Coming Soon! 3/15/2010

Publishers may have stayed clear of last week, but this week seems to be fair game. It’s kind of an odd move considering that another Triple-A title is coming out this week. Do they just not know how many bloodthirsty gamers out there have been waiting for this game? It could just be that they were holding out for so long that they just don’t have a choice anymore. So here we are. One week with a fairly hefty number of releases surrounding one big release. I wish them the best of luck.

Remember. Release dates are quite literally made at the whims of the publisher. The following are subject to change without any warning.

Releases To Watch For This Week

This is why you don’t buy a dog from Chernobyl

Dragon Age: Origins — Awakening (Xbox 360, PS3)

Tuesday March 16, 2010

Didn’t Dragon Age come out like 4 months ago? Yup, and apparently it’s the perfect time to release an expansion pack for it. New weapons, new recruitable party members, new lands to explore, new abilities, increased level cap, new spells, a new story, and even the ability to re-spec your characters. This expansion pack definitely lives up to the standards of a bonafide expansion. I’m just worried that people may not be done with the original yet. It’s a huge game!

Kratos once again uses his chiropractric skills for evil!

God of War III (PS3)

Tuesday March 16, 2010

KRAAAAAAAATOOOOOOOOSSSS THE GOOOOOOOOODDDDD OF WAAAAAAARRRRRR. Or at least, I think that’s how the song goes. Not very imaginative is it? Speaking of lacking imagination, God of War 3 will be gracing us lowly mortals with its presence this coming Tuesday. Gamers who have hungrily waited for their opportunity to bludgeon, stab, dismember, and outright obliterate mythical, Grecian monsters, gods, and whatnot will finally be able to sate their bloodthirst once they’ve inserted the God of War 3 disc into their PS3s (Until then, steer clear of these people.). For those who don’t know, the God of War series doesn’t revolve around Ares/Mars. It revolves around the Spartan who failed anger management classes, Kratos. Originally, he served the gods, but one accidental-murder-of-his-own-family later, he’s grown to hate them despite the fact that they gave him Ares’ job after Kratos deposed him permanently. A bunch of stuff happened, and last we left him, he’s on a crusade to destroy all of Olympus. Most of the gameplay hasn’t changed all that much as my E3 preview have mentioned, but there are some notable changes. Some enemies are “ride able.” The Cyclops can be ridden and used to clear obstacles. Harpies can also be ridden to fly across gaps. Since we’re using the PS3 hardware, enemy counts have been ratcheted upwards. So much so that Kratos has to have some special moves meant specifically to help him deal with such large crowds. All in all, this looks to be yet another crowd pleaser with it’s totally gory gameplay with everyone’s favorite bloodthirsty, constantly angry badass. Suddenly, I feel the need to check if my doors and windows are locked.

Honorable Mention

Now that I think about it, Wanted would make a great RPG

Resonance of Fate (Xbox 360, PS3)

Tuesday March 16, 2010

Is Final Fantasy 13 just too… weird for you? Sega feels your pain, and have released Resonance of Fate. Well, it’s not exactly the most traditional RPG out there, but compared to Final Fantasy 13 every RPG is traditional! Resonance of Fate takes place in a dying, steampunk world where everybody fights with guns (No gunblades for these guys). From the looks of the gameplay videos, battles take place on a turn by turn basis, except you get to control the positioning of the characters along with some kind of timing based actions for attacks. The exploration of the overworld bears some special mentioning as well. First of all, it’s a hex grid. You don’t move your character from one hex to another. You take predetermined shapes and place it onto the overworld. Once placed, that area is considered explored. There’s a narrative reason behind this, but it kinda flew over my head when I read it. Suffice it to say that Resonance of Fate will probably appeal to those who thought that FF 13 was just way too out there. If you’ll excuse me, I have FF 13 on pause.

Coming This Week Yesterday

(I kinda missed these two releases from last week’s articles. Sorry.)

Sunday March 14, 2010

Pokemon HeartGold, Pokemon SoulSilver (DS)

Pokefans, apparently, is an ever expanding breed. How else can you explain the absolute dearth of innovations and evolution in the Pokemon series. The game hasn’t changed since it came out over a decade ago. This is a remake of Pokemon Gold and Pokemon Silver with updated graphics and sound for the DS along with some touch screen features. It also comes with a pedometer wherein you can train your Pokemon just by walking around with it on you. Well at least that’s something new.

