Greetings, Ranters, and welcome back. I hope everyone who celebrated (or is still celebrating) had a great time on Halloween. Now it's time to get back to the important stuff, and you've got to know that by "important stuff," I mean games.

This is the week that Microsoft finally launches the Kinect motion control system. Somewhere down the road, gamers may look back on this pivotal event as the moment when the 360 finally fulfilled its potential, or where it went completely off the tracks. Either way, it's an exciting time for the console.

As is par for the course this time of year, there are plenty more games hitting the streets this week. Take a look at the new releases for October 31 through November 6, 2010, broken out by date and platform.

Mac

  • Haunted Domains 10/31
  • Pinball Yeah 10/31
  • Football Manager 2011 11/5

Microsoft Xbox 360

Nintendo DS

  • Learning to Spell 10/31
  • World Championship Spelling 10/31
  • Hello Kitty Party 11/1
  • Intellivision Lives! 11/1
  • Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Back to School 11/2
  • Art of Murder: FBI Top Secret 11/2
  • Atari's Greatest Hits Volume 1 11/2
  • Busy Scissors 11/2
  • GoldenEye 007 11/2
  • Imagine Fashion Stylist 11/2
  • James Bond 007: Blood Stone 11/2
  • Jeopardy! 11/2
  • Megamind: The Blue Defender 11/2
  • Noah's Ark 11/2
  • Penguins of Madagascar 11/2
  • Petz Nursery 2 11/2
  • Wheel of Fortune 11/2
  • Witches & Vampires: Secrets of Ashburry 11/2
  • Digging for Dinosaurs 11/4
  • Chuck E. Cheese's Game Room 11/5
  • Chuck E. Cheese's Playhouse 11/5

Nintendo Wii

  • Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2011 11/1
  • PokePark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure 11/1
  • Robox 11/1
  • The Amazing Race 11/2
  • Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Back to School 11/2
  • Battle of Giants: Dinosaurs Strike 11/2
  • Family Party: 90 Great Games Party Pack 11/2
  • GoldenEye 007 11/2
  • Jeopardy! 11/2
  • Megamind: Mega Team Unite 11/2
  • Minute to Win It 11/2
  • Wheel of Fortune 11/2
  • Honda Fever 11/3
  • The Biggest Loser Challenge 11/4
  • Babysitting Mama 11/5

PC

Sony PlayStation 2

  • Dora's Big Birthday Adventure 11/2
  • Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 11/2
  • Toy Story 3 11/2

Sony PlayStation 3

Sony PSP

  • EyePet 11/2
  • God of War: Ghost of Sparta 11/2
  • Megamind: The Blue Defender 11/2
  • Mercury Limited Edition Bundle 11/2
  • Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 11/2
  • Ys: The Oath in Felghana 11/2
  • Football Manager Handheld 2011 11/5

This is clearly Kinect's week. Even Oprah agrees. The system releases November 4, but appears to be widely sold out. A slew of Kinect games will also be available this week, but none that has us more excited than Dance Central. Harmonix's Kinect debut boasts a sharp track list and left us impressed when we got our hands on it. Hopefully, it will do for dancing games what Rock Band 3 has already done for music games -- make them fun for practically everybody. Will Dance Central prove to be the shining star of the Kinect launch line up? We'll know soon.

A pair of James Bond games are vying for attention this week. Given Activision's reluctance to issue a demo for James Bond 007: Bloodstone, many gamers may opt for the nostalgia driven GoldenEye 007. Can this Wii exclusive possibly live up to memories of the original? Gamers can decide for themselves November 2, 2010.

It's a great week for PSP gamers, as Ready At Dawn's latest title, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, finally comes home. We called it "the best PSP game to date" in our review, and we think you'll agree. With Ready At Dawn starting work on a new IP, and the PSP2 on the way, this might be one of the last AAA games to hit the system. If we really are nearing the end of the current PSP's life cycle, at least it's going out on a high note.

As always, we want to hear from you. Are you buying a Kincet? If so, what Kinect games are you picking up? What games are the rest of you bringing home this week?