March 3 - March 7
It seems like it's been a while since we had a big release week, and if you've been waiting for some big name hitters to step up to the plate, then you might like the looks of this first week of March. Along with the spring offering of baseball titles MLB 2k8 and MLB 08 The Show, comes an expansion to Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War on the PC, God of War: Chains of Olympus on the PSP and our game of the week, Army of Two.
Army of Two, which EA delayed last year missing a holiday release to allow for more time to polish the game, is a glimpse into how committed the publisher is toward its promise of delivering better games. EA's CEO has been making the rounds owning up to the company's slipping image, and making a lot of promises that will not be easy to live up to. Still, you've got to like big names getting in front of the mic to say they're going to try and make better games.
On a side note, this week's DS release list is a cavalcade of mediocre tripe that really should be seen to be believed. And, the abuse of the letter Z goes on unchecked.
On DVD this week: 101 Dalmations, Awake and the apparently atrocious Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.
PC:
- Arctic Stud Poker Run (3/3)
- Company of Heroes Gold (3/4)
- Imperium Romanum (3/4)
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm (3/4)
PSP:
- Blockus Portable: Steambot Championship (3/3)
- MLB 2k8 (3/3)
- God of War: Chains of Olympus (3/4)
- MLB 08 The Show (3/4)
- World Championship Cards (3/4)
DS
- Bubble Bobble Double Shot (3/3)
- Let's Ride Friends Forever (3/3)
- Anno 1701 (3/4)
- Chicken Hunter (3/4)
- Eco Creatures Save the Forest (3/4)
- Imagine: Figure Skater (3/4)
- Petz Bunnyz (3/4)
- Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer (3/4)
- Ninja Reflex (3/4)
- Homie Rollerz (3/4)
- Spitfire Heroes: Tales Royal Air Force (3/4)
Xbox 360:
- Bully Scholarship Edition (3/3)
- MLB 2k8 (3/3)
- Army of Two (3/4)
PS3:
- MLB 2k8 (3/3)
- Army of Two (3/4)
- MLB 08 The Show (3/4)
Wii:
- Bully Scholarship Edition (3/3)
- MLB 2k8 (3/3)
- Ninja Reflex (3/4)
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Awake is a highly underrated thriller. Don't look up any information on it, don't watch any trailers, nothing. Just check it out.
Trailers and even some posters of it contain movie-killing plot spoilers.
Shelter: a post-nuclear RPG.
Is that the Rockstar Bully for the Wii? I may have to check that out.
I wish it were time for Cheers. But it's not. It's time for vengeance!
Two DS games with Zs in them in one week. It's a good week to be a DS owner.
XBox Live Gamertag: DSGamer GWJ
Btw Anno 1701 != mediocre tripe.
Shelter: a post-nuclear RPG.
Holy sh*t, Soulstorm comes out tomorrow?
Psychotic Foreign Teenage Chicks are so hot. - Legion
...they can also come bathe in the glorious, healing light of my Johnson. - Prederick
Only six more days until Super Smash Brothers Brawl.....................
Army of Two and a new Dawn of War Expansion.....and I probably will not get to sink any meaningful time into either until April due to work commitments
Ah well, it gives me something to look forward to during this month.
A Mind Without Purpose Will Walk In Dark Places
"I may be out of ammo but I ain't out of chainsaw B*TCHES!" - Sinister's warcry for Gears of War
I'm going to wait for some reviews on Soulstorm. No free-roaming campaign like Dark Crusade and developed by someone other than relic. To say I'm hesitant is an understatement.
Unfettered Blather - Daily updated nonsense
X-Box Live Gamertag - CrazedJava
Less chatter more splatter!
I think its funny that for simultaneous multi-console releases you always feature the PS3 box art. Who is organizing this conspiracy?
As evidence of this subconcious multi-console mind control plot I offer you....
Mar 3 - 7 Army of Two - aha, Ps3 boxart!
Jan 21 - 25 Burnout Paradise - aha, aha, PS3 boxart again!
Nov 12 - 16 Assassin's Creed - oooh, gotcha PS3 boxart again!
Based upon this mountain of insurmountable evidence, I throw down my replica chainmail gauntlet and challenge thee to refute my claims. The electronic papertrail is in the public domain and the truth is out there.
Next I'll find evidence to make you admit you have alien dna and I think the evidence can best be deciphered by applying word combination algorithms to decode the TaxCut Game of the Week front page article text.
----
Oh and after watching several of those gameplay trailers, I am excited for Army of Two. Can't kid myself, I think part of my hopes in the title are the fact that I'm looking for a Gears of War splitscreen co-op replacement in a fresh setting to tide me over for a bit.
I'm also looking forward to hear Soulstorm impressions. Now, don't go and give me too much exciting info please, otherwise you'd just be enabling me for another impulse purchase.
Xbox Live: Irongut | Playstation ID: Irongut_GWJ
Do what, now?
I thought Soulstorm was supposed to be like Dark Crusade, but spanning several planets. Admittedly, I haven't read anything about the game except an initial preview and the new races that were announced.
Psychotic Foreign Teenage Chicks are so hot. - Legion
...they can also come bathe in the glorious, healing light of my Johnson. - Prederick
Don't forget:
PS2 - Silent Hill: Origins (3/4)
I know it got mediocre reviews on the PSP, but I'm still getting it.
What the hell?
Is that a typo?
Yeah, that's what I noticed. Isn't that series well-respected? It's a shame it translates to anus in spanish.
