PS3 Releases: week of August 11, 2008

on the shelves

08/12: Madden NFL 09 and (20th Anniversary Edition) [metacritic] – I swear, it’s an actual improvement on the game. It’s definitely a step above the previous PS3 versions, especially in game presentation. There’s online leagues, though they’ don’t yet fulfill the promise of taking franchise mode online. It’s amusing multiple reviews note the same thing – the Rewind option (cancel the last play) isn’t something you want for head to head games, but it’s a great fix for the improbable CPU interceptions that always creep in Madden. (It also seems to me this is not a New feature, and they tried this for a few years back in the SNES days. And then, as now and as with stuff like the Madden Card abilities, no one used it because it feels like a cheap unearned advantage.) Not a big fan of the adaptive difficulty and wish the autosave worked a little better so I would stop losing progress, but I’m glad I picked it up.

Downloadable Games
– Bionic Comando: Rearmed {$10} [metacritic] – in for ’08: doing remakes of 8 bit games in the style of 8 bit games. Essentially a port of the original game for the NES released 20 years, with HD graphics and a new final level. There are some control issues, more on 360, but reviews say it’s a faithful recreation with some adjustment to modern gameplaying (unlimited continues, boss battles changed to center around smart use of the weapons rather than lots of attrition) and the addition of offline multiplayer modes.

PS1 Classics
– Street Fighter Alpha

Add on Content
– Rock Band
* “Constant Motion” by Dream Theater ($1)
* “Aesthetics of Hate” by Machine Head ($1)
* “My Curse” by Killswitch Engage ($1)
* “Clouds Over California” by DevilDriver ($1)
* “Runnin’ Wild” by Airbourne ($1)
* “Sleepwalker” by Megadeth ($1)
or all six for, uh, $6. What a deal. All songs jump to $2 on 08/21, and the pack will go up to $10 (which is actually a deal)

Game Demos
– Bionic Commando: Rearmed
– 1942: Joint Strike
– NHL 2K9
– TIger Woods PGA Tour 2009

Game Videos
– The Last Guy (Gameplay)
– Bionic Commando: Rearmed (making of, launch)
– Saints Row 2
– Vampire Rain (2)
– Legendary (BTS)
– Madden NFL (3)
– Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion (trailer)
– Mirror’s Edge Story (trailer)
– AST Dew Tour (4)

PS3 Theme
– BioShock
– Bionic Commando: Rearmed (2)

PS3 Wallpaper
– Bionic Commando: Rearmed (2)

over the horizon (last updated 08/01)

08/21: Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest For Booty (download, $15)

08/26: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 [metacrtic]
08/26: Disgaea 3 Absence of Justice [metacrtic]
08/26: Vampire Rain: Altered Species [metacrtic]
08/26: Ferrari Challenge

08/31: Mercenaries 2: World in Flames [metacrtic]

09/02: Rapala Fishing Frenzy
09/02: TNA iMPACT!
09/02: World in Conflict: Soviet Assault
09/03: FaceBreaker [metacritic]
09/03: NFL Head Coach ’09 [metacritic]

09/08: NHL 2K9
09/09: NHL 09
09/09: Legendary: The Box

09/15: BAJA: Edge of Control
09/16: Pure
09/16: Star Wars: the Force Unleashed
09/16: Madden ’09 En Espanol
09/16: Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust

09/23: Lego Batman
09/23: Cabel’s Dangerous Hunts ’09
09/23: Brother’s in Arms: Hell’s Highway
09/23: Buzz! Quiz TV Bundle
09/23: Just Cause 2

09/30 (maybe): Hei$t (metacritic)
09/30: Shellshock 2
09/30: Silent Hill: Homecoming
09/30: Legandary
09/30: Rise of the Argonauts
10/01: Far Cry 2
10/01: MotoGP 08

10/06: Monopoly Here & Now Worldwide Edition
10/07: Fallout 3, Collectors Edition and Amazon.com Exclusive Survival Edition
10/07: Midnight Club: Los Angeles
10/07: Fracture

10/07: Motorstorm: Pacific Rift
10/07: NBA ’09
10/07: Disney Sing It Bundle w/Microphone
10/07: NBA 2K9

10/14: Saints Row 2 and Collector’s Edition
10/14: SOCOM US Navy Seals: Confrontation Stand Alone and with headset
10/14: Golden Axe: Beast Rider
10/15: Shaun White Snowboarding
10/15: Tom Clancy’s EndWar [metacritic]
10/15: Naruto Ultimate Ninja : Storm

10/20: Dead Space
10/21: Little Big Planet [metacritic]
10/21: Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
10/21: Ghostbusters – perhaps

10/27: Guitar Hero World Tour

At some point: WipeoutHD