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AICN GAMES: Games of the Week 10/01 - 10/07
Game Releases for the Week of 10/1 - 10/7
Hello! Dan here with another week's worth of video games for your perusal. This week sees the release of the anticipated Scarface game for the PSP, Xbox, and PS2, but next-gen owners will have to dust off one of those systems -- unfortunately, it won't be coming to the 360. Another slow week next week before the real Fall titles start showing up, but stay tuned: Splinter Cell, Tiger Woods Golf, and a new game in some no-name series called "Final Fantasy" will be here by the end of the month.
Xbox 360
None
PSP
10/4 Mercury: Meltdown - See game of the week, below.
10/4 Gangs of London - Officially part of the "Getaway" franchise from Sony London that has included previous incarnations for the PS2, this is basically a portable version of the free-roaming driving/fighting/shooting originals, throwing in a few minigames for good measure. Look for darts, a mode where you fight zombies, and your requisite driving and taxi challenges.
10/4 FIFA Soccer 07 - EA's poor programmers churn out yet another sports title this week, this time the latest in their popular soccer series. Typically garnering good reviews last time around (except for the 360 version, which interestingly enough has been delayed until the end of the month), this years version adds the popular team manager mode to the PSP, as well as gameplay tweaks like the addition of multiple shot types.
10/6 Scarface: Money. Power. Respect. - With the consoles getting a more typical action/adventure/shooter this week based on the Scarface license, PSP owners get this strategy version, which pits you against the computer (or up to 4 players wirelessly) in buying real estate, building a gang, and challenging others to turn-based battles.
DS
10/4 Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure - Cleverly released to coincide with the movie's emergence from the Disney Vault, this is a 2D platformer, with shell collection and stylus-controlled minigames thrown in as well.
10/4 FIFA Soccer 07 - See the PSP description.
Xbox
10/4 FIFA Soccer 07 - See the PSP description.
10/6 Scarface: The World Is Yours - Enter the world of the popular 1983 movie with this GTA-style open world game, developed by Radical Entertainment, creators of last year's excellent "Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction". Radical is promising some innovative features with this title in an attempt to set it apart from the other generally poor GTA-a-likes that have come and gone, including a involved drug dealing system that requires you to launder money, and the ability to open front businesses to rake in cash. Amusingly Scarface is also the first game to offer a "balls meter", which builds up during firefights and can be um, unleashed, as an invincible berserk mode, when the meter gets, uh, large enough. With a targeting mode that includes not only head and arm but left nut and right nut, Radical seems to have captured the unique sense of style from of the movies. Al Pachino doesn't voice any characters in the game, but that most likely will not stop fans from saying hello (ugh) to this title on Tuesday.
PS2
10/2 Star Trek: Encounters - It's been some time since a good ol fashioned Star Trek game (the last being the reviled Shattered Universe in 2004), which Bethesda Software aims to correct with this new action-oriented title for the PS2, the first in Bethesda's barrage of Trek games for the consoles. Billed as a "arcade-style space combat game" with 60 pilotable ships covering the 5 tv shows, its a little unclear what this game has that the upcoming "Legacy" (for the 360) does not.
10/3 NHL 2K7 - A bit late to the hockey party (the other versions of this game were released last month), the PS2 version nevertheless offers the same features as the Xbox -- namely quality hockey gameplay and a $20 price tag.
10/4 FIFA Soccer 07 - See the Xbox description.
10/4 Tokobot Plus: Mysteries of the Karakuri - Another in the odd new trend of porting handheld games to the console comes this title, a platformer which first saw light last year on the PSP. Garnering generally good reviews for the PSP, the PS2 version is enhanced, with better graphics and tighter a camera (thanks mainly to the PS2's dual analog controller). The original levels and unique gameplay are untouched, however.
10/6 Scarface: The World Is Yours - See the Xbox description.
GC
10/5 FIFA Soccer 07 - See the PSP description.
