THIS WEEK’S RELEASES: SEPTEMBER 24TH – SEPTEMBER 30TH
I’ve got to admit, I was a bit surprised by the sheer number of titles releasing this week. I had figured with the Halo 3 behemoth coming to town, just about everyone (at least on the Xbox 360) would steer clear of the inevitable retail mauling. Looks like I was wrong.
I could go on about how the first Halo truly put the Xbox on the map with innovative (if at times repetitive) gameplay and how the second revolutionized online gameplay and matchmaking, but instead I’ll stick with Halo 3 itself and the hope that it will finally deliver on the promise of all out Human vs Covenant warfare on Earth. If Bungie can pull that off, then it will indeed be a fitting end to the saga of Spartan 117.
For those wondering, I’ll be standing outside of my local game shop tomorrow night for the midnight release, and with some luck, I should have some pictures of the Legendary Edition packaging and contents up when I get back from the store or early the next morning. I’m really interested to see whether or not the “original storyboard art” the Legendary Edition is supposed to contain is actual storyboard artwork direct from Bungie or just a cheap reproduction of what was on hand. I won’t lie here, I’m still extremely angry about the way Microsoft is treating Legendary Edition buyers by not including the hardcover art book Limited Edition purchasers get, but in the end, the game collector in me won out and convinced me to keep my Legendary order intact.
Yes, I’m both a consumer whore and a sucker. I know this, so no need to e-mail me on it. I also know that for the extra money I’m shelling out for the Legendary Edition, I could purchase one of those awesome Master Chief statues from Kotobukiya, so there’s no need to e-mail me about that as well.
Simply put, I’ll be putting common sense in the trash bucket on this one and going for the shiny object in the corner. Should the Legendary Edition wind up for sale used at $19.99 at some point, feel free to e-mail me about that one. We’ll both get a good laugh out of that bit of news.
Here are the week’s retail highlights;
- Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts (PC)
- Halo 3 (360)
- Bungie’s blockbuster trilogy comes to a conclusion as the Master Chief faces off against the forces of the Covenant and the Flood once more. By now you know whether or not you’re excited about this one, so there’s really no need to say more here, is there?
- NBA 08 (PS2, PS3 & PSP)
- Sony tries it’s hand at basketball once more, but if last year’s effort is any indication, you’ll want to stay away from this one.
- skate (PS3)
- Electronic Arts turned it’s eye towards the skateboarding genre when it released this game a few weeks back, and now it’s made it’s way to the PlayStation 3. Word is it takes a more realistic approach to skateboarding than the Tony Hawk series. Time will tell.
Be sure to check out the below list for all the titles you can expect to find at retail this week.
- 30,000 Games – PC – 9/25/2007
- Big Buck Hunter – PC – 9/25/2007
- Bratz: The Movie – PS2 – 9/25/2007
- Bratz: The Movie – WII – 9/25/2007
- Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts – PC – 9/25/2007
- Halo 3 – 360 – 9/25/2007
- Halo 3 Legendary Edition – 360 – 9/25/2007
- Halo 3 Limited Edition – 360 – 9/25/2007
- Hour of Victory – PC – 9/25/2007
- Jackass: The Game – PS2 – 9/25/2007
- Jackass: The Game – PSP – 9/25/2007
- Math Play – DS – 9/25/2007
- Original Frisbee Disc Sports – DS – 9/25/2007
- Pirate’s Revenge – PC – 9/25/2007
- skate – PS3 – 9/25/2007
- Spelling Challenges and More! – DS – 9/25/2007
- Tarr Chronicles – PC – 9/25/2007
- Animal Genius – DS – 9/26/2007
- Backyard Basketball – DS – 9/26/2007
- Backyard Hockey – DS – 9/26/2007
- Balls of Fury – WII – 9/26/2007
- Brain Spa – PC – 9/26/2007
- Cabela’s Big Game Hunter 2008 – PC – 9/26/2007
- Crayola Treasure Adventures – DS – 9/26/2007
- CSI 4: Hard Evidence – PC – 9/26/2007
- CSI: 3 Dimension of Murder – PS2 – 9/26/2007
- Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party Bundle – WII – 9/26/2007
- Dance Dance Revolution: SuperNova 2 – PS2 – 9/26/2007
- Dance Dance Revolution: SuperNova 2 Bundle – PS2 – 9/26/2007
- Dora the Explorer: Candyland – PC – 9/26/2007
- Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire – WII – 9/26/2007
- Ghost in the Sheet – PC – 9/26/2007
- Go Diego Go: Safari Rescue – PC – 9/26/2007
- Hot Wheels Beat That – PS2 – 9/26/2007
- Hot Wheels Beat That – WII – 9/26/2007
- NBA 08 – PS2 – 9/26/2007
- NBA 08 – PS3 – 9/26/2007
- NBA 08 – PSP – 9/26/2007
- Race Driver: Create & Race – DS – 9/26/2007
- Settlers: Rise of an Empire – PC – 9/26/2007
- Soul Nomad – PS2 – 9/26/2007
- World Series of Poker 2008 – PS2 – 9/26/2007
- World Series of Poker 2008 – PS3 – 9/26/2007
- CSI: Hard Evidence – 360 – 9/27/2007
- Hot Wheels Beat That – 360 – 9/27/2007
- Marvel Ultimate Alliance Enhanced (Platinum Hits) – 360 – 9/27/2007
- World Series of Poker 2008 – 360 – 9/27/2007
- Kurupoto Cool Cool Stars – DS – 9/28/2007
- Arctic Tale – DS – 9/29/2007
- Battleship/Connect 4/Sorry/Trouble – DS – 9/29/2007
- Left Behind: Eternal Forces Expansion Pack – PC – 9/29/2007
Please keep in mind these are only estimated release dates and could change at any time.
MAME32 .119.1 RELEASED
Following in the footsteps of the latest MAME update, MAME32 v.119.1, the Windows GUI port of MAME v.119u1 is now available. The same advice I gave about the latest build of MAME applies to this version of MAME32 as well.
Check out the official MAME32 page here for more details and the download links.
- MAME32 – Official home of MAME32
MAME V.119U1 RELEASED
The updates continue on the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator, as version .119u1 is now available for download. This update contains major changes to both Sega Model 2 and Namco System 21 emulation in addition to the usual bug fixes. Because of these changes, I’d recommend holding off on upgrading your installation until the next full release unless you’ve got a specific reason to do so. As always, those of you interested in testing this build for the dev team should download the update and then head on over to MAME Testers to find out how to get started.
The updated emulator files can be found at the official MAME development page at Mamedev.org. You can Click here to see the full list of what’s new in this update.
