DOOMSDAY MONTH is looking a lot less damning for me this year.  There's definitely some games I'm looking forward to playing, but nowhere near the armageddon of past years.

Purchasing a 360 has certainly opened up a new set of doors for upcoming software.  First and foremost is Lips.  It's tough getting an accurate bead on the game: will it boldly reinvent the karaoke video game genre as we know it?  I'm at least hoping it'll be more akin to Karaoke Revolution and not the skads-awful Singstar series.  If it weren't for the fact that it's being headed up by Keiichi Yano and iNiS, I likely wouldn't have nearly as much interest in it.  I've barely scratched the surface on the first Gears of War, so I think I can hold off on Gears of War 2 for a while.  Left 4 Dead, The Last Remnant, and Mirror's Edge all look promising, but I'm gonna wait out for reviews on those.  And, despite Infinity Ward's non-involvement, Call of Duty: World At War could end up being really good.  It's being pegged as "COD4.5", which, to me, can't be a bad thing - and not having a whole lot of experience with WWII shooters, I think the time era's setting will be fine for me.  (And really, can you beat duking it out with Nazi zombies??)   Tomb Raider Underworld?  Almost certainly, but I'll still want to give the 360 demo a try first to be absolutely sure.
 
If there's at least one Day One absolute, that would be Chrono Trigger DS.  And Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD, assuming its proposed November release date holds.

Some of my favorite movies this year will be seeing home releases, too, including Wall•E, Kung Fu Panda, and Tropic Thunder.  I especially can't wait for Tropic Thunder; fourteen additional minutes featured on the Director's Cut sounds mucho tantalizing.

I managed to barter permission to preorder Valkyria Chronicles and Chrono Trigger before the Christmas Cutoff, and am greatly looking forward to both.

Not too much on the purchasing front for me this month, at least at the moment.

Games

Chrono Trigger DS
Valkyria Chronicles

Music

Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume Original Soundtrack
Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume Arrange Album

Technically released in October and I did purchase it then, but I'll be getting it early November: Technictix Remix Vol. 2.

I'll definitely go for Chrono Trigger DS and Gears of War 2, though I'll likely have little time to play them having just had another baby girl. I went and did something rash and preordered one of those Pandoras. I think the chances of it shipping in November are pretty slim but they are still saying the end of Nov so I guess I'll include it here.

Heh, you could just not buy that much stuff.

All I'm planning on getting this month are the two new Valkyrie Profile albums. Bring 'em on!

Doesn't "Bender's Game" come out in November? I saw a commercial for it but didn't pay much attention to it as I still haven't purchased the last movie "The Beast with a Billion Backs." I'm just having a hard time justifing $24 for these things when I just haven't been in a Futurama mood for quite some time. I'll probably get them for Christmas but even then I have that feeling I'll end up ditching them once I have all of them.

Must have Sonic unleashed!!!

I also want to get gears of war 2, last remnant, wii music and Banjo.

Did anyone else that got Fallout 3 felt surprised by how small the lunchbox was? Mine even came a bit scratched like it had been in a fight...

Ooh, we're gonna have our very own Pandora owner here.  Let us know how it is, Jay.

Like most months, no purchases (I'm saving up for a trip to Italy next year) but I'll be doing a LOT of renting.

Little Big Planet, The Last Remnant, Valkyria Chronicles, Resistance 2 and Left 4 Dead are at the top of the list.

I'm currently playing Dead Space and Fallout 3.

I'm asking for Wall-E, The Dark Knight, Sleeping Beauty and Iron Man on Blu-ray for Christmas this year.

October was Doomsday month for me, so by comparison November should befinancialy feasable. Lets see we've got Eternal Poison on PS2, Resistance 2 and Valyria Chronicles on PS3, Gears of War 2 and The Lost Remnant on 360, Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World on Wii and Luminous Arc 2 and Chrono Trigger on DS. Ah the joy of having all consoles. Can you beleive I bought more games than that in October?

No music and no dvds though

It doesn't take very long to make these kinds of decisions, when Sakuraba is the composer. My guess is that I'll enjoy these as much as Star Ocean's portable soundtrack and arrange version, Blue Sphere.
   
Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume Arrange Album    
Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume Original Sound Track

I still haven't bought any of the Korean movie releases from October and my backlog is massive in that area. Totally unrecoverable.

As for books, one could argue I'm still stuck in the 1800s. Or earlier. My reading list rarely involves anything freshly printed, other than magazines.

