I’m beginning to notice a really weird trend. Every other week, game of the year contenders gets released while the weeks in between get either almost nothing of any worth or fairly niche titles. Looks like this week falls sort of in the latter.

Remember. Release dates are quite literally made at the whims of the publisher.  The following are subject to change without any warning.

Releases To Watch For This Week

Forza Motorsport 4 (Xbox 360)

Tuesday October 11, 2011
In the land of driving really, really fast virtual cars realistically, you really only have two choices: Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport. For fans of the latter, now you get to play it with Kinect! That’s good news right?

Don’t worry. The entire game hasn’t suddenly gone completely controller free. In this case, the Kinect functionality will be more on the additive side of the spectrum. The most casual use of the Kinect involves letting players race with arms outstretched on an imaginary steering wheel. You don’t even have to gas or brake. You only have to steer. Obviously this mode will be the non gamers in the immediate vicinity of the guy playing Forza. The more hardcore/gearhead focused functionality can be found in the Autovista mode where you get to ogle at from various angles and “touch” a selection of cars, some of which can’t even be used in races like Halo’s Warthog. This mode also comes with a bevy of info about the cars. Finally, it will allow head tracking for player who loves to play in Cockpit view, which I hear is just about everybody.

Of course this being a sequel, it will have all the usual bells and whistles that comes with sequels like improved graphics, better AI, better controls, more cars (over 500 cars from 80 manufacturers), new modes, and on and on, but that’s all a given these days.

Honorable Mention

Dead Rising 2: Off the Record (Xbox 360, PS3)

Tuesday October 11, 2011
Just how popular is this ugly ass, Frank West guy anyways? I’m sure some were upset to hear that Dead Rising 2 had a new protagonist, but enough for Capcom to go back and redo it with Frank West instead? That takes a Sean Connery as James Bond level of fan favoritism.

Capcom is branding this as a reimagining/alternate history take on Dead Rising 2, just in case you were worried with the canon of the Dead Rising universe, and will be included with new combo weapons, new enemies, new missions, a new area, and a returning game mechanic, photography that I’m sure will make all West fans happy. If you missed it, the photography mechanic allows Frank to take pictures, which is then rated on its content and awards experience points based on the rating. In addition, a Sandbox Mode has been added that does away with any story and time constrictions. It simply drops you into the Fortune City mall where you get to do whatever it is that gets you off with these zombies. Funnily enough, it does have one new feature that depending on whom you ask might be kind of controversial. Off the Record actually have checkpoints.

From the sound of the various changes and screenshots, Off the Record looks to be a more lighthearted fare than Dead Rising 2 given the generally goofy getups that Frank West dons and the inclusion of Sandbox Mode. Whether any of these new additions and apparent fan favorite Frank West’s return will be enough to get people to drop more cash, albeit slightly less thanks to the budget price of $40, remains to be seen.

Aliens Infestation (DS)

Tuesday October 11, 2011
Taking two good things and mushing them together may not necessarily make something better, but then again, you don’t really know until you try. That said, the Metroid formula looks to be a good, modular formula that has the potential to be applied to any number of things. Why not Aliens?

In Aliens Infestation a bunch of Colonial Marines have to fend off a bunch of xenomorphs in various locales that should be familiar to fans of the Alien movie series like the space cruiser Sulaco and the planet LV-426. Advancement in Infestation relies mostly on what kind of abilities your Marines have. For example, some doors can’t be open because of some organic substance, but with a flamethrower in hand these doors will easily open to you.

Another interesting mechanic involves the Marines themselves. Through the course of the game, the Marines will find other Marines throughout the environment and will join you, but if the aliens overwhelm a Marine, he or she will be abducted. Then you have five minutes to find the missing Marine before they are lost forever. Infestation only has 20 Marines in total for you to find a recruit, so make damn sure it doesn’t happen more than 19 times.

The DS may be on its last legs, but many will point out that that’s when some of the best games for the system surfaces. Given the pedigree behind Alien Infestation, WayForward has a real knack for 2D platformers, and the magical Metroid formula, Aliens Infestation could be the kick-ass Alien experience we’ve been waiting for in a long while.

Go Vacation (Wii)

Tuesday October 11, 2011
You played Wii Sports Resort right? Did you have fun? I bet you did. Now what if you could explore that island where all the mini-games took place? What if instead of choosing the Bicycling activity from a menu you walk up to the bike rental shop to start it? What if the island was bigger and had more activities? Wonder no more because Namco Bandai went ahead and made exactly that in Go Vacation.

Packed with over 50 mini-games sprinkled liberally around Kawaii Island, which in itself is divided into four themed resort areas, exploring the island on foot or in a vehicle looks to be just as much a part of the experience as actually playing a mini-game. These games include your standard fares like tennis, volleyball, skiing, and various others, but it also has surfing, hang gliding, rafting, a couple of gallery shooters, snowball fights, and even dog sledding.

