November was the month that was supposed to slake my gaming media needs for the rest of the year, but there's no way I'm passing on Portrait of Ruin - and now that I'm a proud owner of a PSP, I welcome Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops with open arms.  I would pick up the Gamecube version of Twilight Princess if I didn't know I'd be buying a Wii sooner or later.  Decision, decisions....

Just as much as the game, I'm also looking forward to the MGS: Portable Ops Original Soundtrack.  It's great to see Hibino back, and if he dishes out anything that's half as spectacular as Snake Eater, I think we're in for a treat.  Oh, and Uematsu, your Blue Dragon Original Soundtrack is mine.

DVDs, it's Dead Man's Chest.  Most everyone thought I was insane for seeing it eight times this summer, and surprising even to me, I still had an urgent desire to see it, even when it went off theaters in September.  It's been a rough three months not getting my Pirates fix, to say the least.

Simpsons: The Complete 9th Season is still on target for this year, right?  So, how many folks are going to stop collecting after this, the last proposed great season of the series?

Pick that game up whenever you get your Wii.  Don't even bother with the Cube version.  Trust me.

I don' think there's too much going on in December, besides the Christmas presents I'll be buying for my friends and family (and one unlucky STC'er).

I'll be picking up Castlevania Portrait of Ruin for the DS. I've had that sucker preordered for a while, and since my friend works at EB he'll ensure that I get my preorder bonus. I'm not getting screwed out of this one. I was thinking about picking up Sonic Rush to fill that temporary hole in my DS library, but I think Castlevania will do just fine for now.

For music, I'm going to get that Project Silpheed album that was just released. I'm not a huge Tanioka fan, but Nakano and Fukui together on the same CD? Yes, please. I was considering the Front Mission Alternative re-release too, but that's up in the air.

Also, I'm going to ask my parents to hook it up with Seinfeld Season 7 for the Big Day, and maybe season 5 of Curb Your Enthsiasm, but that's about it.

The only thing I'm certain of getting is Pirates of the Caribbean:  Dead Man's Chest on DVD.  Otherwise, I'm not sure of anything else; I'll be renting a few games that I might end up owning, like Metal Slug Anthology Wii.  There'll probably be a Virtual Console and Xbox Live Arcade release I'll get, but I can't say what because both companies have no intention of releasing much of anything (including a damn release schedule!).  I'll be passing on Portrait of Ruin until after I finally play through Aria and Dawn of Sorrow.

Well I'll just be hoping to pick up a Wii when it's released over here. Haven't preordered though so that may not happen. You Americans are taking our peripherals too so there may be nothing to get with it.

Aside from that, I have no idea what comes out this December...

What peripherals are we taking?  I see plenty of 1st party stuff on store shelves here.  The one thing I would've took is the Wii Play bundle but they finally announced a US release (January 15th, sadly, but at least we're getting it).

I hope you get one, Jay.  Good luck!

Thanks! I'm really hoping to get one. I really should have pre-ordered.

Yeah, the peripherals situation is an odd one. There seemed to be a bit of a shortage in the US then, suddenly, pre-orders for certain peripherals here dried up completely as retailers were told they wouldn't get certain shipments. That led to rumours that the EU peripherals were being redirected to the US.

Well, US orders from Nintendo's online service started to show up and, sure enough, they're the EU boxes. Here's one thread here that shows the composite cable boxes - http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread. … 47&page=34

That's the EU packaging which is quite different. I'm hoping it won't affect us for long but it looks like we could have a peripherals drought over here while they try to fill the needs in the US.

Getting the Gamecube Zelda. ... and that's about it for this month.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is already paid for.
I expect to get Metal Slug Anthology for the Wii.  Rocket Lawnchair!

Gamecube Zelda and the Metal Slug Music Box for Christmas

This month, it's probably just Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin and Kirby: Squeak Squad for me, as well as The Simpsons: The Complete 9th Season. Gotta save up for next month, when my most anticipated DS title comes out: Picross DS!

I always thought that season 8 was the last consistently good season, though 9 did have a few gems, namely "Lisa's Sax". I will be getting the 9th season anyway, if only because Lisa's my favorite character and I'd love to see her head sitting on my shelf. 10-12 were near unwatchable for me, but I fear I'll get 10 regardless just to complete my collection of heads (which sounds much creepier than I intended).

