For many of us, video games are an escape from reality – whether that reality is worse or better than the video game world we so willingly dive into is different for each individual. For the little girl in this short film Escape, the perils awaiting her in Hyrule are a better experience than her everyday life, where she's ridiculed at school and comes home to a house of fighting parents.

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According to a Nintendo Dream interview summarized by Siliconera, Ace Attorney 5 will use full voice acting in-game – not just the "Objection!" and "Take that!" we've grown used to. The team decided upon the change to make better use of the 3DS's surround sound capabilities, rather than simply porting over the DS/GBA sound effects.

While we're excited about more dynamic dialogue presentation, this news also worries us a bit. All that voiced dialogue is going to make localization even more expensive, and we don't want there to be any barriers keeping Capcom from giving us more Ace Attorney.

Skylanders Giants launches October 21, and if you're in the market for some elite figures, you may want to hit up your local Toys R Us. The retailer has the exclusive rights to sell a limited edition 'Legendary' series of Skylanders Giants figurines with special in-game abilities. Toys R Us is also selling an exclusive three-pack featuring Jet Vac, Series 2 Slam Bam and Series 2 Ignitor – all of which have enhanced in-game powers.

Though our own review says it's possible to get through Skylanders Giants without buying any additional figures, it's probably not the most realistic expectation – especially if you've you have kids interested in the franchise. Toys R Us will be open early at 8am on Sunday for your Skylanders Giants purchasing needs.

Nintendo's ever-vigilant quest against piracy continues, as Justin Success Brooks of the United Kingdom has been charged with the fraudulent sale of counterfeit Nintendo games, according to the Croydon Guardian. The 41-year-old man was caught in an investigation conducted by Nintendo and the UK Interactive Entertainment association. The two groups purchased games from suspect outlets, eventually finding their way to Brooks.

Operating between 2009 and 2011, Brooks allegedly made an estimated £600,000 (over $962,000) selling "thousands" of counterfeit Wii, DS and DSi games. All told, Brooks has been charged with seven counts of fraud, including "two counts of fraudulent trading, two counts of supplying an article to use in fraud, two counts of unauthorised possession of goods bearing a trademark and one count of unauthorised use of a trademark."

Brooks has pled guilty to all counts. He has been granted bail and awaits sentencing, which will take place on November 9. Always remember, Mario is watching.

This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer.
Whenever I sit down and read an ostensibly hilarious article about JRPG cliches, I can always count on someone making a snarky observation about the in-game economy.

"Isn't it funny that shops actually charge heroes trying to save the world? Don't they get a hero's discount?"

These sorts of observations are as cliche as the JRPG tropes they try to skewer, but there is a kernel of truth to them. Hence my interest in Rental Bukiya de Omasse – a Yoshiyuki Hirai-developed "fantasy rhythm" RPG which unfortunately may end up being the odd game out in the upcoming eShop release of games from the Guild01 collection. We have enough snarky fan observations to last us a lifetime. Self-awareness and a real sense of humor on the part of developer is something far more rare.

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Oh, December, with your regionally specific cold or warm nights, sugarplums and gift giving. It's also a time when the video game industry stops jamming the accelerator on so many video games. Which is good, because you have a lot of games to catch up on from both October and November.

December, however, does have a few highlights. Far Cry 3 arrives, along with the retail package of the outstanding Walking Dead adventure game series. So keep warm (or cool – we don't know where you live!) inside and spend some time with a few new video games.

Of course, there are plenty of other great games available this fall we didn't get a chance to highlight. That's why we want to hear your anticipated Fall 2012 games for a follow-up "Community Response" feature to these Cheat Sheets. Give us your list in the comments below and tell us why you're looking forward to it; we may even highlight your comment.

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November is traditionally the time of year our wallets attempt to flee, lest they're destroyed by the onslaught of new video games. Hundreds of games, across every conceivable platform, will arrive next month. Are you ready?

In our November "Cheat Sheet" we highlight a few likely contenders for your harvest season free time. Halo 4, Black Ops 2, Hitman: Absolution and ... an entirely new home console! The Wii U drops next month and with it comes a slew of amazing games (too many for us to include, really). Here's what you should be saving up for in November.

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Four formerly retail-only 3DS games arrive on the eShop today. Super Mario 3D Land, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Star Fox 64 3D, and Mario Kart 7 will all be released digitally for $39.99 apiece.

On Sunday, they'll be joined by new release Style Savvy: Trendsetters, which lets players create a boutique clothing store and stock it with the latest in men or women's apparel. There's even more on the eShop, including Sparkle Snapshots 3D (which is exactly what it sounds like) and the NES version of Gradius. Were we able to hold your attention until that last bit?

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Of all the good fortune I've been afforded in my life, little compares with the joy of becoming a parent. That probably goes without saying. However, being able to justify the ludicrous cash outlay that comes in the pursuit of a hobby was, for me at least, an unexpected side benefit of having a son. Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, Activision and developer Toys for Bob's experimental marriage of gaming and collectible toys, was just such a ridiculous expense. Fun, truly, but ridiculous just the same.