PC
10/2 Diner Dash 2 - I'm not sure which came first, the cell phone game, or the PC title, but either way, Diner Dash 2 is the PC version of a ridiculously simple game downloadable for 5 bucks on your cell phone. The idea is to serve customers food, clear their plates, get their check, and get them out the door as fast as possible, earning cash and unlocking new, harder stages.
10/2 Desperate Housewives - In the Sims-clone-of-the week category comes this title, based on the hit ABC series. As you might suspect, you play as a housewife (not one from the show) and are tasked with walking around the neighborhood and progressing the plot, which unfolds in a series of "episodes". Cooking minigames liven up the action, but don't expect to see CG Eva Longoria get nekked -- nudity has not been mentioned.
10/2 NeverEnd - As the boxart so helpfully points out, this is a Fantasy RPG by Slovak developer Mayhem Studios. In development hell since 2002, it combines your typical magic casting, item collecting, and inventory management with turn-based battles in the classical RPG style.
10/2 Pirate Poppers - With a title that sounds like it would make a fine illegal substance, this is a casual puzzle game, that like Diner Dash above, first saw release in the mobile gaming market.
10/3 FIFA Soccer 07 - See the PSP description.
10/3 Wildlife Zoo - Another in the popular growing genre of budget-priced, zoo-based God games that encompasses the more popular Zoo Tycoon, Zoo Tycoon 2, and the preceding title in this series, Wildlife Park.
10/5 Space Empires V - A series that has been independently produced and distributed since the early-90's gets another release this week, with complex turn-based strategic gameplay. With tons of menus to wade through, ships to customize, and a steep learning curve, this is an advanced strategy game for strategy fans.
10/7 Scarface: The World is Yours - See the Xbox description.
GBA
10/3 Dora the Explorer: Dora's World Adventure - Kiddie game based on the animated series. "Lean to say hello in 4 different languages!"
10/4 Battle B-Daman: Fire Spirits - The first in this series of games based on a anime import cartoon was released, amazingly enough, 3 months ago. This one is said to be based off the 2nd season of the show, with new characters but apparently similar gameplay.
10/4 Little Mermaid: Magic in Two Kingdoms - See the DS description.
10/4 FIFA Soccer 07 - See the PSP description.
Game of the Week:
Mercury: Meltdown, PSP, 10/4
Sequel to last years PSP launch title, you'll be maneuvering a blob of mercury once again through 160 all new levels. Sort of a cross between Marble Madness and another PSP favorite, Loco Roco, you're scored based on how much of your blob makes it to the end of the level -- on the way, you'll attempt to keep the liquid together despite a series of traps, ledges, and enemies with a mercury addiction. Other improvements include new power-ups and wi-fi multiplayer modes over the internet. With double the number of levels as the original, and challenges that build as you progress, developer Awesome Studios is showing how a puzzle sequel should be done.
Game I'm Playing:
Doom, Xbox Live Arcade, 9/27
Released as a surprise the night of Microsoft's X06 extravaganza last week, I couldn't load MS points into my account fast enough the second the news came out. For 10 bucks you get, basically, a pixel-by-pixel port of the first Doom PC game to the 360, complete with the original music and art, as well as the original and addicting 4-player deathmatch and Co-op play over Xbox Live. Gameplay is as you expect.. the singleplayer is still, 15 years after its release, very fun, with generally excellent and creative level design that made full use of the capabilities the engine gave it at the time. Of course the real star here is the multiplayer modes, which is still compelling (I remember tinkering with my 28.8 baud modem settings to play a friend "online" back in the day). It is a little depressing however when that ever-present XBL lag sets in, even on a 25-year-old game, though thankfully Doom plays better than most FPS's on XBL. 4 player split-screen and Co-Op modes round out the package, a steal at $10. My only complaint is the graphics weren't given much of a touch-up (widescreen play and new textures would have been nice) and that Doom 2 and Final Doom weren't included, all of which shared the same engine.
