The Weekly Release

[bapenguin]

Nothing...I mean NOTHING else matters this week except Uwe Boll's masterpiece, Blood Rayne. I hope everyone is calling in sick tomorrow to go pick up their DVD copy of the director's cut.

On a more serious note there's a few gaming gems this week, don't laugh but Rockstar's Table Tennis is one of them. Heroes of Might and Magic 5 is the other.

The new X-Men movie hits the theaters this Friday. The is the first one not directed by Brian Singer (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001741/) who went on to direct Superman Returns (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0348150/). Hopefully the movie fairs well under the helm of Brett Ratner (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0711840/).


Monday
2006 FIFA World Cup (PSP (http://www.gametab.com/psp/2006.fifa.world.cup/5281/))
Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis (XBOX360 (http://www.gametab.com/xbox360/rockstar.games.presents.table.tennis/5228/))

Tuesday
Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition (PC (http://www.gametab.com/pc/devil.may.cry.3.special.edition/5428/))
Field Commander (PSP (http://www.gametab.com/psp/field.commander/5240/))
Heroes of Might and Magic V (PC (http://www.gametab.com/pc/heroes.of.might.and.magic.v/3911/))
Jaws Unleashed (XBOX (http://www.gametab.com/xbox/jaws.unleashed/4924/), PS2 (http://www.gametab.com/ps2/jaws.unleashed/4925/))
Lemmings (PSP (http://www.gametab.com/psp/lemmings/4273/))
Monster Hunter Freedom (PSP (http://www.gametab.com/psp/monster.hunter.freedom/5427/))
Puzzle Challenge: Crosswords & More! (PSP (http://www.gametab.com/psp/puzzle.challenge.crosswords.&.more!/5258/), PS2 (http://www.gametab.com/ps2/puzzle.challenge.crosswords.&.more!/5429/))
Rogue Trooper (PC (http://www.gametab.com/pc/rogue.trooper/5424/),XBOX (http://www.gametab.com/xbox/rogue.trooper/5425/),PS2 (http://www.gametab.com/ps2/rogue.trooper/5426/))
Steambot Chronicles (PS2 (http://www.gametab.com/ps2/steambot.chronicles/5430/))

Wednesday
Teen Titans (GCN (http://www.gametab.com/gcn/teen.titans/4695/), PS2 (http://www.gametab.com/ps2/teen.titans/4696/))

DVD
Transamerica (http://www.imdb.com/rg/REC_NEW_RELEASE//title/tt0407265/)
Blood Rayne (http://www.imdb.com/rg/REC_NEW_RELEASE//title/tt0383222/)
Deadwood: Season 2 (http://www.imdb.com/rg/REC_SPECIAL_OR_BOX//title/tt0348914/)

Theater
X-Men: The Last Stand (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376994/)

[baz]

I got HoMM5 last Friday (UK Release), and while I really like it, I can't help but feel they did there best to take some thoroughly enjoyable gameplay and surround it by a load of little interface, camera issues so that you can't properly enjoy it.

[Rirath]

HoMM and Table Tennis is this week? Eh, for a moment thought that was Dark Messiah. (I hate this overly long naming convention.) DMoMM seems cool, but I can't help but balk at the comparisons to Obliv. From everything I've seen, it's a FPS with a fantasy setting. I mean, the guided fireballs are cool, but they're obviously just modified Rocket Propelled Grenades from HL2.

Didn't even know X-Men 3 was this week. Sigh, I need to get in more. (Been "out" far too much, no time to follow news.)

[Xaerin]

Hmm Field Commander eh? 3D advance wars? Yes please! Just another month till the "real" release date.

Can't wait to see what everyone makes of the Table Tennis.

[bapenguin]

Can't wait to see what everyone makes of the Table Tennis.

Likewise. I've been talking it up since I went to the preview event. The game is all about 2 player/Live play. Maybe we can get an EvAv tournament going.

[Steve_Erhardt]

Much as I love Deadwoood to death, I have to say, they are fucking nuts charging what they are for 12 episodes.

[JamieSI]

I think I'm going to check out Heroes of Might and Magic V! Has anyone managed to give this a try yet? If so, what do you think?

[Suicidal ShiZuru]

HoMM V sucks. At least the demo/beta did...

[AspectVoid]

I've got HoMMV pre-ordered. The other game I'm interested in seeing is Steamboat Chronicals. It sounds like just the quirky, weired, almost guaranteed to be a fairly low scored game that I end up loving.

[Grifter]

I think I'm going to check out Heroes of Might and Magic V! Has anyone managed to give this a try yet? If so, what do you think?

It's ok, I still think 3 is the best. HoMM V suffers from camera issues, and some serious frame rate drops. If your running a Pentium rig be warned, alot of people are suffering from random crashes. From the Demo we were able to narrow it down to Pentium machines but not a particular chipset. I think they should have worked on it for atleast a few more weeks.

If you don't have any issues with crashes it's still a very fun game just not quite the quality I was hoping for.

[Lekon]

While I admit I'm curious about how Table Tennis will come out, My big draw is Monster Hunter Freedom. I've been playing the Japanese MH2 to death, and have 250 hours or so clocked on it, And I STILL go back for hunts. I'm told this one is a much expanded Monster Hunter 1, sorta a stepping point between one and 2.