Regarding season 9, I wonder how they'll handle the commentary on "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson"?

I actually only own the first four. I need to get caught up!

I haven't seen all the episodes past season 7 so I'm not sure when the show turned to crap.

Sorry for the rant, but I have my opinion on when.  The quality fell with those that took over after season 8, however leftover episodes from season 8 appeared in season 9 (The City of New York vs Homer Simpson, The Principal and the Pauper, and Lisa The Simpson... another is Lisa's Sax which has a production code number that I can't figure out).  Looking over the season info at Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons_(season_9) ) only reminds me how disappointing that season was.  I'm in no rush to get it.  It was in the 11th season that I couldn't take much more of it; I think the last episode I watched regularly was when they killed off a character, even though said character wasn't remotely important, but it showed that the writing team truly had no respect for what I originally grew to like about the show---it's world, it's characters, and the interaction between them all.  There was nothing that anchored the show into its own mythos; when was the last time Homer went to work at the power plant?  Why did all the supporting characters fade away or become stereotypes of what they were?  I don't understand how The Simpsons writers can criticize Family Guy when they've done a horrible job with their own show; it's long lost that charm that it had built up in its first seven seasons (to be fair, there is a sense of the decline in season 8 that is evident in season 9 and onward).

Crazy.  You're all crazy.  Personally, I think Season 9 is chockful of great hits, amd really, some of my all-time favorites.   I love the episodes where Homer and Burns team up together, and I especially loved "Trouble With Trillions" - they even throw Smithers into the mix there. ;)

Homer climbing the Murderhorn, Ralph and Bart's playdate, the Lord of The Flies-esque stranded bus trip, Homer and Marge's "dangerous" love life,  pee-wee football, cult takeover (LEADER!), Homer commanding a nuclear sub, the discovery of an angel skeleton..... Man, I can't wait to watch these again.

Trouble With Trillions had Castro, right?  I hated that episode.

And donkey meat.  Mm-mmm.

Blue Dragon OST, Pink Sweets, Gradius Tribute (Shinichi Sakamoto coming back from the dead! Long live Wonderboy!) and the new Dynasty Warriors one are the main things to come to mind...Maybe Summon Night 4. Nothing else comes to mind ATM.

As for the Simpson controversy...I was diehard through Season 4, then I watched off and on up through 9 while still enjoying it(I remember the New York episode was the premier that year and there was a huge promotion behind it), then I started catching the "bad" episodes where I just felt I was wasting my time, so "off and on" just went to "off". I just remember useless guest stars making frequent appearances when the show went south and Homer (and Milhouse) acting dumber than usual.

Games:
-Metal Slug Anthology (PS2) [but probably not until it drops to $20]
-Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops (PSP) [but probably not until the PSP remodel comes out or the game goes GH, whichever comes first]
-Kirby: Squeak Squad (DS)
-Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS)

CDs:
-Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops Original Soundtrack
-Gradius Tribute
-Pokemon Diamond & Pearl Super Music Collection
-Culdcept Saga Original Audio Collection
-Ayumi's new album (no idea what it's called)

DVDs:
-The Simpsons Season 9 Regular Edition [yes, I will continue picking up these sets despite the quality drop that starts in Season 8]

Of course I'll be getting The Host:

http://www.koreanfilm.org/kfilm06.html#thehost

Also, a bunch of Korean movies that were previously $25 and up are being re-released for $13.99 and below this month, so I'll be getting a few that were OOP. Finding them is nothing compared to finding old vgm albums, so this is a stress free hobby. It was probably good to collect old vgm for a while, to get a taste of extreme aggravation.

I won't be getting any games, books, or cd's this month.

I picked up season 9 when it was on sale ($20 I think) and finally got around to giving it a shot.  I'm on the second disc and up to Bart Carny and have been entertained so far.  My apologies for being wrong...

7 month bumpage!

Heh, sorry about that, but I had to resurface my shame so that I may apologize for it.  = P

Had to do a double-take, seeing that "December" in an active thread.  I couldn't have been sleeping for THAT long last night. ;)

In any case, I will now officially retract my proclamation that you're crazy.  Carry on.