Games to the Video! High Five!

Alright. Welcome to the first half of 2009 "Games to the Video."

If you are new to this nonsense, well let me explain. "Games to the Video" is my biannual (of late anyways) post of all the games I am looking forward to in that half of the year. If you would like to check out my previous installments, here are: 1, 2, 3, and 4. So yeah. If you still don't get it, this post includes all of the video games that I am excited for that are stated to be released some time in the first half of 2009.

I got my release dates from four sources: www.gamespot.com, www.ign.com, www.gamestop.com, and en.wikipedia.org. Gamestop gave me "exact" release dates, while the rest gave me Q1 and Q2 or TBA. Everyone knows that Gamestop just wants preorders so they lie. I put them anyways. The first four games are the only ones that the four sources could agree on a single date, so I went with that. The rest, only one source (usually gamestop) could agree upon, so I put that in italics and parenthesis.

Some games are appearing on this list that were on "Games to the Video 4," but that's because release dates were pushed back. Not too many though.

After this business, I'll also post some honorable mentions, which are games that look kinda fun, but I'll defintely wait for reviews for. Stuff like that. After that, I'll give you my impressions of the games from "Games to the Video 4" list. Got it? I'm continuing on with the post with or without you.

On a side note, Dragon Age Origins was originally on this list, but had to be removed because someone decided it would be a good idea to release the PC version alongside the console versions in November (I'm going to blame EA, even though they started to get some of my respect).

Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers: Oh gosh. I talked about this game from E3. Nothing has changed really, except it's getting closer to release. You got Bikini's and Zombies. Can't complain too much. Lots of blood too. I think I mentioned I like over-the-top blood in video games. Does that make me violent? No, but it does make me happy. Again, the premise is two sisters fighting zombies, God of War style. Says February 10 for the relase date. Wii only, but this is the second game in the series, and the first one is going to be re-released for the 360 around the same time. In fact February 10 for that one too. They updated the date on me at gamespot.

Damnation: It was in my previous games to the video, but it was pushed back obviously. This game is infuenced by Steampunk. Steampunk is basically saying "What if modern electricity wasn't invented." Everything would run with gears, and steam. It looks to me like Gears of War meets Prince of Persia. I'm feeling it. Story originally caught by eye. It takes place in an alternate history of the United States, where the Civil War has gone on into the 20th Century. You are a rebel and have to fight against an arms dealer's army. It will be released for the Playstation 3, PC, and XBox 360. The release date says March 3, but for some reason Gamespot has it listed for the PS3 for April 21. I'm thinking March 3 because of the other sources.

Madworld: Ohmygosh! A Wii title with over-the-top violence. You caught me! I so happy! What first got me interested in the game is the fact that it is made by Platinum games, which has the creative genious of Clover Studios, who is the awesomeness behind Okami, Viewtiful Joe, and God Hand. The blood and Violence and Wiiness are just iceing on the cake. I'm sure there's a story, something about Dark Watch. Different art direction on this one. Completely Black (no greyscale) and white, with red blood. Kinda sceptical, because I've seen a crappy movie that I could follow that took the same approach... not Sin City. I can't remember the movie, it was so bad. Anyways, that's not what the game is about. I saw the art style, and it looks good for the game. I'm pumped for it. Expect it March 10, and only for the Wii.

Resistance Retribution: I love the Resistance series. So a PSP version makes me glad I own a PSP. I'll need to dust it off and charge it, but I have one. Resistance Retribution fills in the gap between the first and second game. I've heard that the controls are similar to Syphon Filter, which did well on the PSP. Actually I just read that the controls are better than Syphon Filter. Some people got an early demo. I didn't, but one will be released soon and I'll scoop that up. March 17, and for the PSP only.

inFamous: Open world, super powers, and karma. We have ourselves a game. You get super powers in the game. The power to control electicity. You can do a lot of stuff with that power. Throw cars, kill people who are standing in water, and oh so much more. inFamous is also open world. Also has the karma system, in which if you kill inicent civilians, they will hate you, but if you help them, they will help you and love you. Ah. There's a story. Like he got his powers from an explosion, and the city is littered with gangs and there are no cops. So it's up to you. Anyways, inFamous is suppose to be released Q2 (May 1?) of 2009 for Playstation 3 only.

Batman: Arkham Asylum: Hey it's Batman! Maybe he'll be in a good game. This one is actually looking good. It looks dark, and takes place in Arkham Asylum, hence the subname. Batman is taking Joker to the chair, and the Joker escapes, letting loose all the other inmates in the process. Oh Joker. You're such a joker... anyways. Batman and Joker are voiced by the same guys that voiced them respectively in the cartoon series that we all grew up on. So it should at least sound like Batman. Looks fun. Expect this Q2 (May 5?) for the PS3, 360, and PC.

The Conduit: You guys might not have heard of this one. One of the few Wii exclusives for the hardcore gamer that are suddenly popping up. It's a first person shooter. I'm hearing good things about the controls, and the graphics so far from previews. The story involves and alien race called the Drudge (for some reason I picture an Asian person saying "the Drudge"... not saying that I'm proud of it). Anyways you need to kill these aliens. There's more of a story, but it's pretty in depth on wikipedia. Says Spring (May 19?) and is a Wii exclusive.

