Steffen_Shook November 3, 2009 DS, PC, PSP, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 448 views Comments Print This Post  Email This Post

The holiday season is in full swing for video game retail and many games are finally seeing light today:

EA is having a big day today, with 3 major releases in Dragon Age: Origins (Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC), Need for Speed Nitro (Wii), and Lego Rock Band (Xb360, PS3, Wii, DS). Dragon Age: Origins is an epic Fantasy-RPG with diverse choices and quests. One interesting “hook” of the game is that players’ starting positions in the story and location in-game will be based on their character design choices. The game is developed by BioWare (Mass Effect, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic), a company that has built a very respectable reputation for aiming for ambitious targets in their games and hitting them. Need for Speed: Nitro is a Wii-exclusive racing game where players can race at various locations around the globe. This is the first Need for Speed title in recent years for Wii developed by EA Montreal. Fans of the series have considered the past few iterations to be less than stellar, and look for EA Montreal to output a better version this year. After seeing Need for Speed: Shift’s innovative new approach and success, hopefully Nitro will carry the torch just as well. Following up on the Rock Band centering on The Beatles from September EA is today releasing Lego Rock Band, a title intended for younger gamers. Lego Rock Band’s music library includes E-rated pop songs from Elton John, The White Stripes, and Bon Jovi.

The other big music game hitting stores today is Activision’s Band Hero (Xb360, PS3, Wii) which is seen as LEGO Rock Band’s direct competition. Band Hero also features a pop-heavy library with songs from Taylor Swift, No Doubt, and 3 Doors Down.

Another title which may or may not be considered a “new” release is the Star War Force Unleashed Ultimate Sith Edition (Xb360, PS3, PC) from LucasArts, which includes two extra missions from the Original Trilogy set in Tatooine and Hoth and retails for $39.99. Additionally, PSP owners will also be able to experience the Star Wars universe today in Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron.

Dirt 2 for PC is coming out today, a few weeks after the consoles versions. The reason for this is that Codemasters took time to develop the game for Windows 7 and DirectX 11.