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Think of the Children for February 20

Think of the Children for February 20

Written by Dan Keener on 2/20/2008 for DS   PC   PS2   PS3   PSP   Wii   360  
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Finally, the drought may be over, as the ESRB pumped out a total of 39 titles over the last week. This is up substantially from the last several weeks, where the lull was just plain painful. Leading the way was the PC platform (17), and the Nintendo juggernaut seemed to get back on its horse with both the Wii and DS cranking out seven titles each. A few buzz worthy titles hit for the next gen platforms, including a previously unannounced XBLA title. However, the PS3 continues its pathetic lack of rated titles.

Looks like the PC and Nintendo tiles are back on the schnide this week, with a combined 31 rated titles between the PC, Wii and DS. Of note is that most of these are kid based, casual games and general titles most of us wouldn’t play. You know the old saying, throw a bunch of sh*t against the wall to see what sticks, and that is what we have going on this week. I shouldn’t complain, as I was wondering where the titles were the last few weeks, but oh well, it’s my right. There are a couple of decent titles lurking in there, so checkout the list below for a look see.

The next-gen system(s) once again had several games rated, but once again it was the Xbox 360 leading the way while the Playstation 3 came with a pathetic two rated titles. I mean WTF? Last year Sony was chest thumping about all the titles they would be bringing out by Christmas, and it didn’t happen. Here we are almost two months into 2008, and we have had nary a PSN title (finally have ONE this week) and almost as few retail titles. Someone needs to take a look at their claims and call them out for basically lying to the communities and Wall Street. I know they don’t have control over third party games, but at least muzzle their idiotic execs that keep making outrageous claims. OK, I’m off my soapbox, so this week the Xbox 360 had three XBLA titles rated, including Mr. Driller Online, Schizoid and Wits and Wagers. Two of those I believe were not highly published, and the third (schizoid) has been waiting a while since it was announced. The two retail tiles were Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (also on PS3) and Elements of Destruction by THQ, which also hasn’t got much noise. The PS3 only had the previously mentioned Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and NovaStrike for the Playstation Network as a download. Sony, where are the titles for your console?

The buzz this week was for some previously unannounced XBLA titles, and the long awaited rating of what should one of the hottest titles on the Xbox 360 and PS3 this season. The titles Wits and Wagers (we were tipped off prior to the ESRB listing), Schizoid and Mr. Driller Online were all rated at E for Everyone by the ESRB. They are all XBLA titles and I imagine coming to the downloadable service in the near future. One title in the Wii list that caught my eye was the old coin-op classic Double Dribble. I put some money into that thing at the arcade, but I have no idea if it is the NEW or Arcade version that will be coming down the pipe.

Looking over the list, I saw a lot of funky titles, but not too many that jumped out as terrible or completely worthy of the title of shame. However, after considering the old-school Spelunker coming to Wii VC, I decided that I would give the old 8-bit title a break and lay off. Instead, my wrath gets directed toward Pat Sajak’s Trivia Gems for PC, which so desperately in an unneeded title with all the legally sane individuals that inhabit the Earth. Anyway, there it is in a somewhat weak week.

Title Publisher Rating Platforms
Abra Academy 2: Returning Cast Activision Value Publishing E Windows PC
Babysitting Mania 21 Rocks, LLC E Macintosh, Windows PC
Elements of Destruction THQ Inc T Windows PC, Xbox 360
Iron Man SEGA of America T Windows PC, PlayStation 2, PSP, Wii
MiniCopter: Adventure Flight Aksys Games E Wii
Mr. Driller Online NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc. E Xbox 360
Pinewood Derby Elephant Entertainment E Windows PC
The Experiment DreamCatcher T Windows PC
Blast Works: Build, Trade & Destroy Majesco Entertainment E Wii
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Aspyr Media, Inc. M Macintosh
Major League Baseball® 2K8 Fantasy All Stars Take-Two Interactive E Nintendo DS
Miami Nights: Singles in the City Ubisoft Entertainment T Nintendo DS
Spelunker Tozai, Inc. E Wii
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Eidos Inc M Windows PC
Build-a-lot United Developers E Windows PC
R-Type Command Atlus USA, Inc. E10+ PSP
SPORE™ Creatures Electronic Arts E Nintendo DS
Wits and Wagers Hidden Path Entertainment E Xbox 360
Dungeon Explorer: Warriors of Ancient Arts Hudson Entertainment Inc E10+ Nintendo DS
AXELAY Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. E Wii
Blades of Steel Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. E Wii
Bottle Buster John Galt Games E Windows PC
Chameleon Gems Topics Entertainment E Windows PC
Double Dribble Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. E Wii
God of War: Chains of Olympus SCEA M PSP
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 Ubisoft Entertainment M Windows PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Jewel of Atlantis Topics Entertainment E Windows PC
Puchi Puchi Virus NIS America Inc. E Nintendo DS
NovaStrike Tiki Games, Inc. E10+ PlayStation 3
Pat Sajak's Trivia Gems ValuSoft E10+ Windows PC
Patapon SCEA E PSP
Schizoid Torpex Games E Xbox 360
WALL•E TV Game JAKKS Pacific Inc. E Plug-and-Play
Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War: Soulstorm THQ Inc. M Windows PC
Championship Pony Destination Software, Inc. E Nintendo DS
American Girl: Mia Goes for Great ValuSoft E Windows PC
Mortimer Beckett and the Secrets of Spooky Manor United Developers E Windows PC
Fab 5 Soccer Destineer E Nintendo DS
Poker Superstars III - Gold Chip Challenge United Developers T Windows PC

Here is the final tally on who, what and where everything was rated for the last week. There were 39 rated entries on nine platforms. PC (17), Nintendo Wii (7), Nintendo DS (7) and Xbox 360 (5) had the most games rated. There were 29 of the 39 titles rated at E10+ or lower, five rated at T for Teen and five rated at M for Mature.

Got a comment on the rated games, put it in the section below. Until next week, make sure you know what your kids are playing……

* The product in this article was sent to us by the developer/company.


About Author

Like many gamers in their 40's, I developed my love of gaming from my Commodore 64 after we wore out our Intellivision. I spent countless hours wandering around the streets of Skara Brae, as my life was immersed in The Bard's Tale series on the C-64, D&D Titles and any/all Epyx titles (California Summer and Winter Games) and sports titles.  After taking the early 90's off from gaming (college years) minus the occasional Bill Walsh College Football on Sega, I was re-introduced to PC games in the mid 1990's with a couple of little games called DOOM II and Diablo. I went all-in with the last generation of consoles, getting an Xbox 360 on launch weekend as well as adding a PS3 and Wii in subsequent years.  I now am into the current-generation (latest?) of consoles with the WiiU and Xbox One.  Recently, I was able to get back into PC gaming and have enjoyed it very much, spending most of my time going solo or playing with my fellow GamingNexus staffers in controlled multiplayer action.

While my byline is on many reviews, articles and countless news stories, I have a passion for and spent the last several years at GamingNexus focusing on audio & video and accessories as they relate to gaming. Having over 20 years of Home Theater consulting and sales under my belt, it is quite enjoyable to spend some of my time viewing gaming through the A/V perspective. While I haven't yet made it to one of the major gaming conventions (PAX or E3), I have represented GamingNexus at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in nine of the last ten years.

Personally, I have been a staff member at GamingNexus since 2006 and am in my third tour of duty after taking off the last year and a half.


 

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