Think of the Children

Written by Dan Keener on 7/9/2008 for DS   PC   PS2   PS3   PSP   Wii   360  

This is the kind of week I think most gamers would like to see all the time. Anytime a large amount of rated titles comes across, and it includes quite a few from the next-gen platforms, that is bonus time. While the PC and DS have the usual suspects, the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 each had nine titles, including some heavy hitters that people have been waiting on. I also tweaked the article a bit and have semi-officially retired the “Weekly Title of Shame” in favor of the more politically correct “Intriguing Title of the Week”. This allows me to analyze, ridicule, bash or just simply talk about a title(s) that I find to be intriguing. It was becoming increasingly difficult to pick only one title each week that met the stupid crazy dumb stringent requirements that I set to qualify. Therefore, it has been retired and the initial Intriguing Title of the Week is revealed below.

The PC and DS dominated the ratings as usual, and hidden in the mass of the usual money grabs, franchise whoring and sequels were a couple of potentially decent titles. One is the Princess Bride Game (PC, MAC), which is about 21 year’s too late (The film was released in 1987). Despite that fact, it is still a refreshing break from the Bratz Ponyz, Hannah Montana’s, tweenie games like My Dress up and My Make-Up and Word and Puzzle gamers that dominate these two platforms. Another potential winner is Bleach: Dark Souls (DS), the North American remake of the Japanese release Bleach DS 2nd Kokui Hirameku Requiem. With the addition of 17 new characters (44 total) and strong lineup of game modes (Story, Vs., Arcade, Time Attack, Survival and Training) that support both single and multiplayer, this could be a breakout hit.

What a week for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. There were several highly anticipated titles finally rated that were shared. These included Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway (and the Limited Edition), Rock Band 2, Fracture and Legendary. In addition, the Playstation 3 had Linger in Shadows, JEOPARDY!, Ferrari Challenge and Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty rated. The Xbox 360 also saw Interpol, Infinite Undiscovery, Zuma and Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?: Make the Grade get a rating. A great week with a couple of surprise titles, as Rock Band 2 could possibly be the first game that utilized the delayed announcement feature as we just found out about it last week.

The inaugural Intriguing Title of the Week belongs to a classic that old-school gamers should recognize immediately. While scanning the list of PC and DS titles, one in particular that caught my eye was the classic Coin-op (ported to C-64 and Atari 2600) Wizard of WOR that was listed under the PC games and published by Midway. I find it interesting that the title was listed strictly for the PC, as it seems there isn’t much of a demand for this type of retro title outside of a collection of games or some sort of download service. The other possibility could be a release for XBLA or PSN in the future, with those versions haven’t been rated as of yet. More than likely, Wizard of Wor is just one of many ratings trickling out for the PC version of Midway Arcade Treasures II that is available for download directly from Midway’s site. There are many possibilities and theories as to why, but in the end the logical answer makes the most sense…

Title	Publisher	Rating	Platforms
Barbie Fashion Show: An Eye for Style	Activision Value Publishing	Everyone	PC, DS
Battlestrike: Force of Resistance	City Interactive	Mature	PC
BLEACH: Dark Souls	Sega of America, Inc.	Teen	DS
Brothers In Arms Hell's Highway Limited Edition	Ubisoft	Mature	PC, 360, PS3
Dropcast	ValuSoft a Division of THQ	Everyone	DS
Ferrari Challenge	Activision Value	Everyone	DS
Hannah Montana: Popstar Exclusive / DGamer	Disney Interactive Studios	Everyone	DS
Hell's Kitchen	Ubisoft	Teen	PC, Wii
Interpol	Vivendi Games	Everyone	360
Linger in Shadows	SCEA	Everyone	PS3
Lock's Quest	THQ Inc.	Everyone	DS
My Japanese Coach	Ubisoft	Everyone	DS
MySims Kingdom	Electronic Arts	Everyone	DS
Princess Bride Game	Worldwide Biggies	Everyone 10+	Macintosh, PC, OTHER
Puzzler Collection	Zoo Games, Inc.	Everyone	PC, DS, Wii
Shopping Blocks	RealNetworks	Everyone	Macintosh, PC
The Price Is Right	Ubisoft	Everyone	DS
What Type Are You?	Konami	Everyone	DS
Trivia	Midway	Teen	PC
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09 All-Play	Electronic Arts	Everyone	Wii
Rock Band 2	MTV Games	Teen	360, PS3
Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty	SCEA	Everyone 10+	PS3
Phantasy Star IV: End of the Millennium	SEGA of America	Everyone	Wii
My Make-Up	Oxygen Games	Everyone	DS
MahJong Quest III	iWin, Inc.	Everyone	PC
Infinite Undiscovery	Square Enix, Inc	Teen	360
Hotel Giant	Enlight Interactive Inc	Teen	PC
Ferrari Challenge	Activision Value	Everyone	PS2, Wii, PS3
Bratz Ponyz 2	The Game Factory ApS	Everyone	DS
Cabela's Legendary Adventures	Activision Value	Teen	PS2, PSP, Wii
Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?: Make the Grade	ValuSoft a Division of THQ	Everyone	DS, 360
de Blob	THQ	Everyone	Wii
Hell's Kitchen	Ubisoft	Teen	DS
Fracture	LucasArts	Teen	360, PS3
Super Off Road ®	Midway	Everyone	PC
Wordmaster	Zoo Games, Inc.	Everyone	DS
Zuma	PopCap Games, Inc.	Everyone	Macintosh, PC, PS2, Mobile, Web, 360, PDA, iPod
Heavy Weapon: Atomic Tank	PopCap Games, Inc.	Everyone 10+	PC, Online, PS2
Legendary	Gamecock	Mature	PC, 360, PS3
JEOPARDY!	Sony Online Entertainment	Everyone	PS3
My Dress-Up	Oxygen Games	Everyone	DS
Combat Wings	City Interactive S.A.	Teen	PC
Fate: Undiscovered Realms	Encore, Inc.	Everyone 10+	PC
Arch Rivals	Midway	Everyone	PC
1701 A.D. The Sunken Dragon	Aspyr Media, Inc.	Everyone 10+	PC
Active Life: Outdoor Challenge	Namco Bandai	Everyone	Wii
Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway	Ubisoft	Mature	PC, 360, PS3
Big Kahuna Party	Reflexive Entertainment	Everyone	Wii
Word Search	Midway	Everyone	PC
Wizard of WOR	Midway	Everyone	PC
Wordz	Midway	Everyone 10+	PC
Safari Doctor	Ubisoft	Everyone	DS
Shaun the Sheep	D3Publisher of America, Inc.	Everyone	DS

Here is the final tally on who, what and where everything was rated for the last two weeks. There were 53 rated titles on 13 platforms. PC (22), DS (19), Wii (9), 360 (9) and PS3 (9) had the most games rated. There were 39 of the 53 titles rated at E10+ or lower, 10 rated at T for Teen and just four (Battlestrike: Force of Resistance, Brothers In Arms Hell's Highway Limited Edition, Legendary and Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway) rated at M for Mature.

Got a comment on the article or a rated games, put it in the section below or send me an e-mail. Until next week, make sure you know what your kids are playing……

 

*The weekly Intriguing Title of the Week (and any game that is tossed in that paragraph) is identified based on a game on the list that catches the eye of the author for any number of reasons.  Good, bad or otherwise, feel free to agree, disagree or add some constructive input to the discussion.