March 4 - March 8

Section: 

SimCity has been a hard beast to be excited about. As many are quick, and well within their rights to point out, EA's newest implementation of SimCity is a rose that comes with some sharp, metal thorns. Required internet connectivity at startup, smaller spaces to build, the promise of lots more stuff to buy in the long run, shared regions, save games on the cloud, and the inability to save, destroy and reload your city; this isn't your dad's SimCity.

All we need now is for nobody to be able to log in during the launch and I can practically write tomorrow's internet myself.

I've had my say on what I feel is the current inevitability of games with these kinds of "features" and I don't really have anything new to say about it. At this point, I've bought in so my time is pretty much just focused on wanting to play the game, which after watching several videos looks pretty good. So, SimCity goes down as my game of the week.

But don't lose sight of Tomb Raider either. It's gotten some pretty good early buzz. A different game than previous Tomb Raiders by all accounts, the origin story of Lara Croft portrays a very different person than the self-assured, hyper-confident, back-flipping heroine with her low-slung pistols and flowing pony tail. If the digital zen garden of SimCity doesn't do it for you, the Uncharted-style reboot of Tomb Raider may be a good choice.

Finally, in the annual first rite of spring, baseball returns to the console with MLB2k12 on most consoles and the latest version of The Show on PS3 and Vita.

PC
- Dollar Dash (download - $10)
- Masters of the World: Geopolitical Simulator 3
- SimCity
- The Showdown Effect (download - $10)
- The Sims 3 University Life
- Tomb Raider

Xbox 360
- Dollar Dash (XBLA - $10)
- MLB 2K13
- Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3
- Tomb Raider

PS3
- Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk
- BIT.TRIP Presents Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien (PSN)
- Fuel Overdose (PSN - $10)
- Germinator (PSN - $10)
- MLB 13: The Show
- MLB 2K13
- Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3
- Tomb Raider

Wii U
- The Amazing Spider-Man Ultimate Edition

Vita
- Germinator (PSN - $10)
- MLB 13: The Show

3DS
- Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate
- Kersploosh! (eShop)
- Naruto Powerful Shippuden

Comments

TombRaider and SimCity are also my picks of the week. If I was a person that played games on release a thing that I very rarely do, TombRaider is first choice I have zero faith in EA technical ability to run SimCity servers at a launch so they need at least a week and I will give them a couple of months before playing it.

Undecided on Tomb Raider ("owww, poor creature"...dismember, dismember, head shot, head shot, head shot).

SimCity.....we've got two full 16-GWJer regions already rostered! Come join in the GWJ fun on the SimCity thread!

I'm passing on SimCity possibly in favor of The Showdown Effect as a palate cleanser once I finish BioShock. Spending $10 on something I'm probably going to stop playing once I get distracted by the new Starcraft II expansion is a lot more palatable than spending $60. Nothing against SimCity, but I've realized this isn't a good time for me right now to invest time/money in it.

All over Tomb Raider this week. I have a hankering for something a bit....Indy...

stevenmack wrote:

All over Tomb Raider this week. I have a hankering for something a bit....Indy...

I approve of calling games like Uncharted "indy games".

Going for Atelier Ayesha. I got the price down so I'm happy.

Prepaid Ayesha already. Might look at some of those PSN titles.

Tomb Raider is a definite "when it gets to $25" purchase.

I just recently finished Dishonored and started diving into the world of Dark Souls. I'll probably sit here until SCII:HotS comes out. Apparently I'm in a masochistic mood as of late.

kazriko wrote:

Tomb Raider is a definite "when it gets to $25" purchase. :)

Sounds like you need RedBox.

What? No love for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate?
I can't quite see my 3DS, but I'm sure I know where it is.

While I'm interested in Tomb Raider, I can't get myself to pay full price for it and I have a feeling it'll be on sale pretty soon. Anyway I'm picking up SimCity and am in for some GWJtropolis goodness so that'll monopolize my time.

