New Releases for the Week of December 4, 2011

Photo of Robert Allen Robert AllenDecember 2, 2011
35 1,230 2 minutes read

With last week’s lackluster offerings behind us, the next seven days looking remarkably brighter, with a handful of interesting choices. From the return of a few familiar titles (Final Fantasy VI, The Oregon Trail and the seventh iteration in the Mario Kart series) to a handful of promising new games (Nano Assault and Fortune Street), holiday shopping lists may need some thirteenth-hour adjustments.

360
The Adventures of Tintin: The Game

PS3
Final Fantasy VI (PSOne Classic)
Just Dance 3
The Adventures of Tintin: The Game

Wii
Fortune Street
Jaws: Ultimate Predator
Oregon Trail
The Adventures of Tintin: The Game

3DS
F1 2011
Jaws: Ultimate Predator
Mario Kart 7
Nano Assault
Oregon Trail
Outdoor Unleashed Africa 3D
Outdoor Unleashed Alaska 3D
The Adventures of Tintin: The Game

DS
7 Wonders: Treasures of Seven
Face Racers: Photo Finish

PSP
Final Fantasy VI (PSOne Classic)

PC
Defense Grid: Your Monster
Field of Glory: Decline and Fall
The Adventures of Tintin: The Game

SeanNOLA’s Pick: A big shoutout to Majesco for laser-targeting the worst possible day to release Face Racers: Photo Finish for the 3DS. I can only assume that the budget cart racer is only a tool in a larger, avant-garde “life as art as life” piece, where dozens of programmers were forced to work toward the impossible goal of usurping the cart-racing throne on a tight budget, only to be thwarted at the end by the release of the far superior and infinitely more recognizable Mario Kart 7, just two days prior to their near-silent release. Bravo, Majesco. I openly weep after gazing into your tribute to the futility of Man’s hard work and sacrifice. Bravo.

DesertEagle’s Pick: Beyond the obvious choice of Mario Kart 7, players shouldn’t overlook Fortune Street. Known as Itadaki Street overseas (where the series was originally conceived by Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii), the game offers a satisfying complex economics situation that builds on the fundamentals of a board game like Monopoly. With a cast of recognizable Nintendo and Square-Enix characters, I’ll be pushing my Blue Slime toward one-percent/Illuminati status.

BlueSwim’s Pick: It seems like every week Deagle says or does something that makes me think that he and I are somehow related. I, too, am going to pick Fortune Street over the shell-tossing racing antics of Mario Kart 7 on the 3DS. Like Rayman Origins, the reason I’m picking Fortune Street is because I believe it could get overlooked this holiday season. Until I saw a review for it this week, I had no idea it was coming out anytime soon. Heck, I barely even remember hearing about it coming to the U.S. to begin with. Unless you have a blood-feud with board game video games, you might want to check this one out.

Samurage’s Pick: This week I gotta go with The Adventures of Tintin. The movie the game developers worked together to make the game a seamless part of the film’s story and environment, and they say they tried to keep the style and feel closely tied. I’d say that much effort deserves a look.

Photo of Robert Allen Robert AllenDecember 2, 2011
35 1,230 2 minutes read
Photo of Robert Allen

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.

35 Comments

  7. Damn NOLA, why do you have to wreck my dream around in a car with my big face on it. MY FACE!

    You suck.

    (not really. you’re rant was pretty good)

  8. Outdoor Unleashed Africa 3D and Outdoor Unleashed Alaska 3D? They couldn’t get brown and white on the same cartridge?

  9. I’ll wait for the steering wheel, gear shift, and space chair to come out before getting F1 2011 for the 3DS.

  12. Mario Kart 7 will get my money. I played so much of the DS version when McD’s has free wifi its not even funny.

    1. Is it the same game as the old Xbox version? Eating people was fun, but the game was pretty unpolished.

    1. From his nerdiness on the podcast, I’d say he’d choose a sim boardgame over a shmup. I could be wrong though.

  22. Really Sage? Tintin? How much are they paying you for that pick? Make sure Deagle isn’t pimping more than 20% off the top.

    Licensed games which come out day and date are almost never good.

    1. Well firstly, I have never been, and never will be, for sale. Secondly, in general I agree with you, usually franchise shit is, well, shit. But I saw an interview with the developers of the game in which they talked about all the detail they covered with the movie directors and other people closely tied to the tin tin series. I appreciate games that try to create cohesion to a series, whatever that series may be. So, I’m interested to see if it’s any good, even if it only ends up being good for kids and die hard tin tin fans. As much as I am anti-franchise, I’m more anti-not-checking-something-out-just-because-it’s-franchise.
      Cheers~!

      1. I like the way you tell it like it is, Sage.

        BTW- I think that’s just a running joke about getting paid to endorse games. It’s on EVERY site that reviews.

      1. Fortune Street already has Dragon Quest in it. Adding Dragon Age would push the game into overkill.

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