Think of the Children for April 30th

Written by Dan Keener on 4/30/2008 for DS   PC   PS2   PS3   PSP   Wii   360  

Last week was another good week of rated titles from the ESRB, as we had not only quantity, but some serious quality too. One of the most anticipated games of the year was rated for the Xbox 360 and PS3, as well as one of the most eyebrow raising titles. PC and DS took the lead again with their incessant throwing of titles against the proverbial sales wall and seeing what sticks.

Lots of titles for the PC and DS, and most appear to be the usual bevy of casual titles and junk tossed out to see who will be sucker enough to plunk down $29.99 for it. There really isn’t a lot to get excited about except maybe the small screen transition of Viva Piñata Pocket Paradise (DS). There are simply way too many goofy titles like Polar Golfer Pineapple Cup (PC) and Mister Slime (DS) to take much that is developed for these platforms seriously anymore.

While the Xbox 360 and PS3 had several heavyweight common titles rated this week, there was one that stands out as being most anticipated. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed with its breakthrough physics was set up wit a ‘T for Teen rating from the ESRB. In addition, the two consoles also saw the “was it a necessity eyebrow raising” Guitar Hero Aerosmith, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars and Battlefield: Bad Company rated. All were also tagged with the capital ‘T’. The Playstation 3 had echochrome and the Xbox 360 had Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm to round out the next gen titles.

It was pretty easy to pick a title of shame this week, with Emoticons taking the honors. While the game can be fine and addicting, bringing it from a free game in the casual setting of a Social
atmosphere (Facebook) into the full retail world for PC is not the way to do it. In addition, now that the retail version for PC has launched, developer IQ212 has made rumblings of punking your free Emoticons versions for Facebook with some ads. I understand the need to make a buck, but to create a cutesy free game (think any puzzle game where you make matches only using Emoticons) and then pulling the rug out from people that have been playing it ad-free is not the best way to keep the buzz going in my opinion.

Title	Publisher	Rating	Platforms
echochrome	SCEA	E	PS3
Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom	SEGA of America	E	Wii
Super Dodge Ball	Aksys Games	E	Wii
Turbo Subs	Elephant Entertainment	E	PC
V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack	High Voltage Software, Inc.	T	Wii
Viva Pinata Pocket Paradise	THQ	E	DS
WALL•E	Heavy Iron Studios	E	Mac, PC, PS2, PSP, DS
The Incredible Hulk	Sega of America	E10+	DS
Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis	DreamCatcher	E10+	PC
Battlefield: Bad Company	Electronic Arts	T	360, PS3
Inca Quest	Brighter Minds Media	E	PC
Magnetica Twist	Nintendo	E	Wii
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2	NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.	T	PSP
Nertz Solitaire	Brighter Minds Media	E	PC
Amazing Adventures: The Lost Tomb	PopCap Games, Inc.	E	PC
Rock Blast	UFO Interactive Games	E	DS
Rohan: Blood Feud	YNK Interactive Inc.	M	PC
Pogo™ Addiction Solitaire	Electronic Arts	E	Mac, PC
Rain Drops	UFO Interactive Games	E	DS
Reversal Challenge	UFO Interactive Games	E	DS
Stand O Food	Brighter Minds Media	E	PC
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed	LucasArts	T	360, PS3
Super Dodgeball Brawlers	Aksys Games	E	DS
Polar Golfer Pineapple Cup	MumboJumbo	E	PC
Polar Pool	MumboJumbo	E	PC
Pop	Nnooo	E	Wii
River City Ransom	Aksys Games	E10+	Wii
Blast Miner	Masque Publishing	E	Mac, PC
Buzz! Junior RoboJam	SCEA	E	PS2
Emoticons	iQ212, Inc.	E	PC, Web Browser
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars	Activision	T	360, PS3
Family Ping Pong	Aksys Games	E	Wii
Chocolatier 2: Secret Ingredients	Encore, Inc.	E10+	Mac, PC
Diner Dash: Hometown Hero	Encore, Inc.	E	Mac, PC
Mister Slime	Southpeak Games	E	DS
Imagine Rock Star	Ubisoft Entertainment	E	DS
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith	Red Octane	T	360, PS3, PS2, Wii
Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm	SEGA of America	M	PC, 360
Hello Kitty: Big City Dreams	Empire Interactive	E	DS

Here is the final tally on who, what and where everything was rated for the last week. There were 39 rated titles on nine platforms. PC (16), DS (10), Wii (8), 360 (5), PS3 (5) and Mac (5) had the most games rated. There were 31 of the 39 titles rated at E10+ or lower, five rated at T for Teen and two 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…