VC Import Mondays - March 10, 2008

Well considering most people haven't turned off Super Smash Bros. Brawl since the huge midnight launch on Saturday night, Nintendo must have decided to change up the Virtual Console releases for this week by releasing 2 Japanese import titles:

• DoReMi Fantasy: Milon 's DokiDoki Adventure (SNES - 900 Wii Points)
  
• Puyo Puyo 2: Tsuu (Sega Genesis - 900 Wii Points)

I do not know much about these two titles because they were never released in North America, but fans of Super Mario Bros. 2 know that the original American release of that game was just a "Mario" updated version of DokiDoki Panic, which is obviously from the same series as DoReMi Fantasy. I still don't understand why Nintendo has to charge a 100 point premium for a game that never gets localized for North America and is distributed digitally, costing them the same price to release any other game, but that's beyond me! Til next Monday, see you on Brawl!

Weekly Releases - March 11, 2008

Another mediocre week on the game release front...it's just that time of the year

Playstation 3:

• Condemned 2: Bloodshot
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2008

Nintendo Wii:

• Super Smash Bros. Brawl
• House of the Dead 2 & 3

Obviously this is the week of the Wii. Brawl is really a special game and is alrady the front runner for Game of the Year. I never invested in a Wii Zapper, but House of the Dead looks like a good play, even though this is just an example of Sega looking to make a dollar on the popularity of the Wii.

Deals of the Week - March 9, 2008

Sorry for the delay in updating the site, but I am officially back. Now here are some good deals of the week:

First of all, today is Super Smash Sunday and if anything is a deal, Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) is a dal and a half at its regular price of $49.99. After playing a few hours of Subspace Emissary (Adventure Mode), I can tell you that this game has plenty of value for the dollar.

Toys r Us:

Speaking of Brawl, if you plan on picking up Brawl this week, Toys r Us is the place. With the purchase of Brawl you get 50% off the price of the strategy guide (reg. $19.99) or the one of the following games at 50% off:

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (reg. $49.99)
Bee Movie Game (reg. $39.99)
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 (reg. $49.99)
Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros Treasure (reg. $29.99)
The Spiderwick Chronicles (reg. $49.99)
MySims (reg. $49.99)

Best Buy:

With Condemned 2: Bloodshot being released on 3/11, Best Buy is giving you a $10 giftcard with the purchase of the game.

80GB is not dead! Dual Shock 3 in April

Reports from across retailers over the past month revealed that the 80GB PS3 was being pulled from store shelves and thus killing the backwards compatibility of Sony's Playstation 3. Today SCEA announced something much better than the old 80GB Motorstorm pack: The 80GB Metal Gear Solid 4 Dual Shock Pack! No release date has been announced from the SKU, but I expect it to ship in June, day and date with MGS 4. This pack will include an 80GB PS3 (with software emulation for PS2 backward compatibility), a copy of MGS4, and a Dual Shock 3 controller for $499.99! With the Motorstorm pack available for the same price, this new pack is a no-brainer.

For those of you who just want to get their hands on a Dual Shock 3 like me, they will be released for $55 on April 15, 2008 to coincide with the release of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. I hope their is a Gamestop or another video game retailer located next to your post office, being that you will be mailing out your taxes on that day anyway.

Haze finally has a release date!

Haze, the Sony exclusive first-person shooter from developer Free Radical has a new release date of May 20, 2008. Haze was originally due out in November 2007, but had been delayed and never heard from again. This FPS will be a good playthrough in between GTA IV & MGS 4 (due out of April 29 & June 12 respectively) and features 4 player online co-op. Hopefully the 7 month wait gave Free Radical enough time to freshen up the framerate and overall gameplay.

Metal Gear Solid 4 in June & Online Beta Available

Straight out of the Destination Playstation retailer's meeting, word has spread that Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot's will be released on June 12, 2008. Kojima Productions had promised for a worldwide release of MGS, so I can neither confirm or deny if this date reflects just North America.

In addition to that news, customers who pre-order MGS 4 will be able to participate in the public online beta for Metal Gear Online, the online component for MGS 4 that will be updated throughout the year following MGS 4's release. Details on the pre-order program have not been released yet, but the beta is set to begin in the end of April. Rumors late last year reported that only Japan would get a beta, but it seems that this may be a worldwide initiative.

VC Mondays - February 25, 2008

In the final Virtual Console update for February, Nintendo finally gives us a N64 game. As of 12:00PM EST the following games were available:

• Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (N64 - 1000 Wii Points)
• Psychosis (TG-16 - 800 Wii Points)

I never played either of these games when they were released in the 1990's , so I can't give an opinion on any of them. I am a fan of Kirby games so I may think about giving it a shot, but I will be too busy playing Portal on Orange Box that I just picked up as the Deal of the Week. What do you think of this week's releases?