Welcome to another week of JOE’s videogame round-up. As always, we’re looking to provide you with up-to-the-minute news, download reviews, weekly charts and forthcoming release dates on a weekly basis. So if there’s anything you think we’re leaving out, or would like us to shine a spotlight on, feel free to leave a comment below.
News
Developers Rare urge hardcore gamers to ‘try’ Kinect
This looks incredibly dangerous, let’s hope Kevin Bacon doesn’t show up either
One of the biggest disappointments of this year’s E3 convention was the surprisingly disappointing, casual-gamer-friendly Kinect software lineup, though UK developers Rare (of Goldeneye 007 and Perfect Dark fame) have now begun to assure hardcore gamers that they won’t feel left out after the launch of Microsoft’s motion sensor peripheral. Rare’s Kinect development director Nick Burton has been keen to assuage any fears or disinterest over the device this week, by assuring gamers to ‘have a go on Kinect, period.’
Burton went on to suggest that Kinect is “one of those things you’ve got to have what I call your ‘Kinect moment’, when you realise… And we see this, we saw it at Gamescom and E3, people go, ‘Oh, it’s way better than I expected. It’s way more high fidelity than I expected.’ Acknowledging a lack of buzz among core gamers, Rare’s development director mentioned “when you’re looking at a video on the internet and you’re reading the write-ups, it’s very difficult to get, well I think it’s probably impossible to get that feeling.”
Brad Pitt to star in Red Dead Redemption: The Movie?
Could this man be Brad Pitt? Quite easily, we reckon
After the surprise worldwide success of the cinematic version of Prince of Persia this summer (it disappointed in the US but made a healthy profit overseas), Hollywood may have found a new golden goose after years of exhausting superhero backcatalogues – videogame adaptations. With Bruce Willis and Jamie Foxx set to team up in Kane & Lynch and Matthew Fox rumoured to play Commander Shepard in Mass Effect, another Hollywood A-Lister could be portraying a gaming hero – Brad Pitt. Pitt is apparently the ‘hot favourite’ to star as John Marston in an adaptation of Red Dead Redemption, at least according to celebrity gossipmongers Showbiz Spy. Pitt already proved his Western chops in a 2007 Jesse James drama, so he certainly fits the bill.
Download of the Week
Furry Legends: Chapter One (Nintendo WiiWare -Â 1000 Wii Points)
Fine, we’ll admit it’s been a pretty slow week for downloads
Maybe we can expect better downloadable releases next week. For now, we half-heartedly recommend Furry Legends: Chapter One, a motion-control title that bears more than a little resemblance to the iPhone ball-based platformer Rolando. Holding the Wii remote sideways, Legends involves guiding your furry-faced protaganist through a number of side-scrolling environments. No, it’s not exactly going to change the world but if you’re looking for disposable thrills, you could do a lot worse.
Friday Releases 03/09/10
This isn’t going to end well for the purple dinosaur/alien
Finally, it’s a big week for new releases, with the standout title being inarguably Metroid: Other M, the long-awaited return to Nintendo consoles for everyone’s favourite bounty hunter, Samus Aran. Combining 2D platforming in 3D environments and first-person shooting camera angles, Other M is an ambitious diversion for Ninja Gaiden developers Team Ninja. As the second reboot for the fabled series in the past ten years, Other M has tough shoes to fill after the well-received first person shooter/platforming antics of Retro Studios’ Metroid Prime Trilogy. Can Team Ninja pull it off? Reviews have been largely positive, though many critics have derided the title’s cringe-inducing inclusion of lengthy monologues for our typically silent protaganist. Either way, we’ll try get hold of a copy asap to fill in our faithful readers.
Xbox 360
Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. 2
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Playstation 3
None
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Wii
Metroid: Other M
Tetris Party Deluxe
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PSP
Valkyria Chronicles II
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Nintendo DS
WordJong
Mean Girls
Clueless
Little Book of Big Secrets
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PC
Terrorist Takedown 3
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