Think of the Children for October 8

Written by Dan Keener on 10/8/2008 for DS   PC   PS2   PS3   PSP   Wii   360  

Now that we are back into a weekly grove, it looks like things are picking up as we head into fall and the Holiday selling season. This week there were 65 new titles that were rated, included among them are two titles that should spawn a collective cheer from the Sony Fanboys. The Wii, DS and PC again lead with the sheer volume of titles and the Next Gen systems have another strong week to keep their streak alive. My intriguing title of the week is based on a “what if” for one of the most highly anticipated titles of 2008.

Looking over the list of games for Nintendo, I see the usual fare, but three titles in particular caught my eye. The reasoning is that they are all rated ‘M’ for Mature. While you expect this from time-to-time on the Nintendo Platforms, I have not had many weeks there have been two, let alone three titles for Nintendo rated with an ‘M’. Other titles from the Nintendo camp worthy of note are Dragonball: Origins (DS), Bomberman Blast (Wii), Call of Duty: World at War (Wii), Neopets Puzzle Adventure (DS, Wii) and Calvin Tucker's Redneck Jamboree (Wii). Well, not really on that last one…. As for the PC, pretty much anything worth a pinch was also out on the Xbox 360 and/or PS3, so not a strong week at all.

This week was a PlayStation 3 owner’s wet dream, as SCEA had Sno-Cross Championship Racing, Little Big Planet and Resistance 2 all rated. In addition, both the PS3 and the 360 had PES 2009, Tomb Raider Underworld, Command & Conquer Red Alert 3, The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, Power Up Forever, Sonic Unleashed, Blitz The League II and Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore 2. This is by far the strongest list of rated titles in any week for the Playstation 3 since I began writing this piece. As for the 360, it also had rated Merv Griffin's Crosswords, Shadow Assault: Tenchu, Namco Museum: Virtual Arcade, Banjo-Kazooie, Yo-Ho Kablammo!, Winter Sports 2: The Next Challenge and The Incredible Machine. While these titles aren’t the powerhouses that Sony had on the list, it does show the 360’s continual dominance in the “Arcade” world with a consistent supply of games for that service.

The Intriguing Title of the Week is Little Big Planet, primarily because I am uncertain if it can live up to the hype. With the possible exception of Home, has there been any PS3 title that has generated so much true buzz since it was announced? Probably not, which is why I fear it may eventually become a “let down” to the Sony faithful. The key here will be can the title grab and maintain the attention of the player for longer than a few weeks, or will it become the next Grand Theft Auto IV? GTA came and went within about a six-week window on Xbox Live where it was the dominant force. Now it is back to third place behind CoD 4 and Halo 3. While it is still a great game to play campaign or multiplayer, there is a lot more stuff coming down the pipe that is pushing it to the back burner. Will LBP suffer the same fate, or will people still be playing with it come next spring?


Here is the final tally on who, what and where everything was rated for last week. There were 65 rated titles on 10 platforms. Wii (20), PC (16), 360 (15), DS (13), PS3 (13) and PS2 (5) had the most games rated. There were 47 of the 65 titles rated at E10+ or lower, 12 rated at T for Teen and six (theresia, Shining Dragon - Ikkitousen, Shining Dragon - Ikkitousen, Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers, Call of Duty: World at War and Blitz The League II) 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.