Think of the Children for October 29th

Written by Dan Keener on 10/30/2008 for DS   PC   PS2   PS3   PSP   Wii   360  

I stand corrected. Last week, I lamented about the lack of titles and speculated that maybe the majority of titles for the Holiday rush was behind us. However, the ESRB and game publishers have proven me wrong (partially), as some 53 titles were rated in the last week. As expected, the PC, Wii and DS dominated the lists, and it appears that many kids will be very happy this holiday season. As for the 360 and PlayStation 3, they are still showing some life with quite a few titles rated this week. My intriguing title of the week was greeted with mainly a negative reaction when it was announced and still has me wondering about the final answer to all sorts of questions.

Like most weeks, the mass ratings for the PC, Wii and DS include lots of franchises that are getting milked like the best cow on the barnyard. However, there are still those hidden nuggets that are coming in. This week some of the potential better titles rated were C.O.R.E. (DS), SPORE Creepy & Cute Parts Pack (PC). Sniper: Art of Victory (PC), Prince of Persia (PC), Heist (PS), Battlefield Heroes (PC) and Family Fest Presents Movie Games (Wii). It is amazing that places like Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Gamestop have any shelf space left with the sheer amount of titles that keep getting pumped out for these three platforms.

The majority of the titles for the PS3 and 360 that were rated are shared amongst both consoles, but Microsoft and SCEA did get in the act a bit with a couple of exclusives. However, the following titles showed up this week for both: Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Heist, X Blades, Prince of Persia, NCAA Basketball 09 and AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack. Microsoft and the 360 saw Scene It? Box Office Smash! Exclusively for that console, while SCEA and the PS3 had Alone in the Dark Inferno, SingStar Vol. 2 and The Eye of Judgment: Biolith Rebellion Set 3. So the list has nothing of enormous star power, yet is loaded with quite a few titles that have solid fan bases. A good showing that I hope will continue through the end of the year.

The Intriguing Title of the Week is “AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack” by MTV Games for the 360, PS3, Wii and PS2. There are a lot of reasons to purchase this (about 16), yet too many questions remain including it being sold exclusively at Wal-Mart, a $40 price point, how it will integrate with the game on each system and it being a physical media (not DLC). Personally I may be tempted to pick it up, but with so many great songs and albums that have come out recently, it is a tough pill to pay $40 for songs when I do not have the ability to pick and choose the ones I want to get.


Here is the final tally on who, what and where everything was rated for last week. There were 53 rated titles on nine platforms. PC (23), DS (13), Wii (11), PS3 (9), 360 (7) and Mac (7) had the most games rated. There were 31 of the 53 titles rated at E10+ or lower, 14 rated at T for Teen and eight (C.O.R.E., SAS: Secure Tomorrow, Sniper: Art of Victory, The Witcher Enhanced Edition & Director’s Cut. Heist, X Blades and Alone in the Dark Inferno) 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.