Games On Net :: New Releases: Coming Attractions

Coming Attractions - 26/10/2009

By Matt Keller - Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:01pm

We're at the end of October, but the Q4 release season still has plenty to offer. This week's big release is Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony, which will be available alone on the Xbox Live Marketplace, or together with The Lost and Damned add-on in disc form. Also of note this week is the PC release of Borderlands, the life consuming Football Manager 2010, DJ Hero and a couple of Dragon Ball games.

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

28/10/2009

*Bakugan Battle Brawlers* Platform: Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 Developer: *Now Production* Publisher: *Activision* RRP: $AU59.95 (PS2), $AU69.95 (DS Standard), $AU79.95 (DS Collectors, PS3, Wii, 360) *Bakugan* is sort of a cross between Beyblade and Yu-Gi-Oh, revolving around a bunch of kids obsessed with some card-based game, this time involving some sort of odd launcher. Whether that converts well to a video game is anyone's guess.
*DJ Hero* Platform: PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 Developer: *Freestyle Games* Publisher: *Activision* RRP: $AU159.95 (PS2 standard) $AU179.95 (PS3, Wii, 360 standard), $AU299.95 (PS3, Wii, 360 Renegade Edition) Activision's branching out in the music game genre with *DJ Hero, which will let you simulate being a DJ with its fancy turntable peripheral. You'll be mixing songs, messing with crossfade, accentuating beats and scratching the turnable in a similar gameplay style to what's already been employed in Guitar Hero*. You can even hook up a guitar and play together in select tracks. The involvement of acts like Eminem, Jay-Z, Daft Punk, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Grandmaster Flash gives the game a much needed sense of legitimacy. Most impressions of the game to date have been positive, but the high price tag may turn off some folks.
*Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars* Platform: PSP Developer: *Rockstar Leeds* Publisher: *Rockstar Games* RRP: $AU69.95 *Chinatown Wars* was a fantastic game on the Nintendo DS, but didn't really sell as many units as it deserved, so Rockstar Games has brought it over to the PSP. It looks a whole lot better thanks to the increased power of the PSP, but a few changes have had to be made due to the lack of touch-screen control.
*Summer Athletics 2009* Platform: Wii, Xbox 360 Developer: *dtp Entertainment AG* Publisher: *dtp Entertainment AG* RRP: $AU79.95 It seems odd to me, releasing an update to the non-licensed Olympics cash-in Summer Olympics 2008 in a non-Olympic year, but they've done it anyway. If last year's game was anything to go by, stay far, far away.