Two people talking about an Atelier game. Where have you guys been hiding all these years?

Atelier got suggested to me by my browsing history on Amazon and I spent a while reading about the series the other night. But I really can't justify new-game-prices to add to the pile.

As for SimCity, I'll be in wait-and-see mode. Let others work out the kinks with the online mess and whatever. If it's really worth it, pick it up on sale in a bit.

kazriko wrote:

Tomb Raider is a definite "when it gets to $25" purchase. :)

+1 to that!

I'm waiting to find out if they got rid of the creepy moans from Tomb Raider before playing it. I dunno if I could do a full game of that.

I dabble with SimCity nearly every iteration. Why would this one be any different?

Tomb Raider is already downloading...

This SimCity is entirely different. It's not a big statistical simulation that demands you cram as much crap into your map as possible. Instead it's a bottom-up simulation that demands that you thoughtfully analyze what your sims will be doing every day and carefully build your interrelated cities around those demands. They've simplified some of the annoying systems like water, power, and sewage, from the minutia of previous iterations, which is what killed those for me and why I've taken an interest in this one. If you play it like SimCity 4, like some reviewers have, you will fail.

Everyone is currently downloading snow, so that's all we understand from the many articles and an unheard-of amount of videos (28 hours of footage just this week). You'll hear a lot more from everyone starting tomorrow.

I'm going to be Tomb Raining like it's 1996!

17 years! Holy crap! My tomb raiding days are nearly the age of majority!

theschap wrote:

I just recently finished Dishonored and started diving into the world of Dark Souls. I'll probably sit here until SCII:HotS comes out. Apparently I'm in a masochistic mood as of late.

What the? I'm doing the exact same thing. Although, I play LoL so I may have a +1 on the masochist thing.

Tomb Raider is definitely something I will eventually get - can't believe I'm actually saying that as I've never really been a fan of the series - and if I eventually get a 3DS, that Castlevania game looks quite good.

All we need now is for nobody to be able to log in during the launch and I can practically write tomorrow's internet myself.

Yeah . . .

Sean "Elysium" Sands wrote:

Finally, in the annual first rite of spring, baseball returns to the console with MLB2k12 on most consoles and the latest version of The Show on PS3 and Vita.

Quality editing.

was tempted by the day 1 dlc but have held off.
will pick up Naruto when it hits ~$35 like the others i have in the series.

As an outsider I'm fascinated by the optimism currently radiating from the Sim City thread. An example to us all.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
stevenmack wrote:

All over Tomb Raider this week. I have a hankering for something a bit....Indy...

I approve of calling games like Uncharted "indy games".

S0LIDARITY wrote:
Sean "Elysium" Sands wrote:

Finally, in the annual first rite of spring, baseball returns to the console with MLB2k12 on most consoles and the latest version of The Show on PS3 and Vita.

Quality editing.

Considering the fact that 2K killed the MLB series, only to run 2K13 out after just a couple of months of work because MLB asked real nice paid them off to get a 360 baseball game on the shelves, it's not a bad typo.

It is mostly a roster update and some tweaks. The tweaks are good, and if you liked 2K12, 2K13 is an improved version. But the odds are, the price of this game will drop like a rock, and can probably be had for a lot less than $60 if you have any patience at all. I don't.

@Jayhawker, I was really just hoping for some scrambling by Wordsmythe. I have 2K11, I found that I really only enjoyed the My Player Mode. I can wait for a price drop for 2k13.

S0LIDARITY wrote:

@Jayhawker, I was really just hoping for some scrambling by Wordsmythe. I have 2K11, I found that I really only enjoyed the My Player Mode. I can wait for a price drop for 2k13.

Why? I don't see an error.

...

wordsmythe wrote:

Why? I don't see an error.

It's down the page a bit:

Kerpsloosh! (eShop)
ClockworkHouse wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:

Why? I don't see an error.

It's down the page a bit:

Kersploosh! (eShop)

That is the worst.