Remember when the PSone was fading fast and budget games (like CT: Special Forces, Yeti Winter Sports and Ballerburg) started popping out of thin air? It seems that the same is starting to happen to PlayStation 2: while browsing in Morrisons the other day I spotted former Wii-exclusive Nitro Bike for a mere £5.99.

Searches on both Game and Amazon bring up nothing (apart from the Wii version, obviously) so it’s a bit hard to tell when it was released. The online play from the mediocre Wii version has been dropped, judging by the box.

It makes a change to see Wii games converted to PlayStation 2 – usually it’s the other way around. I don’t think we’ll be seeing Red Steel any time soon though.

This Week’s Games

I hope you like animals, because EA’s SimAnimals on Wii and DS is the only game out this week. Papery thing NGamer quite liked it, comparing it to Viva Pinata.

Next week is looking a bit more lively with Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, Chrono Trigger, Pikmin and Cooking Mama 2 all due out. £24.99 for the Wii re-make of Pikmin seems a bit steep, especially given that the superior sequel is also getting released in the not too distant future.

Sega’s Block Pipo looks like it’ll be one of those arcade games that you won’t be able to resist putting a quid or two in. Why? Because instead of joysticks it uses Lego-style bricks that you stack up onto the screen to save little bird-like critters. See:

All well and good, but what happens when some toddler runs off with the blocks?

UK Chart

There were only three new games out last week, but they’ve done all right in the top 40 chart. Skate 2 skates in like a thing on skates at #3, followed by the budget-priced My Fitness Coach at #7. Tomb Raider: Underworld is back at #9 up from #33 thanks to the freshly released PlayStation 2 version selling oddly well.

Wii Fit still holds on to the top spot, The Lord of the Rings: Crapquest drops from #3 to #5 and Professor Layton and the Curious Village is back at #10 due to new stock arriving. Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree is also back at #24.

James Bond: Quantum of Solace is this week’s big faller, going from #12 to #26. Bye bye, Bond!

This Week’s Games

It’s not a very exciting week for new releases, but it’s January so you’d expect as much. Skate 2 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 looks like it has built on the last game – which was very good – while My Fitness Coach on Wii sounds like a worthy alternative to Wii Fit with some solid 7 out of 10 scores behind it.

Then on PlayStation 2 there’s AC/DC Live: Rock Band and Tomb Raider: Underworld. Let’s hope Eidos hasn’t left any game-ruining glitches in like they did with the Wii version. Game doesn’t even have box art or a product description up for Word Academy on DS, which probably says it all.

Next week: Sim Animals on Wii and DS.

I must have been faintly aware that LocoRoco 2 was on its way, but its release around these parts in November last year passed me by, as these things have a habit of doing. It wasn’t until the deluge of sales emails hit my inbox that I noticed it.

In short: it’s more of the same. This is a good thing, because the original was very good indeed. It’s my favourite PSP game. In fact, I can’t think of a better game in recent years.

But two is enough. If we get a third LocoRoco, there are two ways it could go. More of the same would be milking the concept, and that milk would start to sour along with people’s opinions of the series – if you’ll pardon the extended metaphor. Alternatively, there could be fundamental changes to the game – but in that case, establish a new series rather than risk the reputation and fond memories of LocoRoco, should the changes not work.

Plus, the PSP needs games of interest very, very badly, so the more people working on new and exciting things – rather than wasting their time on needless sequels – the better.

The problem with WiiWare – apart from Nintendo’s lack of quality control – is that many titles appear on the download service with a barely a whisper. World of Goo has had more publicity than most, but it’s still a shame that a game this good is going to go largely undownloaded. Which isn’t a real word.

Playing like a gooey mixture of LocoRoco and Lemmings, the idea is to guide goo balls safely to an exit pipe by constructing bridges, towers and so on out of the titular blobs. Physics play a big part – build a tower without a firm base and it’ll topple over, while bridges require supports and can’t be too top-heavy. While you build, white flying blobs appear that can be used to skip back in time briefly if you mess up, and there’s also the chance to skip levels entirely if they’re causing too much hassle. The mystical ‘sign painter’ also gives hints during levels. Whoever could he be?

