The holiday season is usually when the highest profile games are released. Retailers can expect to boost their bottom lines (maybe not this year) and gamers can rejoice in knowing where their time is going during the winter months.

What about sports gamers though?

Most of the major sports games come out between the end of March and the beginning of October. There is still Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 and NCAA Basketball 2009 (along with a few alternative-sports titles), but the point still stands. You could easily catch up on old games but where’s the fun in that? Here’s how you should spend the holiday doldrums gaming.

Shooting

Call of Duty: World at War, Resistance 2 and Gears of War 2 all come out within a week of each other. They’re all sequels to top-rated games from the last few years. If you can only get one, it all depends on what you like. If you like shooting Nazis, you should stick to Call of Duty; if you like shooting monsters, stick to Gears of War 2; if you like shooting Nazi monsters, go with Resistance 2.

There are a few non-sequels to look forward to as well, including Left 4 Dead, which is being published by the folks in charge of the Half-Life series. They seem to know what they’re doing at Valve and this game should be no different. Activision’s Quantum of Solace, based on the James Bond movie of the same name, is out right now. While the five-hour story mode isn’t worth a buy, the game is definitely worth the Gamefly rental.

Punching

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, children of all ages, we can all still count on a WWE release every year. This year it’s Smackdown vs. Raw 2009. You might call it a sports game, while others can call it fighting game; either way it fits in the punching column. This version features focuses on the tag-team portion of the gameplay while adding a create-a-finisher mode, the inferno match and a co-op story mode.

If Triple H vs. John Cena isn’t your taste, you could try out Sub-Zero vs. Superman. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is out next week, and while The Joker fighting Jax was never a dream of mine, it could be interesting nevertheless. You can expect the same Mortal Kombat gameplay (without the copious amounts of blood) with a DC twist. Next year maybe we can get Vince McMahon vs. Shang Tsung vs. Lex Luthor battling for master of the universe.

Don’t forget Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. While you’ve probably played SFII hundreds of times before, the graphics look amazing enough for another look.

Running and Jumping

LittleBigPlanet has been getting rave reviews from every possible source. I haven’t played it yet, but it seems like something anybody could get into. If you have a PS3 you would be doing yourself a disservice by dismissing the game based on its "kiddy" looks.

Eight years after Banjo-Tooie was released for Nintendo 64, the sequel for Xbox 360 is out next week. Titled Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, the game focuses on vehicle gameplay in the race to Spiral Mountain. I’m not sure what all that means but the graphics look good and the game looks to be a nice follow-up to the N64 classic.

Sequels are nice but Mirror’s Edge looks be to something completely different. Made by the guys that created the Battlefield series, Mirror’s Edge is a first-person game where the focus isn’t actually on shooting. You’ll be running and jumping across a beautiful, fictional city in classic parkour fashion. You play as Faith, a girl fighting the government and its totalitarian regime. Mirror’s Edge is also out November 11.

However you slice it, it’s going to be a long winter. Anybody can be a happy gamer, though, if they explore their options a little bit. Just be sure to do it responsibly.


Is LittleBigPlanet all it’s cracked up to be? Is Sonya Blade vs. Wonder Woman the dream fight you’ve been waiting for? Can you take your hands off the merchandise like Shawn Michaels asked for? Leave your comments in the box below and also tell us what games you are looking forward to playing during the winter freeze