1st November 2010 – Christmas, gamers, is just around the corner, with can you believe it, only 8 weeks to go! For some this might yield a reward of games, so keep an eye out over the next few weeks for those games you might have missed! November also sees the launch of Kinect for the XBOX, so lets get into this the #44 Week that Was. All Age Gaming is growing around us folks, with a new forum, trade and sell and now we can welcome the Australian Social Gamers CLAN to the mix.
From the Editor
What a difference a week makes. Amidst the onslaught of Fable III, Rockstar DLC and 'Halloween', a number of articles have been surfacing about the “sub par” offering of what is technically the busiest season for gamers. Namely, that all the AAA titles launched recently, failed to absolutely live up to their extensive marketing hype and expectation- in part because they were largely sequels. Weather it was Fallouts 'more of the same', or Fable III “not as good as expected” despite the number of game releases either gamers are getting more jaded or the sequels (edit: threequels) are failing to live up to their former glory. The Force Unleashed II is a farce and even Enslaved received mixed reviews with lackluster graphics and spoonfed gameplay. Even GT5 couldn't turn up to the party. It begs the question, are we simply spoilt for choice or do games need to kick it up a notch; potentially the real “true” evolution will not be seen for 2-3 years after the first game so 2010 stands as an in-between with duplicate games offering more of the same refined but garnering yawns all around.
Personally, I couldn't be happier with what's been on offer especially from the Indi arcade scene, that continues to drive innovation and (file size), so I say – bring on the next 10 weeks!
Weeks releases for October 24th-November 1st
Shaun White Skateboarding (Ubisoft) – PS3, Xbox 360, Wii
Bit.Trip Fate (Aksys Games) – WiiWare
Dragon Age: Origins – Ultimate Edition (Electronic Arts) – PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Family Party: 90 Great Games Party Pack (D3Publisher) – Wii
Flip’s Twisted World (Majesco Games) – Wii
My Planetarium (Hudson Entertainment) – WiiWare
Robox (DreamBox Games) – WiiWare
Blood Drive (Activision) – PS3, Xbox 360
Cabela’s Dangerous Hunts 2011 (Activision) – Wii
CSI: Fatal Conspiracy (Ubisoft) – PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC
Deca Sports 3 (Hudson Entertainment) – Wii
Disney Channel All Star Party (Disney Interactive Studios) – Wii
Dora’s Big Birthday Adventure (Take-Two Interactive) – PS2, Wii
Fable III (Microsoft Game Studios) – Xbox 360
The Fight: Lights Out (SCEA) – PS3
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Complete Edition (Rockstar Games) – PS3, Xbox 360
Hasbro Family Game Night 3 (Electronic Arts) – PS3, Xbox 360, Wii
Monopoly Streets (Electronic Arts) – PS3, Wii
NERF N-Strike Double Blast Bundle (Electronic Arts) – Wii
Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare Pack (Rockstar Games) – PS3, Xbox 360
Remington Super Slam Hunting North America (Jack of All Games) – Wii
SBK X: Superbike World Championship (SouthPeak Games) – PS3, Xbox 360
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (LucasArts) – PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, PC
Superstars V8 Racing (O-Games) – PS3
Tony Hawk: Shred (Activision) – PS3, Xbox 360, Wii
MICROSOFT
- MS records record financial quarter due to XBOX sales
- Enslaved DLC for XBOX to include 2D/3D, no 3D TV required.
- Golden Joystick Awards- award Mass Effect 2 as ultimate GOTY.
- Take 2 Being sold out? CEO steps down, GTA in the firing line
- New XBOX Live imminent today November 1st
- Unicorns and Chupacabras need we say more
- Microsoft acquires Canesta, new natural User Interfaces due soon
- Black Ops censored in Germany
SONY
- F.3.A.R (3) due out in March
- Sony pushes out a record finical quarter over Microsoft
- Killzone 3 Hellghast edition
- Rumours persist the PSPhone is real!
- Sly Cooper collection- this week!
- Keiji Inafune leaves Capcom
- PS lolz- playing Kinect games early will brick your XBOX Live (completely!)
NINTENDO
- Ninty shows losses for the financial Quarter
- Nintendogs and Zelda to headline the 3DS lineup
- Mario over Pokemon for the win
- Nintendo cares not for Smartphones
- Public 3DS events in January
OTHER NEWS THIS WEEK
- Woman kills her baby for crying during Farmville session (on Facebook)
- 21yr olds life is breached after trying to steal a copy of Breach early during PAX
- 100 YEN- Documentary on Japan’s addiction to arcade machines
Well, folks that it's for another week. No doubt the news was a little lighter this week, with the focus on the financial quarter and profits/loss. All in all the news will be slacking off toward Christmas, but still with the launch of Kinect this week plenty to celebrate. A week makes all the difference in video game land, so until next time...
Article and Editorial by Ian Crane