SCE big man Kaz Hirai has been trying to reassure the PlayStation faithful that they’ve made the right choice in an interview with the Official PlayStation Magazine. Which I’ve now shamelessly pilfered from Eurogamer.

“This is not meant in terms of numbers, or who’s got the biggest install base, or who’s selling most in any particular week or month, but I’d like to think that we continue official leadership in this industry.”

Outstanding.

Hirai doesn’t see Nintendo as a competitor, and calls them “a different world, and we operate in our world.” That’s convenient, but Nintendo’s world is more popular these days, isn’t it?

As for Xbox, Hirai “can’t come up with one word to fit. You need a word that describes something that lacks longevity.” Presumably because the PlayStation 2 lasted longer than the original Xbox. Best of all though:

“And, unless things go really bad, there’s no way that at the end of a life cycle our competition is going have a higher install base.”

Things have already gone pretty bad, haven’t they? But I suppose if you dismiss companies selling vastly more consoles than you as not being your competitors, then you’ll be fine. In your own, mental head, if not the harsh reality of the real economy.

GamesRadar have been on top form this month, with a bounty of features worthy of five minutes of your day.

If it came in a tin, Game names corrected by spell check would do exactly what it said on it. The Top 7… Best ports on inferior systems must have taken a fair bit of brain racking, as it’s deadly accurate; Aladdin on the SNES sucked. The many faces of Mario features plenty of amusing images that I bet Nintendo wish were lost forever (Intellivision Donkey Kong, I’m looking at you).

Then there’s the cleverly formatted The longest game names of all time and Characters you never knew had the same voice actor. Who knew that Gears of War’s Marcus Fenix was voiced by Futurama’s Bender? Well, GamesRadar obviously.

UK Chart

It’s official – nobody reads reviews any more. The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, which has been receiving middling reviews, goes in at #3 in the top 40 chart. It’s #1 in the Xbox 360 chart and #3 in the PlayStation 3 chart, which is pretty surprising given how many recent games are available for half price in the January sales.

There’s a bit of a change in the top ten as well. Wii Fit is back on top, up from #4; last week’s #1, FIFA 09, has dropped to #4; and both Carnival: Funfair Games and Brain Training are back, in at #9 and #10 respectively. Elsewhere, Prince of Persia has taken a tumble from #20 to #38, and 100 Classic Book Collection is also down from #17 to #34. Yes, people are actually buying it.

This Week’s Games

EA continue to wring their The Lord of the Rings license for every last penny, releasing The Lord of the Rings: Conquest on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS and PC this week.

It’s by Pandemic – the Mercenaries and Full Spectrum Warrior people – but don’t go thinking it’s any good. GamesRadar has given it a right good kicking, calling it “an offensive parody” before scoring it a miserable 2 out of 10. What’s going on at Pandemic? Mercenaries 2 ended up worse than the original, and their Dark Knight game was apparently canned due to quality issues.

There’s only one other game out this week, and to be frank it’s hard to call it a game – it’s My Chinese Coach, another one of Ubisoft’s language aids for the DS. I’m still hanging on for My Klingon Coach.

Next week: Skate 2, My Fitness Coach and a late appearance for Tomb Raider: Underworld on PlayStation 2.

UK Chart

Let’s start at the bottom of this week’s chart and work our way up, like they do on the singles chart on the radio. At #40 this week it’s a re-entry for Saints Row 2, then another re-entry for Left 4 Dead at #37. Lara is on a slippery slope down dropping from #14 to #27 while Mirror’s Edge has also fallen from #16 to #23. The year old Call of Duty 4 is back on the rise though, up from #38 to #21.

Moving into the top 20 now, we have 100 Classic Book Collection up from #27 to #17, Far Cry 2 has fallen from #7 to #12, while Lego Indiana Jones has gone from #17 to #9. Wii Fit is back up from #20 to #4, and the top three remains unchanged on last week: Need for Speed Undercover, Call of Duty: World at War and FIFA 09.