatness to legendary status. Let's begin with online play. Finally I can once again connect with my old high school friends and relive being savagely beaten with a controller after beating a friend using a particularly devious tactic. The Super Smash Brothers community is huge, and tournaments are being held all over the country throughout the year. With the addition of online play, the possibility for some truly epic battles is nothing short of thrilling. Also Smash: Brawl will include tons of new playable characters (Pit, Solid Snake, Zero-Suit Samus, and Meta-Knight to name a few), new levels, new moves using the Wii's controller, and a larger single player mode than both of the other games combined. This is the game that keeps me up at night wondering when the good folks at Nintendo will bring me this glorious masterpiece. I just can't wait.

So those are the top 5 games that I am looking forward to for 2007. Notice that there are no Playstation 3 of Xbox 360 titles in that batch, because I still do not own either a Playstation 3, or an Xbox 360. Someone send the folks at Sony and Microsoft a memo that their systems cost about 200 bucks too much. So, what games are the good readers of Pocket Change looking to drop your hard earned cash on this year?

Top 5 Over-hyped games for 2007 coming next week...

Kris