I really, really freaking home MHF sells well so capcom can bring MH2 stateside, I liked MH1 despite its faults, and I loved MH2 because it fixed almost all of the faults and made a really great game both offline and online.

[Kelegacy]

I've never played a HoMM game. Is that a travesty, with me being an RPG lover and all?

[Rakael]

I've never played a HoMM game. Is that a travesty, with me being an RPG lover and all?


Neither have I.

[Tetsuo]

Venture Bros Season 1 comes out Tuesday.

[Lekon]

HoMM isn't an RPG at all though. Its a turnbased strategy.

[Demo_Boy]

I've never played a HoMM game. Is that a travesty, with me being an RPG lover and all?

It is not a travesty, since Homm is a turn based strategy game. There is a demo.

Dark Messiah rocks hardcore. It is an FPS with a fantasy theme. The Campaign Multiplayer is gonna be sweet.

[Spigot]

I've got HoMMV pre-ordered. The other game I'm interested in seeing is Steambot Chronicals. It sounds like just the quirky, weired, almost guaranteed to be a fairly low scored game that I end up loving.
I'm with you on Steambot, Aspect. I have the demo here and should fire it up to see what I think of it. It sounds exactly like you describe it though. Quirky, wierd and bound to underwhelm the critics yet be exactly what I'm looking for.

Not much else out this week that I'm particularly interested in. I've got enough on my plate to keep me busy without shelling out cash, though we'll see if I resist Steambot.

[KarmaGhost]

Here's hoping Xmen won't be lame.

[51|RandoM]

PSP library filling out, might be about time for me to pick one up.

[Spigot]

Here's hoping Xmen won't be lame.
I just hope that the actual movie is a lot better than the various previews have been. I've been very underwhelmed with those, but maybe it'll work better in the context of the movie as a whole.

[Keldi]

I was really curious about Rogue Trooper, and I don't really trust demos, so I snagged a copy from Mininova to give it a shot. Since then I've handed it off to two friends, and all three of us are going to go buy copies once it hits stores. It's that good.

Rogue Trooper is like Killzone, but in my opinion a lot more interesting. It has a great sense of pacing, and all the controls are smooth and polished as hell. I'd rank it up there with that Chronicles of Riddick game as one of the best games I've played that's based on an IP.

Not only that, it's only $30. It's about 10 hours of gameplay, but it's 10 hours of very fun gameplay. My friends and I are lucky it comes out this week so we can get some LAN play in this weekend. It's just a shame that Rogue Trooper hasn't gotten very much press or promotion, I'd hate for it to fail... a solid game for a reasonable price doesn't come around very often.

[phantomhitman]

dammit, pingpong comes out today?! i didnt know this, you are suppose to send me a voice message or something through live bap!! this game snuck up on me.

[Worldcrafter]

I'm curious to see Transamerica. It has an interesting premise, and apparently some solid acting. Netflix...away!

[askheaves]

I've never played a HoMM game. Is that a travesty, with me being an RPG lover and all?

It's a travesty, a sham AND a mockery... a traveshamockery...

Yeah, neither have I. Table Tennis FTW!!1 I think I might go Gold just for that, provided it plays well.

[Syl]

Heroes V:
Please don't suck, please don't suck, please don't suck.

[Heretic Machine]

Both Steambot Chronicles and Jaws Unleashed look good to me... But I don't have a lot of money, so I think I'm just gonna opt to get the New Super Mario Bros.

[absolut taco]

Where is the damn Pingpong marketplace demo???

[phantomhitman]

in the dam store, go buy it.

has anyone picked up p1ng p0ng yet?

[Oblivion]

well, I liked hommV demo very very much, it captures the brilliance of homm3 gameplay and adds in an AMAZING art direction. How can you be NOT wowed when you see the cities is beyond me. Also, the fight of the archdevil and the inquisitor on the main menu is excellent, realistic considering how a fight like that will go.

[oldjadedgamer]

I played PingPong at E3 and totally fell in love with it. Great game and can't wait for it to get here! Plus, you can't beat the $40 buck price tag.

[Zurik]

I was Laning HOMMV all weekend. Its an okay game, and it really doesn't do anything better than 3. The biggest gripes:

1. Small maps, we played a very large map, and it took very little time to get from 1 end to the other(From top to bottom, around 3 to 4 turns).

2. Cheap spells: There's one spell in particular. Its a teleport spell anyone gets around level 3 magic. Basically the A.I. would use this to teleport right in front of your town, so no leaving your town unguarded ever anymore. The A.I does alot of cheap things in general, but this is by far the worst.

I haven't had the game crash on us yet(and 3 of 4 people were playing on AMD computers). I'd say if you like 3 and hated 4, than this is still a good game. Don't expect anything spectacularly new and fresh here though.

[dena miscreant]

I always get confused with release dates, as the next day is the day you can actually buy the game...

[thecrazyd]

I played PingPong at E3 and totally fell in love with it. Great game and can't wait for it to get here! Plus, you can't beat the $40 buck price tag.
Sure you can, with a 30 buck price tag.

[The Iron Weasel]

The next new game I buy is going to be Hitman: Blood Money, I'm not sure which version I'm going to buy is going to be though.

[bapenguin]

Sure you can, with a 30 buck price tag.

Wait wait...Bob...I'll bid $1!