Penny Arcade's latest comic resumes nicely Angela's thoughts

If you liked VP1, you'll either love the OST or be really pissed off, because 80% of the soundtrack is recycled with DS synth. The arrange album samples have sounded promising though, with mostly focus on the new tracks.

For me its a fair amount of stuff.

Chrono Trigger DS
Luminous Arc 2 DS
Eternal Poison PS2
King of Fighters Orochi Collection PS2

Ah this month seeps through with quality.

I think I'm only getting myself Chrono Trigger DS for games this month.  I'm trying to farm tails in FFIV DS and it's a bit of a bitch to do so... =p

As for DVD's:
Torchwood Season 1 Blu-ray
Torchwood Season 2
Doctor Who Series 4 and The Infinite Quest

My selections from November 2008's releases:

DVD/Blu-Ray:
-Futurama: Bender's Game
-Scrubs Season 7

CDs:
-Valkyrie Profile -Covenant of the Plume- Original Sound Track
-Valkyrie Profile -Covenant of the Plume- Arrange Album
-Nekketsu Kouha Kunio Kun Music Collection [possibly -- depends on how different it is from the original disc]

Games:
-Chrono Trigger (DS)
-Quantum of Solace (PS3) [only if it gets good reviews]
-Mirror's Edge (PS3)

My list looks very similar to alot on this thread:

DS:
- Chrono Trigger DS (3 copies)
- Luminous Arc 2

PS2:
- Eternal Poison

PS3:
- Valkyria Chronicles

I'm probably the most excited about VC, just because it seems like it's going to fall far, far, far under the radar and won't really get the accolades/spotlight it so rightfully deserves.  That being said, I'm off to GS to preorder it and get that spiffy little art-book.  Also, it doesn't hurt to support the publisher and pay full MSRP. 

... $260 this month?  DAMN I've got to start selling stuff quickly...

Why 3 copies of Chrono Trigger? Because you plan on selling the extra copies and make a profit in 10 years, because you want to show your dedication to Square-Enix and hope that if it sells a lot there will be a sequel, or is it something else?

And yes gaming is an expensive hobbit

One for me, one for my wife, and one to stay minty on the shelf

With recently moving out and having to buy furniture and stuff, I'm trying to avoid unnecessary purchases.  However, I'm tempted to grab Chrono Trigger DS just for the music CD.  I wish I could get it separately, since I own the SNES cart for CT and really wouldn't have much use for the game on a DS card.  >:(

'Grats, you've won this thread.

I think that I would buy Chrono Trigger if it came out here in the UK too but who knows when that will happen.

Also I may be late but in an odd lstreak of luck I got myself Another Code DS yesterday on ebay! The photo made it looks so new and it even comes with that VIP card1 I missed out on the game when it came in the shops so really nice to be able to play it before the Wii sequel.

And not sure if it count but I got Wario Shake Dimension last week and it is definetly good old Wario platforming. On the DS I am still addicted to Trials and tribulations which is what I do on my 1 hour bus journey.

I think the item I'm most excited about this month is Dr. Syn: The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh which is finally coming out on DVD.  That was an old Disney miniseries in the vein of Zorro, starring Patrick McGoohan (of The Prisoner and Danger Man fame).  I remember loving the series years ago, and it will be a pleasure to get the DVD set in a deluxe tin to replace my aging VHS taped from TV.  The other "Disney Treasures" set I'm looking forward to is the Chronological Donald, Volume #4.  I have the other three of course, and while some shorts are pretty lame, Donald Duck is usually entertaining.  I'm also planning to getting the 3-disc edition of Wall-E since I missed that in theaters this summer.  I was a little disappointed with Cars, Ratatouille, and Finding Nemo, but I'm not ready to give up on Pixar after the first few were so brilliant.  Funny all the DVDs I'm looking forward to this month are Disney.

As far as music, I'm naturally getting the Indiana Jones Soundtrack Collection with its snazzy packaging and bonus CD.  Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was the only soundtrack I had from the series, so it will be great to have the rest and I won't have to worry about getting a bunch of duplicates like most people.  Then there's Echoes of War -- that new set of music from Blizzard performed by a full orchestra.  I'm not as familiar with their music since I followed the Westwood RTS craze instead of Blizzard, but this definitely looks worth checking out.

