Games On Net :: New Releases: Coming Attractions

Coming Attractions - 29/04/2009

By Matt Keller - Wed Apr 29, 2009 6:29pm

April has been a relatively quiet month, but it finishes with a bang this week. New releases for this week include a re-release of the second bear and bird platform adventure Banjo-Tooie, the Riddick two pack The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena and the first major tie-in of the mid-year movie season X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It’s potentially an expensive week, but it’s okay – May is just as droughty as ever.

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

29/04/2009

*Banjo-Tooie* Platform: Xbox Live Arcade Developer: *4J Studios/Rare* Publisher: *Microsoft* RRP: 1,200 Microsoft Points ($AU19.20) Banjo and Kazooie’s second adventure makes its way to Xbox Live Arcade this week, and if the first one was anything to go by, it should be a blast. *Banjo-Tooie* is bigger, badder and more beautiful than the first, which made it a little more than the Nintendo 64 could handle back in 2000, so hopefully 4J Studios have done a good job of cleaning this one up. $AU20 might seem a bit steep for a tarted up port of an eight year old platformer, but considering a cart-only copy still fetches around $AU50 on eBay, it doesn’t seem quite so bad.
*Virtual-On: Oratorio Tangram* Platform: Xbox Live Arcade Developer: *Sega* Publisher: *Sega* RRP: 1,200 Microsoft Points ($AU19.20) The second of Sega’s popular mech fighters gets a new lease on life with the release of the Xbox Live Arcade version tonight. A few of you may not have heard of this version, largely due to the fact that Sega didn’t handle it’s Dreamcast release outside of Japan, and nobody was kind enough to bring it to PAL audiences. Some purists might whine about the lack of a dedicated twin stick peripheral, but tidied up graphics and online play should be enough to justify the outlay.
*X-Men Origins: Wolverine* Platform: Nintendo DS, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Xbox 360, Wii Developer: *Raven Software* Publisher: *Activision* RRP: $AU69.95 (DS, PS2, PSP), $AU89.95 (PC, Wii), $AU99.95 (PS3, 360) The American Summer movie season gets under way today with the release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and as you’d expect, Activision has a movie tie-in ready to go on every major system. If Raven Software’s claims are to be believed, the game was in development long before it became attached to the movie, which means there is a high possibility it won’t be a pitiful waste of time like every other X-Men movie video game to date. The trailer footage looks kind of cool, and the hands on impressions to date seem positive, so I’m approaching this one with cautious optimism.

30/04/2009

*The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena* Platform: PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Developer: *Starbreeze Studios* Publisher: *Atari* RRP: $AU99.95 (PC), $AU119.95 (PS3, 360) This week, Vin Diesel plays Vin Diesel in space, better known as Riddick. *Assault on Dark Athena* combines a remake of the awesome Escape from Butcher Bay released on the Xbox and PC in 2004 with a new adventure taking place on a ship called, funnily enough, the Dark Athena. There’s some multiplayer modes thrown in for good measure. The general consensus seems to be that Butcher Bay is the best part of the package, but it’s still worth checking out.
*Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust* Platform: PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Developer: *Team 17* Publisher: *Codemasters* RRP: $AU49.95 A couple of years ago, Sierra made the appallingly bad Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, which start Larry Laffer’s nephew, Larry Loveage, and was essentially a compilation of horrid mini-games. Apparently, they weren’t done soiling the name of one of adventure gaming’s greatest stars. Dropped by Activision after the Vivendi merger and picked up by Codemasters (along with the original Larry rights), *Box Office Bust* puts you in the shoes of Larry Loveage as he bumbles around his uncle’s new erotic movie studio. Team 17 tries admirably to make Larry into an open world game, but the concept and gameplay do not mesh, and the script is painfully unfunny. Avoid.
*SingStar POP Edition* Platform: PlayStation 3 Developer: *Sony Computer Entertainment* Publisher: *Sony Computer Entertainment* RRP: $AU69.95 Another week, another SingStar game. This one includes tracks from “wonderful human beings” like Amy Winehouse and Chris Brown along with some acts with actual talent, such as The Police. Look, they’ve been putting these games out consistently for over 5 years now, so I think we all know what to expect by now.

Next week really sucks for new releases; the only planned new release so far is the action RPG hybrid Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce for the PSP. There could be a few surprises in store on the digitally distributed side of things, but I’m not getting my hopes up.