Console Releases for Week of 9/20

[Queasy]

Links go to Metacritic

PS2
[*]Scooby-Doo! First Frights
[*]Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash Up

PS3
[*]Katamari Forever
[*]Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection

Xbox 360
[*]Halo 3: ODST
[*]Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection

Wii
[*]Animal Kingdom: Wildlife Expedition
[*]Family Party: 30 Great Games Outdoor Fun
[*]Scooby-Doo! First Frights
[*]Spyborgs
[*]Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash Up
[*]The Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft
[*]The Price Is Right: 2010 Edition
[*]Wacky World of Sports
[*]Where's Waldo? The Fantastic Journey

Nintendo DS
[*]Fabulous Finds
[*]James Patterson: Women's Murder Club - Games of Passion
[*]Just in Time Translations
[*]Scooby-Doo! First Frights
[*]The Price Is Right: 2010 Edition
[*]Where's Waldo? The Fantastic Journey

PSP
[*]Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

 

[Kabob]

Once again Nintendo puts out 5x the content of everyone else.

Not really anything I'm interested in, ODST looks decent...ish...if you like Halo.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: kabob983
Once again Nintendo Third-Party developers shovel out 5x the content of everyone else.

fixed

 

[erwos]

I'll take half a pound of gold over ten pounds of trash, thanks.

 

[Kabob]

Originally posted by: erwos
I'll take half a pound of gold over ten pounds of trash, thanks.

Show me the gold, please? Other than a (to me) tired Halo series game no one else is offering much more...

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: kabob983

Originally posted by: erwos
I'll take half a pound of gold over ten pounds of trash, thanks.

Show me the gold, please? Other than a (to me) tired Halo series game no one else is offering much more...

Heh. Everyone is scheduling their releases around Halo 3: ODST instead of trying to go against it this week.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: kabob983
Once again Nintendo Third-Party developers shovel out 5x the content of everyone else.

fixed

:thumbsup:

 

[AstroManLuca]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: kabob983

Originally posted by: erwos
I'll take half a pound of gold over ten pounds of trash, thanks.

Show me the gold, please? Other than a (to me) tired Halo series game no one else is offering much more...

Heh. Everyone is scheduling their releases around Halo 3: ODST instead of trying to go against it this week.

And a lot of people will buy it despite it being simply a new single player campaign for Halo 3. As far as I know, there are no additions for multiplayer and in fact, ODST and H3 players will play alongside each other in matchmaking.

Doesn't make sense to buy it unless you are a die-hard Halo fan who has to have every single player game or if you never bought H3 in the first place and want to get the full version with all the new maps.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: kabob983

Originally posted by: erwos
I'll take half a pound of gold over ten pounds of trash, thanks.

Show me the gold, please? Other than a (to me) tired Halo series game no one else is offering much more...

Heh. Everyone is scheduling their releases around Halo 3: ODST instead of trying to go against it this week.

And a lot of people will buy it despite it being simply a new single player campaign for Halo 3. As far as I know, there are no additions for multiplayer and in fact, ODST and H3 players will play alongside each other in matchmaking.

They've added Firefight (Halo version of Horde mode but with vehicles and other Halo trappings). They've also added three maps that are exclusive to ODST or now.

Doesn't make sense to buy it unless you are a die-hard Halo fan who has to have every single player game or if you never bought H3 in the first place and want to get the full version with all the new maps.

I think the different style/non-Master Chief single-player campaign + Firefight + the three new maps + all the existing maps + Halo Reach Beta make this a great value. Especially if you haven't purchased any of the map packs.

 

[J]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: kabob983
Once again Nintendo Third-Party developers shovel out 5x the content of everyone else.

fixed

LOL!

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

Hey, another rehash of the Williams Pinball Classics collection. I'm stunned!

I saw some video of Spyborgs on Kotaku, looked like a decent Wii game.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Hmm, I didn't realize ODST included the full Halo 3. I don't have any of the Halo games so that might make it a buy for me.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Hmm, I didn't realize ODST included the full Halo 3. I don't have any of the Halo games so that might make it a buy for me.

Just the multiplayer. Not the single-player.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Hmm, I didn't realize ODST included the full Halo 3. I don't have any of the Halo games so that might make it a buy for me.

Just the multiplayer. Not the single-player.

Yeah, but you can easily finish Halo 3 singleplayer during a Blockbuster rental period (+ grace period if necessary). If you'd play the multiplayer it's a no-brainer to buy ODST and rent Halo 3 if you want to play its singleplayer. ODST comes with the Legendary map pack, the Mythic map pack (3 maps each, ~$18 total) plus the three new maps. Heroic map pack also comes with ODST, but is free to download for Halo 3.

If you're only interested in single-player I'd probably rent both and buy neither. Especially since Dave has plenty of games to play through still, no reason to play through Halo twice. Best way to find out if you're interested in the multiplayer is to start by renting Halo 3. If you do get into the multiplayer, you can forget about your pile of unplayed games.

 

[gorcorps]

Wasn't this the TMNT game that was sort of like SSB? Might be interesting.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: mugs

If you're only interested in single-player I'd probably rent both and buy neither. Especially since Dave has plenty of games to play through still, no reason to play through Halo twice. Best way to find out if you're interested in the multiplayer is to start by renting Halo 3. If you do get into the multiplayer, you can forget about your pile of unplayed games.

