Think of the Children

Written by Dan Keener on 9/10/2008 for DS   PC   PS2   PS3   PSP   Wii   360  

These are the types of lists from the ESRB that I like to see. Not only is there a ton of rated titles, but it is littered with powerhouse and anticipated games in addition to the usual junk. One thing I have noticed lately is that the Mac continues to gain a foothold every week, and not just the casual market. The DS and Wii are getting ready for an all-out-blitz on kids this upcoming fall and the PS3 and Xbox 360 are starting to hold their own when it comes to rated titles. My intriguing title of the week is the next great money maker for the recently formed Activision-Blizzard that is smack in the middle of Beta testing…

I always tend to list the Platforms that have at least five rated titles each week, and the Mac has continued to surprise me as it grows into a legitimate gaming platform. Granted, the titles aren’t exactly the best-of-the-best, but at least they are seeing some life. Their big catch this week was the WoW expansion Pack 2 which was also on PC. But the biggest opening was made with the kids titles, as games for the Wonder Pets, Diego, Dora and Nick Jr have been rated. As for the DS, Wii and PC, it was pretty much business as usual with a crapload of titles, dominated by kids themed games left and right. I guess now is the time to start the build-up for the Holiday rush, and kids everywhere shall not be disappointed. The DS in particular is milking the franchises such as Imagine, Smart Boys/Girls, Petz, Nickelodeon based shows and so on. The Wii seems to still be all about party style games with GameParty 2, Carnival Games: Mini Golf Adventures, Rock Band 2, Ultimate Shooting Collection and Disney Sing It. I assume the demand is there for this stuff, so maybe I should ask my six-year-old what she wants to play?

Now that the summer doldrums are behind us, we should see this type of quantities from the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 every week. Both consoles saw the following titles rated: Disney Sing It, MotoGP 08, The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, Rock Band Track Pack vol. 2, NBA 2K9, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Call of Duty: World at War and Dead Space. In addition, the Playstation 3 also had NBA 09: The Inside rated, while the Xbox 360 saw Warriors Orochi 2, High School Musical 3: Senior Year DANCE!, A Kingdom for Keflings, Airburst, FunTown Mahjong, The MAW, TNA iMPACT! Wrestling (Toys R' US Pre-Sell) and Fable II on the list. A really nice week for both with something for everyone, but the Xbox 360 continues to beat out the PS3 on sheer volume. I also ask again, where are the PSN titles? Sony is really lagging in this area….

The Intriguing Title of the Week is World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King from Activision-Blizzard. Why? I want to see if it can shatter the record its predecessor (The Burning Crusade) set for PC game sales. Among those records was Fastest Selling PC game in Europe and North America as well as the fastest selling PC game of all time with an astonishing “2.4 million copies in its first 24 hours and approximately 3.5 million in its first month” according to Wikipedia. What’s also fun are the side stories of the crazy WoW players to be the first to level up to the new cap and how many hours straight it took them and their buddies to do it. Not to mention the next round of those that experience serious injury due to lack of sleep or food while playing. Fun times, fun times….


Here is the final tally on who, what and where everything was rated for the last week. There were 69 rated titles on 10 platforms. PC (29), Wii (18), DS (17), Xbox 360 (16), Mac (12), Playstation 3 (9) and Playstation 2 (9) had the most games rated. There were 55 of the 69 titles rated at E10+ or lower, 10 rated at T for Teen and four (Call of Duty: World at War, Crysis Warhead, Dead Space and Fable II) 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 Intriguing Title of the Week (and any game that is tossed in that paragraph) is identified based on a game on the list that catches the eye of the author for any number of reasons. Good, bad or otherwise, feel free to agree, disagree or add some constructive input to the discussion.