The issue with December is that very, very few critically acclaimed games come out this month. Look at any chart: developers tend to try to release just before Black Friday to get the optimal sales. Consumers, by black Friday, are ready to buy the hottest games. Not only this, the closer they are, the more "important" these games are to consumers in December, as they are fresh in their minds.
A great example is this week: only 1 game in the top 50 was released this week: DBZ for the Wii, with a paltry 25,000 units sold. This is despite the fact that the same DBZ game on PS2 is already at 10x the sales, but only 4 weeks old.
Also, only 4 new games were in the top 100. That's absolutely horrible. Which goes to show you why things debut the way that they do.
Now, having said this, Japan obviously isn't this way: they debut alot of big games in December. Last year, Blue Dragon, Yakuza 2, and some Gundam games were released in December. So it's only an American thing for the most part.
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.