29/10/2009

*Astro Boy* Platform: PlayStation 2, PSP, Wii Developer: *High Voltage Software* Publisher: *D3 Publishing* RRP: $AU49.95 (PS2, PSP), $AU69.95 (Wii) A new Astro Boy video game, just in-time to tie in to the feature film that should be in theatres this week. Expect it to be extraordinarily average – if you really need an Astro Boy gaming fix, hunt down Astro Boy: The Omega Factor for the GBA, which is an utterly awesome 2D run and gun game developed by Treasure.
*Cars: Race-O-Rama* Platform: Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 Developer: *Tantalus* Publisher: *THQ* RRP: $AU49.95 (PS2), $AU59.95 (DS, PSP), $AU69.95 (PS3, Wii, 360) Cars may have been far from Pixar's best work, but its popularity with the young males of the world has turned it into a merchandising monster, so it's no surprise that THQ is prepping their third Cars related game. The previous two games provided some decent open world challenges combined with some racing action – expect more of the same here.
*CSI Deadly Intent: The Hidden Cases* Platform: Nintendo DS, PC, Wii, Xbox 360 Developer: *Telltale Games* Publisher: *Ubisoft* RRP: $AU Ubisoft's been putting these CSI games out for a couple of years now, and while they don't enjoy high budgets or particularly outstanding production values, they do provide some of the point-and-click adventure-style gameplay that has been sorely missing from the gaming sphere for the better part of a decade. It's based on the 9th season of the show, so you'll see Larry Fishburne's Langston leading the charge in place of William Petersen's Grissom. With Telltale Games on board, I'd expect this one to be the best yet.
*Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo* Platform: Wii Developer: *Namco Bandai* Publisher: *Namco Bandai* RRP: $AU79.95 Everybody knows about Dragon Ball Z, but the first half of Goku's saga, Dragon Ball doesn't seem to command the same level of attention and respect, despite being the superior part of the story. Rather than seeing aliens brag about power levels and guys charging attacks for 5 episodes, you'll take Goku across the world on a hunt for the Dragon Balls, fight in the World Tournament, take out the Red Ribbon Army, and finally go head to head with the Demon King, Piccolo. Should be good.
*Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans* Platform: Nintendo DS Developer: *Monolith Soft* Publisher: *Namco Bandai* RRP: PRICE Airing in Japan at the moment is a series called Dragon Ball Kai, which is basically Dragon Ball Z with cleaned up animation and all of the filler cut out. To coincide with this new series, Namco Bandai teamed up with Nintendo owned RPG studio Monolith Soft to put together a traditional RPG based on the 23rd World Tournament and Saiyan Invasion arcs of the story. Looks like it could be a pretty good one, too.
*EyePet: Your Virtual Pet* Platform: PlayStation 3 Developer: *Sony Computer Entertainment* Publisher: *Sony Computer Entertainment* RRP: $AU79.95 Remember the PlayStation Eye? It appears Sony has as well, no doubt in the preparation for its upcoming motion peripheral. To get a few more PSEyes into homes before that point they've put together *EyePet* a new virtual pet style program in which you interact with a small animal via the camera. It's a cute little creature, but he reminds us a little too much of a Mogwai, so don't get him wet or feed him after midnight.
*Fairytale Fights* Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Developer: *Playlogic* Publisher: *Playlogic* RRP: $AU79.95 Cutesy fairy tale characters turn bad in *Fairytale Fights*, a gore infested brawler starring various characters from the Brothers Grimm. The concept is good, but apparently the gameplay is a real letdown, delivering the most basic of beat ‘em up action.
*Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony* Platform: Xbox 360 Developer: *Rockstar North* Publisher: *Rockstar Games* RRP: 1600 Microsoft Points ($AU26.40, requires GTAIV), $AU69.95 (standalone disc w/ The Lost and Damned) Expectations for the second downloadable expansion for *Grand Theft Auto IV* are high, especially given how inexplicably awesome *The Lost and Damned* was. *Gay Tony* brings back some of the last-gen GTA craziness with parachuting, nitro-equipped vehicles and flamboyant characters. You'll need a copy of GTA IV to play the downloadable version, but you can grab it together with Lost and Damned on a disc that will run independently of GTA IV for 70 bucks.
*Guilty Gear 2: Overture* Platform: Xbox 360 Developer: *Arc System Works* Publisher: *Arc System Works* RRP: $AU99.95 The Guilty Gear series makes little sense at the best of times, so Arc System Works' decision to try and combine beat ‘em up action with strategy should fit right in with the series' bizarre nature. The problem is that *Guilty Gear 2: Overture* gets neither the strategy nor the beat ‘em up portions of the game right. It looks nice, but it's intolerably shallow.
*Obscure: The Aftermath* Platform: Wii Developer: *Hydravision* Publisher: *Playlogic* RRP: $AU49.95 ObsCure was a bizarre but somewhat mediocre survival horror game released in the middle of the decade. Inspired by the film The Faculty, the game set a bunch of high school kids on a lab full of grotesque biological experiments. *Obscure: The Aftermath* moves the game forward a couple of years to where the original gang is in college, living normal lives until the proverbial hits the fan. Apparently it's quite a bit better than the first game, thanks largely to optional cooperative play.
*Pro Evolution Soccer 2010* Platform: PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360 Developer: *Konami* Publisher: *Konami* RRP: $AU69.95 (PC), $AU109.95 (PS3, 360) Konami seems to have finally realised that they're being dominated by EA in the football arena, so they're pulling their fingers out for *Pro Evolution Soccer 2010. The visual side of the game has been dramatically improved, 360-degree movement has been added, AI capabilities have been boosted, crowd atmosphere has been pumped up and Master League mode has been refined. Hopefully it's good enough to compete with this year's FIFA*.

30/10/2009

*Borderlands* Platform: PC Developer: *Gearbox* Publisher: *2K Games* RRP: $AU89.95 It's the same as the console release, but with prettier graphics and a different interface. I'm digging what I've played of *Borderlands* so far, though the game does start out a little slow – expect to play for a few hours before you start seeing some of the cooler weapons.
*Football Manager 2010* Platform: PC, PSP Developer: *Sports Interactive* Publisher: *Sega* RRP: $AU69.96 (PSP), $AU89.95 (PC) Fancy yourself an armchair Arsene Wenger? Then you've probably been drooling in anticipation of this year's update to *Football Manager*, a game known to consume far too much free time, and annoy girlfriends and wives to no end. This year's game features major improvements to the 3D match engine, and a big upgrade to the database editor, allowing players to add entire leagues if they fancy. Not sure if that's enough for everyone to hop aboard the upgrade train, but the game still should be bloody good.

Next week: retail madness. Dragon Age: Origins, Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time, Tekken 6, Star Wars: Battlefront Elite Squadron, Jak & Daxter: The Last Frontier and Rabbids Go Home all hit on Thursday. Ouch.