Think of the Children for April 2nd

Written by Dan Keener on 4/2/2008 for DS   PC   PS2   PS3   PSP   Wii   360  

Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, the ESRB has once again graced us with a significant amount of game titles that were rated last week. Highlighting the list were a couple of much-anticipated Xbox 360 title, the DS having a surprising low count of rated titles, the Mac making a big splash and an a re-start for a fledgling format with a new game being rated.

I guess the thing that first jumped out at me this week was how few titles the DS had rated, and how many the Mac had on the list. The Mac had eight titles this week, which is unusually high. However, they were all from the same publisher (Selectsoft Publishing/MPS) and included such titles as 101 Bunny Pets, 101 Kitty Pets and 101 Pony Pets. So I guess volume doesn’t always equate to top-shelf titles. As for the DS, it usually dominates, but could only muster three total titles including an AMF bowling game they are sharing with the N-Gage. Speaking of which, could AMF Bowling Pinbusters! Be the first game for the 2nd generation N-Gage platform?

The Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 combined for seven titles this week, with both having LEGO Indiana Jones being rated. The only other PS3 title was something called Elefunk. No, it’s not a Black Eyed Peas tie-in, but rather a Playstation Network puzzler where you are challenged to get elephants to safety by building complex structures to allow them to make their way through the world. The Xbox 360 also had the much-anticipated Too Human rated, along retail game Operation Darkness and two XBLA titles in Darwinia and Braid. Other than Too Human, the other Xbox 360 titles have been more or less flying under the radar.

While looking over the list, two titles immediately jumped out as candidates for this week’s title of shame. The first was Jaks’s Pacific Plug & Play adaptation of Bejeweled, and the second was ValuSoft feeling the need to bring Dancing With the Stars to PC’s everywhere. I like Bejeweled, as a game, but it seems to me that a P&P version is not overkill, but almost a badge of shame for a distinguished franchise. I realize there may be a few people that live in caves, or remote farmhouses out in the barren countryside, but really, how many people couldn’t find a version of the game on their PDA, Cell Phone, PC, iPod, Flash game online or a console? Despite me not caring for the way Bejeweled is being presented (and that is the primary reason), this weeks Title of Shame belongs squarely to ValuSoft’s Dancing With The Stars. Frankly, any game that is spawn from a reality TV show, let alone a variety TV show about DANCING will always get at least a cursory look here. After checking out the previews and graphics, my fears were confirmed. It appears to be cheesy, has bad graphics and is completely unnecessary. I would say shame on ABC and THQ (parent company of ValuSoft) for letting this come to fruition.

Title	Publisher	Rating	Platforms
101 BunnyPets	Selectsoft Publishing / MPS	E	Mac, PC
Arkanoid	Square Enix, Inc	E	DS
Critter Round-Up	Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.	E	Wii
Dancing With The Stars	ValuSoft	E	PC
Elefunk	SCEA	E	PS3
Fading Shadows	AGETEC	E	PSP
Mission: Runway	ValuSoft	E	PC
NOMBZ: Night of a Million Billion Zombies	PowerUp Studios Inc.	T	PC
Noteable	Legacy Productions Inc.	E	PC
Wonder Boy	SEGA of America	E	Wii
Europa Universalis Rome	Paradox Interactive	E10+	PC
Defend Your Castle	XGen Studios Inc.	E	Wii
Crystal Caverns of Amon-Ra	Selectsoft Publishing / MPS	E	Mac, PC
Club Vegas Casino 10,000	Selectsoft Publishing / MPS	T	Mac, PC
AMF Bowling Pinbusters!	Vir2L Studios LLC	E	N-Gage, DS
Block Breaker Deluxe	Game Loft	E	Wii
Bejeweled Deluxe TV Game	JAKKS Pacific Inc.	E	Plug-and-Play
101 KittyPets	Selectsoft Publishing / MPS	E	Mac, PC
101 PonyPets	Selectsoft Publishing / MPS	E	Mac, PC
Dynasty of Egypt	Selectsoft Publishing / MPS	E	Mac, PC
Hexagon Mahjongg	Selectsoft Publishing / MPS	E	Mac, PC
Jewels of the Nile	Selectsoft Publishing / MPS	E	Mac, PC
LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures	Lucas Arts	E10+	PS3, PSP, Wii
LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures	Lucas Arts	E10+	PC, 360, PS3
We Ski	NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.	E	Wii
Protothea	Ubisoft Entertainment	E	Wii
Ship Simulator 2008 Add-on: New Horizons	VSTEP bv	E	PC
Sudoku Puzzle Blast	Electronic Arts	E	PC
Super Collapse! Puzzle Gallery 3	RealNetworks	E	PC
Too Human	Microsoft	T	360
Mahjong Safari	Electronic Arts	E	PC
CSI: Dark Motives	Encore, Inc., A Navarre Corporation Company	M	PC
Death Jr.: Root of Evil	Eidos	T	Wii
Darwinia	Introversion Software	E	360
Assassin's Creed: Director's Cut	Ubisoft Entertainment	M	PC
Break In	Hudson Entertainment Inc	E	Wii
Heracles: Battle with the Gods	Conspiracy Entertainment Corporation	E	DS
Powerball	SEGA of America	E	Wii
King of Clubs	Crave Entertainment Inc.	E	Wii
Operation Darkness	Atlus USA, Inc.	M	360
Chameleon	UFO Interactive Games	E	PSP
Braid	Number None, Inc.	E	360
ARCA Sim Racing 08'	Sim Factory LLC	E	PC
Elements	United Developers	E	PC

Here is the final tally on who, what and where everything was rated for the last week. There were 44 rated titles on 10 platforms. PC (22), Wii (11), Mac (8) and 360 (5) had the most games rated. There were 37 of the 44 titles rated at E10+ or lower, four rated at T for Teen and three rated at M for Mature.

Got a comment on the article or a rated games, put it in the section below or send me an e-mail. Until next week, make sure you know what your kids are playing……

*The weekly Title of Shame (and any game that is tossed in that paragraph) is done so based on several factors, including which games were rated that week, how does the game concept stack up, is it a re-hashed sequel, lame movie tie-in, rip off of another game, etc…