It was another wild and wacky week from are friends at the ESRB, as they produced the least amount of rated games in a week I have seen since I started this article. On the flip side, just about every type of platform was represented (sans the PS3 of all things). There were a total of just 30 games rated, dominated by casual game maker PopCan games.

This week was dominated by casual games across just about every platform that is still viable. PDA, Mobile, MAC, Plug & Play, PC and Web dominated the scene. If you like card games puzzle games, games based on TV shows or education titles, this week was something special. Thank PopCan games predominately, but JAKKS Pacific tossed a couple plug and play titles into the mix as well.

Nintendo seems to have lost a bit of steam the last few weeks, with the Sony platforms pushing them for total titles last week, and PC completely blowing them away this week. It was interesting to see that Ubisoft was able to get Petz Hamsterz 2 rated for the Game Boy Advance, a platform that most have given up for dead. The Wii had a couple titles rated, but the DS continued to lead the Nintendo parade with five titles including Backyard Baseball 2009 and FIFA Street 3. I expect Nintendo to get rolling again after the first of the year passes

The next-gen system(s) were left with just the Xbox 360 carrying the banner, as the Playstation 3 failed to have a single game rated this week. Lost Odyssey (Feb 12th release date) and Rocket Bowl (XBLA, announced on May 1, 2007) both garnered ratings, with releases potentially a couple of months out. Obviously the Holidays are slowing down submissions and the PS3 did have eight turned in last week, but it would be nice to see a steady stream of games coming out for the current systems. It’s kind of embarrassing to see the older systems and handhelds have games cranked out two to three times the amount of the newer platforms.

The ESRB ratings held a couple of surprises, with Microsoft’s Lost Odyssey and D3’s Rocket Bowl making surprise appearances for the Xbox 360 and another Wii title (The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return) grabbing a M for Mature rating. Otherwise, the usual amount of sequels and casual games littered the list.






Title
Rating
Content
Platforms


Backyard Baseball 2009
E
No Descriptors
Nintendo DS


Brain Games 3
E
No Descriptors
Windows PC