My wish list this holiday season has been hit with some poor reviews. Some of them I am disappointed in and other I will buy in spite of.

The first category includes My Sims and Simcity Societies. Both I saw a lot of potential in, but neither lived up to it. Both lack depth in both story and game mechanics. I was looking forward to a new approach to both IPs. It makes be worry that the new build of Civilization will fall flat too... I think that the failure of Simcity Societes is more disappointing since it had more potential. To make a city building sim that lacks an involved economic and social system is pointless.

The second category includes Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. The review basically conveyed that it is the same game it was before on the GameCube. That is exactly what I excepted it to be, and never was I lead on to think any differently. The story and the way it's told isn't likely to change signifiantly, being a direct sequel. Graphics quality can't be expected to change much. I also can't think of a way to take advantage of the Wii motion sensitivity that would mess with the game in a bad way. Maybe someone else has some ideas on that account.

There is a third category as wel. Games that got poor, or average, reviews that I haven't decided weather I will buy or not. Those games are Mario & Sonic at the Olympics, and The Settlers: Rise of an Empire. Both games I was initally turned off by thier reviews, but have recosidered. I have heard that Mario & Sonic is still fun, and I will end up renting it from GameFly to help make the decision. The Settlers got a little better review than Simcity Societies, so I will probably pick it up to fill the city building void. To bad that PC game rentals are not allowed. I will probably wait until after the Holdays for a price drop to pick it up. If there is a better city building sim out there that I shoud pick up, please leave a comment. I played CivCity: Rome. I have not played Ceaser IV yet.

I hope that there are no more disappointments coming my way.