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Think of the Children for November 15th

Think of the Children for November 15th

Written by Dan Keener on 11/15/2007 for DS   PC   PS2   PS3   PSP   Wii   360  
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This week there were just a handful of games to look at, as the ESRB only turned around and published 33 games that were rated. I guess some ESRB staffers are starting to burn off those vacation days. Use it or lose it always starts to become a pain in the butt in early November.

There wasn’t a ton of interesting things in this week’s batch, but I still managed to finagle out a couple of nuggets of data. What I saw was that the Nintendo juggernaut (Is it?) keeps on rolling, we had a brand-new playa not seen in almost four years show up and the true-next gen releases look to be slowing down. On to the show:

Nintendo just keeps having titles churned out for its platforms left and right. For this week, there were 13 of the 33 “games” on the DS and Wii. I can understand the Japanese style anime games, kid’s games and downloadable content for the Wii Shopping channel. What I do not get are all the self-help and teaching guides that come across this article each week. Ubisoft will be giving DS owners the option to buy a couple of titles called Mon Coach personnel j'ameliore mon Anglais and Mon Coach Personnel J'ameliore Mon Espagnol. Is that French? Anyway, why in the world do people pay $30 a pop for this stuff? I may need to write an Editorial on this…

There is normally one or two of the odd-ball platforms that see a rated game each week when I review the titles. Usually, I see the occasional web browser, plug-and-play or Mobile game. This week I had a pleasant surprise as a game for Linux (EVE Online) was actually rated. In fact, after checking the ESRB’s database, they have only rated Eight Linux games ever, with the last being 2003’s Puzzle Pirates. Yeah for Linux!

I hope everyone will be enjoying Halo 3, Call of Duty 4 and Assassin’s Creed, because there were only two next-gen titles that were rated this week. Burnout Paradise looks like it may be just another retread from that series, but Codemasters’ Turning Point: Fall of Liberty seems to have some solid buzz and unique storylines that could make it a sleeper hit. Other than those, there weren’t even any Xbox Live Arcade or Playstation Network games that were rated. This is the last big week for release in the retail world, so we may have seen the majority of the rated titles for next-gen dry up until after the holidays.

I didn’t see any an unannounced titles jump out, but it appears that the PC platform is regurgitating some older games including Luxor 3 and Lumines. No word on if these are flash based, or part of Windows Live. This was also the second time in the last several weeks that DreamCatcher Interactive has had a large collection of PC titles rated from the same series. Previously it was SpellForce, and this week it was Gothic. Sounds like another box set may be in the works.

Title Publisher Rating Platforms
Blue's Journey SNK Playmore USA E Wii
Bubble Bobble Double Shot Ignition Entertainment E DS
Burnout Paradise Electronic Arts E10+ 360, PS3
Dai Senryaku VII: Modern Military Tactics Exceed Valcon Games LLC E PS2
EVE Online CCP hf. T Macintosh, PC, Linux
Game Party Midway Home Entertainment Inc. E Wii
Interactive Storybook DS Series 1 UFO Interactive Games E DS
Lumines Q Entertainment Inc. E PC
Rainbow Islands Evolution Ignition Entertainment E PSP
Sweet Tooth 2 Electronic Arts E Web Browser
Imagine Fashion Designer Ubisoft E10+ PC
Luxor 3 United Developers E PC
Ninja JaJaMaru-kun Jaleco E Wii
Super Smash Bros. Brawl Nintendo T Wii
DanceDanceRevolution Disney CHANNEL Edition Konami Digital Entertainment E PS2
Winter Sports Conspiracy Entertainment Corporation E Wii
18 Wheels of Steel: American Long Haul ValuSoft E PC
Alien Shooter: Vengeance Strategy First M PC
Cabela's Big Game Hunter: Trophy Bucks Activision T PC
Gothic DreamCatcher T PC
Gothic 2 DreamCatcher M PC
Gothic 2: Night of the Raven DreamCatcher M PC
Mon Coach personnel j'ameliore mon Anglais Ubisoft E DS
Mon Coach Personnel J'ameliore Mon Espagnol Ubisoft E DS
The Guild 2 DreamCatcher T PC
Turning Point: Fall of LIberty Codemasters USA T PC, 360, PS3
Kiki Kai World UFO Interactive Games E PS2
Rail Simulator Electronic Arts E PC
Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. E DS
Seal Online YNK Interactive Inc. T PC
Sin and Punishment Nintendo of America T Wii
Wrecking Crew Nintendo of America E Wii
Yoshi's Cookie Nintendo of America E Wii

Here is the final tally on who, what and where everything was rated for the last two weeks. There were 33 rated entries on 10 platforms. Windows PC (14), Wii (8), Nintendo DS (5) and Playstation 2 (3) had the most games rated. There were 23 of the 33 games were rated at E10+ or lower, eight rated at T for Teen and three rated at M for Mature.

Until next week, make sure you know what your kids are playing……

* The product in this article was sent to us by the developer/company.


About Author

Like many gamers in their 40's, I developed my love of gaming from my Commodore 64 after we wore out our Intellivision. I spent countless hours wandering around the streets of Skara Brae, as my life was immersed in The Bard's Tale series on the C-64, D&D Titles and any/all Epyx titles (California Summer and Winter Games) and sports titles.  After taking the early 90's off from gaming (college years) minus the occasional Bill Walsh College Football on Sega, I was re-introduced to PC games in the mid 1990's with a couple of little games called DOOM II and Diablo. I went all-in with the last generation of consoles, getting an Xbox 360 on launch weekend as well as adding a PS3 and Wii in subsequent years.  I now am into the current-generation (latest?) of consoles with the WiiU and Xbox One.  Recently, I was able to get back into PC gaming and have enjoyed it very much, spending most of my time going solo or playing with my fellow GamingNexus staffers in controlled multiplayer action.

While my byline is on many reviews, articles and countless news stories, I have a passion for and spent the last several years at GamingNexus focusing on audio & video and accessories as they relate to gaming. Having over 20 years of Home Theater consulting and sales under my belt, it is quite enjoyable to spend some of my time viewing gaming through the A/V perspective. While I haven't yet made it to one of the major gaming conventions (PAX or E3), I have represented GamingNexus at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in nine of the last ten years.

Personally, I have been a staff member at GamingNexus since 2006 and am in my third tour of duty after taking off the last year and a half.


 

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