Did you have to put in overtime to buy your PS3, as was so kindly suggested? Here in the States, magnanimous Sony realized that you may not have that opportunity, thus granting us a lower price on the console when compared to what folks in the UK are paying. 1up has a fun little story about world economics, and average individual purchasing power, and other things that might seem to imply to you that America got the sweet end of the stick. It’s all numbers to me, though. I’m not good with them. Have you ever read Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle? Whenever Eliza would launch into another economics lesson, my mind kept wandering back to: "Her husband had a DIY glass vibrator. Weird."
The Shivering Isles expansion pack to last year’s The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is available for download now from the Xbox Live Marketplace, coinciding with the boxed release in stores. Actually, it may not be available right now, because Xbox Live is undergoing some maintenance today. But take heart in the fact that it’s not far away! The download weighs in at about a gig, though memory won’t be such a prized commodity once you get your hands on…
The new 120 GB Xbox 360 hard drive! With the Elite version of Microsoft’s console confirmed to feature this larger HD, it was only a matter of time before the individual add-on was announced, or so I say in retrospect. This makes me personally happy, because I’m not going to be buying one of the Elites and, knock on morningwood, won’t have to purchase another console once the improvements hit the regular premium SKU. All these episodes of Star Trek in HD take up quite a bit of space.
Well, shoot. Take2 Interactive, publishers of the Grand Theft Auto series, have been undergoing some troubles lately, what with being accused of conspiracy and generally having shitty luck with investors. The company was up for sale as of a month ago, but it looks as if they have been unable to find a buyer. This suggests a lot of unhappy investors and shareholders, come Thursday. In keeping with my uncomplicated vision of economics, I assume this means that each and every board member will be held personally liable by stockholders, and run out of town on a rail.
My favorite site for import reviews, GameBrink, has just posted their review of the Japanese release of Sim City DS, a title whose North American port I’m eagerly awaiting. The site gives the game a solid score of 81, criticizing the difficulty maneuvering around the virtual city on the DS’s small screens, and praising the intact, freeform gameplay many of us grew up on.
I enjoyed (and continue to enjoy) the hell out of LEGO Star Wars 2, so the confirmation of Traveller’s Tales work on LEGO Batman makes for some giddy good feelings right around my midsection. It’s not hard to picture the Dark Knight manifest in the world of quirky, silent humor where these previous LEGO properties have inhabited. I imagine it’ll be kind of like the Adam West show, but with the frequent, satisfying sound effect of blocks clicking together. Everything in its right place.
In closing, Puzzle Quest is awesome, and here are the releases for this week:
PC:
Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars
Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles, The
Baseball Mogul 2008
Disney’s Meet the Robinsons
Xbox 360:
Disney’s Meet the Robinsons
Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles, The
Dance Dance Revolution Universe
Jetpac Refuelled (Xbox Live Arcade)
PS3:
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell – Double Agent
PS2:
Made Man
Medal of Honor: Vanguard (PS2, WII)
Disney’s Meet the Robinsons
Red Star, The
Metal Slug Anthology
PSP:
Virtua Tennis 3
Hard Rock Casino
Wii:
Medal of Honor: Vanguard
Disney’s Meet the Robinsons
Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire (Virtual Console)
DS:
POGO Island
Honeycomb Beat
Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits
Settlers, The (gimme)
Disney’s Meet the Robinsons
Since I know you’re going to rush out and buy it immediately, Disney’s Meet the Robinsons is also being released on GameBoy Advance and GameCube. What?