March 1 - March 5

Section: 

Everyone has their own individual markers of spring that they dream of in the darkest days of winter as the harbinger of warmth and life in bloom. For some here in the interminably cold north it is the arrival of the first Robin of the year, for others the day when the street sweepers begin their annual cleansing of the salt encrusted roads. For me, it is the week when all the baseball games are released.

It's not that I play baseball, in life real or virtual. When it comes to these games, I simply can not discriminate at the plate between errant pitches or strikes, so I simply swing at everything. I once swung, and I swear to God this is true, at the pitcher throwing to first base. Still it's not what the baseball games are that I care about, but what they represent.

Normally the battle between MLB2K10 and The Show is pretty much all we'd have to talk about this week, but 2010 has proven itself to be anything but tepid and predictable. As you sit and wait for Heavy Rain to work on your PS3 again, you might take out your Sony frustrations with some Battlefield Bad Company 2 action -- though, I'd highly recommend you do so on the 360 or PC.

Bad Company 2 gets my nod for Game of the Week. While Supreme Commander 2 is also releasing this week for those of you with a penchant for RTS games who were not absorbed into the Starcraft 2 beta hive mind, a disappointing demo left me cold, and at this time of the year the last thing I want is more cold.

PC
- Battlefield: Bad Company 2
- MLB 2K10
- Supreme Commander 2

PS3
- Battlefield: Bad Company 2
- MLB 10: The Show
- MLB 2K10

Xbox 360
- Battlefield: Bad Company 2
- Lips: Party Classics
- MLB 2K10

Wii
- Alice in Wonderland
- MLB 2K10
- Project Runway
- SpongeBob's Boating Bash

DS
- Alice in Wonderland
- Deca Sports DS
- MLB 2K10
- Sonic Classic Collection
- SpongeBob's Boating Bash

PSP
- Dante's Inferno
- Lunar: Silver Star Harmony
- MLB 10: The Show
- MLB 2K10


Coming Soon
-
- Final Fantasy XIII - PS3 version - Xbox 360 version : March 9
- God of War III : March 16
- Alan Wake: May 18
- Super Mario Galaxy 2 : May 23

Comments

Silent Hunter 5 for me. If I start dropping random lines in German, that's why.

SupCom 2's demo convinced me to try again the first one. I only got a decent enough rig months after SupCom 1 launched, and the demo didn't sold me then.

However, after so many claims that the sequel is actually a step back, and a sweet price on Impulse, seems an easy purchase.

Project Runway for me.

I think Bad Company 2 is going to be a BIG release and very successful. The strength of the PC port is super exciting, hopefully the online experience remains strong so we can get a big GWJ contingent playing!

If it does pan out, I fully intend to drag my podcast co-hosts kicking and screaming back into a team based FPS like we used to play in the olden days.

"Where's my spell bar? Where's my spell bar?!"

I want to plug Lunar: Silver Star Harmony for (J)RPG geeks who haven't played previous versions. (I have, and I'm still picking this up to see the new translation and other improvements.) It is not quite the masterpiece that is Chrono Trigger, but stands up to it in the charm department.

And I really want it to succeed so maybe Xseed will also port the sequel...

Everyone has their own individual markers of spring that they dream of in the darkest days of winter as the harbinger of warmth and life in bloom.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node...

Checking the FPS climate here at work, most of the dudes I talk to are on standby to pick up Bad Company 2 and eliminate Modern Warfare 2 with extreme prejudice.

I've heard conflicting reports on BC2's single-player campaign.

Arthur Gies (Rebel FM) claims it's far better than Modern Warfare 2 in both gameplay design and story execution. I like this guy a lot, so that's bonus points.

I heard elsewhere (I think IGN's review) that BC2 single player is the weakest link in the game and not worthy of a purchase for that alone. Then again, it's IGN, so that's minus points.

My problem is that I'm not big on multiplayer and would be getting BC2 only for the single-player campaign.

I'm going to wait for final impressions on the SP before diving in.

My problem is that I'm not big on multiplayer and would be getting BC2 only for the single-player campaign.

Maybe rent it, then. By all accounts, it's a short single player campaign in the same way MW2 was. Six to eight hours tops.

Rat Boy wrote:

Silent Hunter 5 for me. If I start dropping random lines in German, that's why.

I know you've been hyped about this, but I'm more interested in hearing about how that drm policy works out.

Silent Hunter 5... really?

Wow, that snuck up on me.

I once swung, and I swear to God this is true, at the pitcher throwing to first base.

Was this in real life? Or maybe this is a real life metaphorical reference to something that's best kept under Elysia's radar?

Certis wrote:

"Where's my spell bar? Where's my spell bar?!"

BC2 still has DPS, healing, and of course tanks.