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Everywhere I look there's some bad ass 12 year old with a Scarface t-shirt on. Anyway, the game developers have no sack unless coke is in the game as a power-up.
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Which goddamn time machine did you jump in to get doom? It's 15!!!
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it looks beautiful. There's never been a ST game I've ever liked before. I had ST:invasion on playstation, that was nice, but the only thing you flew was small craft; no large ships.
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I have been trying to think about a game that presents the same freedom and game style of GTA that is not about someone comitting crimes. So far the only one I can come up with is the Elder Scrolls series.
By the way, I think that GTA is overrated and the graphics are crappy. Kratos rules!!! -
Man, I am so alone.
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is monki gone? is this monki? I know there's been a lot of grief-giving, but i say give the dude some time. there's been plenty of worse on this site and some folks need to come into their own.
as far as non crime related GTA clones, I really really dug Spider-man 2. It was far from perfect, some of the bosses were BEYOND frustrating and the spontaneous missions were really repetitive, but when the game was fun it was way fun. I also have high hopes for Superman. -
check out destory all humans
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the Eternal Silence mod for HL2!
Great fun altogether and totally free to download. I think this column should definitely have more bits relating to games like that, and not just what's released commercially during the week. -
Since they've got the whole backward compatibility thing going... Just a guess.
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I highly recommend that title. It is VERY addictive and some levels will have you screaming. May I suggest you keep a second keyboard while playing that game? ;)
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When is Pro Evo 6 out?
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I don't know if Dan is Monki or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if Monki hadn't quit out of frustration from everyone calling the column lame. That said, this week's column is super lame, seeing as it just comprises a bunch of links to Amazon which AICN get a kick back from. How about some real reviews instead of just telling us what's out this week? Most gamers will know what's coming out, they want to know if the game sucks or not!
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Have any of you ever wanted to download soundtracks to some of your favourite games? - Now you can...and it's totally free...no catches and no viruses here. This website has access to thousands of soundtracks - all complete.
Before someone removes the site download fast!!!!
You need to click on the links (below):
http://gh.ffshrine.org?r=25716
http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks.php?r=25716
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Have you all never noticed that Monki always intro'ed Dan's game column? It's always been Dan. But now Monki has his own weekly news wrap-up, so now he's not intro-ing Dan's column anymore. That's all.
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to make more money. I wanted to get this, but i already have the special edition of Doom 3 for my Xbox which has it on there with multiplayer and everything.
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All he does is spam ads here and its kind of annoying. What about Quake 2 for the arcade--how sweet would that be?
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Dan has always written the articles, Monki just introduces them, who is actually occassionally introduced by Quint. And as much as I think Dan is a horrible writer and piss-poor excuse for a gamer, he definately needs to add reviews to some of these games. Though asking him to do that will most likely result in him copy/pasting some gamespot/gamespy reviews.
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Myself included. :POops!
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Fuck all American-made shit. Fuck XBOX and the 360. What a shitty name for a console. XBOX. X-generation. Just shows what kind of corporate drones waste their money Microsoft products. Oh yeah, and HD-DVD sucks Sony's blue-ray balls.
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Industry:
The HD-DVD/Bluray war and its effects on nthe game wars: When the PS2 hit DVD had already begun to take off, but this time Sony is putting everything into a format that isn't proven yet. Another thing that is really important to the game war is the current HD war which is fully raging as opposed to the former. MS backing HD-DVD and Sony backing Blu-ray, well currently HD-DVD has the better movies and is trailing Bluray in selling them, not to mention it's cheaper, and the name familiarity of DVD in there, and HD-DVDs currently looking better than BR titles, what this means to PS3 is going through launch with deadweight technology, or at the most a failed format hanging on by its finger tips.
The Stepping Stones:
approx. 2003 - Immersion sues Sony, to which Sony appeals.