Dark Void: I'm starting to loose interest in this game. But then I relook it up, and it makes me smile with delight. The lack of updates, though is making me sceptical. In fact nothing new to add from the last "Games to the Video" so copy and paste time! It's a third person shooter. It's kinda like Gears of War: it has the same cover machanic as Gears. The interesting thing is that you have a jet pack. It's more of a vertical shooter. You go up instead of forward. Like I said, interesting. There's other cool things, like free falling and killing cybernotic Watcher's. It just looks cool. I'm keeping an eye on it anyways. Oh, and Unreal 3 Engine. There I added something new. And the new release date is Q1 (May 1?) of 2009 for the PC, 360, and PS3.

I Am Alive: The trailer made me curious, you see. Not much is known about the game, except that it will make the player make life changing descisions. I think it's just the mystery of the game trailer that keeps me interested in this game. Oh well. It works. Now here's the kicker. Release date is To Be Announced, or Q1 of 2009 and Gamestop doesn't even list it. For some reason I put down Q2 2009. Must have been a reason i did that. The game comes out for 360 and PS3 sometime in the future.

Alright, some honorable mentionables. I think I'll mention House of the Dead Overkill. I like the House of the Dead series, but this one doesn't sound as good. I hear rumors of Wii minigames, and that never ends well in my opinion. We'll see though. February 10, is the release date.

I have to mention Killzone 2, since I'm a PS3 owner. Plus it got a 5/5 on XPlay. It's not out yet though. I might peer into a little more when it's released. It's like if Gears of War and Halo had a child. I don't know if I want another shooter though. We'll see again. February 27 for the release date.

Speaking of Halo, I'm going to mention Halo Wars. I don't own a 360 or care too much for the Halo games, but Halo Wars kinda intrigues me. First off, it's a Real Time Strategy game. But it's for the 360. I don't know. I'll keep an eye on it for sure. It looks nice. March 3, 2009 for release date.

Prototype is here also. Found this when I found inFamous. It looks interesting. Kinda similar to inFamous in some ways too. So that's why that's here. Still Q2, 2009.

Street Fighter 4 makes an appearance here. I grew up with Street Fighter 2. Reason why it's not on the big list though, is because I'm not a big fighting game fan. It's looking good though. February 17 for this one.

I just stumbled on X-Blades recently. So I really don't know much about it, but I'll keep an eye on it. I like to say that a lot. Anyways, yeah. Sometime soon for the release of this one. I think that's all I have for Honorable Mentions.

Alright. I'll let you know what was up with some of the games from "Games to the Video 4." I'll give you a general idea of what I thought about the game, or what happened. If I got it or decided not to. Stuff like that.

Crysis Warhead came out back in September. I never did get it. Too many games. I plan on getting it though. It's gotten good reviews, and my PC does want to be pushed to the limits all over again. I need finish the first Crysis game though. That's the main reason I haven't gotten it yet.

Starwars: The Force Unleashed was a bad game. I don't know how. I played the demo, and loved the demo so much. I bought it on the first day it came out. After about an hour of playing it though, the game just stunk. I did not like the lightsaber fighting system. The force powers were fun though. I didn't make it past the 3rd world. I just couldn't take it anymore. So much hope for it though. I got it for the PS3, and I heard that the Wii version was worse then the PS3 version.

Legendary looked fun. I didn't get it though because of reviews. Not much more to say about it.

Fracture was another game I didn't buy. Looked interesting, but the demo was only alright, and the reviews weren't great for it either. So I passed on it.

Golden Axe: Beast Rider is yet another game I passed on. I want to rent it, but haven't found it at my local video store yet. Someday I might rent it. Bad reviews are what is stopping me from buying this one.

Fallout 3 I actually played. It's fun. I like it. I haven't gotten around to downloading the Anchorage downloadable content, because i haven't reinstalled Fallout 3 yet. I formatted my harddrive. Anyways, I enjoyed playing through the game, but the ending was very weak.

Resistance 2. Buy it if you own a Playstation 3. Enough said. Alright maybe not. It's very fun game. The story was good, graphics amazing, and the weapons are awesome. I really should jump online someday, but I'm being bombarded by homework and other games.

Left 4 Dead is a fun game. It's fun if you have people to play with you. Personally, I love coop games, and Left 4 Dead is a dream come true. It needs more scenerios though. Four isn't very many. Good times though.

Mirror's Edge is a game that I passed on. The reviews tell me it isn't worth the full 60 dollar price tag. So I'll probably wait for the price to go down to like 30 bucks or something. We'll see though.

Personally, I loved Prince of Persia. It was a very fun game. Yeah it was kinda easy, but it was fun. And isn't that what games should be about? Which reminds me, I should play through it again and try to get some trophys.

Velvet Assassin, Dark Void, and Damnation were all move back to this year, and are actually on this list. So yeah.

That's it. Now you know what I'm looking forward to in 2009... at least the first half. I have a list of the second half too, so that's something to look forward to :). Anyways, check out the links. Maybe you'll feel that you are exicted for these guys too. Thank you for reading this long post. I made it so you could easily skim over the games.

Bye.