Games On Net :: New Releases: Coming Attractions

Coming Attractions - 04/03/2009

By Matt Keller - Wed Mar 4, 2009 6:24pm

One of the big criticisms of the Wii is that it is filled with crappy mini-game collections. There’s always someone who will challenge this claim, but this week’s release schedule should be enough to silence them, with no less than four mini-game compilations hitting the Nintendo console. On the good side of the gaming spectrum, the long-awaited strategy sim Empire: Total War hits the PC, and the oft-delayed Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia debuts on the DS.

Don’t forget to check out the full release schedule for the latest changes and information on upcoming games.

04/03/2009

*Block Party* Platform: Wii Developer: *Activision* Publisher: *Activision* RRP: $AU49.95 Activision is really bringing the quality this week with a collection of 6 month old Wii shovelware. Leading the charge is *Block Party*, which essentially involves flailing your Wii Remote around like a madman through 20 mini-games that would normally be played in a neighbourhood party setting, along with a few prank-type activities like throwing bags of rotten garbage at people and feeding their children to dogs. It looks pretty awful as you’d expect, so we’ll leave it at that.
*Little League World Series Baseball 2008* Platform: Wii Developer: *Activision* Publisher: *Activision* RRP: $AU49.95 Little League is a concept that will be lost on most Aussies, but it’s basically league baseball for kids and their parents, usually the pushy ones that want their kid to live out their failed big league dreams. Now Activision’s made a game out of it. I fail to understand the point of playing a Little League game over a Major League game, especially with the Mii-ripoff visual style and simplistic gameplay.
*Monkey Mischief: Party Time* Platform: Wii Developer: *Activision* Publisher: *Activision* RRP: $AU49.95 Surprise surprise – it’s another collection of 20 mini-games, this time featuring a group of primates, but just as poorly conceived and implemented as the vast majority of these compilations on the Wii. Sadly, glutinous consumption of bananas and throwing faeces at passers-by are not included. Avoid at all costs.
*Pirate’s Quest: Hunt for Blackbeard’s Booty* Platform: Wii Developer: *Activision* Publisher: *Activision* RRP: $AU49.95 The third mini-game compilation of the week features just five pirate themed games, and they’re all rather terrible. Gameplay comes in two styles, Adventure mode and Trophy mode, but each requires playing the same five games ad infinitum. Make this one walk the plank or lock it in Davy Jones’ locker or whatever your chosen pirate themed dispatch phrase decrees.
*Pitfall: The Big Adventure* Platform: Wii Developer: *Edge of Reality* Publisher: *Activision* RRP: $AU49.95 The only Wii-exclusive Activision release this week that isn’t a mini-game compilation is actually a half-assed port of a bad GameCube game entitled Pitfall: The Lost Expedition. Pitfall is an important part of Activision’s heritage, but they’re obviously not in the mood to give it the respect it deserves. I don’t see why they can’t try developing a new Pitfall game, along the lines of Indiana Jones or something.
*Rapala Fishing Frenzy* Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (also available on Wii) Developer: *Activision* Publisher: *Activision* RRP: $AU69.95 Fishing video games have always seemed a bit out of place, with the exception of Sega Bass Fishing for the Dreamcast, which had a rather unique fishing rod controller. Rapala Fishing Frenzy is possibly one of the most limited fishing games available, with only seven locations and 21 species of fish to catch and no Rex Hunt to give them a good smooch before you throw them back.
*Watchmen: The End is Nigh* Platform: PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Developer: *Deadline Games* Publisher: *Warner Brothers Interactive* RRP: 1600 Microsoft Points ($AU26.40) (Xbox 360), $AU24.95 (PlayStation 3), $US19.99 (PC/Steam) TheWatchmen game is a straight up beat ‘em up set prior to the events of the graphic novel, and the movie adaptation which hits theatres this week. Making the game a brawler might offend some of the fans of the graphic novel, given that the book’s departure from typical superhero action was one of the reasons why it became so celebrated. On the other hand, setting it in the midst of the character’s superhero careers is really the only way you could make a Watchmen game in this style. Regardless, the high price attached to the first episode means you should probably approach this one with a bit of caution for now.
*World Championship Sports* Platform: Wii Developer: *Koolhaus Games* Publisher: *Activision* RRP: $AU49.95 Activision’s fourth Wii mini-game compilation of the week gives players a choice of 22 events spread over six different sports - basketball, tennis, soccer, gridiron, hockey and lacrosse. As cool as a lacrosse game sounds, *World Championship Sports* does a pretty poor job of each of its mini-games, thanks to some frustrating controls with a low level of accuracy and poor visuals.

