Not as much to report this week, as we are post Microsoft Gamers Day and still a ways away from E3.
Ninja Gaiden 2
Reviews for the game have started to creep out, and have been strong, but below expectations. The game is currently averaging in the low eighties on Metacritic/Game Rankings, and is therefore likely to miss the AAA classification allotted to games in my signature.
Common complaints include (in approximate order) camera issues, difficulty levels and doing little the original didn’t do. Other negative points listed included a poor story, though this doesn’t seem to have detracted from the overall score as reviewers were not expecting a strong story and didn’t consider it a necessity for this game.
Feelings throughout the forum community seem to indicate that this is probably the best hack-and-slash this generation so far, but that it’s fallen short of what it could have been. Reviews seem to indicate that if you love the first you’ll love the second, but that it just hasn’t met expectations.
Also, a demo of NG2 just went up on the Japanese marketplace.
New game announcements
Venetica: This console-exclusive (for now) RPG looks like it will add to the Xbox 360’s formidable line-up within the genre. Early screenshots are unimpressive, but the game looks very nice in motion:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/34457.html
The game has a very interesting premise, based around death and its ability to stalk people. Whilst not due until “2009” the game looks like it will be another one to look out for. Zenfolder pointed out that it looks slightly similar to Fable. Whilst nothing could touch the sheer awesomeness that is the Fable series, comparisons to that game can only bode well.
Shaun White Snowboarding
The most interesting things about this title (too me) are the promises from Ubisoft that it will feature:
· Open World Mountains: Choose how you ride in open-world mountains across the world. Conquer extreme peak conditions, create your own paths in the back country, or compete with fellow riders in the terrain parks.
· Authentic Snowboarding: Ubisoft has worked closely with Shaun White to infuse the gaming experience with authenticity, personality and humor. Shaun is a friend and mentor in the game, and will help you with your skills. And, if you are deemed worthy, you may even be able to play as Shaun in the game …
Prince of Persia
This title is in here because I am unsure if it had been officially announced prior to Ubidays. The HD CGI trailer can be found here:
http://xboxmovies.teamxbox.com/xbox-360-hires/6952/Prince-of-Persia-UbiDays-Trailer-HD/
It looks extremely impressive but unfortunately, speculation that the Prince’s new partner would lead to co-operative play has been shot down by the developers.
Beyond Good and Evil 2
I know nothing about this series, but the sequel was announced, along with a trailer.
Ubidays 2008
In addition to Prince of Persia, Ubidays brought us new trailers from many other games, as well as information about some of the massive publishers other titles.
There was a new trailer from the first dog-fighting Tom Clancy game H.A.W.X. as well as the announcement of the above titles BGaE2 and SWS. Then, there was an amazing trailer for Far Cry 2 that had console owners drooling and PC fans downplaying the graphical brilliance.
Trailers for all the Ubisoft games can be found here:
http://www.xboxic.com/news/4711
The Far Cry 2 thread that features this stunning quote from the mod that just banned me twice for trolling can be found here:
http://vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?id=28053
“Except for the pop-in, slowdown, weak 30FPS framerate, and lower resolution it looks exactly like the PC version. 
That's like saying "Except for this knife in the back of my head, I feel great!"”
Rumours and other info
It appears that Bioshock (which was just announced for PS3) will be seeing extra content on all three platforms.
http://news.spong.com/article/15475?cb=997
There is speculation that Haze will appear on Xbox 360 in December. This speculation was accompanied by 360 fans jokingly claiming they don’t want the game on their console, PS3 fans jokingly claiming that the game’s exclusivity was never important to them, and starcraft making a perfectly reasonable joke about the game’s inadequacies, and those of its developers, which subsequently got him banned.
Starcraft was missed
This section will be getting a related thread shortly. Maybe.
Quote of the week
Once again the quote is from my wall, and once again it is from the magic mouth of OkeyDokey:
Damn straight it ain't summer. I'm freezing here.
Tsk, tsk Starcraft. If you wanna go around trolling, you'll have to build up a good reputation first.
You'd be amazed at the shit I can get away with :D
starcraft - Playing Games = FUN, Talking about Games = SERIOUS
