New Game Releases: October 25th-31st, 2013
With the holiday shopping season just weeks away, it’s time for publishers to cast their lures, as they hope to reel in distracted consumers. While most of the week’s gifting options are decent, such as 2K’s console and PC bundles or the coupling of two Transformers titles for the Wii, others are far more outrageous. Case in point: Angry Birds Star Wars. While the beloved bird-catapulting game can be purchased on smartphones for about a dollar, Activision is poised to take advantage of brand familiarity, charging thirty and fifty dollars for console and portables versions. Likewise, Doodle Jump’s adaption to the Nintendo 3DS is similarly overpriced. So please, do all the non-game savvy shoppers in your life a favor by making sure they hit the stores with a calculated agenda.
PlayStation 3
2K Power Pack Collection (BioShock 2, Darkness II, Mafia II)
Angry Birds Star Wars
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
Batman: Arkham Origins
Battlefield 4
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures
WWE 2K14
Wii
Angry Birds Star Wars
Transformers Ultimate Battle Edition (Cybertron Adventures, Dark of the Moon)
Wii U
Angry Birds Star Wars
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
Baseball (Virtual Console, $4.99)
Batman: Arkham Origins (Also on eShop, $49.99)
Monster High: 13 Wishes (Also on eShop, $39.99)
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures
Pinball (Virtual Console, $4.99)
Sonic Lost World (Also on eShop, $49.99)
Xbox 360
2K Power Pack Collection (BioShock 2, Darkness II, Mafia II)
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate HD (XBLA, $14.99)
Batman: Arkham Origins
Battlefield 4
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures
WWE 2K14
3DS
Angry Birds Star Wars
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate
Beyblade: Evolution
Doodle Jump
Jewel Master: Cradle Of Egypt 2 3D (Also on eShop, $29.95)
Monster High: 13 Wishes
My Little Baby 3D (eShop, $29.99)
Regular Show: Mordecai & Rigby in 8-Bit Land (Also on eShop, $29.99)
Sonic Lost World (Also on eShop, $49.99)
Star Soldier (Virtual Console, $4.99)
PS Vita
Angry Birds Star Wars
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate
PC
2K Definitive Strategy Collection (Civilization V, XCOM: Enemy Unknown)
Batman: Arkham Origins
Battlefield 4
Football Manager 2014
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures
Robert’s Pick: When I first spotted some of the abysmally low review scores a number of European outlets had given Sonic Lost World, I wondered if they had played the same game I had. While I spotted a few minor control issues across the demo stages, none of these blemishes prohibited me from having an exhilarating time fun with this visually plush, hyper-kinetic platformer. This weekend I plan on spending some quality time with Blue- you know the one who doesn’t idolize wrestling and Sailor Moon.
Gonçalo’s pick: This is a hard one for me, we have the Regular Show –a game that seems to be a throwback to the late ’80s and early ’90s done right, but on the other hand I’ve always been a bit of a Batman fanboy. In the end, my love for the Dark Knight surpasses my appreciation for Way Forward’s take on the Regular Show, so for the next month I’ll likely be filling my days quoting Michael Keaton and Christian Bale (editor- but not Clooney?)
Assassin’s Creed IV, Arkham Origins, and Battlefield 4 are coming out the same week? Man, I hope some retailer is having a B2G1 free sale.
Hold tight. Target and TRU have one every year in November.
Who is charging $50 for Angry Birds Star Wars. That shit is almost criminal.
Someone arrest Amazon.com NAO!
http://www.amazon.com/Angry-Birds-Star-Wars-Nintendo-u/dp/B00DWXV27C
But for $49 more you get “20 exclusive new levels created just for the console game”. 😉
I have a feeling Batman: Arkham Origins is going to drop in price quick. My GS usually does good business. on Friday night, only two copies had been sold.
They didn’t even promote the game. Except for this site and one other, there’s been barely any press for the game. I’ll wait it out, until Origins hits $20.
Just like movies, when reviews are held until release day, it’s a bad sign.
That was people are unlikely to move/cancel their preorders based on average/bad reviews.
Plus Rocksteady is no longer handling development.
Warner Bros. Games Montreal is, which mucked up the Wii U version of Arkham City. Not a good sign.
Battlefield 4, PC version.
About a year ago, I wouldn’t think about picking up anything but the console game. Now, I’d rather have the PC one. No compromises. I heard even the PS4 and Xbone versions won’t be as good as the PC version.
I’ll pick up Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag for Xbox and then when I get my Xbone, upgrade for $10.
Don’t know where to post but I figured this would be a good spot.
Just came back from the Xbox One Tour. First impression: wow, I think I’ll wait for this generation to get going.