Strangely, Call of Duty: World at War is the only game I plan on picking up this month.  Since the GameCube is my most modern console, that excludes me from most of the new releases this season.  By the way, I have to say that CoD:WaW is offering one of the lamest collector's editions I've ever seen (Seriously?  A canteen?), but I'm a sucker for collector's editions and tin boxes (see above).

How did I not know about that coming out!?  That's very cool, especially since there is STILL no domestic CD release for Temple of Doom (my favorite soundtrack in the series).  I remember that was the first import CD I ever got, back when $30 seemed COMPLETELY INSANE to pay for one disc.  How expanded are these versions from the originals?

I'm glad that Square looks to have lobotomized the English script for Chrono Trigger DS.  Otherwise I'd be tempted to buy Chrono Trigger for the third time and a DS to play it on.

I'm thinking Canada's probably not going to get the Chrono Trigger DS special CD... the people at EB Games can't give me a straight answer, and the product descriptions at Future Shop/Best Buy websites don't indicate anything about a bonus CD, plus there isn't even an entry for Chrono Trigger DS on Amazon.ca... grrrr

Anyone in the US who gets an extra copy... if you don't want it I'll gladly take it...?

I'd say your best bet would be ordering it online through GS's website. Not only does it bundle the preorder with it, but there's no risk of getting diddled over by your shop on launch day (my shop claimed not to have received any artbooks for Valkyria today, and I'm going to be a special pain in their ass until they surrender a copy from their private stash in the back room).

What I've seen of re-translated footage doesn't smack of lobotomy or desecration as of yet. Is there new footage to support this or is this more an any-change-is-an-evil-change position?

You're right that there are no conclusions to be drawn from the few screens of dialogue that have been shown (thus the "looks to have" hedge), but extrapolating from Final Fantasy VI Advance, I predict with some confidence that Chrono Trigger DS will have wordier, less emotive, and more monotonous dialogue than before.

My copy of the Indy Soundtrack Collection came in today.  I gave the set a quick playthrough, and I'm extremely pleased with it.  Crystal Skull remains the same as the retail release this year, but the quality of the remasters on the first three scores are easily worth the price of admission alone.  Several unreleased/expanded tracks and cues were implemented in the right places, and although one still can't consider this to be a complete recording like, say, The Lord of the Rings, this set is still a meaty and satisfying representation of the music as a whole.  I'm particularly pleased that they put the "The Boat Scene" cue back in The Last Crusade, as well as the entirety of the final battle in Temple of Doom with the tracks "Water", "The Sword Trick", and "The Broken Bridge ~ British Relief."  The only disappointment is Der Koniggratzer from Crusade didn't make the cut this time.

For those who don't own the previous CDs, this set is a fabulous value; all four scores for what, $11 a CD?  The bonus CD, too, which acts as a spill-over for a select few pieces that couldn't quite fit on the rest of the CDs, is excellent.

On a related topic, I also picked up The Complete Making of Indiana Jones Book, and it's wowed me with equal measure.  It goes extremely in-depth with the history and original concepts of the four films, along with producer and cast anecdotes, and skads of conceptual artwork and behind-the-scenes photos.  A solid recommendation for any ardent Indy fan; I eat this kind of shit up with a ladle.

The new Edguy album "Tinnitus Sanctus" is going to be released sometime in mid-November elsewhere but there isn't a US release date yet. Hopefully they don't let me down like a lot of other euro/power metal bands have in the past few years - yeah, I'm looking at you Gamma Ray.

Ha, I just found out that the soundtracks to Fable II, Too Human, Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, and Gears of War 2 are all coming out on CD on the 25th, so I guess I have to add those to my list.  I might let them slide until next month, but I'd rather have them now.    By the way, does anyone else find it ironic that they hired the composer of the recent Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies to score Gears of War 2?

New Edguy?!?  Sweet.

The Gears 2 score is a lot of fun.  Yeah, it's very RCP junk food fare, but damned if Jablonsky doesn't have a great handle on orchestral rhythms and sweeping epic flourishes.  He spins out some stellar arrangements of Kevin Riepl's original Locust and Gears Main Theme.  "Hope Runs Deep" and "Armored Prayer" are particular highlights, and one I've made a musical suite out of. (This edit is different from the one I made previously.) 

I think Gears 2 could end up being one of my favorite soundtracks of 2008.

our Animal Crossing City folk arrived a few days ago.

on the minus side, so far its pretty much identical to the DS game,
on the plus side you can watch someone else play without looking over their shoulder. Since its not an action game, it doesnt really matter who has the controller as long as you're making the decisions together.