November 11 – November 17

Section: 

The new generation is upon us, and by the end of the week, for good or for ill, the Playstation 4 will be in the homes and the hands of the great multitudes. The build up to this generation — generally a quiet, slow burn, counter-pointed by moments of high contention and opinion — has now all but finished as the actual hardware and games take center stage.

One thing worth noting is how many games the Playstation 4 is launching in its catalog. Thirteen major retail releases along with a strong handful of downloadable games is nothing to sneeze at, and represents a solid library of games, though the number of exclusives is low, headlined by Killzone Shadow Fall and Knack — games I've heard almost no one be excited for. It'll be interesting to see whether people really find value in having this new piece of hardware that, at least for the first few weeks, largely plays games made for pieces of hardware we already have.

As I've mentioned before, I've cancelled my own PS4 pre-order, not out of some misguided sense of spite but just because I don't see the value yet. I'm going to need a good reason or two to drop that kind of coin, and while I'm sure the system will get to that place fairly quickly, I'm content to wait. The same is true, I think, of the upcoming XboxOne, which is still on my pre-order list, but which I suspect I will also cancel.

Lost in the shuffle this week is XCom: Enemy Within, which I will be writing about shortly. This expansion to the excellent XCom: Enemy Unknown is a solid evolution of the series, though it runs the occasional risk of seeming like a "been there, done that" experience. I've spent a few days with Enemy Within, and it feels very much like a Firaxis kind of expansion, similar to the kind of game evolution Civilization fans have grown to expect. It doesn't fundamentally change the nature of the experience, but it adds lots of little touches that, as a whole, seem to create a gestalt greater than the sum of its parts. Definitely worth looking into if you were a fan of Enemy Unknown.

PC
- Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition (download - $25)
- Blood Knights (download)
- Chivalry: Deadliest Warrior (download - $15)
- Contrast (download)
- Deadfall Adventures
- Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition
- Redshirt (download)
- SimCity Cities of Tomorrow
- World of Warplanes (free-to-play)
- XCOM: Enemy Within
- X Rebirth (download - $50)

PS4
- Angry Birds Star Wars
- Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
- Battlefield 4
- Blacklight Retribution (PSN - free-to-play)
- Contrast (PSN)
- DC Universe Online (PSN - free-to-play)
- FIFA 14
- Flower (PSN)
- Knack
- Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition
- Just Dance 2014
- Killzone Shadow Fall
- LEGO Marvel Super Heroes
- Madden NFL 25
- NBA 2K14
- Need for Speed Rivals
- Resogun (PSN)
- Skylanders Swap Force
- Sound Shapes (PSN)
- Super Motherload (PSN - $15)
- Trine 2: The Complete Story (PSN)
- Warframe (PSN - free-to-play)

Xbox 360
- Contrast (XBLA)
- Deadfall Adventures
- Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition
- The Bridge (XBLA - $10)
- XCOM: Enemy Within

PS3
- Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition
- Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus
- Velocity Ultra (PSN)
- Wonderbook: Book of Potions
- Wonderbook: Diggs Nightcrawler (PSN)
- Wonderbook: Walking with Dinosaurs
- XCOM: Enemy Within

Wii U
- Barbie Dreamhouse Party
- Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games

Wii
- Barbie Dreamhouse Party

Vita
- Flower (PSN)
- Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition

3DS
- Barbie Dreamhouse Party
- Jewel Match 3 (eShop)
- Senran Kagura Burst (eShop - $30)
- Word Wizard 3D (eShop)
- World Conqueror 3D (eShop)

DS
- Barbie Dreamhouse Party

Comments

I grew up part of the deluded master pc gaming race; then I adopted the comfort and ease of console gaming. I still game on my PC, but I don`t find the experience superior. As PC complexity continues to increase, I feel less and less inclined to pursue that tweak that will make the frickin game work on my aging rig. If I were willing to shell out the necessary money for a brand new cutting edge rig I might feel differently, but there`s really no good reason to do that anymore.

Dakuna wrote:

I grew up part of the deluded master pc gaming race; then I adopted the comfort and ease of console gaming. I still game on my PC, but I don`t find the experience superior. As PC complexity continues to increase, I feel less and less inclined to pursue that tweak that will make the frickin game work on my aging rig. If I were willing to shell out the necessary money for a brand new cutting edge rig I might feel differently, but there`s really no good reason to do that anymore.

I don't feel that way at all, in fact I feel the complete opposite. I spend much less time fiddling with my PC than I used to.

Stele wrote:

And next week another strong Fri release of Zelda. ;)

And Mario 3D World! Wait, Nintendo isn't releasing their two holiday tent pole games on a Sunday? This is madness!

shoptroll wrote:
Stele wrote:

And next week another strong Fri release of Zelda. ;)

And Mario 3D World! Wait, Nintendo isn't releasing their two holiday tent pole games on a Sunday? This is madness!

I know, I can actually buy on Amazon and get on release day.

Stele wrote:
shoptroll wrote:
Stele wrote:

And next week another strong Fri release of Zelda. ;)

And Mario 3D World! Wait, Nintendo isn't releasing their two holiday tent pole games on a Sunday? This is madness!

I know, I can actually buy on Amazon and get on release day. ;)

and have an entire weekend to enjoy it!

Removed. Post came off sounding angry.

Carry on.