I played Killer Instinct, it was ok, but hardly the game that shows off the capability of the next gen. It really looked like a 360 game.
Forza was really disappointing. The default setting that had it on made it so anyone could drive. When I when it to adjust the assists, the Xbox people got all worried. I guess hitting the home button would crash the system. Once they ok-ed with two supervisors, I did a lap. Its ok. Basically Forza 4, but the picture actually looked worse- there were so many jaggies.
The controller is ok, except for the bumpers. One thing that is coo is the vibration in the triggers. Basically, that’s what you are spending $500 for. They also were showing the new Kinect Sports, but so many people had problems with it, they they took the game off it.
In short, Xbox One feels rushed. No way would I buy one right now.
They’re showing off the console to gamers, not to the press. That’s a reason to be worried.
I have not committed to a pre-order and will even think about getting a next-gen console until there’s a game that takes advantage of the power and isn’t available on Xbox 360 or PS3.
Also, I want a game console, not a all -in-one device, so the Xbox One turned me away.
I don’t know who to blame for the skepticism of this gen- the hardware makers or internet communities. Usually before a launch, it’s nothing but excitement. Now, it seems the news is little disappointments like day one patches, features not being ready, games being delayed.
Blame NeoGAF and the echo chamber of negativity.
Can MS survive all the negativity? Should be interesting.
If there’s a silver lining in all this it’s that you can’t buy good press yet.
MS isn’t the only one. With the PS4 only offering two completely new new retail game, Killzone and Knack, I’m pretty disappointed as well.
I’ll wait this one out for a year or so.
So true. GAF is like a car accident. It’s so hard to not look, but it’s almost always tragic.
Pretty much my friends reaction. He went to the one in Pennsylvania today and told me, maybe it was $300 I might consider it. But $500 is a big chunk of change. With games still coming out for the Xbox 360, I can wait a while.
By that time Ryse, Forza 5 will be $20-$30.
Considering how the old Major was pumping up the game I’m surprised you didn’t “see Titanfall” there.
They showed it at E3 and it’s the Xbone’s killer app right now, right?
They were showing the Xbox One here in the UK. Needless to say, I was underwhelmed.
The games themselves were OK, just a bit better than this gen. The real concern is that they were shown in 720p. I asked and it was because they were using 720p TVs. When I asked if the final games would be putting out 1080p, the reps had a brief roundtable before telling me “we don’t know” and “we can’t speak on it”
This was the basic theme- silence. They didn’t seem proud of the system, instead they seemed more interested in preventing a negative soundbite from getting out. So average-looking and playing demos coupled with a lack of enthusiasm left me wanted to avoid the Xbox One.
You know you were playing a demo and not the final build right? Those are still e3 demos loaded on those trucks
Why, so close to launch would Microsoft show off old demos?
Also, I thought it was confirmed that at E3, the demo units were actually PCs, not Xbox One hardware.
The thing is, when you show demos to the public, most people are going to think that’s what the system is capable of.
First impressions and all that. Seems as if MS might be doing themselves a disservice.
Saw this impression (cross-posted for ease)
Recently, I had the chance to play the Xbox One and its launch games on an event floor at an Xbox Tour event in my region. I returned being highly disappointed in the system: Even knowing the Xbox One isn’t going to be the most powerful of consoles, I expected much bigger a graphical improvement than I got to see with my own eyes.
Even Ryse’s and Forza 5’s gameplay visuals didn’t strike me as a breakthrough, they seemed more of a refinement of current generation graphics than the great leap that I expected to experience after eight years. Battlefield 4 looked downright terrible (and Kinect leaning constantly interfered with unimpeded gamepad gameplay – I finally put a carton in front of the sensor to get a good go at the game), FIFA 14 didn’t seem noticeably different from current gen and even Dead Rising only looked so-so.
Another thing to dislike about the Xbox One was the controller: The shape of the lower grips made it uncomfortable to hold, the sticks seemed too tiny and the bumpers were just strange (the amount of force needed to press them just didn’t seem right/comfortable).
The Kinect only games on display were on an equal footing with current gen Kinect in terms of gameplay. The increased recognition fidelity wasn’t immediately noticeable or beneficial in these games. The console itself seemed pretty clunky and big, and Kinect is a huge monster of a camera bar.
People that recognize my username on this forum may realize that I’ve preferred the PS4 to the Xbox One for a long time now for rational reasons (better performance, more interesting line up, cheaper) Even then, I didn’t expect to get this negative an impression out of this event – it’s kind of shocking really.
IGN 5 point somethinged Sonic as well. So it’s not just the Euro sites.
Looking forward to Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag this week.
You picked Sonic Lost World over BF4 AND AC IV? What is this madness? 😉
Ive been playing a bit of Arkham Origins. Its ok, but a step back for the series.
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