LightBender wrote:

Silent Hunter 5... really?

Wow, that snuck up on me.

Isn't that the point?

LightBender wrote:

Silent Hunter 5... really?

Wow, that snuck up on me.

I get it!

I am really excited for BFBC2! Look for me on the 360:)

No Poniez games this week? I'm Xtremely shocked!

Has anyone heard about the newest glitch/hack that people are doing on MW2? (loosing 5 million points for killing someone who hacked the system and getting set back to level1) well once i heard about it I traded in MW2 for BC2.

I've removed my tiny sentence on SH5 as I see it is among the Ubi games that will have the internet required DRM scheme, which I hate with an unyielding fury. While I sympathize with those who were interested in the game, I strongly recommend not buying.

beeporama wrote:

I want to plug Lunar: Silver Star Harmony for (J)RPG geeks who haven't played previous versions. (I have, and I'm still picking this up to see the new translation and other improvements.) It is not quite the masterpiece that is Chrono Trigger, but stands up to it in the charm department.

And I really want it to succeed so maybe Xseed will also port the sequel...

I've been waiting for this one too.

Elysium wrote:

I've removed my tiny sentence on SH5 as I see it is among the Ubi games that will have the internet required DRM scheme, which I hate with an unyielding fury. While I sympathize with those who were interested in the game, I strongly recommend not buying.

Hear, hear!

Elysium wrote:

I've removed my tiny sentence on SH5 as I see it is among the Ubi games that will have the internet required DRM scheme, which I hate with an unyielding fury. While I sympathize with those who were interested in the game, I strongly recommend not buying.

Noooooooo!

Elysium wrote:

I've removed my tiny sentence on SH5 as I see it is among the Ubi games that will have the internet required DRM scheme, which I hate with an unyielding fury. While I sympathize with those who were interested in the game, I strongly recommend not buying.

I sadly agree with this, and I love sub sims.

I'm picking up MLB2K10 for the 360. Anyone up for a multiplayer game?

Elysium wrote:

I've removed my tiny sentence on SH5 as I see it is among the Ubi games that will have the internet required DRM scheme, which I hate with an unyielding fury. While I sympathize with those who were interested in the game, I strongly recommend not buying.

I've gone from being irritated by it to not giving a damn at all. Short of Ubisoft's DRM server pulling a PSN, I doubt I'm going to have a major problem with it. That doesn't mean it's a dumb idea, but then again so was Starforce and that didn't give me a headache. Barely even noticed it was there. The out-of-control histrionics about this DRM system that I've been seeing over at Subsim is getting a little tired.

So, to summarize, I don't care.

Edit: Let me put it another way. If people boycott Silent Hunter 5 in a fit of pique over the DRM, then the only thing Ubisoft is going to get rid of is Silent Hunter.

Mystic Violet wrote:
beeporama wrote:

I want to plug Lunar: Silver Star Harmony for (J)RPG geeks who haven't played previous versions. (I have, and I'm still picking this up to see the new translation and other improvements.) It is not quite the masterpiece that is Chrono Trigger, but stands up to it in the charm department.

And I really want it to succeed so maybe Xseed will also port the sequel...

I've been waiting for this one too.

I loved those games (Lunar 1 and 2) on Sega CD, repurchased and loved them on the PS. If you haven't played them - I highly recommend them. They are fantastic.

Rat Boy wrote:

Edit: Let me put it another way. If people boycott Silent Hunter 5 in a fit of pique over the DRM, then the only thing Ubisoft is going to get rid of is Silent Hunter.

Yeah, but it will just be replaced by one of the other ten or fifteen submarine sims that will be released this year.

Funkenpants wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

Edit: Let me put it another way. If people boycott Silent Hunter 5 in a fit of pique over the DRM, then the only thing Ubisoft is going to get rid of is Silent Hunter.

Yeah, but it will just be replaced by one of the other ten or fifteen submarine sims that will be released this year.

The sub sim genre is dying; Silent Hunter's the only franchise left. If you look at the front page of Subsim.com, they're really reaching to try to find games to review and grab attention. If the SH series dies, it'll be as big a blow to the genre as when Microsoft axed the Flight Simulator team.

What would the platform of choice be for BC2 GWJ play?

Nothing interesting for me this week. Which will be the last week like that for a while.

Rat Boy wrote:

Edit: Let me put it another way. If people boycott Silent Hunter 5 in a fit of pique over the DRM, then the only thing Ubisoft is going to get rid of is Silent Hunter.

And sadly, it will be Ubisoft's fault, not those making an informed consumer decision.

I've never bought a Silent Hunter game, but I quite like Ubisoft's work. Sadly, their DRM system on my internet connection is impossible so until they inevitably patch it out they aren't seeing any of my money.