You should never underestimate any Nintendo game with the word Wii in the title (well, except for that one time…) Wii Fit Plus is the biggest release of the week, but the cross-section of people who’ll buy that and, say, the punishingly difficult Japanese dungeon-crawler Demon’s Souls is probably microscopic, if not downright non-existent. Which is a shame, as Demon’s Souls deserves Wii Fit’s justified success, and also because people who love punishingly difficult Japanese dungeon-crawlers could probably stand to exercise a little bit more.
Demon’s Souls highlights a strong week for PlayStation 3 exclusives. Afrika, a gorgeous camera safari in the vein of cult classic Pokemon Snap, finally gets a U.S. release over a year after coming out in Japan. Also coming out this week for the PS3 is the adorable puzzle game Critter Crunch, which will be downloadable exclusively through the PlayStation Network.
Remakes, ports and sequels abound this week. I keep that sentence on my computer’s clipboard, ready to be pasted in every single week. It’s more notable with this week’s lineup of new games, though. The most intriguing titles here — Dead Space Extraction, MySims Agents, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Motorstorm: Arctic Edge, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days — are extensions or new installments of established franchises. These aren’t Halo-sized blockbuster properties, but never underestimate the value of familiarity and name recognition. We’re living in a world with a Land Before Time XIII, after all. My crippling Turbo-Grafx 16 nostalgia impels me to highlight the new Military Madness: Nectaris remake arriving this week on Xbox Live. It’s been far too long since I last waged war on the surface of the Moon.
NINTENDO WII
September 28 Arkanoid Plus! (WiiWare)
September 28 Drift Mania (WiiWare
September 29 Baseball Blast!
September 29 Bass Pro Shops: The Strike
September 29 Crazy Chicken Tales
September 29 Dead Space Extraction
September 29 Deca Sports 2
September 29 Doctor Fizzwhizzle’s Animal Rescue
September 29 Family Feud: 2010 Edition Continue reading “Player’s Club: Video game releases for the week of Sept. 28″ »
Halo 3: ODST
Rated M for Mature
Released Sept. 22
Xbox 360
Published by Microsoft
WHAT IT IS: Master Chief returns yet again with… oh wait, that’s right, he doesn’t. Like this spring’s Halo Wars, the newest Halo first-person shooter is entirely without the series’ iconic lead character. It’s like those Queen reunion shows without Freddie Mercury, although ODST’s Nathan Filion isn’t nearly as acceptable a stand-in as Paul Rodgers. Originally announced as a value-priced expansion of Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST arrives with two discs of content and the standard price tag for a new release. The second disc is entirely recycled, consisting of Halo 3’s multi-player mode and all the various map packs that have been subsequently released through Xbox Live. So ODST rests on the first disc, which offers up an original Master Chief-less solo campaign that should take you less than eight hours to play through and the new Firefight multi-player survival mode. There’s a lot happening with Halo 3: ODST, then, but is it enough to justify the price?
Remakes, ports and sequels abound this week. I keep that sentence on my computer’s clipboard, ready to be pasted in every single week. It’s more notable with this week’s lineup of new games, though. The most intriguing titles here — Dead Space Extraction, MySims Agents, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Motorstorm: Arctic Edge, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days — are extensions or new installments of established franchises. These aren’t Halo-sized blockbuster properties, but never underestimate the value of familiarity and name recognition. We’re living in a world with a Land Before Time XIII, after all. My crippling Turbo-Grafx 16 nostalgia impels me to highlight the new Military Madness: Nectaris remake arriving this week on Xbox Live. It’s been far too long since I last waged war on the surface of the Moon.
Halo 3: ODST