The moral of this week’s new releases article is to research how many games are coming out before you volunteer to write! At least there are a few I’m planning to pick up and with Nintendo’s prolific schedule I might actually be dusting off the WiiU. If this week had a theme it would be: Now available on more platforms in more countries!
NintendoLego City Undercover (WiiU)
Mike “Gabe” Krahulik of Penny-Arcade tweeted about his review copy "Got a review copy of Lego city for the WiiU. It is essentially Lego GTA. Yes it's as fun as it sounds. My 8yo says it's 'the best game ever'. The people who made it must be really smart.” So there's your review. Lego GTA is pretty much what I was hoping for and it gives me reason to dust off the WiiU which has basically been sitting dormant on my TV stand since launch week.
The Croods: Prehistoric Party! (All)
The Croods: Prehistoric Party! drops for pretty much every Nintendo console from the last two generations. Half surprised there isn’t a Gamecube version! Its based on the Dreamworks animated film (starring Nicholas Cage so you know its good) that also premiers in 3D this week. With a tagline like: “Survival of the Funnest” there’s no way this could be shelfware right?!
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (WiiU, 3DS)
Released in Japan for 3DS almost two years ago, this is finally dropping in North America for both 3DS and WiiU. The WiiU version boasts 1080p graphics and both take advantage of the touch screen controls and online multi-player.
Need for Speed Most Wanted
This dropped on all the other major consoles last October but hits the WiiU this week with “enhanced” features like support off of TV play. It takes advantage of the WiiU controller and allows for co-op modes one of which is called Co-driver. This lets one player drive with a Wiimote while the other navigates on a real time map on the tablet. Just what I always wanted a backseat driver simulator!!
Zen Pinball 2
This hit consoles and smartphones last fall and was pushed back for the WiiU several times. It is supposed to be available for download in the eShop this week. It appears the game and previews will be free but you then must buy individual or bundles of tables. I’ve seen rumblings of it being a less than optimal shopping/installing experience but will wait and see for myself later this week. Table themes available include several Marvel themes, Popcap’s popular Plants vs. Zombies franchise theme, and another with a Nikola Tesla theme. Guess they want to ensure they cover all their different types of nerd bases!
PlaystationHyperdimension Neptunia Victory (PS3)
This game is, umm, very Japanese?
Dead or Alive 5 Plus (Vita)
Dead or Alive 5 Plus hits the Playstation Vita this week The “Plus” here is it’s optimized for the Vita’s touch and motion capabilities. Another “feature” listed for this game is fighters sweating more as they exert more energy. These are clearly the things high definition gaming was made for!
XBoxGears of War: Judgement
The fourth Gears of War Game hits the XBox 360 on Tuesday. The story predates the first three games and centers around Damon Baird and August “The Cole Train” Cole.
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams (XBLA)
This Kickstarter funded game (and one of Valve’s first green light releases available on Steam) is already available for PC but hits XBox live this week. It’s a platform game based off the 1987 Commodore 64 title Great Giana Sisters (Remember that one? Me either!).
PCRetro/Grade
I’m not sure how I missed the existence of this game since there are no less than six plastic (well one of them is technically a Rockband Squier so its not plastic) guitars sitting in my living room right now. Available for the PS3 since last summer it hits Steam this week. It’s a rhythm/shooter hybrid in which you must save the space time continuum. I need to hurry up and finish this article and go download it.
Trials Evolution: Gold Edition
I actually played this at a friend’s on XBox a few weeks ago and the multiplayer was pretty fun. Decent graphics and cool wipeouts and rag doll physics. Hits Windows PCs this week.
Resident Evil 6
RE 6 hit consoles last fall, so if you’ve been waiting for PC now is your chance to pick it up. The game generated some controversy surrounding whether you could really still consider the franchise survival horror anymore. If you’ve survived the six other titles you’ll probably enjoy surviving this one too.
Multiplatform
Walking Dead: Survival Instinct
For me you aren’t going to top Telltale’s version of the game so please other studios just stop making Walking Dead games! This first person shooter is based on the TV series (as opposed to the comics) and is a prequel that explores how the Dixon brothers ended up in Atlanta. While Daryl probably is my favorite character and both actors lend their voices to the game, I can’t help but feel this one is a disaster waiting to happen. Walking Dead is really more soap opera than shoot ‘em up so an FPS just seems wrong.
