Top on the UK gaming news is Medal of Honor: Airborne's defense against a trio of invading newcomers. On the week of the release of Midway's Stranglehold, Ninja Theory's Heavenly Sword, and Nintendo's Super Paper Mario, the multiplatform WWII shooter from Electronic Arts still manages to attract the most gamers.

With Stranglehold's arrival at second, Super Paper Mario's debut at fourth, and Heavenly Sword's launch position at seventh, Electronic Arts still enjoys a three-title domination of the top ten games, with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 at third and The Sims 2: Bon Voyage in the eighth place.

Wii Play moves up nine whole spots to reclaim its lovely fifth seat, while More Brain Training from Dr. Kawashima gains an IQ point to climb one spot to sixth.

Ninth is held by Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training, and still latching on to the last spot on the top ten is Take-Two Interactive's BioShock. In quick summary, you've got the following (for the week ending September 15, all formats in all price categories):

1. Medal of Honor: Airborne (Electronic Arts)
2. Stranglehold (Midway)
3. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (Electronic Arts)
4. Super Paper Mario (Nintendo)
5. Wii Play (Nintendo)
6. More Brain Training from Dr. Kawashima (Nintendo)
7. Heavenly Sword (Sony)
8. The Sims 2: Bon Voyage (Electronic Arts)
9. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo)

 

The release date of Brothers In Arms: Double Time for the Nintendo Wii fell back a month more, despite a previous release target set for September 21, 2007. The hopefully non-port of Brothers in Arms should hit Wii consoles by October 19, 2007 as claimed.

Although missing in the list, Ubisoft has reaffirmed the release date of Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway is still on track for November. The WWII game's absence in the release list was a mistake, claims Ubisoft, and will be coming to the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 as previously scheduled.

Titles going to be released along with it are the highly awaited Assassin's Creed (for the PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360), the insane Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 (for the DS and Wii), Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (for the PC and Xbox 360) and Free Radical's Haze (for the PlayStation 3), although they are vaguely listed simply as "November release."

Two new games in the Brothers in Arms series have been slated for the Nintendo DS and Wii. Both games, published by Ubisoft and developed by Gearbox Software, are expected to bring new life to this FPS based on WWII.

The Nintendo DS version, simply called Brothers in Arms DS, has a lot going for it. This is the first Brothers in Arms for the system and the developers look to be maximizing the use of the touch screen. Other features of the game include 3D graphics, drivable vehicles, and even contextual movements.

The game will also have 16 missions and three different campaigns which include Normandy, North-Africa, and Ardennes. For those who crave human flesh, er, i mean human opposition, the developers have included a multiplayer option for you and up to three other players. You can compete in various multiplayer games such as Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch.

The Wii version, Brothers in Arms: Double Time, has features that maximize the use of the Wii's innovative control scheme. What they have dubbed an "Enhanced Control Scheme" allows players to issue orders and perform military gestures to command via the Wiimote.

The game will feature 31 different levels, all of which depict the highlights of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment's fight for survival during WWII. The developers have also assured that the game will be historically accurate, with players fighting in Airborne Infantry battles of D-Day. They have even recruited Military and Historical Director, Col. John Antal to ensure the accuracy of the game.

You can expect Sergeants Baker and Hartsock to be leading their boys into combat soon since both versions are scheduled to ship this year. No exact date has been given yet, but we expect the announcement to come soon.

1UP's James Mielke was ranting three weeks ago regarding the blatant use of the words "Call of", "Rise of", "Empire," "Nations," and "Ops" in game titles. (He was talking about Call of Juarez.) Well, we've lived through this type of stereotyping, but it doesn't mean we can't make fun of it right? Makes us wonder, do devs consult some sort of list when thinking of a title?

Anyway, the guys at GameSetWatch set out to come up with the "most stereotypical video game name... evah". The turnout was pretty crazy: Simon Carless (Game Developer/Gamasutra EIC) "Quaternion: The Beige-ning", Jill Duffy (Game Developer managing editor) came up with "Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's Call Of Duty: Revenge Of Duty", and Brandon Sheffield (Game Developer features editor) gave the hilarious "Pauly Shore's XTREME Nude Wakeboarding II: The Awakening". The winner was Frank Cifaldi (Gamasutra features editor) with "WWII: World War II".

