A new year, a fresh slate, and the first attempt to start my new year's resolution off right.

Just to get it out of the way, there's an absolute must-have that I'd be willing to sacrifice an arm and a leg for: Bruce Springsteen's latest album and successor to 2007's phenomenal "Magic", Working on a Dream.   If the single of the title track is any indication, one can surmise that he's aiming for a more contemporary sound this time around, but I'm hoping for at least a few balls-out rockin' tracks in the same vein as Magic's.

I would like to say that I'm going to pick up Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop, if just to see how the new Wiimote-centric controls turned out.  But I've barely scraped the surface of the 360 version, so I'll likely pass.  I'm still trying to find out if Monster Band is actually the game formerly known as Music Monstars.  There's very little information regarding either, so until I see something more concrete, this one is on indefinite hold.

The title that looks the most interesting is Big Bang Mini.  I've been consistently let down on the shmup front as of late, so maybe Mini could be the redeeming savior we all need.

My selections from January 2009's releases:

DVD/Blu-Ray:
[None]

CDs:
-Lord of Vermilion Original Soundtrack
-Distant Worlds music from Final Fantasy
-Technictix Remix Vol. 3
-Hanii in the Sky Soundtrack
-Ridge Racer 6 Direct Audio
-Professor Layton Original Soundtrack 3 ~ Professor Layton and the Last Time Travel
-Sonic World Adventure Original Soundtrack

Games:
[None]

Music

Technictix Remix Vol. 3
Hanii in the Sky
DoDonPachi Daifukkatsu Original Soundtrack

Nada, free cash this month = null.
(although I'll probably go back and pick up the Layton Trilogy albums sometime)

Food...
That's pretty much my main expenditure other than shelter. I would like to purchase Yael Naim's album at some point, and also the Juno album. So, if anyone has either of those for sale/trade, let me know

As for games, I never purchase games unless they're on sale big-time, otherwise they're just too expensive, and I don't have the time either. Speaking of sale big-time, for those with an Xbox, amazon has Mass Effect on sale for $20. If I had an Xbox I would totally get it...

So Angela is also holding back on purchases? ... yup, we're definitely in a recession!

cheers,

-avatar!

Ultimate Shooting Collection for Wii, assuming it isn't delayed again. Other than that, I'll work toward bulking up my nascent 360 collection with bargain hunts.

After just "sampling" it, I'm happy to say that I'm definitely going to pick up Uematsu's Lord of Vermilion Original Soundtrack.  Like, holy crap, it's amazing.  I'm sitting here listening to it and I'm literally in shock, haha.  What a good sign.  First release of the year is Uematsu and it's actually jaw-dropping.  Here's hoping the rest of '09 will follow this trend!

I'd also like to pick up the PLAY! - A Video Game Symphony CD/DVD set since I went to the very first show in Chicago and it was such an awesome experience for me.

Interested in but not sure if I'll buy yet:

Distant Worlds: music from Final Fantasy
Professor Layton and the Last Time Travel Original Soundtrack
Planetary Pieces: Sonic World Adventure Original Soundtrack (another Sonic soundtrack without Jun Senoue?  Shame..)
The Ninja Spirit (new Norihiko Hibino ftw!)
Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu Original Soundtrack (if it's actually coming out this month)

-Mike

Am I the only one who initially read this as "Sword of Vermilion"?  You know, the old Genesis game?

Games:

Ar Tonelico 2 Melody of Meta Falicia (PS2)
Star Ocean Second Evolution (PSP)

That's it! 2009 is starting slowly game-wise anyways.

Count me in as another buyer of 'Lord of Vermilion'. I really believe after 'Lost Odyssey,' Uematsu got his old-school skills blazing back. The tracks leading up to Tyrant's Palace and The Final Enemy rocks. Still wondering about BlazBlue.

CDs:

Lord of Vermilion Original Soundtrack
Technictix Remix Vol. 3
Professor Layton Original Soundtrack 3 ~ Professor Layton and the Last Time Travel
Sonic World Adventure Original Soundtrack
Atelier Annie ~Alchemist of Sera Island~ Original Soundtrack
Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu Original Soundtrack

Games:

Star Ocean: Second Evolution (PSP)

Stuff that i bought recently in sales and ebay:

-Frontlines collector edition xbox 360
-harvest moon wii
-Tales of phantasia advance
-1080 snowboard cube
-mario golf advance
-pokemon saphire advance
-wing island wii
-yoshi universal gravitation advance

...wow... just started snowing in London...

The only item I got planned to buy is Sonic Unleashed soundtrack and maybe even more tracks for Lips.

Don't Know
Don't Know
Yes
Yes
YES

Also, add Nanosweep 7 to my list.

But, for crying out loud, this stuff is getting expensive; almost $50 for the Sonic World OST, and $40 for the Hanii in the Sky OST. The first, I already KNOW is good because I've played the game, but the second, I'm buying on reputation. Still, aren't the prices for these things really starting to get ridiculous?!

P.S. Can anyone tell me what Lord of Vermilion is supposed to be about? The title sounds vaguely familiar...

Also, what's Distant Worlds supposed to be? An arrange album, a concert album, what exactly?

The new Edguy album is getting it's domestic US release this month. I plan on nabbing it, just hope I like it. I've grown tired of a lot of older, euro flavored stapes as of late.

This financial crisis is certainly making buying this stuff a whole lot more expensive! I can't remember if play asia takes the money for a pre order when it was made or at the current price? Just asking as I ordered the Sonic soundtrack when it was cheaper and exchange to pound was better. 

In terms of anything new just got :

-Excite truck wii today
- Magic made fun ds which was in sales and almost free!
-Also my metroid zero mission from club nintendo finally arrived

It's a concert album.  With the yen being super strong right now, I've decided to cut it from my planned purchase list.

That answers that...

Can anyone tell me what Lord of Vermilion is supposed to be about? The title sounds vaguely familiar...

"Lord of Vermilion is an arcade-based fantasy collectible card game developed by Square Enix in which players control combat cards on an arcade play surface. The objective of the game is to destroy the enemy team's Arcane Stones and eliminate their servants in order to win the game. Players design and develop avatars, increasing their statistics and obtaining equipment, then compete with each other locally, or online, or play the single player story mode."

That was from Wikipedia, which was the first result when googling for Lord of Vermilion (hint hint).

Or if you would like information regarding the soundtrack, I could google "Lord of Vermilion soundtrack" for you, which brings up some enlightening information from a number of fine sites.

I never played it but it sounds a lot like the Phantasy Star games on Mega Drive.

I can't believe this but I managed to not only get a copy of Korg DS for £16 sealed but also got the rare Fire Emblem DS. ^__^

Other than that since last time bought :

-Mario Strikers Charged Wii
-Fire Emblem Wii
-Mario Tennis advance-
- Nintendogs Labrador
- More Brain training
- Disaster Day of Crisis wii
-Super Magnetic neo dreamcast

That sounds so bad but I sell on ebay too so most of it is bought on money from sales.

Definitely interested in what the game's about, also interested to hear samples.