It’s a good season for gaming

Prepare to experience the fall of a planet, mutants wandering the New Vegas wastelands and black ops agents wreaking havoc behind enemy lines. No, it’s not the greatest movie ever, it’s this fall’s wallet-draining video game release lineup.

Though many people are suffering in this economy, the gaming industry keeps growing. Last year’s Modern Warfare 2 was one of the biggest entertainment releases of the year, grossing over one billion dollars in sales. This fall looks to be even bigger, with many high profile releases. This will force consumers to make an important choice: which games to buy.

It begins with an ending. Bungie takes the Halo series back to before the first game in its latest offering, Halo: Reach. It takes place in the military stronghold of Reach and focuses on a group of Spartans, Noble Team. As Master Chief avoids death aboard the Pillar of Autumn, Noble Team fights off the Covenant on the surface of Reach. This is one I strongly recommend for all 360 owners, as the Halo series has made Microsoft’s console a powerhouse. Help deliver hope when Halo: Reach is released on the Xbox 360 on Sept. 14.

Fallout: New Vegas is the follow-up to Bethesda’s Fallout 3. Running on the same engine, but being developed by Obsidian Entertainment’s team which includes members of the original Fallout series’ development team, this will be a trip back to Fallout’s roots. New Vegas adds a hardcore mode as a difficulty option and special attacks for melee weapons in V.A.T.S. Fallout: New Vegas drops on Oct. 19.

The last big game of the season is Call of Duty: Black Ops. Treyarch is back in the saddle for this addition, their last one being Call of Duty: World at War. Treyarch has been working on this game for the last year, with the full studio on deck to give this game the polish Call of Duty deserves. Black Ops infiltrates store shelves on Nov. 9.

There are many other notable games being released this fall, including Assasin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Dead Rising 2, Fable III, Littlebigplanet 2, Gran Turismo 5. A new Medal Of Honor will be Microsoft and Sony’s first step into motion controlled gaming, released for Sony’s Playstation in September and on Microsoft’s Kinect in November.

It’s looking to be a good season for gamers – and a very profitable one for game publishers.