New Releases for the Week of August 26th, 2012

Madden Football 13The old adage “good things come to those who wait” certainly applies to PS3 owners this week. With no less than four collections culled from triple-A franchises (along with a high-def adaptation of the first two Tony Hawk titles), this week’s new release list is swarming with salient memories of gaming recent past. In keeping with the retro-minded proclivity, developer Harmonix is returning to their roots, delivering Rock Band Blitz, a title that shirks those pervasive plastic instruments for a standard controller- recalling the developer’s first two efforts, Frequency and Amplitude.

360
Damage Inc. Pacific Squadron WWII
Madden NFL 13
Mass Effect 3: Leviathan (XBLA, DLC, $10)
Rock Band Blitz (XBLA, $15.00)

PS3
Damage Inc. Pacific Squadron WWII
God of War Saga
inFamous Collection
Journey (Collector’s Edition)
Lights, Camera, Party! (PSN, $29.99)
Madden NFL 13
Mass Effect 3: Leviathan (PSN, DLC, $9.99)
Psychonauts (PSN, PS2 Classics, $9.99)
Ratchet & Clank Collection
Rock Band Blitz (PSN, $14.99)
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD (PSN, $14.99)

Wii
Madden NFL 13

3DS
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3D

DS
No Releases

Vita
Madden NFL 13

PC
Damage Inc. Pacific Squadron WWII
Forge of Empires: Colonial Age
Guild Wars 2
Knight Age
Mass Effect 3: Leviathan
Paper Sorcerer
Panzer Corps: Afrika Korps
Starvoid
They Bleed Pixels

DesertEagle’s Pick: The first three Ratchet and Clank games show a developer in the midst of a spotless stride, with each title delivering a captivating mix of engaging action, an profusion of upgradeable weapons, and a roster of charming characters. Although the original games aren’t too visual antiquated, I’m still looking forward to seeing Captain Qwark and company exhibited in 720p backed with a rock steady framerate.

Ratchet and Clank HD Collection

Samurage’s Pick: There was a time when Mountain Dew carried me through the night and, best friend by my side, we battled back and forth for the title of track master as the frenetic tempos of Frequency pounded out base beats and melodies. That time has long passed and I no longer imbibe massive quantities of Mountain Dew, however, I am very interested to see what Hamonix has done with the controller based rock band release. I’d go with the 360 release of Rock Band Blitz over PS3– the newest PSN update has proved problematic for some Playstastion owners.

Rock Band Blitz

SeanNOLA’s Pick: There was a time when I was all about flight simulators. I imagine it was the same time that everyone else was into them, we’ll call that time “The Early-To-Mid Nineties.” The PSOne pulled me out of that phase, by ensuring that the $100 flight stick that I saved up for would only work with one game. I haven’t heard a lot (or anything for that matter) about Damage Inc. Pacific Squadron WWII, but the collectors edition comes with a pretty sweet flight stick, and I’ll be damned if it didn’t get that old motor running. Maybe it’ll be great, maybe not, but at least I’ll get a rad joystick out of the deal, right?

Damage Inc Pacific Squadrun WWII

BlueSwim’s Pick: Brace yourselves, everyone! I’m NOT picking WWE: WrestleFest. My vote this week actually goes to Rock Band Blitz. Even if you have no interest in the Frequency/Amplitude/Rock Band: Unplugged style of gameplay, Rock Band Blitz is still worth a purchase for one golden reason; it double as a twenty-five song track pack for Rock Band 3. Some setlist highlights include “Bang Your Head (Metal Health)” by Quiet Riot, “I’m Still Standing” by Elton John, and “Cult of Personality” by Living Colour (C.M. Punk’s WWE theme song). Long-time Rock Band fans should also be pleased by the returns of “Spoonman” by Soundgarden and “Give It Away” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, two songs that were not a part of the Rock Band 2 song export due to licensing issues. Add to that the fact that Rock Band Blitz supports Rock Band‘s entire DLC catalog and you have a game that’s a steal at $15.

Rock Band Blitz

About Robert Allen

Since being a toddler, Robert Allen has been immersed in video games, anime, and tokusatsu. Currently, his days are spent teaching at two southern California colleges. But his evenings and weekends are filled with STGs, RPGs, and action titles and well at writing for Tech-Gaming since 2007.

28 comments

  1. Sony put out all their collections during the exact same week? Huh?

    • It’s almost like they are all dumping them at once. Interesting strategy.

      I do have to agree with Des, the first 3 R&C games are all great. For $10 each, if you don’t have these, you need to pick them up.

  2. I guess it’s that time of year for Madden.

    I do wish Psychonauts got the HD treatment, but since I don’t own it anymore, I may have to get the PS2 classic version.

  3. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD didn’t have a long exclusivity deal. Summer or Arcade was a pretty short season this year.

  4. Even though I already own some of the God of War Saga’s games I might have to pick up the complete package or suffer the wrath of Kratos.

  5. Even though I have the first inFAMOUS, I’m looking forward to the collection just to have both games together on a disk that I don’t have to swap out.

  6. I’m curious as to how close Madden for Vita is to the console version. Sport games have been good (FIFA) to bad (MLB). Of course, I really don’t care about football, just how EA will handle it.

  7. Ive been waiting for Guild Wars 2. At BB, you get $60 off a video card, in case anyone is interested.

  8. Madden 13 at midnight for me. Let’s go Niners.

  9. Lights, Camera, Party! isn’t out? I thought Ive seen the game on the clearance racks.

  10. Jeremy basically said ‘it is what it is’ when trying to figure out why gamers were cold to Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD.

    I’ll tell you why- gaming has moved on. Even open ended games give people a bit of direction if they want it. Just offering tasks without explanation is pretty dated now.

    • Yea, but you could say the same thing any time a Final Fantasy remake comes out, but people gush over those. Just because media evolves doesn’t mean you can’t revisit and enjoy the classics, you just need to keep an open mind.

      • People are begging for a FF7 remake, and if SE gets around to it, people will know how old the game feels.

  11. Damage Inc. looks like it might be fun. Not sure if its $100 fun, though.

  12. Ratchet & Clank Collection. It’s my favorite series.

  13. Interesting topic discussion Jeremy. I saw the tweet but haven’t listen to the podcast yet.

    I think you can’t really evaluate a work unless you look at the conditions it was made under. I mean games are the work of people who are influenced by others.

  14. I wonder if Madden NFL 13 will more better this year. Last year was a decrease in quality for game.

  15. I think it’s always fun to look at what came out a year ago. Luckily that pops up in your “you might be interested in” widget.

    Madden? Check?
    No name flight sim? Check (last year it was Air Conflicts: Secret Wars)

    and to match Legasista, Cladun X2 came out.

  16. MADDEN AT MIDNIGHT SUCKERZ!

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