Games Released in November 2008

382 new games debuted in November 2008, with Nintendo DS being the most active platform. November 18 was the busiest day, with 57 releases. Gears of War 2 was the most popular release of the month.

Which days had the most releases?

November 18 saw the most activity with 57 releases.

57 releases

November 18

54 releases

November 27

49 releases

November 21

48 releases

November 28

How did each week compare?

The third week of November was the busiest with 191 releases.

Week 1 (November 1–7)

147 releases

Most popular release in Week 1

Gears of War 2

Gears of War 2 is a third-person shooter built around tactical use of cover. Players fight through a campaign as a soldier of the Coalition of Ordered Governments, carrying a limited loadout of weapons and using cover, melee attacks, and the series' chainsaw bayonet against enemy forces. It supports cooperative campaign play and a range of competitive multiplayer modes, and introduces Horde mode, in which up to five players survive escalating waves of enemies together.

Week 2 (November 8–14)

170 releases

Most popular release in Week 2

Call of Duty: World at War

Call of Duty: World at War is a first-person shooter set during World War II, focusing on the Pacific and Eastern Front theaters. The single-player campaign follows two perspectives: U.S. Marine Private C. Miller fighting against the Imperial Japanese Army across islands in the Pacific, and Soviet Red Army Private Dimitri Petrenko advancing from Stalingrad to Berlin. The game features more graphic violence than previous entries in the series, including limb dismemberment and destructible environments. Multiplayer retains the leveling, perk, and killstreak systems from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The game also introduced the cooperative Nazi Zombies survival mode, in which up to four players fight increasingly difficult waves of undead while purchasing weapons and unlocking new areas.

Week 3 (November 15–21)

191 releases

Most popular release in Week 3

Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead is a cooperative first-person shooter set during a zombie outbreak on the East Coast of the United States. Four players control survivors who must fight through hordes of infected humans, creatures transformed by a rabies-like pathogen that causes extreme aggression and loss of higher brain function. Gameplay emphasizes teamwork, with colored outlines showing teammate positions through walls, shared healing items, and friendly fire creating consequences for careless shooting. An AI system called the Director dynamically adjusts enemy placement, item spawns, and pacing based on player performance. Beyond common infected, players face five special mutated types with unique abilities. Campaigns are divided into levels connected by safe houses, each culminating in a desperate last stand for rescue.

Week 4 (November 22–28)

166 releases

Most popular release in Week 4

Professor Layton and the Unwound Future

As with previous Professor Layton games, Unwound Future is an adventure game where the player solves puzzles offered by local citizens to progress the story forward, through dialogue and around 32 minutes of full motion video. The player moves about the game through still images of locations. The player can use the DS touchscreen to tap on non-player characters to start a dialog or to obtain a puzzle, and also can search anywhere on the background for hint coins, with some areas needing to be tapped several times to reveal a secret hint coin or puzzle. Puzzles are brainteasers of many varieties, including visual, math, and logic. There is no time limit to solve puzzles, and the player can get up to 3 hints at a cost of one hint coin each; a new feature in Unwound Future is a "super hint", costing 2 coins, that can only be bought after the other 3 hints have been revealed, but that nearly reveals the puzzle's solution. If the player is correct in solving the puzzle, they gain a number of "Picarats", a form of currency within the game. Guessing the incorrect answer will reduce the number of picarats the player can get on subsequent attempts. Players can visit certain areas in order to play undiscovered or unsolved puzzles that are left behind as the story progresses.

Week 5 (November 29–30)

10 releases

Which platforms saw the most releases?

Nintendo DS received 159 new titles in November 2008. The runner up was Wii with 119 new titles.

Nintendo DS159 releases

Wii119 releases

PC103 releases

Xbox 36061 releases

PlayStation 358 releases

PlayStation 251 releases

PlayStation Portable39 releases

iOS30 releases

Web browser27 releases

Mac20 releases

What genres were most popular?

Adventure was the dominant genre in November 2008 with 112 titles. Simulator followed closely with 82.

Adventure112

Simulator82

Puzzle79

Strategy63

Shooter59

Role-playing53

Sport53

Platform52

Arcade44

Fighting30

2008 Review

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