I'm currently home at my parents for the holidays, but I will be going back to Japan next week for another year of work. I'll be taking my PS2 and recently replaced XBox360 with me. I also have my Japanese PS3 waiting for me back in my apartment. Because I had no PS2 and 360, nor easy access to American PS3 games for the entire fall, my backlog is pretty big. How would you recommend tackling it? Here it is:

XBox360: Fallout 3, Fable 2, Left4Dead, Burnout Paradise, Dead Space, Saints Row 2, Far Cry 2

PS3: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Valkyria Chronicles, Ratchet and Clank: Future Tools of Destruction

PS2: Persona 3 FES, Persona 4, Yakuza 2, Dragon Quest VIII, Psi-ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy

The only thing I am certain of is that I will play Far Cry 2 last since I really don't have that much interest in it. I would have returned it, but it was a gift and I don't have the receipt. The only games I'm buying between now and August are Street Fighter 4, for quick bursts and practice, and Dragon Quest V, which will only be played on the train and won't affect the backlog.

Last year, I was looking forward to only one Japanese developed console game...Super Mario Galaxy (which paid off ten fold). This year, I am looking forward to TWO Japanese developed gamed...Valkyria Chronicles and Persona 4 (can't buy them yet because I live in Japan)

Do you think this is an exponential thing and I will looking looking forward to FOUR next year, or a standard rate and I willbe looking forward to only three?

I want a racer...

I'm thinking either Wipeout HD, Burnout Paradise, or Motorstorm Pacific Rift.

I'me currently leaning towards Wipeout HD.  It's cheap and supposedly really good.

I live in Japan, so retail releases are a little difficult, so getting Motorstorm might be even more expensive through the internet

Burnout is a bit moredifficult because I hate the open city and I know I will get annoyed towards the end of the game.  The core driving itself really hasn't changed much from Burnout3 Takedown, but I can't play that right now since my 360 is red ringed.  HOWEVER, the DLC for Burnout Paradise is really amazing and looks like it should be worth something even if the core gameplay world ticks me off to no end.

Dragon Quest IV and Chrono Trigger DS are a firm reminder of how much fun JRPG's used to be in their heyday when they took America by storm, and big next gen efforts are reminders how much they've lost sight of what made them so special and fun. Playing these releases makes me retroactively sad considering how much of the previous decade I spent with this genre and how little time I actually spend with them now.

What happened? They just seemed to jump the shark during the lifetime of the PS2.  Over saturation and the loss of mysticism with Japan are two key factors I think

I recently moved to Japan, so the only way to get games is to import tham from play-asia. SInce I am havign trouble getting a Japanese credit card and paying my American card is proving quite difficult, my parents said they would pick up my wanted games for me until I got a little bit more finacially situated. It was fine for the first few months since I only wanted maybe three games so far this year, GTAIV, NInja Gaiden, and Too Human...

But now the autumn is rolling around, and I would feel like a jerk if I asked my parents to pick me up nine games. My father said he wouldn't mind picking a few up since my birthday is in October and he'll bring the November games with him when he comes for XMas...

I've already got four picked that are kind of diverse...Dead Space (linear horror shooter), Fallout 3 (open world FPS RPG), Fable 2 (Western RPG), and Left 4 Dead (co-op action FPS)

However, I don't want to ask for more than five, and I am stuck between Far Cry 2 and Prince of Persia. Far Cry 2 and Fallout 3 seem kind of similar, but I think I would get more play time out of Fay Cry 2, and that's a huge difference maker considering how long I need to wait between new games...what do you think will be better?