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Shop Watch December

By Russ | December 15, 2008 at 11:20 am

Late for a variety of faults; all of them mine.  Consider it the last-minute gift addition of Shop Watch.

More than likely you’ll be catching up with previously released games as gifts, but there is at least one possible lookout title for December.

Hint: It’s not Chain of Memories.

Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories for the PS2, shipped Dec. 1. Dear Square-Enix: where’s the rest of Final Mix? Or Final Fantasy XII International: Zodiac Job System? Seriously.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 for the PS2, shipped Dec. 9. This is pretty much December’s sole offering. Atlus is shipping it with an art book and CD soundtrack for early buyers, but the game should come with a red flag for e-Bay resellers.

Dungeon Maker II: The Hidden War for the PSP, shipped Dec. 10. UFO games picks up this little title and releases it out of the blue.

Rise of the Argonauts for the 360, PC, and PS3, shipping Dec. 16. Codemaster’s golden fleece is actually the extra twenty bucks PS3 and 360 owners pay over the PC version.

Penny Arcade: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 2 was released on Xbox Live this past month, while the first episode found its way to the Playstation Network.

A little bit of personal interjection: December still has me playing Valkyria Chronicles and toying with The Last Remnant. Only one of those games is good. The other is The Last Remnant.

Actual advice: adopt Persona 4 early, since it has a chance to be swept up in the holiday sales rush and Atlus typically has a small printing of their titles. Even if you’re still playing catch-up, the $40 you spend new is better than the $60 – $80 it will fetch later.

Next year is going to have a pretty stellar line-up for just about everyone. Sega is releasing Alpha Protocol in the first half of the year, while Bioware has Dragon Age: Origins on the PC in March and the consoles in November. The amount of stuff for the DS is tremendous, as opposed to the exceedingly minimalist PSP offerings. By minimalist, I mean two – Star Ocean: Second Evolution and a port of Mana-Khemia, both due out at the end of January. Star Ocean: The Last Hope should have many 360 RPG fans enthusiastic when it hits near the end of March.

All games (with the exception of those marked as street-dated) will be in stores one day after their release. Release dates also tend to be shipping dates. All release dates are subject to change.

Topics: Shop Watch