2004 - PSP launches and during its lifetime still sells less than the DS showing vunlerability in the playstation name. UMD is eventually pushed aside from many companies showing a lack of trust in Sony's decisions.
late 2005 - Sony is forced to pay back taxes on about 5 yrs worth to Japan coming to millions.
late 2005 - Sony takes out a loan to "take care of expenses for the Playstation 3 development." which is oddly just enough to cover the taxes and then some.
late 2005 - Sony loses its supposed final bout with Immersion and is forced to pay millions to the company. They also are supposed to remove the PS2's from the shelves, but I think this has been postponed because of Sony's appeals.
early 2006 - revealed that Sony is expecting a loss because of the hit from Playstation 3 development as well as the loss per console.
May, 2006 - Sony reveals no rumble (because of the Immersion suite) and a 600 price tag. Coupled with their lackluster conference at E3, stocks begin to drop dramatically. The Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360 also get consumers thinking if there are alternatives to what the PS3 is offering them. Wii because of its new way to play and 360 because of its current games and comparable features.
July 2006 - Dell and Apple issue a recall amounting to 6 million batteries made by Sony. This damages Sony's name as well as takes millions from the company.
August 2006 - HD-DVD now is able to have 2 layers of HD content as well as a layer of DVD content. More DVDs are revealed for HD-DVD than are for Blu-Ray. Microsoft announces pricings for its HD-DVD add on.
September 2006 - Sony encounters problems in the Blu-Ray production and lowers launch expectations to 500,000 worldwide with Europe pushed back to March 2007.
September 2006 - Square-Enix VP says that Sony is not going to get main support this next generation but that franchises are going to be split more equally.
September 2006 - Sony lowers price of base PS3 in Japan before launch to combat the Wii and Xbox HD-DVD addon.
September 29th, 2006 - Dell increases its recall amount. Sony issues recalls as well as Lonovo, IBM, Toshiba, etc. according to the numbers, 500,000; 850,000; 100,000; etc This will about at least 2 million more in battery recalls.
Now we look at all this and think....wow, what good has happened? Really nothing. With Spiderman 3 not till next summer and the Playstation only going to have 500,000 at launch, how is Sony going to climb out of their hole quick enough? Especially if they are taking a hit of about $300 to $400 per PS3 console! Plus developer support has started to leave the PS3 and if the Wii is left to rummage minds of consumers for a whole 6 months to a year befor PS3 production can meet demand, then interest in the PS3 will dwindle. This also gives HD-DVD plenty of time to step in and take over with the Xbox 360 addon, etc.
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PS3 wil still have more consoles at launch in North America than Xbox 360. It and the Wii will own in Japan while Microsoft has to succumb to giving out 2 games for free (N3 and PGR3) with each 360 in order to sway Japanese gamers. The delay in Europe, despite complaints will ultimately not mean much other than some more 360s and Wiis being sold... Blu-Ray movies will quickly overcome their problems and beat out HDDVD once some actual players are sold (aka PS3s). 2 layer HDDVD is laughable compared to Blu-Ray that is capable of going up to 4 25 GB layers, last I heard, and Blu-Ray can also do the dual format of DVD/Blu-Ray. Square Enix will make games for all consoles regardless, but certain franchises (Main Final Fantasy titles) are still Sony exclusive, the biggest reason being Blu-Ray and that Square Enix loves their FMV, and newer franchises will be created to meet the specific systems best. And Developers leaving Sony? Which developers? At most some are turning multiplatform. You seem to come in here all the time saying the same stuff, and it's mostly all negligable... Large companies usually have problems and recalls many times. Sony may not be doing as well as it was in other divisions, but gaming is still their bread and butter. Even your statements about PSP Vs. DS are misleading... PSP may not be besting DS, but it's still doing pretty well. Recent worldwide sales totals were DS - 21 million to PSP - 20 million units.
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in the part 1 article of Quint's Barcelona video game adventure. No wonder he never went back and fled here. PS3 fantroll!
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