The man wears a bucket of KFC on his head. I wouldn't expect anything less. - Pred
I realize that Anno 1701 isn't tripe, but it's like trying to look for a small planet next to the sun. It's drowned out by things like Homie Rollerz.
- Elysium
Anyone know anything about Bully for the Wii? Have they done anything interesting with the controls? Or is it tacked on waggle and I should just get (ie rent) it for the 360?
JUST PUZZLED YOUR ASS UP, SON! -Mr Crinkle
Steam Community: McChuck XBL: GWJ McChuck
I'm just wondering how you came to this conclusion? I've yet to see anything that makes me think Army of Two will be more than mediocre. And while i'm not one to usually complain about what choice is made for game of the week this weeks should have been a no-brainer God of War: Chains of Olympus already has a 94% aggregate based on 13 reviews.
http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/938607.asp
PSN ID: Stric9
Woah there, cowboy! Since when did review scores have anything to do with Game of The Week? If we called it "Elysium's Whim of The Week" we'd probably suffer less confusion
Yeah, it's scary. I'm staring into the abyss right now, and it's staring into me, which I think is kind of a dick move on the abyss's part. - Nyles
I never look at those aggregate sites, particularly before launch. I really give no credence to reviews before a product is on the shelves.
But, to answer your question, I really like the vocal effort coming out of EA. It's not an easy move to abandon a big new franchise launch for a holiday release, and even if the game remains mediocre I like the effort to try and improve the game rather than the quick cash in. It means, when there is a game that benefits from an extra five months in the hopper, that maybe EA will stick with this philosophy. I believe in that kind of mindset.
I never do this, but: QFT
- Elysium
It does. The campaign is supposed to be across 3 planets and 2 moons (or something to that effect).
A Mind Without Purpose Will Walk In Dark Places
"I may be out of ammo but I ain't out of chainsaw B*TCHES!" - Sinister's warcry for Gears of War
It's not just the review scores, GoW is arguably the highest quality/most hyped franchise on the playstation platform right now. IMHO it's pretty close to picking Army of Two over Halo3 which while I personally don't like the Halo games would be a fairly bewildering choice for game of the week.
By calling it game of the week I kind of always assumed it was the GWJ pick for best game to spend your money on this week. Sorry I didn't mean for that to come off harsh, I was genuinely interested in why Elysium picked Army of Two I thought maybe he was privy to some info I hadn't seen. Like maybe an advanced review copy or some such thing.
Besides isn't having a Game of the Week post with a discussion right beneath it supposed to start up some debate about the game of the week?
PSN ID: Stric9
A good week to ignore and then be pleasantly surprised in June that there are quality games on the cheap to consume during Summer vacation.
Absolutely. It was a legitimate question, but I'm not sold on GoW on the PSP, and I like the rhetoric at least coming out of EA these days. In the end the decision was made to raise the question a bit of whether just delaying a game to make it better is a laudable move, or if the entire effort is only validated with a great game in the end. For me, Game of the Week is as much about the companies and their direction as the games themselves sometimes.
- Elysium
Dawn of War and Bully Scholarship Edition for me. Bully for the high amounts of praise it got and Dawn of War just to see how it turned out. If only there was a good way to rent PC games.
I doubt Army of Two will turn out to be worth a $60 purchase.
XBox Live|Tshirts|My Music|GameFly|xfire
DNF Game of the Decade confirmed?
PSN ID: Stric9
You keep on giving EA credit for owning up to their mistakes and how they want to turn it around.
While they are still trying to stamp out the last vestiges of competition in the sports genre.
Every time I see it I hear the "I can change" song from the South Park Movie.
Because they are a publicly traded company?
I don't see the correlation.
- Elysium
Ok, I may have been wrong about Soulstorm. Still going to wait for some reviews. In other news, apparently Mobile Ops March 31st release date is still a guess at best. Vaporware? This was supposed to be released at the end of 2006.
Unfettered Blather - Daily updated nonsense
X-Box Live Gamertag - CrazedJava
Less chatter more splatter!
That right there doesn't even make any sense. I'm trying to make sense of it, but I can't. What about what Onikaze said was unclear? Not being a wise-a$$. I seriously am not sure how EA being a public company refutes the idea what Onikaze said. EA is anti-competitive and in my opinion that leads them sometimes to be anti-gamer.
XBox Live Gamertag: DSGamer GWJ
Being a publicly-traded company means that EA is legally bound to maximize profits for its investors.
rabbit wrote:
1Dgaf wrote:
bnpederson wrote:
XBL: E Munnie
No, but I think you're missing the point. The original point of the argument Elysium quoted, if I understand it right, is that EA hasn't done a complete about face, because they're still trying to win by simply stomping out competition anti-competitively.
EA is definitely turning it around in so far as they're producing higher quality of games, focusing on game quality and not quantity and thus using this as a way to profit, by building a good reputation. I completely agree with this. EA not only should do this, but they are doing this. I look at my shelf and it's majority EA. I own Rock Band, Burnout Revenge, Burnout Paradise and Skate amongst my 8 games I physically own.
This is happening. And I think the point is that this philosophy of taking the IPs they already own and making them better (which is what they're currently doing) is completely at odds with them buying a company like Take 2 in order to squash all competition in sports gaming. I would much rather EA took the money they were going to spend on Take 2 and make Madden so frickin' good that I couldn't turn it down, just like I broke down and bought the aforementioned games. Doing that would be more in line with the turnaround EA is making currently.
Buying out a company to put them out of business is the EA I hate.
XBox Live Gamertag: DSGamer GWJ