This Week’s Games

Sometimes it’s good to let somebody else give their perspective on something. We’ve had three decent Metroid games from Retro Studios and this week you can experience what Team Ninja has managed to do with the franchise. If reviews are to go by Metroid: Other M pushes the Wii hard and is pretty much an essential purchase for action/adventure fans.

There’s another three Wii games out this week too – Tetris Party Deluxe (also on DS), Hot Wheels: Battle Force 5 and Marines: Modern Urban Combat…which we had a laugh about a few months ago. As for Nintendo’s other console, Puzzle Quest II on DS looks like it has finally been released – it was originally due out back in July.

HAWK X has spread its wings onto Xbox 360. Eurogamer gave it a 7 saying it’s better than the original but there’s still loads of room for improvement. PlayStation 3 owners will have to wait until next week for their version. The only other game out on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is Assassin’s Creed II: GOTY Edition. PSP owners get just one the game too – Valkyria Chronicles II.

Next Week: R.U.S.E, Ninety Nine Nights II, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, B-Units: Build It!, Crystal Minds, Rune Factory 2, Pang: Magical Michael and UFC Undisputed 2010 on PSP.

When a game is delayed all the while it’s being developed the publisher has to stump up the cash for the extra man hours. Sure, the end product may be a little better but it’s at a huge cost.

Mafia II is a solid example with a six year development under it belt. Even though it went straight to #1, analyst Michael Pachte reckons that it will fail to make profit because of the amount of cash 2K had to pump into it.

If this were a one-off it wouldn’t be so bad for the company seeing that Red Dead Redemption is selling so well, but Max Payne 3 and LA Noire are also coming up to having five years in development. Max Payne is a big franchise and it may be able to make a profit, but LA Noire? I think that one is going to be of niche appeal, like Heavy Rain before it.

At least 2K will have always GTA V to fall back on..

UK Charts

It has been six years since the last Mafia – which was first released on PC, before being converted to PlayStation 2 and Xbox – but a lengthy wait and mediocre reviews haven’t harmed the franchise. Mafia II has gone straight to #1, pushing Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days – which has already been cut to £17.99 at some online stores – to #2.

A price cut of Wii hardware has helped Wii Sports Resort re-enter the top 10 – it was at #16 but now it’s at #5. Sniper: Ghost Warrior – which is ruddy rubbish, people – is also back in the top 10 rising from #13 to #9. Just because it features a bloke with a gun on the front cover doesn’t mean it’s any good.

In the Wii chart Grease: The Official Video Game enters at #7, while Ubisoft’s Raving Rabbids: Party Collection jives in at #15. Jive Bunny!

This Week’s Games

This week’s biggest release is frequently delayed Mafia II. General opinion seems to be that it looks really nice but the missions are dull – they’re same old guff we’ve seen before. Reviews so far include a 4/10 from Eurogamer and a 6/10 from EDGE. Did 2k Czech learn nothing from EA’s The Godfather II?

Continuing with the 50s theme this week is 505 Games’ Grease for Wii and DS. I’m willing to bet that it’s stinking awful. Thank goodness for Sega’s Gunblade NY and LA Machineguns Arcade – also out on Wii this week – to reassure us that not all Wii games nowadays are for fatties and 10 year old girls. Is it good? A “B” review score from 1UP would suggest so.

Also out on Wii and DS:  Konami’s Gormiti, based on those little plastic toys, and Pirates: Adventures of the Black Corsair. I can’t find any review for either but did come across some very blurry looking screenshots for Pirates. Probably best to wait for Sid Meier’s scurvy sim.

A trio of games from Ubisoft round this week off – Rayman Rabbids Trilogy and My Fitness Coach: Dance Workout on Wii and Imagine Dream Resort on DS. Three Rabbids for the price of one? Sold!

Next week: Metroid: Other M, Hawx 2, Puzzle Quest II, WordJong, Valkyria Chronicles II and Tetris Party Deluxe.

Personally I thought Midway’s This is Vegas was canned as soon as the ex-publisher started having money troubles. Turns out I thought wrong – Warner Brothers, who mopped up Midway’s leftovers and licenses for a not too shabby $33 million – have been funding it since taking the helm a year ago.

Development costs are reported to be in the region of a $50 million and it still isn’t finished after three years in development. Warner Brothers have apparently decided that enough is enough and have pulled the plug.

Reports suggest it needed another 8 to 12 months finish, with a cost of $250,000 per month to run the studio. This would bring the total up to $52 million, making it more expensive than Killzone 2 and Final Fantasy XII which had reported development costs of $45m and $48m, and almost as expensive as Halo 3 ($55m).

UK Charts

Two things of note have occurred in chart land this week. Firstly, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has become the UK’s best selling game ever after 41 weeks on sale. Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training was the previous best selling UK game ever, followed by GTA: San Andreas.

Secondly, Square-Enix’s Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days has gone straight to number one. This makes it the third #1 of this year for Square-Enix, following on from Final Fantasy XIII and Just Cause 2. The original Kane & Lynch only got as high as #14.

