Think of the Children for October 1

Written by Dan Keener on 10/1/2008 for DS   PC   PS2   PS3   PSP   Wii   360  

We are back after taking off a couple weeks to celebrate 10 years with the missus down in the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. By the looks of things, the relative strength of rated titles has continued, with an average of over 50 rated per week (152 total) since our last article. Included within the lists are more of the highly-anticipated titles, but it was hard to find them while wading through all the DS and Wii games that dominated the last few weeks. There was also real strong showing for the Sony PSP, which has been making gains in Japan, yet has struggled with third-party game availability. The PS3 and 360 also had a strong three-week period, with several high profile titles on the list. My intriguing title of the week is also one of the most anticipated (at least in my opinion), so check it out below….

There were several articles that ran in the last few weeks about the PSP and its lack of third party support. While this is true (UMD = worst format…ever) the last three weeks has seen the PSP have 12 titles rated, with most coming from the third-parties. In fact, SCEA only published two of the 12 (Buzz! Master Quiz and Street Fighter Alpha 3) while the other titles were published by Square Enix, Yukes, Gameloft, EA, Konami, Activision-Blizzard, D3 and Warner Brothers. Granted, many of the games are movie tie-ins or specially developed “ports”, but this is the most rated titles for the PSP we have seen in some time.

Because there are three weeks and a combined 138 titles that were rated for the Wii, DS and PC, I wont even go into detail about how much junk came sown the pipeline. There are some good games in there, but it is difficult to sift through and find them. Feel free to look through the chart below to see if your favorite title is included. Otherwise, I will get back to the analysis next week.

The 360 and PS3 have been showing steady improvement as games are getting cranked out by the ESRB on a regular basis. The last three weeks has seen a lot of the titles announced at E3 and over the summer getting prepped for the fall and Holiday selling seasons. On the lists from the last three weeks are games such as LEGO Batman: The Videogame, Tom Clancy's EndWar, Far Cry 2, Ghostbusters, SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Confrontation, Dance Dance Revolution Universe 3, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Portal: Still Alive, Scene It? Box Office Smash! and Midnight Club Los Angeles. That is a pretty impressive group that contains quite a few must-haves titles. Some other titles dropped for both consoles as well, including Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode 2, 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures 2, Walt Disney Pictures Bolt, FIFA Soccer 09, and Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. It looks like we may be past the days of one or two games getting rated for the 360 or PS3 (at least until next spring.)

The Intriguing Title of the Week is Ghostbusters from Vivendi Games. This is the ultimate “late bloomer” when it comes to movie tie-in games as the Movie was released in June of 1984. Being from that generation, I was immediately attracted to it when I saw the first four “leaked” screens, but I wonder just how the younger generation will handle a game that ties to a 24 year old movie that most have never seen in a theater. Regardless, if the game I good, offers great gameplay and some sort of multiplayer that keeps players attention, it should do well. Otherwise, I fear it will suffer the same results that most movie tie in games do…


Here is the final tally on who, what and where everything was rated for the last three weeks. There were 152 rated titles on 11 platforms. Wii (58), PC (44), DS (36), PS2 (23), Xbox 360 (23), Playstation 3 (15), Mac (13) and PSP (12) had the most games rated. There were 119 of the 152 titles rated at E10+ or lower, 30 rated at T for Teen and five (Jade Empire: Special Edition, Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode 2, Exodus From The Earth, SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Confrontation and Far Cry 2) 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.