Coming This Week

Tuesday March 16, 2010

Let’s Play Ballerina (Wii, DS)

I always knew that the best way to teach ballet is through a video game. You play as a 12 year-old, aspiring ballerina who has just been accepted into a prestigious dancing academy. Work your way up and you might just fulfill your dreams! That is, if you dream of being a ballerina.

Metro 2033 (Xbox 360, PS3)

Another week, another FPS. What’s so different about this one? Oddly enough, the setting and the source material does set it apart. Nuclear wastelands are nothing new, but hey, it’s Moscow’s nuclear wasteland. As for the source material, it’s based off of Dmitry Glukhovsky’s Metro 2033 novel. Yup, it’s based off a book! So, expect plenty of nuclear mutants and Russian accents.

Supreme Commander 2 (Xbox 360, PS3)

RTS have always struggled to gain ground on the console space, and porting over a giant, giant RTS the likes of the Supreme Commander series really isn’t helping the cause. The series is known for it’s massive, nearly continent sized maps. You can only imagine just how many units and building you’ll have to manage with just a PS3 or Xbox 360 controller. Nevertheless, it does look impressive though.

Sushi Go Round (Wii, DS)

In the giant hodgepodge of job sims, restaurant sims are probably the most depressing bunch. You can only make so many of your favorite dish in the game before you start hankering for it, and you just can’t reach into your TV to eat it. For me, Sushi Go Round is even worse. I love sushi! A lot!

Build-A-Bear Workshop: Friendship Valley (Wii)

Most 3D sandbox games lets players wreak as much havoc as they possibly can. Build-A-Bear Workshop: Friendship Valley, on the other hand, wants you do the exact opposite. Help your bears make their town the best town in all of Build-A-Bearville, and no, I didn’t make up Build-A-Bearville.

Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of The Moon (Wii)

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Those wacky Japanese really know how to spice up their games. In Fragile Dreams, Seto could quite possibly be the last person alive in the world. He’ll have to explore the world and figure out what the hell happened. Trouble is, ghost and demons have taken residence in this deserted world.

Smart Series Presents: JaJa’s Adventure (Wii)

The best I can tell, this is a side scrolling adventure game for children (as if the title wasn’t enough of a giveaway). JaJa’s pet has been kidnapped by the evil Captain Momalon! JaJa and friends must traverse through various locales and rescue JaJa’s pet! Can they do it? Or will the dastardly Captain Momalon prevail? Only you can decided the fates of JaJa and his friends!

Ultimate Hoops Challenge (Wii)

Did you know that the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is 50 years old this year? How are they celebrating it? By releasing this game. Play as one of the legends of basketball one-on-one with other legends of basketballs in various basketball mini-games like H.O.R.S.E., Around the World, or the Slam Dunk Contest. Forget those full sized basketball games! They’re longer and more expensive compared to this one!

Infinite Space (DS)

Think RPG in space, and I don’t mean like Star Ocean either. Infinite Space is all about ships battling other ship in an RPG fashion. You’ll be able to outfit your ships for the utmost battle efficiency while making room for your crew so that they can rest properly between battles. You’ll even get to command a fleet of ships later on in the game. Interesting.

Sonny with a Chance (DS)

I honestly don’t quite understand just how delusional the people at Disney can be. To keep this nice and short, it’s basically like trying to turn Saturday Night Live into a video game. How the hell is anybody supposed to do that?

Super Speed Machines (DS)

Good racing games can be silly, serious, or half and half. The one thing it should never be is generic. Unless this game has the best driving physics in existence, it really has nothing going for it. Hell, the title should already give you a hint as to just how generic this racer is.

LTTP

• Hidden Mysteries: Buckingham Palace (DS)
• Shepherd’s Crossing 2 (DS)
• Spectral Force Genesis (DS)
• Windy x Windam (DS)

I have no idea how the hell am I suppose to find time for God of War 3. I’m not even done with FF 13 yet! Besides GOW 3, that Fragile Dreams game sounds really interesting. I doubt it’ll be as good as I liked it to be, but hey, who knows. I’d ask what you’re interested in this week, but judging by the blood dripping from the side of your lip, I already know what you’ll be playing this week.