This Week in Games: June 7 – 13
Have you recovered from all of the E3 buzz yet? The onslaught of promises that will never meet up with the hype? It was ironic that all week on CNN I was seeing a commercial that featured a salesman teasing with a massive toy truck for a little kid then when the kid signed to buy he got a colored-on piece of paper. Anyway, this week we have a pretty reasonable set of releases, with the violent sandbox multiplatform Prototype, as well as the multiplatform games Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, Virtua Tennis 2009, and Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings leading the way.
The PSP and DS have a solid week of exclusives, with Rock Band Unplugged for the PSP and The Legendary Starfy, Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits , and Lego Battles for the DS, as well as Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again coming to DSiWare. I also included the PSN releases of Final Fantasy VII and Medal of Honor for PSP & PS3, sicne they were announced at E3 and released last week. There seem tobe numerous titles that appear on lists for a few weeks before actually coming out, but I think Hinterland: Orc Lords for the PC would win some type of award for extraordinary non-delivery. I have even gotten more than one ‘noew shipping’ notice only to have it back-ordered and put on another ‘coming next week’ list. Check out the list!
- Prototype
- Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10
- Virtua Tennis 2009
- Prototype
- Bomberman Ultra
- Virtua Tennis 2009
- Tiger Woods PGA Tour
- (Last Week) Final Fantasy VII (PSN)
- (Last Week) Medal of Honor (PSN)
- Swords and Soldiers
- Grand Slam Tennis
- Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10
- Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings
- Virtua Tennis 2009
- Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings
- Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10
- Rock Band Unplugged
- Class of Heroes
- Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10
- Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings
- (Last Week) Final Fantasy VII (PSN)
- (Last Week) Medal of Honor (PSN)
- The Legendary Starfy
- Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits
- Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!
- Lego Battles
- Miami Law
- Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings
- Prototype
- Virtua Tennis 2009
- Hinterland: Orc Lords
- Grand Theft Auto PC Trilogy
As for last week … the cover game Sims 3 is getting excellent reviews, apparently the reports that leaked beta lacking content didn’t hold true in the final version. The other big multiplatform release last week, Red Faction Guerilla is still getting amazing reviews … and I can’t wait for the August PC release. The DS game Knights in the Nightmare shows that innovation doesn’t always guarantee universal acceptance, as reviews are very mixed. For me, I have only a few hours into it so far but am very much enjoying it for the style and substance.
What I’m Currently Playing:
- Mac: Jade Empire – got a hankering to replay this, and decided to grab the Mac version since I’ve been very Mac-centric lately. Still a very good game, and the Mac port (from last August) looks and plays great.
- PC: Drakensang – thoroughly enjoyed this, and decided to take another go with a different character!
- PSP: Final Fantasy VII – since I am basically a PC & handheld gamer it took me a long time to accept jRPG’s, meaning I never played any Final Fantasy game except on handhelds. So this is my first go at this classic. Fun stuff so far, looks are dated but still a good game.
- DS: Knights in the Nightmare – wonderful music on the CD Atlus provides with almost every release these days go perfectly with the innovative gameplay and solid fun plot.
Enjoy gaming!
June 8th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
I just deleted a message because it talked about playing a game not out yet so I can only assume that they pirated it …
June 10th, 2009 at 8:04 am
Just unapprove it next time so it’s not gone forever 🙂
It’s getting harder to determine whether or not someone has pirated a game when release dates are broken and different territories are getting games at different times.
June 10th, 2009 at 9:44 am
Ah – thanks for that advice. But when someone says they ‘er … ‘played” a game, it is a fairly safe bet.
June 10th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Yeah, that was, I will be honest (go ahead and delete this message if you want, Mike, I understand that the site shouldn’t promote it), but I do pirate, and I don’t agree with piracy. I have literally no money, and can’t find a job. It’s really the only way to find something to do right now. I am 16 btw. I really want to buy games legally, but at the rate that my parents give me money atm I will be able to buy a single game a year and nothing else. And also pirated copies are glitchy (at least this one), so another reason not to pirate. I must’ve played Today by the Smashing Pumpkins (which i don’tlike at all really) at least 5 times before i bypassed a savegame glitch where it thinks your memory card isn’t in.
June 13th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Don’t sweat it Umm. Given recent piracy estimates you’re not alone and I’ve never bought the “if they didn’t pirate it, they would have bought it” theory. I only reserve judgment for people who have big incomes, yet still pirate. I know WAY too many of those people.
June 13th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
Most pirates i know irl just do it w/ music when they run out of itunes money. I also found yard sales are a good replacement for pirating btw. My mom always picks up original xbox and ps2 games for a dollar. Last week I got MechAssault 2 which is pretty fun.
June 14th, 2009 at 9:48 am
I am not concerned about the RIAA or the game publishers too much – but it is very clear that the impact of piracy has cost people their jobs. So long as you are OK with your stealing putting people out of work, no worries as GamerDad says.
I think of it pretty simply – taking something that is not yours is theft – just as killing someone is killing whether it is self-defense or war or whatever. For the majority of people theft is considered wrong. Because you have no right to it – PERIOD. There is no system of rationalization under which you can claim justifiable rights to someone else’s property. So it is a matter of morals and ethics – if you have pirated, you have shown disregard for other people, and for the property of other people, and therefore have demonstrated diminished moral and ethical standards. You are also likely a cheater in other areas, since no harm is done there either. But that is all an issue for you to deal with yourself in your own life.
June 17th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
I agree with what most of what you said, mike, but I am no cheater. I’ve cheated once and learned my lesson. I don’t copy homework or anything like that even. Like i said I don’t want to pirate, but it’s my only way to game right now until i can find a job. I’m not okay with piracy.
June 17th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Not to be overly argumentative, but it is both evidently and apparently supported that you are in fact OK with piracy … after all, it is an optional activity to support a luxury optional activity. There is no ‘right to gaming’, nor is it remotely a necessity. You should talk to your parents about Goozex or other ways of extending the value of games.
June 19th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
I asked my parents about goozex (as it does look like a very good idea) they said absolutely not. They don’t like me trading directly i guess. But they let me sell stuff on ebay. I don’t get it…
June 19th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Well, considering a women got found liable to pay record companies nearly $2 million today …