05/03/2009

*AC/DC Live Rock Band Track Pack* Platform: Wii (Also on PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 Developer: *Harmonix* Publisher: *MTV Games* RRP: $AU49.95 The heavily delayed Wii version of the *AC/DC Rock Band* set finally comes out tomorrow. The pack includes 18 tracks from AC/DC’s Live at Donington album. Tracks include favourites such as Back in Black, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Hells Bells, T.N.T and Thunderstruck. So if you’re a fan of the band and *Rock Band* and haven’t picked it up on another platform, grab it.
*Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia* Platform: Nintendo DS Developer: *Konami* Publisher: *Konami* RRP: $AU79.95 After about 6 weeks, Atari has apparently become sick of delaying Order of Ecclesia at the last second, which is good, because it’s one of the best Castlevania games in years. Ecclesia takes the "Metroidvania" structure introduced in *Symphony of the Night* and mixes it up with the classic Castlevania level structure. Throw in awesome visuals, a great soundtrack and ball-busting difficulty, and you’ve got a game that’ll be living in your DS for months to come.
*Empire: Total War* Platform: PC Developer: *Creative Assembly* Publisher: *Sega* RRP: $AU99.95 (Standard), $AU109.95 (Special Forces Edition), $AU139.95 (Collector’s Edition) The fifth entry in the Total War series takes the action to the earl modern period, allowing players to lead one of fifty different actions to dominate Europe, North Africa and the New World. A story mode called “Road to Independence” is a three part saga encompassing the establishment of the British Colony, the French and Indian Wars, and the American War of Independence. New features such as naval battles are exciting, but early impressions suggest that there are balance and pathing issues. If it’s anything like the other games in the series, Empire will be a good game that gets better after a couple of patches and mods are applied.
*Littlest Pet Shop: Spring* Platform: Nintendo DS Developer: *Electronic Arts* Publisher: *Electronic Arts* RRP: $AU49.95 Electronic Arts continues its relationship with Hasbro, releasing a game based on the Littlest Pet Shop toys. Not being a girl under the age of 10, the concept is lost on me, but the press release says it’s a – shock – mini-game compilation, and not a new one at that, since it encompasses all of the stuff in the previous *Little Pet Shop* game.
*My Pet Shop* Platform: Nintendo DS Developer: *Taito* Publisher: *Square Enix* RRP: $AU59.95 The second pet shop themed game of the week has players wandering around a place called Green Town, capturing animals to sell in their parents’ store. It’s not quite as cruel as it sounds, since you also have to take care of them, giving them baths and fancy hairstyles to keep them happy and increase their value. Probably not of much interest to most of us, but it sounds a bit better than most pet games on the DS.
*SpongeBob SquarePants: Frantic Fry Cook* Platform: Nintendo DS Developer: *THQ* Publisher: *THQ* RRP: $AU59.95 THQ’s torrent of SpongeBob games continues with *Frantic Fry Cook*, which has players living the dream of being a fry cook at the Krusty Krab. Mr Krabs sets up a competition among his cooks to decide who will cater Jack Kahuna Laguna’s Big Beach Party. Under the fancy SpongeBob coating lay yet another mini-game compilation, this time encompassing over 25 food preparation related activities. Buy the DVD sets instead.

06/03/2009

Tom Clancy’s HAWX
Platform: PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Developer: COMPANY
Publisher: COMPANY
RRP: PRICE

I don’t understand the excitement for HAWX, given that Ubisoft is really just taking its Blazing Angels games into the modern day and slapping on the Tom Clancy name. On the other hand, they seem to be making an effort to tie their different Clancy games together, which makes the whole branding exercise a little more interesting. HAWX is more focused on the action side of things, so anyone looking for a serious sim will be disappointed.

After a fairly awful week this week, the game release schedule takes a slight turn for the better, with the long awaited release of Resident Evil 5 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, along with World of Conflict: Soviet Assault and Burnout Paradise for the PC, the hilariously late Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon for the Nintendo DS, and the sword-swinging stylings of Sonic and the Black Knight on the Wii. Will Chris Redfield be busted for using human growth hormone? Find out next week.