Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

With Nintendo only fielding a pair of retooled games (Wii Fit Plus and another Pokemon Mystery Dungeon) this October, the month is open for a third party bonanza. Let’s see who stepped up to the plate…

October 4
Wii Fit Plus – $20 for the non-bundled version is a steal. Nintendo’s only problem is how they get all the people who bought Wii Fit last year to become aware that this inexpensive pseudo-sequel exists.

October 6
Spore Hero – Anybody still care about Spore? Not even Will Wright cares about Spore. Also on DS, sort of, as Spore Hero Arena.

October 13
A Boy and His Blob – Arguably the month’s biggest Wii game. It looks great, but can it make the leap and appeal to anybody outside of nostalgia freaks?

Mario and Sonic at the Winter Games – Yep, this again. But now focused on even less popular Olympic events. (Also on DS.)

JU-ON: The Grudge – This “haunted house simulator” has not received great reviews, but I suspect that’s largely because the basic concept of a haunted house simulator is fraught with confused expectations.

October 20
Bakugan – Bakugan was Big Stuff last year, with the overpriced magna-balls out of stock everywhere. This year, I’ve kinda seen them all over. In surplus. So maybe the whole Bakugan thing is on the wane. The Collector’s Edition of the DS version will come packed with an exclusive toy.

Harvest Moon: Animal Parade – If you’ve ever wanted circus animals in your pastoral farming sim, now’s your chance.

Marvel Super-Hero Squad – Cute toys, crap cartoon, omnipresent videogame. It will have the LEGO series style of drop-in/drop-out co-op, so if the roster is beefy enough, I’ll bite (although I’ll bite for PS3). This is probably a lot like Ultimate Alliance except with chibi graphics and no DLC. (Also on DS)

October 27
Dance Dance Revolution – Konami dropped the “Hottest Party 3″ subtitle. But this is still Hottest Party 3.

Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter – Uh oh. The first one was a DS game where, in the FEW instances where you actually got to draw, you had that nice tactile touchscreen. In this Wii version, you’ll be drawing in thin air. I smell trouble. (Also on DS)

And on DS…

October 8
A Witch’s Tale – An action RPG from your Disgaea pals. Seems like this one has been teased forever.

October 12
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky – Third wheel in the Explorers series. The Mystery Dungeon games seems to be the only Pokemon sub-franchise with any legs.

October 20
Jillian Michaels’ Fitness Ultimatum 2010 – You know, at first I was all like “Whuh? How does THAT work?” but then I realized how lame the feedback is on most console exercise games. So a DS version with no physical feedback is probably just as good, and now doesn’t tie up a TV. (Also on Wii.)

Cooking Mama 3: Chop & Shop – Finally, the Cooking Mama / Dead Rising crossover!

So, did I insult your favorite game of the month? Ticked off because I didn’t mention Star Wars: Republic Heroes? Convinced I hate RPGs and/or must be a 360 fanboy? Sound off in comments!