First things first, it has been a long time since this weekly article has been published. I apologize 1,000 times over, as an untimely firewall at work and life in general has intruded in. Well, enough of the pandering apologies and on to the show.
Do to being offline with this for so long, I’m only going to take the last 49 games that were rated and take a peak at them. Looking over the list, there appears to be a lot of familiar faces and trends, a definite diverse undertow and a lack of true-next gen titles making their way through the process.
The first thing that jumped out was the volume of previously released games going through the ringer once again. With new version of Feeding Frenzy, AstroPop, Tiger Woods and a host of sequels, it’s a wonder people keep buying the same recycled crap across every single platform. Speaking of, how about a “Holy Spellforce Batman!”, as there were no less than five titles rated by the ESRB for the Windows PC series. It probably was for the Spellforce Universe set that went on sale recently, but still….
I think we all know that diversity in the workplace is not only encouraged, but in some cases required. However, can you see the ESRB raters’ face that had an inbox of Hannah Montana, Big Mutha Trucker 2 and Baby Luv waiting to be played? Once those were finished up, Cake Mania 2, My French Coach: Intermediate and Army of Two were begging for attention. Honestly, I am getting this vision of Forrest Gump talking about a big box of chocolates and never knowing what you will get.
Now we get to take our weekly (or is that monthly?) poke at the true next-gen systems Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Again, there is so little to get excited about, as only two titles were rated that span both systems: The Club and Army of Two. That was it for the PS3, and the Xbox 360 fared not much better with a couple of XBLA retreads (Feeding Frenzy and AstroPop) and the new Omega Five XBLA and Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess, shared with PS2 and PC.
<shakes head>
Based on my look through, I didn’t really notice any game getting outed by the ESRB. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t miss one.
| AstroPop |
PopCap Games, Inc. |
E |
PC, PS2, Cell, Web, Xbox 360 |
| Cake Mania 2 |
Elephant Entertainment |
E |
PC |
| Feeding Frenzy |
PopCap Games, Inc. |
E |
Macintosh, PC, Xbox 360 |
| Fire Pro Wrestling Returns |
Agetec, Inc. |
T |
PS2 |
| Gate of Thunder |
Hudson Entertainment Inc |
E |
Wii |
| Gothic 3 |
Dreamcatcher Interactive Inc. |
T |
PC |
| Metal Marines |
Namco Bandai Games America |
E |
Wii |
| MX vs ATV: Untamed |
THQ |
E |
Nintendo DS |
| NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams |
SEGA of America, Inc. |
E |
Wii |
| SOCOM U.S. Navy Seals Tactical Strike |
Sony Computer Entertainment America |
T |
PSP |
| Spellforce |
Dreamcatcher Interactive Inc. |
T |
PC |
| Spellforce 2: Dragonstorm |
Dreamcatcher Interactive Inc. |
M |
PC |
| Spellforce 2: Shadow Wars |
Dreamcatcher Interactive Inc. |
M |
PC |
| Spellforce: Order of the Dawn |
Dreamcatcher Interactive Inc. |
T |
PC |
| Spellforce: Shadow of the Phoenix |
Dreamcatcher Interactive Inc. |
T |
PC |
| STAR TREK®: Conquest |
Bethesda Softworks |
E |
PS2, Wii |
| Avatar: Bobble Battles |
ValuSoft |
E |
PC |
| Cocoto Magic Circus |
Conspiracy Entertainment Corporation |
E10+ |
Wii |
| EA Sports Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 Family DVD Game |
Bright Things |
E |
DVD |
| Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess |
Square Enix, Inc |
T |
PC, PS2, Xbox 360 |
| My French Coach: Intermediate |
Ubisoft Entertainment |
E |
Nintendo DS |
| My Spanish Coach: Intermediate |
Ubisoft Entertainment |
E |
Nintendo DS, Wii |
| The King of Fighters XI |
SNK Playmore USA |
T |
PS2 |
| Army of Two |
Electronic Arts |
M |
Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 |
| Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition |
Ubisoft Entertainment |
E |
PC |
| Hannah Montana: Spotlight World Tour |
Disney Interactive Studios |
E |
Wii |
| Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law |
Capcom |
T |
PS2, PSP, Wii |
| Tria-chnid |
Compass Marketing |
E10+ |
Macintosh, PC |
| OMEGA FIVE |
Hudson Entertainment Inc |
E10+ |
Xbox 360 |
| Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles |
Capcom Entertainment |
M |
Wii |
| Rock Tour Tycoon |
Game Mill Entertainment |
E |
Macintosh, PC |
| Belief & Betrayal |
Lighthouse Interactive |
M |
PC |
| The Sims 2 Teen Style Stuff |
Electronic Arts |
T |
PC |
| The Club |
Sega |
M |
PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 |
| Super Collapse! Puzzle Gallery |
United Developers |
E |
PC |
| Nancy Drew: Legend of the Crystal Skull |
Her Interactive |
E |
PC |
| Mega Brain Boost |
Majesco Entertainment |
E |
Nintendo DS |
| M&M's Kart Racing |
Destination Software, Inc. |
E |
Wii |
| Imagine Master Chef |
Ubisoft |
E |
Nintendo DS |
| Professor Layton and the Curious Village |
Nintendo of America |
E |
Nintendo DS |
| Petz Hamsterz 2 |
Ubisoft |
E |
Nintendo DS |
| Worldwide Soccer Manager 2008 |
Sega |
E |
Macintosh, PC |
| Big Mutha Truckers 2 |
Strategy First |
M |
PC |
| Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Zombie Ninja Pro-Am |
Midway Amusement Games LLC |
M |
PS2 |
| Baby Luv |
Game Mill Entertainment |
E |
PC |
| American Girl: Julie Finds a Way |
ValuSoft |
E |
Nintendo DS |
| Code Lyoko-Quest for Infinity |
The Game Factory ApS |
E10+ |
Wii |
| Colin McRae Rally Mac |
Codemasters UK |
E |
Macintosh |
| Culpa Innata |
Strategy First |
M |
PC |
Here is the final tally on who, what and where everything was rated. There were 49 rated entries on 11 platforms (DVD debuted this week). Windows PC (23), Wii (10), Nintendo DS (8) and Playstation 2 (7) had the most games rated. There were 30 of the 49 games at E10+ or lower, 10 rated at T for Teen and nine rated at M for Mature.
Until next week, make sure you know what your kids are playing……
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