Oh my dear god. Two years! That’s how long I’ve been writing these little Coming Soon articles. For 2 years I’ve attempted to make you appreciate the releases that come out each week. How shall we celebrate this occasion? Money would be nice. Send them over when you get the chance. While you’re signing your checks, why don’t you look over the releases coming out this week.

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

Honorable Mention

From Downtown! Wait a minute. Wrong game.

Mario Sports Mix (Wii)

Monday February 7, 2011
That Mario guy sure is multitalented. He can fix your plumbing. He can referee you boxing matches. He can play golf. He can drive circles around you in a kart. The list goes on, and come this Monday, you can add 4 more things to that list. Mario Sports Mix is actually just a mini-game collection of 4 sports: Basketball, Volleyball, Hockey, and Dodgeball. Unlike the Mario Strikers series where it’s a full-on, non-sim soccer game, these 4 sports are somewhat simplified versions of the real sports. First of all, the maximum number of players in any of these games is 4 people, but that isn’t stopping them from adding the little signature things of a Mario spin-off. Signatures like power-ups and unique player characteristics will be present in all 4 of the sports. Probably the weirdest thing about this game is its developer, Square Enix. When did they get into the business of making sports games?

Test Drive Unlimited 2 (Xbox 360, PS3)

Tuesday February 8, 2011
MMOs are starting to bleed into other genres beside the RPG. In this case, it’s the racing genre. Test Drive Unlimited is in short a racing MMO. There’s no such thing as playing by yourself because the game world of Ibiza, based off of the real Ibiza, is populated with other players. You start out as a guy/gal, which you can customize, who must work his/her way up the social ladder of the racing scene in Ibiza by winning races and money to buy better and better cars. You can even use your money to buy houses and clothes to really add some flair to your avatar. All of Ibiza is open to you for exploration Burnout Paradise style, but you can also get out of the car and just walk anywhere. One reason you might want to do this is to meet up with other racers and even check out their rides in person. After you schmooze with the crowd and possibly implant seeds of doubt about their driving abilities, you can then join in on races with other players. Aside from the traditional race to the finish, TDU2 offers other modes as well like one where your average time between checkpoints will determine the winner instead of who crossed the finish line first. One notable mode involves having teams of racers who must race to various checkpoints around Ibiza, but only one racer in each team is shown where the checkpoints actually are. TDU2 definitely sets itself apart from the rest of the racing genre by making the experience an intrinsically multiplayer experience, but will enough people play this to make that work? Stupid chicken and egg conundrums!

You Don’t Know Jack (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, DS)

Tuesday February 8, 2011
Normally a trivia game coming to a video game console isn’t worth much attention, but the You Don’t Know Jack game is different. Well, it’s still a trivia game but one that was made to be the anti-trivia game. Its blend of pop culture, high culture, and comedy sets it apart from the rest of trivia games out there and is the reason why it has such a cult following. More importantly, the series has been dormant for a good while now, so this release seems to mark the series return into the limelight. Fans of the series probably already preordered their copy, but if you’re looking for something to play with your non-gaming friends, You Don’t Know Jack might be for you.

Coming This Week

Tuesday February 8, 2011

Superstars V8 Next Challenge (Xbox 360, PS3)

Fans of the Italian Superstars Series racing championship rejoice! You can now live out your fantasy in Superstars V8 Next Challenge, which features the 2009 season of the Superstars Series. This sim-heavy racer will undoubtedly attract the fans of the racing series and has a nice budget price, but its limited scope might not be enough to attract Forza and Gran Turismo gearheads out there.

Body & Brain Exercises (Xbox 360 Kinect)

Remember Brain Age? Now imagine that with a motion component to it, and you basically get Body & Brain Exercises. That comparison goes even deeper than you think. The famed Dr. Ryuta Kawashima helped developed Body & Brain Exercises as well, and it shows. The key component of this game is your brain’s age, and theoretically speaking, these games will help to lower that age helping to make your brain healthier. That is if you believe any of this stuff. Sixty-seven my ass!

Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll (PS3)

Brought to you by the makers of Dynasty Warriors... I’m sorry. Did I just kill any interest you might have had for this game? I can’t blame you. The name Koei and Omega Force does not instill faith that this might be anything but a new skin on Dynasty Warriors, but if it helps, the trailer for this action-RPG only shows your hero and his 2 companions, which you can literally swap in place at any time, taking on at most 8 enemies. That’s actually kind of promising that this might not be a Dynasty Warriors re-skin.

Magical Zhu Zhu Princess: Carriages and Castles (DS)

If you must castrate yourself but isn’t willing to do it physically or medically, may I recommend Zhu Zhu Princess: Carriages and Castles? If previous games are anything to go by, this one will probably be another 2D platformer that’s aimed squarely at the younger girls crowd. Along the way, you’ll probably find clothes and accessories to make your Zhu Zhu character the prettiest hamster in all the land! Note to self: keep airsickness bags closer to computer next time I type up description for Zhu Zhu games.

Naruto Shippuden: Shinobi Rumble (DS)

Is it me or is the Naruto series competing with Dynasty Warriors for the infamous honor of repackaged content, different title/skin/art assets? This 2D fighter once again pits the characters against each other for whatever story reasons they can come up with. Can’t we take up Rodney King’s advice just this once and just get along?

I still can’t get over how long I’ve been doing this. You better damn well appreciate it! It’s a minor miracle that I haven’t started cutting myself after all the baby games and job sims I had to write about. Enough about me though, anything on this list caught your eye?

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