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands is back in the top 10, up from #19 to #8, but Dragon Quest XI has left the top 10, dropping from #7 to #11.

This Week’s Games

The guys at IO seem to know their stuff, having put out the likes of the original Kane & Lynch, Hitman, Freedom Fighters and Mini Ninjas over the years. Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days though doesn’t appear to have reached the lofty heights as some of their other games with scores including a 4/10 from Eurogamer and 2.5/5 from GamePro. Eurogamer said it wasn’t terrible – there’s lots of shooting to be done – but it’s pretty uninspired.

The standard version of Demon’s Souls is out this week too on PlayStation 3. If you’re interested by it, then best get it quick – I have a feeling it’ll sell out pretty sharpish. Another RPG that might sell out quick is Adventures To Go on PSP, which was published by Natsume in the US. It’s £14.99 on Play.

This leaves us with We Sing Encore on Wii and Thomas and Friends Hero of the Rails on both Wii and DS. Excellent!

Next week: Mafia 2, Gunblade NY and LA Machineguns Arcade, Gormiti, So Blonde, Pirates: Adventures of the Black Corsair, Imagine Dream Resort, My Fitness Coach: Dance Workout, Grease and 10 Minute Fitness Solutions.

UK Charts

Toy Story 3 has claimed its third consecutive #1, which is more than any other Disney published title before it. So far this year only 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, Red Dead Redemption and Just Dance have stayed longer at the top of the chart.

Nintendo’s Art Academy has had a very good week too, shooting up from #28 to #5, while Madden NFL 11 enters the chart at a respectable #10. Starcraft II has now left the top 10, going from #4 to #12.

Aliens vs Predator has managed to re-enter at #20, presumably because the likes of Zavvi have cut it to just £9.99, however both Alan Wake and Crackdown 2 look like they’re about to depart the chart currently at #39 and #40 respectively.

Activision’s Modern Warfare 2 is on the brink of becoming the UK’s best selling game ever – Chart Track thought it might take the title last week, but it didn’t manage to. It’s only a matter of time though. Maybe even by the end of this week?

When Deus Ex creator Warren Spector was asked by IndustryGamers if Epic Mickey could pave the way for more Disney titles, they received a beyond enthusiastic answer:

“A day does not go by where I don’t tell somebody at Disney ‘Gimme the ducks. Gimme the ducks’! Uncle Scrooge, come on! Donald! Huey, Dewey, and Louie! Come on, let me do a duck game! So yeah, I would love to do a duck game. Uncle Scrooge is the coolest character, you know? He was Indiana Jones before Steven Spielberg was a gleam in his mother’s eye, you know? I mean, come on. He’s a great character.”

The 8-bit and 16-bit Donald Duck games were pretty good – Quackshot on Mega Drive and Duck Tales on NES were particularly fine.

This Week’s Games

I’ve been looking at the review scores for Madden NFL 11 – released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this week – and have noticed a pattern. Madden 09 received an average review score of 85%, Madden 10 got an average of 86% and so far Madden NFL 11 clocks in with 87%. If this pattern continues, in 13 years time we’ll have a 100% perfect Madden game. Result!

MCV, who are usually pretty reliable, say that Family Gameshow is out on Wii this week too. However, I just looked on Amazon and they say that it has been out since November 2009. There are even a few pre-owned copies for sale. MCV list Funbox Media as down as the publisher, but the version on Amazon has Zushi, who went bust earlier this year, as the publisher…so it’s all a little confusing. Two games called Family Gameshow, perhaps?

Freddie Flintoff’s Power Play Cricket on DS looks like being the only other game to hit stores. It’s £17.99 on Play if cricket is your thing.

Next week: Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, Adventures To Go, We Sing Encore, Demon’s Souls and Thomas and Friends: Hero of the Rails. Choo choo!

There are two Dave Perrys in the world of videogames – one created Earthworm Jim, MDK and Wild 9, while the other is famous for appearing on GamesMaster and GamesWorld while wearing a fetching bandana.

Our friends at Casually Hardcore managed to catch up with the latter Dave Perry via a thoroughly entertaining interview which covers how Dave got involved with the legendary TV show.

You can read the interview here. Warning: it contains the use of the the rather outdated word ‘dweeb’.

UK Charts

Starcraft II has only managed to stay on top of the chart for one week – it’s now at #4, pushed down by the likes of Toy Story 3 which has risen back to the top of the chart. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has gone back up from #8 to #2 thanks to some discounts on the high street while Square-Enix’s DS-exclusive RPG Dragon Quest XI continues to do well holding onto a #7 position.

Even though it has been out for a few weeks now Hidden Mysteries: Titanic on Wii has managed to enter the top 40 at #32. Nintendo’s Art Academy is the only other new entry in the chart, painting its way in at #28. I bet you didn’t know that it was developed by the people behind House of the Dead: Overkill and Battalion Wars 2, did you?