The mini-game collection genre doesn’t exactly engender any kind of excitement in the hardcore gaming community, but Go Vacation’s inclusion of an open world structure could be the missing ingredient that has been holding back the genre. Of course, all this could easily be derailed by bad controls and having to make 50 activities could mean that the developers couldn’t put enough time in making each one as good as they can be. Nevertheless, at least Go Vacation looks to be trying something different.

Coming This Week

Tuesday October 11, 2011

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon (Xbox 360, PS3)

Notice the lack of number at the end of title. Supposedly, Namco Bandai will be rebooting their dogfighting series, Ace Combat starting with Assault Horizon. Part of their attempt at rebooting the series includes the Close Range Assault system where if you manage to get close enough to an enemy fighter, tapping a button puts the plane on autopilot with the camera locked onto the enemy while you aim your guns and fire. Also, helicopters will be playable for ground strike missions. Not a bad start. How about some UFOs next time?

Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny (PS3, Wii)

Everyone’s favorite farming and dungeon crawling hybrid returns once again with more animal taming, more fields to tend to, and more monsters to beat up. Two friends, Aden and Sonja lived a peaceful like on Fenith Island until one day a mysterious curse changed the entire world around them. Stranger still, the two of them suddenly got stuffed together into one body. Only by exploring their new world with the help of a giant golem will they be able to unravel this strange turn of events. What will farming sims come up with next?

Wipeout: The Game 2 (Xbox 360 Kinect, PS3, Wii, DS)

Really? Six months after one of these Wipeout games comes out and suddenly we desperately need a second collection of mini-games from the ABC TV show? Maybe we really, really need to play Wipeout with the Move or something, but even that feature remains optional. Whatever the reason, at least now I can sate my need to see virtual people get the living bejesus beaten out of them.

Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster (Xbox 360 Kinect)

Rarely does a game developer of note, Tim Schafer of Double Fine in this case, actually go out of their way to make a game aimed at a younger audience. In Once Upon a Monster, Elmo and the Cookie Monster jumps into a magical book. Each of the six chapters in the book consists of a variety of activities from cheering up a monster on his birthday to dancing as shown by Grover. Monster aims for teaching kids about cooperation and having a healthy self-esteem. Noble goals to be sure, which is why I shall refrain from making fun of it.

Kinectimals – Now with Bears (Xbox 360 Kinect)

Stop for a second. Set aside this expansion pack of a game that’s basically just the Kinectimals game that came out on launch day with Kinect with the inclusion of bears as playable pets, and think about that suffix “Now with Bears.” Take anything you can possibly think, and just add “Now with Bears” at the end. Call of Duty – Now with Bears. Assassin’s Creed – Now with Bears. Final Fantasy – Now with Bears. Madden – Now with Bears. iPad – Now with Bears. Ebola virus – Now with Bears. The possibilities are just endless I tell you. Endless!

Dance Dance Revolution II (Wii)

They still make these? Don’t be fooled by the two in the title either. DDR games number in the double digits. Why Konami even try to pass this off as the second game in the series sort of boggles the mind. On the bright side, at least they’ve learned from other music games and now include master tracks of various pop songs. I honestly can’t tell if that is a step up or just plain old sad.

Mahjong Cub3D (3DS)

Ever wonder what playing Mahjong would be like in 3D? Neither have I. I’m sure someone over at Sunsoft thought it was a good idea and even made a special Cube Mode where the tiles are arranged in a cube that has to be rotated to find the matching tiles. If that’s no fun, you can always play the Vs. or Classic Mode. Happy matching!

Professional Fisherman’s Tour (3DS)

Perhaps we’re on to something here. Perhaps the missing ingredient to making fishing games great has always been the need to see the virtual lake and virtual fishes in 3D! Without it, it lacks the necessary immersion required to make it feel like actual fishing. Or not.

Sunday October 16, 2011

Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, 3DS)

You know those Nerf video games that come with an actual Nerf gun? Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure takes that relationship between peripherals and video game to a whole different level. Skylanders actually consist of two products: a third person action adventure video game and collectible figurines. All Skylanders video games come with a special peripheral, along with three starter figurines, that reads the data on the figurines. Each figurine represents a different playable character within the game, which can gain experience points and level up as you progress. Each figurine’s level gets saved into the figurine like a memory card. Kinda makes you wonder why Pokemon hasn’t done this yet doesn’t it?

Late to the Party

• Michael Phelps: Push the Limit (Xbox 360 Kinect) 10/11/2011
• Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet (3DS) 10/11/2011

I’ve no real interest with the headline game of the week, but the games on the periphery sure looks interesting. That Aliens game sounds pretty impressive if it does the Metroid formual correctly that is. How about you guys? Anyone up for some virtual bear petting?

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