Spring Break
'Tis the season to be a gamer
Fernando Dutra
Issue date: 9/2/08 Section: Focus
After the initial excitement of returning to campus wears off, students begin to seek refuge and escape from their classes. One form of escapism comes when playing video games. Couple the end of the fall semester with the onset of the holidays and game companies stand to gain much from the subsequent mounting anticipation, causing key franchises and blockbuster titles to be released between October and December.
This year's sweet spot will see the release of titles like "Resistance 2" for Sony's Playstation 3 (PS3), "Gears of War 2" for Microsoft's Xbox 360 and "Animal Crossing" for Nintendo's Wii. These are the prospective heavy hitters for each of the game companies, though this fall and winter promises much more for console gamers. Dates are always subject to change based on the publisher's discretion, so don't anticipate too much (see Grand Theft Auto IV's missing last holiday, for example).
Last week Silicon Knights released "Too Human" for the 360, the first game in a trilogy-much like Bioware's "Mass Effect." "Too Human" has become infamous for its tumultuous history; problems with Epic's widely licensed "Unreal Engine 3' stalled game development. After a playable demo got panned at last year's E3, studio head Dennis Dyack went on the defensive. Regardless, the game is finally here and was released to reviews running the gamut in their take on the game.
This week sees the release of Rare's "Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise" for the 360, Pandemic Studio's "Mercenaries 2: World in Flames" for the PS3 and 360, and Square Enix's 360-exclusive "Infinite Undiscovery." On Sept. 7, Will Wright's "Spore" will be released for the PC alongside "Spore Creatures" for the Nintendo DS.
On Sept. 14, "Rock Band 2" will be released for the Xbox 360. The PS3 version will be released on Oct 19, while other versions will be released after that date. "Rock Band 2"s official tracklist has already been released and will include AC/DC, Steve Miller Band, Beck, The Guess Who and Jane's Addiction, among others. Six downloadable albums have already been announced, including Foo Fighters "The Colour and the Shape," Red Hot Chili Peppers "Blood Sugar Sex Magick," Jane's Addiction's "Nothing's Shocking" and Megadeth's "Peace Sells … But Who's Buying." Tracks from the first Rock Band will be available on "Rock Band 2," but they must be transferred and there will be a small fee to do so.
This year's sweet spot will see the release of titles like "Resistance 2" for Sony's Playstation 3 (PS3), "Gears of War 2" for Microsoft's Xbox 360 and "Animal Crossing" for Nintendo's Wii. These are the prospective heavy hitters for each of the game companies, though this fall and winter promises much more for console gamers. Dates are always subject to change based on the publisher's discretion, so don't anticipate too much (see Grand Theft Auto IV's missing last holiday, for example).
Last week Silicon Knights released "Too Human" for the 360, the first game in a trilogy-much like Bioware's "Mass Effect." "Too Human" has become infamous for its tumultuous history; problems with Epic's widely licensed "Unreal Engine 3' stalled game development. After a playable demo got panned at last year's E3, studio head Dennis Dyack went on the defensive. Regardless, the game is finally here and was released to reviews running the gamut in their take on the game.
This week sees the release of Rare's "Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise" for the 360, Pandemic Studio's "Mercenaries 2: World in Flames" for the PS3 and 360, and Square Enix's 360-exclusive "Infinite Undiscovery." On Sept. 7, Will Wright's "Spore" will be released for the PC alongside "Spore Creatures" for the Nintendo DS.
On Sept. 14, "Rock Band 2" will be released for the Xbox 360. The PS3 version will be released on Oct 19, while other versions will be released after that date. "Rock Band 2"s official tracklist has already been released and will include AC/DC, Steve Miller Band, Beck, The Guess Who and Jane's Addiction, among others. Six downloadable albums have already been announced, including Foo Fighters "The Colour and the Shape," Red Hot Chili Peppers "Blood Sugar Sex Magick," Jane's Addiction's "Nothing's Shocking" and Megadeth's "Peace Sells … But Who's Buying." Tracks from the first Rock Band will be available on "Rock Band 2," but they must be transferred and there will be a small fee to do so.
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