CORBIE'S GAME BLOG

Every year just before Christmas, I sit down and list the 5 of my most-wanted games for the upcoming year. Some years it's tough to narrow it down to 5, and other years it's tough to even come up with 5. This year was pretty easy as these games have been on my wish list for some time now, and barring un-forseen circumstances, these 5 games should make it to release this next year. The only one that's really up in the air would be Banjo-Threeie as Rare always keeps a very tight lid on their releases, and they've also been known to take 3+ years to develop a game before. Below you'll find a small paragraph on each game and why it's so high on my want list. Enjoy.

1. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) - I'm a huge fan of the Super Mario series of games but Super Mario Galaxy has me particularly excited. Maybe it's the new style of play control, or maybe it's just been so long since we've had a new 3-D Super Mario game, either way this is one game that is at the top of my wish list for 2007. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that we get it sooner rather than later. I got to play a small bit of this game at the New York event and I can safely say that this game was heading in the right direction.

2. Blue Dragon (Xbox 360) - Since Chrono Trigger is my all-time favorite video game and part of the development team from that game have formed Mistwalker, you'd have to know that this game was also in my top 5. And having Nobuo Uematsu writing the soundtrack for this game was just icing on the cake for me. This could be the first top-tier Japanese RPG to hit the Xbox 360 and nobody has higher hopes for this game than me. Heck, I even sprung the $50 for the Blue Dragon faceplate for my Xbox 360, which is something I normally don't do.

3. Parodius Portable (PSP) - I've long been a huge fan of the Parodius series of games, and these games are the main reason I've hung onto my Sega Saturn system for so long. It's great to finally have these games being packaged together on one game disc, and even nicer that they're coming to the Sony PSP system that's struggled with quality releases as of late. No word on whether or not this game is coming to the US or not, but since the PSP is region free with games, you can do what I did and order you a copy from Play-Asia. With 5 classic Parodius games on one disc, you just can't go wrong with this one.

4. Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS) - It seems like we've been hearing about this game forever, but it seems the release date is finally getting within reach. Taking advantage of the DS systems's touchscreen function this game is really shaping up to be one of the best 2-D Zelda games yet. More and more information is finally beginning to leak out and early videos and screenshots of the game look fantastic. No Zelda fan should be without this one. I'll try to post some more information as it becomes available. This could be a huge DS release for next year in an already outstanding game library.

5. Banjo-Threeie (Xbox 360) - We know very little about this game and that's no surprise considering how Rare tends to do things with their high-profile releases. While this game might not even see the light of day in 2007, I remain hopeful. If this game is even remotely close to the previous two Banjo Kazooie games, we all have a lot to look forward to. Keep your eyes peelded on Rare's web site for any new developments with this game. This could be a killer Xbox 360 release next year.