It’s that time again, where every gaming publication under the sun stops moaning that they’ve had no games all summer and shifts to lamentation about how abused their poor wallet will be over the next few months. As much as I’d like to, I’m not about to buck the trend. I mean, just look at my pre-order list:

• Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
• Call of Duty: World at War
• Fable II
• Fallout 3
• Gears of War 2
• Left 4 Dead
• LittleBigPlanet
• Persona 4
• Prince of Persia

And I’m also probably getting Dead Space, Far Cry 2, Mirror’s Edge, and Resistance 2 either depending on reviews or when I can get them cheaper than the RRP. (Or if someone sends me promo copies – hint, hint.)

No, the situation is no more ridiculous than it was last year… or the year before that… or the year before that. And I have no doubt that the same thing will happen next year. It still means that plenty of great games that could otherwise have been hits – out of my list, my money’s on Prince of Persia and Far Cry 2 being casualties – will be in the bargain bins sooner than the publishers might have hoped. It’s always a shame.

I just can’t see how it can be that much better to have a tiny piece of the big Christmas pie – up against the biggest juggernauts with marketing budgets big enough to end world hunger, of course – but I suppose it must work for them because they continue to do it. And hey, if they’re getting £350+ out of me again, they must be doing something right.