My fellow QJ staffers gave a few bits of their own. Victor B. came up with two - "Space Shooter: The Star Galaxy Trek Wars of Gradius" and "Final Generic Fantasy RPG Quest XX" - while our researcher R gave me this - "Death Ride Alliance: Blade War XIII". We're sure you have your own game title cliche and we'd love to hear about it. The more trite, the better.

Ready, set, go!

Okay, first off, I'm gonna have to agree with my fellow blogger Josh when he said that not a lot of DS games head straight to Germany, but our German-speaking fellas are about to get lucky 'coz Undercover: Dual Motives will be shipping straight to their territory.

I have to wonder though, is it because the game is about the search for a German nuclear bomb in WWII? Nyahaha. Lame-ass jokes aside though, because this upcoming DS game is a prequel to the earlier released Undercover: Operation Wintersun where you take on a wild goose chase for that Nazi bomb, we can only imagine the events that transpired before that.

According to game's PR, this time Dr. Russell will investigate a British research facility, whilst assembling a blowgun to shoot...*ehem*...little paper projectiles.

But, BUT, far from being a sissy game that has "little paper projectiles" as weapons (can you imagine these guys (see image) shooting paper projectiles?!), it does have a way wicked investigative slant to it. Also, the controls are fun: you direct the blowgun with the stylus, the touchscreen to take aim at the moving target, and (this is the cool part) fire the projectiles by blowing a well-dosed blast of air into the DS microphone. Sounds hella fun!

So anyway, there's no exact release date yet for when Undercover: Dual Motives will make its way to our beloved Nintendo handhelds, but ANACONDA is planning to ship the game early 2007. Oh, and one more thing, I just have to say, this would have to be one of the most visually impressive DS games I've seen lately. So to answer your question Matt, yes, these screens are legit. Frikkin' awesome, huh?

 

We know that there a lot of games out there who sport excellent storylines. But for now, whenever we talk of such, PSP title Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure and MMO Vanguard: Saga of Heroes readily comes to mind. Sigil Games and Mastiff LLC have spoken recently about the scripts and voice acting for their respective titles.

But the point of the matter is that, every game for every genre on every platform should be concerned about scripts and voice acting. Andy Emery of audio specialist company, Side, pointed out the relationship between the two: "There are many factors that contribute to poor quality dialogue in games, but by far and away a poor script is the biggest single culprit."

While it is true that the graphics and the physics aspects of games nowadays have been superb, the above mentioned are lagging behind. "A professional script writer is an essential part of modern game development and the importance of good casting should not be underestimated," explained Emery.

The generally held practice across the industry today is you get one person, two at the most, then ask them to perform "the lead role in a gritty WWII game and then ask them to also play a couple of German soldiers, a French ally and a bartender, whilst keeping all performances naturalistic." This, according to Emery, should be changed.

Given this, don't get the idea that videogame producers aren't aspiring for higher standards. Actually, they are gunning to be at par with their movie-making equivalents. Emery pointed out that it's just they haven't fully recognized the power of audio in game making.

Andy Emery and his company are responsible for the audio of successful titles Tomb Raider, Dragon Quest, Total War and James Bond among many others.

"I thought you were up here killing space aliens."

"No. I'm building a new franchise."

While games are picking up a bad rap here and there for a variety of reasons, there's at least one more person who doesn't seem to mind her kids gaming.

Danielle Crittenden, both a mother and a writer, recently wrote a personal piece about how video games didn't seem so bad. In their case, her son was explaining the process of creating and building a franchise for MLB Baseball, parking lot fares and attendance tallies included. From creating a team of nobodies in a sports sim, her son has to train them, make sure they do the requisite training, and occasionally make sure they study for their classes. That's a lot of responsibility on one young gamer's shoulders, though it's funny how the video game version of a college sports sim seems more interested in a student's grades than the real college leagues.

After some thought, she realized how games could entice gamers to learn more about a particular topic. On the subject of WWII FPS games, she writes, "The games serve as an entry level, graphically exciting introduction to World War II - much more so than those black-and-white newsreels that seem to run on a loop on the History channel. When my son wants to know more, he has to seek it out in books and other materials." For any and all fanboys out there, every time you try to prove a point on the supremacy of your console or the coolness of a game, you're doing just what Mrs. Crittenden says.

