3rd: Metroid: Other M (Wii)
10th: Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (X360/PS3/Wii/DS)
24th: Civilization V (PC)
24th: Dead Rising 2 (X360/PS3/PC)
24th: Metal Gear Solid Rising (PS3/X360/PC)

In other September news, Sony promptly tries to get into the “motion gaming” market Nintendo created 4 years ago with Move and I think Beyoncé is releasing a new remix of a popular ballad of hers, called Halo: Reach, or something.

Here’s to a great September!

Oh and the StarCraft II beta has launched! If the only good thing to come out of it is this thread, it’ll still be one of the most worthwhile projects ever. Anyway, here’s this month’s list:

9th: Final Fantasy XIII (PS3/X360)
19th: God of War 3 (PS3)

That’s 1.5 PS3 exclusives, and they might actually be… passable? That’s some record Sony is setting.

Next JRT episode on track for mid-March!

9th: Bioshock 2 (multiplatform)
16th: Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth (DS)
23rd: Heavy Rain (PS3)

As a reminder, I’m not saying any of the other games coming out this month aren’t promising, it’s just that I’m personally not as excited about your Star Trek’s Inferno Chronicles as I am about the above three.

Here’s to a lovely February!

Link’s Valentine’s courtesy of Scott Ramsoomair of VGcats.

Wedged between an idyllic 2008 and a promising 2010, 2009 was a pretty mediocre year for videogames, especially since Modern Warfare 2 scared many interesting titles away from the holiday season. It’s finally behind as, and here are the games I’ll be looking forward to the most this first month of 2010!

7th: Darksiders (X360/PS3)
8th: Bayonetta (X360/PS3)
29th: Mass Effect 2 (X360/PC)

One of videos I didn’t manage to finish due to the festivities was a 2009 recap, where I focused on the two games that are on everyone else’s Games of the Year lists and my top two picks (which, of course, also appear in many such lists). My candidates were Assassin’s Creed II and Batman: Arkham Asylum.

I’ve analysed ACII, both in text and video form, and I might eventually do a proper review of Arkham Asylum, but, to summarize: It’s really surreal that a relative newcomer, Rocksteady Studios, released such a textbook example of a videogame, and it’s that precious detail that serves as my tiebreaker. Congratulations Arkham Asylum, you are my Game of the Year!<

Contact me if you want the bumper sticker.

Most of my reviews will probably be considerably shorter, but I like to be as informative as possible and keep even the casual gamer in the loop. For a high-profile sequel such as Assassin’s Creed II, that means quickly going over the original, the special editions and the downloadable content, so the run-time piles up.

Still, some bits are edited out, believe it or not. For example, I really wanted to debate whether “Assassins” is an accurate name for our hero’s group. They are vigilantes, sure, they take the law into their own hands, but assassins?

When I think of an assassin, pop culture makes me picture someone you’d hire to sneakily & efficiently terminate an enemy.

In Assassin’s Creed the self-proclaimed Assassins usually kill out of their own volition, to protect their beliefs, and they go about it using the most extravagant methods possible. There is no poisoned food or drinks, there are no “accidents” or staged suicides.

You might argue that you can play it very sneaky if you want, but the gameplay clearly regards complete stealth as a secondary matter. Besides, even in the short movie, Assassin’s Creed: Lineage, Giovanni reveals himself early in order to have time to make his little speech first. The bad guys of the AC universe actually prove much more assassin-like in their ways.

Now, I’m fine with fiction breaking stereotypes, but I’d like some acknowledgment that the writers do realize that if an average person met an assassin, they wouldn’t curiously look at their ring finger and assume they’re looking for Templars to kill.

That would be like having something as strikingly unconventional as vampires that sparkle in the sunlight or werewolves that are unaffected by the moon, yet every supposedly normal person in your universe acts all nonchalant about it. That would drive me crazy.

Speaking of which, if you are a new visitor, you might want to first check the lighter, more “newcomer-friendly” JRT episodes, Punch-Out!! & Monkey Island SE. Of course, we also have the epic, 5-part, Metal Gear Solid 4 review/playthrough, but its terrifying length & troubling sound means it’s probably best left for last.

Also, under the break follows a list of new releases most likely to help us have a fantastic December!

4th: James Cameron’s Avatar (Multiplatform)
4th: The Saboteur (Multiplatform)
8th: Tales of Monkey Island Finale: Rise of the Pirate God (PC/Wii)

Yeah, it’s a slightly underwhelming holiday line-up, especially for us Europeans, but fear not, for we have enough reviews in the back-burner to easily keep us rolling until January, even in the unlikely case that I actually manage to churn-out videos every week!

Even though I did like the original and had high hopes for this one, Ubisoft still managed to surprise me positively with Assassin’s Creed II. More insight when the video review goes live, hopefully by the end of the week!

I feel it’s wiser to build up a buffer for a while and then release new reviews every couple of weeks at worst, rather than keeping up the current rate of one video per month, at best.

Meanwhile, feel free to be distracted by my list of promising games coming out this month!

6th: Dragon Age: Origins (Multiplatform)
10th: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Multiplatform)
17th: Left 4 Dead 2 (PC/X360)
20th: Assassin’s Creed II (X360/PS3)
20th: New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)

Also, I’m finally commited enough to this project to start using the diabolical “social networking service” called Twitter for promotion. Check my feed for hints as to which review is coming up and for the pop songs that are stuck on repeat while I’m editing.

2nd: FIFA 10 (Multiplatform)
9th: Scribblenauts (DS)
16th: Brutal Legend (X360/PS3)
16th: Uncharted 2 : Among Thieves (PS3)
30th: Football Manager 2010 (PC)

Will this be the month where I’ll manage to post a video review within a week of a fresh release? Finish up the site? Start advertising? Be intelligible? Stay tuned to find out!

Monkey Island SE was stealth-released amongst the flutter of countless monocles and spillage of gallons of tea by surprised gentlemen everywhere. I thought I could resist its siren call and focus on a concurrent title but, come release day, I knew I just had to play and review it properly. Whether it matched my expectations or tarnished cherished memories, it would definitely make for a good show. So, the other review I was working on was put on hold and I barely didn’t make posting this before leaving for holiday again.

But it’s a great way to start September!

This is my first “straight-to-video” review: the script was written solely for a video version, as approaching this from both the perspective of someone who has played the original and of someone who had not, wouldn’t work as well on paper. It also contains a few spoilers, but I believe you can only pick them out if you already know what’s going on.