If I thought the previous week was busy, the ESRB must have been trying to get ahead due to Labor Day weekend approaching as there were 64 submissions that were rated (with very little dupes.) After scanning the list a couple times, it was pretty evident that the DS is getting ready to take over the world. There were so many entries for the DS platform that it makes you wonder if they are just cranking out crap, or if the games are really that good. I also noticed an inordinate amount of kid centric games that were rated, right along side several gambling titles for people to get their fix. And once again, the true next-gen platforms simply don’t have much quantity (and very little quality) coming out, but expect that to change over the next several weeks.

This week was a stellar week for the DS. Not only are the hardware sales leading the pack, but games are getting pushed through at an unbelievable clip with another 21 being rated this week. However, a lot of this may just be fluff and crap, or crappy fluff, and geared towards the younger players and the puzzle people. Regardless, Nintendo has got a good thing going and the third party publishers are all lining up for the chance to sell people their wares…

I would guess the holidays must be approaching, otherwise we wouldn’t see over 10 titles geared towards kids (mainly on DS) that are getting rated. A couple of Petz games (Dogs and Cats 2), a Dora the Explorer and Diego game and some “Let’s Ride”. Also seen were a Hannah Montana (can’t believe that is Billy Ray Cyrus’ daughter, I’m getting old) and a Hot Wheels offerings among others. The only thing missing was Barbie Horse Adventures for the Xbox 360!

Gambling games are also getting some new blood, with Vegas Stakes for Wii, World Series of Poker 2008 on multiple platforms and Hoyle Casino 2008 on the Mac and PC.

And that brings us to the true next-gen platforms, namely the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. This was a pretty slow week for the PS3 and 360. This week’s offerings on the Xbox 360 are kinda week (other than Ace Combat 6) and leave me wanting more. They were Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, Bee Movie Game, World Series of Poker 2008: Battle for the Bracelets, Cabela’s Trophy Bucks and WWE SmackDown vs RAW 2008. At least the PlayStation 3 had a couple worthy titles (kinda, maybe?), including Folklore, LocoRoco Cocoreccho!, Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection Online, World Series of Poker 2008: Battle for the Bracelets and WWE SmackDown vs RAW 2008.





Title
Platforms
Publisher