Of course, it doesn't mean you disregard giving gamers limits to their play, but when you hear the words, "I gotta find out what was Shakespeare's most popular comedy," because the game asks that question of his character, then it can't be all bad, can it? How about you? What games or consoles have made you want to do some extra credit?

There's been a lot of noticeable Marvel games as of late (like the one that's going to be on every game console and handheld this year). One of the upcoming games from the comic publisher franchise is Spider-Man: Battle for New York. It's a Nintendo DS game based more on the Ultimate Spiderman series rather than the mainstream one (where he's currently wearing a red and yellow Spidey armor).

In order to further hype up the game's release, IGN has created an extensive profile of characters that will be appearing in the game, such as:

MJ Watson--Spidey's main squeeze to be. In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, she's still attending high school with her beau Peter. She's supposed to be just one of the people who knows Spider-Man's real identity. In the mainstream Marvel Universe, she's married to Peter and lives with Aunt May in Iron Man's Headquarters.

Ben Urich--the man who found out Daredevil's secret identity and kept it. In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, he's more of a suave type of reporter as he was able to submit some incriminating evidence against the Kingpin. In the main Marvel Universe, he's a chain-smoking investigative reporter who also figured out that Norman Osborne was the Green Goblin. Currently, he's an embedded reporter in the Civil Wars Saga.

Nick Fury--SHIELD head honcho. In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, he's African-American. He's resemblance was allegedly taken from a popular American actor. In the main universe, he's Caucasian and has a longer history stretching as far back as WWII. He's currently in hiding with Captain America during the Civil Wars saga.

Kingpin--the man behind every illegal deal. Despite he's large stature, it's all muscle. He's able to stand up on his own against Spider-Man and Daredevil. Nasty human being.

Silver Sable--Nazi hunter turned mercenary. A possible love interest.

Activision will be releasing this game on October. You can read the whole article while you view the Spidey game screenshots below.

More screenshots await after the jump!

Games that have people's name attached to the title seem to be doing well. Great  examples are Tony Hawk and Tiger Woods-themed games. However, there's also one more familiar name that needs to be mentioned: Tom Clancy.

Tom must be really happy right now. Besides being an author of various military-related books, his name is attached to two games that are bound to be as much of a best-seller as his paperbacks. Ka-ching!

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Double Agent (Xbox 360 and Wii): series has so far sold 14M units globally.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas (Xbox 360, PS3, PSP): another of Tom's name on one of the better sellers: 14M again.
Rayman Raving Rabbids (Wii, Nintendo DS): The Rayman is back to sell more than 17M units worldwide.
Far Cry Vengeance (Wii): FPS series that sold 2M worldwide.
Brothers In Arms D-Day (PSP): young but sold 3Mso far. Good start.
Blazing Angels Squadrons of WWII (Wii): planes and WWII--some of the things you'll need for a good game.
Prince of Persia Rival Swords (PSP): This old game has been selling over 8M globally.
Petz (Nintendo DS): Top Ten on GBA
Red Steel (Wii): The FPS created just for the Wii. Looks awesome.
GT Pro Series (Wii): takes the Wii controllers for a real ride.
Open Season (Xbox 360, PSP, Nintendo DS, Wii) the movie-tie-in game that's all over the gaming consoles and handhelds this year.
Star Wars Lethal Alliance (Nintendo DS, PSP): the first Star Wars built just for the next-gen handhelds.
Monster 4X4 World Circuit (Wii): Scary and big trucks come rolling down the Wii.

CDV Software's Panzer Tactics DS is the first authentic WWII tactics game on the Nintendo DS and is playable via stylus, buttons or a combination of both. The game features Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and multiplayer wireless mode with up to four players per game, along with hot-seat mode play for two-players on the same DS.

An online ladder system keeps track of high scores. Panzer also features three unique campaigns (German, Russian and Western Allies) in 30 missions. The game should be out by the end of the year so go ahead and check out some of the new screenshots by clicking on the thumbnails below.