A year on, Skylanders: Giants deviates little from this tradition, with new purchasable plastic figures to collect and gameplay that again feels a bit like experiencing Diablo or Gauntlet through the lens of a Saturday morning cartoon. It's simple, yet addictive, and like Spyro's Adventure before it, Giants has quickly become a household favorite. Countless late nights and early mornings have already been victimized by this game's ability to draw us in for "just one more level."

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So, that's where it went! Almost two years after it disappeared off the Virtual Console, the NES version of Ghosts 'n Goblins will pop out of the grave again on the 3DS eShop. Capcom announced today the classic will return next Thursday, October 25.

Although the NES version of Ghosts 'n Goblins isn't available on the Virtual Console, the arcade version of the game is for 800 Wii points. Placing your controller or 3DS in a soft shell to prevent breakage after being thrown is recommended in either case.

In reviewing games at Joystiq, our mission is always to attempt to convey the actual experience of playing a game, as opposed to just listing its features and capping things off with a score. In the case of Code of Princess on the 3DS, that experience boils down to tapping the B button like a caffeine addict, with the occasional special move thrown in for flavor.

It's not as though Code of Princess is the only brawler to succumb to this pattern, however, and like other brawlers, it still manages to be enjoyable in spurts, but rings hollow by the time the credits roll.

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FIFA 13 was – and, probably still is – the top selling game in the UK. For the third week in a row the footie sportsball game, despite a 63 percent decline in sales last week, retained its premier position.

Bethesda's Dishonored actually debuted in second place. According to Chart-Track, it's the biggest new intellectual property launch of the year, besting Square Enix's Sleeping Dogs. Even combining sales of Pokemon Black (#3) and White (#5) Version 2, Dishonored would still hold its second place position.

The other major launch last week, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, premiered in seventh place behind the insidious Just Dance 4. The aliens are winning. Check out the UK top ten after the break.

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Sidekicks, with their one-dimensional character traits to help round out leading characters, are always fun to have around. In Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Mario's lanky brother steps out of his sibling's shadow and into the haunted locales of his latest starring role, fleshing the character out as even more of a scaredy cat than we've come to know.

Luigi's second romp through a haunted mansion offers something different for 3DS fans, following much of the same from Mario's previous adventure.

Focusing less on combating the franchise's famously shy ghosts, the demo for Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon found its niche in quirky humor and puzzles.

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Youkai Watch, also known as Ghost Watch in North America, is coming to 3DS, according to the latest CoroCoro magazine, translated by Siliconera. The game was first announced by developer Level-5 one year ago at its Vision event.

Of course, until Level-5 confirms that the game even exists anymore, we're putting it in our box of rumors. We do know that Level-5's Liberation Maiden will be heading to the North American 3DS eShop October 25, however. We've embedded the original announcement trailer for Ghost Watch for your amusement above.

Suda 51 and Level 5's 3DS anime shooter Liberation Maiden will make its stateside debut on the North American 3DS eShop on Thursday, October 25, according to the eShop's news ticker. Previously, Liberation Maiden was featured in a Japan-exclusive 3DS multi-cart called Guild01. The other two titles in the set are set to release on the eShop later this year.

Liberation Maiden puts players in the shoes of Shoko Ōzora, a young high-school student who also happens to be the President of Japan, on account of the unfortunate assassination of her father. An invading force is attempting to steal all of Japan's energy resources, so obviously the best solution is to have Shoko pilot the "Kaihoki" mech herself into battle.

Animated cutscenes in the shooter come courtesy of Studio Bones, whose previous work includes the anime Wolf's Rain, Full Metal Alchemist and Soul Eater.

According to the latest report from NPD, sales of the DS, 3DS, PS3, Vita and Xbox 360 are up on an "average sales per week" basis compared with August, suggesting momentum heading into the holiday season. The Wii U "has the potential to reinvigorate retail sales of hardware" when it drops on November 18 in the US, NPD analyst Liam Callahan says.

Madden NFL 13 was the top-selling game in September, with an 11 percent increase in its debut month than Madden NFL 12 saw last year. Borderlands 2 takes second, exceeding 2009's Borderlands first-month sales by 234 percent. September software sales at retail are down 13 percent year-over-year; September 2011 saw major games such as Gears of War 3 and Dead Island. September sales are up 67 percent from August's light haul. PC sales are up 12 percent year-on-year.

Nintendo 3DS software is up 89 percent year-over-year, spurred by 3DS XL hardware sales and Super Mario Bros. 2, which sold 295,000 units in its second month. However, combined 3DS and DS software sales are down 18 percent. As Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter says, "That's not a good trend."

For Microsoft, Xbox 360 sold 270,000 units in September and remains the top-selling current-generation console, with 49 percent of the market, Major Nelson tweets.

EA has five of the top 10 games for September, all of which are listed in order below:

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