Games, games and more games.

     Believe it or not we are just 150 days away from December 25^th. Take this as you want but the clock is ticking. I have been put under strict marching orders by the Commander and Chief – my wife – to start planning according for the holiday. Needless to say, I will be making all necessary plans. Now with having the kids, they will have their lists of things they want and need. As with every holiday, we will do our best to make sure they get all their wishes within reason. If any of the children are reading this right now, there is still no dog in our future, sorry. For me the holiday shopping season use to mean lots of hours and time spent away from everyone. I use to be a retail manager for a major supplier of toys at the holidays. I won’t mention any names but let’s just say the main thing they sell R Toys. Now, this is when I get to be excited about upcoming games. In case you didn’t know, I do love me some video games during the late nights.  Nothing says relaxing to me than jumping online and playing some Call of Duty with my online friends.

     With so many things happen at the shopping season, I figured I would help you out with some of the upcoming titles that I know I will enjoy plus some for the children as well. Let’s face it, the holidays are all about electronics and video games so better to have the knowledge now then struggling later to figure out what to get. Most if not all of these titles I will mention are available for presale at a local retailer. I would mention them but I don’t want to seem like I am steering anyone to one place.

     Battlefield 3 is available on the Xbox, ps3, and pc on October 25. The game will be somewhere in the Teen or Mature rating. If you are not familiar with these rating, jump on over to www.esrb.org/ and they will give you a breakdown of each rating. Battlefield is a military shooter that takes place across the globe.

     For my sci-fi brethren, Star Wars: The old Republic for the pc is scheduled to be out by December 31. This particular title has been moved around quite a bit so don’t circle the date just yet. I will say all signs point to yes where the previous Star Wars online MMO has been pulled offline. This could be the first real MMO I actually play.

     Batman: Arkham City will be available for all the systems including the Wii-u. Release date for the Xbox and ps3 is October 18 while the Wii-u is set for December 31. This is based on the same type of experience you would have had if you played Arkham Asylum. This is looking at a Teen rating due to the violence but not much more than the original. I found this game to be exciting and so did my son. He is looking very forward to the sequel.

     Gears of War 3. Nuff said. This game is absolutely coming in at a mature rating. Any game where you have chainsaw machine guns is probably not young kid friendly. Look for this one on September 20.

     My personal favorite of the upcoming title is Modern Warfare 3. This will come in at a Mature rating as well with language and typical war violence. This series has been nothing short of outstanding for single campaign and online multiplayer. If there is only room for one first person shooter, this should be on your gaming shelf. Period.

     Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is a continuation on the series. Drake is possibly looking at a Teen rating but who knows on this one. I will say this is probably the best adventure series out there. Very much on the vein of Indian Jones type adventure. Look for this title to hit on November 1.

     Where my sports junkies at? You can be certain of a few things in life; death, taxes, and Madden. Every year the Madden series releases a new title and every year millions of us buy the new version. Updated game play, better graphics, and a few play calling options will be thrown in, but who cares. It’s the NFL and nothing says football season like Madden. Catch the demo coming out on August 9th. If you need a release date for this game, you ain't a fan.

     Last and not least is a new intellectual property hitting the scene for those who believe the zombie apocalypse is coming soon? Dead Island is, well, about being on an island full of zombies. Not too clever is it? The big selling point is you get to use just about anything and everything to defend yourself from all those flesh eaters. No doubt this will be a Mature rated game and will be hitting shelves on September 6.

     The series that was hammered in the press on ratings and game play is back again. I might say is doing very well with everyone that has played it. Just Dance 3 will be out for the Wii on October 31. So get your Halloween party going and fire up this game. This way we can have all those incriminating picture of not only people in silly costumes but now dancing around life fools. Good times!

     These are just a few of what is coming out over the next couple of months. If you have kids, one or more of these title will be on there. If you're a gamer like myself, some of these will be on your radar as well. Just giving you a heads up on what will be hot for the season.