Good advice. The last multiplayer I was hooked on was UT2004 on PC, I've been too busy with my stack of unplayed RPGs to even try console multiplayer. Who knows whether I'll be able to adapt to auto-aim and a controller instead of KB+M?

But if I do get hooked I might never make it to Persona 3 or Ico

 

[mugs]

It took me about 20 hours of gameplay to progress from console FPS n00b to a pretty decent console FPS player. I'm somewhat above average now, though my skills have slipped since I've only been playing a couple of hours a week.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons

Originally posted by: mugs

If you're only interested in single-player I'd probably rent both and buy neither. Especially since Dave has plenty of games to play through still, no reason to play through Halo twice. Best way to find out if you're interested in the multiplayer is to start by renting Halo 3. If you do get into the multiplayer, you can forget about your pile of unplayed games.

Good advice. The last multiplayer I was hooked on was UT2004 on PC, I've been too busy with my stack of unplayed RPGs to even try console multiplayer. Who knows whether I'll be able to adapt to auto-aim and a controller instead of KB+M?

But if I do get hooked I might never make it to Persona 3 or Ico

by the time you play through the campaign you'll be like KB+M?? PFFFTTT!! f that!

 

[R Nilla]

Maybe this will help tip the scales. There's a hell of a deal for Halo 3 ODST on Amazon right now, especially if you are an ECA member. $50.99 + $10 gift card (- 10% ECA discount).

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

Originally posted by: R Nilla
Maybe this will help tip the scales. There's a hell of a deal for Halo 3 ODST on Amazon right now, especially if you are an ECA member. $50.99 + $10 gift card (- 10% ECA discount).

Probably only a hell of a deal if you think a Halo 3 expansion pack is worth $40-$51. But yeah, better than $60 everywhere else.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Krakn3Dfx

Originally posted by: R Nilla
Maybe this will help tip the scales. There's a hell of a deal for Halo 3 ODST on Amazon right now, especially if you are an ECA member. $50.99 + $10 gift card (- 10% ECA discount).

Probably only a hell of a deal if you think a Halo 3 expansion pack is worth $40-$51. But yeah, better than $60 everywhere else.

Toys R Us is doing a $20 Gift Card plus an ODST Action Figure.

 

[R Nilla]

Originally posted by: Krakn3Dfx

Originally posted by: R Nilla
Maybe this will help tip the scales. There's a hell of a deal for Halo 3 ODST on Amazon right now, especially if you are an ECA member. $50.99 + $10 gift card (- 10% ECA discount).

Probably only a hell of a deal if you think a Halo 3 expansion pack is worth $40-$51. But yeah, better than $60 everywhere else.

It's not an expansion pack if you don't own Halo 3. Pretty good deal for a brand new game regardless.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: R Nilla
Maybe this will help tip the scales. There's a hell of a deal for Halo 3 ODST on Amazon right now, especially if you are an ECA member. $50.99 + $10 gift card (- 10% ECA discount).

I pre-ordered, and it still shows $59.99 on my invoice. When they adjust the price before release they update it for pre-orders, so they must have changed this price today. That really bugs me, because I believe they ended their policy of updating orders on request if the price changes after you make a purchase. I e-mailed them anyway, hopefully they're reasonable and refund the $9. The $10 credit supposedly applies to all existing pre-orders, so I should at least get that.

 

[R Nilla]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: R Nilla
Maybe this will help tip the scales. There's a hell of a deal for Halo 3 ODST on Amazon right now, especially if you are an ECA member. $50.99 + $10 gift card (- 10% ECA discount).

I pre-ordered, and it still shows $59.99 on my invoice. When they adjust the price before release they update it for pre-orders, so they must have changed this price today. That really bugs me, because I believe they ended their policy of updating orders on request if the price changes after you make a purchase. I e-mailed them anyway, hopefully they're reasonable and refund the $9. The $10 credit supposedly applies to all existing pre-orders, so I should at least get that.

There's a large thread on CAG about this very issue. It seems like everyone that has contacted Amazon has promptly received a $9 refund. It's not clear (to me, anyway) if this deal started today or sometime yesterday.

Amazon did something similar for Batman AA where they offered a $10 credit a day or two after the game came out. They're generally good about applying refunds/credits to people that email to complain but it still sucks to offer a better promotion right after a game comes out that doesn't apply to preorders (without complaining).

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

Originally posted by: R Nilla

Originally posted by: Krakn3Dfx

Originally posted by: R Nilla
Maybe this will help tip the scales. There's a hell of a deal for Halo 3 ODST on Amazon right now, especially if you are an ECA member. $50.99 + $10 gift card (- 10% ECA discount).

Probably only a hell of a deal if you think a Halo 3 expansion pack is worth $40-$51. But yeah, better than $60 everywhere else.

It's not an expansion pack if you don't own Halo 3. Pretty good deal for a brand new game regardless.

I seriously question whether a substantial number of people who would buy ODST would have not bought Halo 3.

I think the percentage would be minuscule at best.

Everything I've read puts the average time to complete the single player campaign at 5-6 hours if you do it in a leisurely manner, 4 hours if you barrel through.

Also, the re-introduction of health packs from a franchise that pretty much introduced the idea of regenerating health? Seems like a major step backwards.

I say this all as someone who played through and beat Halo 1-3 and enjoyed them quite a bit. This seems like the definition of milking to me.