TWiG 2008-04-21: We Need a New Acronym!

Oh, I liked “TWiG” so much. The mixed capitalization, the emasculating implications…it was just simple enough to be catchy. Of course, I can say that now that Kotaku, perhaps the most popular gaming blog out there (and the gaming representative of the Gawker empire), has gone and co-opted it.

Now, I’m sure you could go ahead and find fifty instances of other places that had used “TWiG” as an acronym meaning “The Week in Games” before I did. That’s not the point. The point is, that before last night, I didn’t know of any of those, and I was much happier then. Got any ideas for new acronyms? FTW (For the Week)? GTFOA (Games to Find Out About)? Drop ’em in the comments. Bonus points (to be redeemed later) go to something that could be a potential internet meme.

As for this week’s games, well, it looks like a sparse week, but there are so many potential winners here that I hardly know where to go for something to highlight. The elephant in the room is Mario Kart Wii; of all of the games coming out this week, that one’s bound to sell the most, and it’s surely yet another Nintendo-sponsored reason to own a Wii. Still, it loses points for a) having been done before, and b) foisting the Wii Wheel upon the world. I’m a Wii apologist, and I can admit that. I’ll defend it to the death, insisting it’s “next-gen” (whatever that means) to my bloody death. The habit that even Nintendo itself has latched onto of releasing plastic shells for their innovative control interface, thus removing the necessity of imagination to go with the waggle? I taste bile in the back of my throat every time I read about one of these things. Images in my mind of millions of Wii Wheels in landfills amongst 3rd party plastic bats, rackets, and fishing poles make me die a little bit inside.

As a rhythm game fiend, Battle of the Bands looks like fun (if a little confusing), and Square Enix is at it again, releasing The World Ends With You worldwide, to the rejoicing of millions (or, at least, thousands) who have salivated over the game for the nine months it’s been out in Japan. Still, it’s impossible to overlook the PS2’s sole release this week: Persona 3: FES Edition. Why, after two weeks of highlighting old games, would I choose to go that route one more time? A number of reasons, actually:

1. It might have the highest quality-to-sales ratio of any game released last year, aside from perhaps Zack & Wiki. Seriously, almost nobody played this thing, and GameSpot, regardless of what you think of them, still saw fit to name it best RPG of ’07.

2. 30 hours of brand new content. Seriously — 30 hours. The “expanded” content of the FES edition is an entire new chapter for the game, along with a tweaked version of the original. If you hadn’t played the original, there is officially no excuse to miss this unless you break out in hives at the mention of RPGs.

3. You get this 70-hour beast for $29.99. This is why the continued vitality of the PS2 is a great thing for gamers.

What are you looking forward to this week? Are you saving your cash for GTA-day next week?

As always, the full release list can be found by clicking on that handy little “continue” link, right…there:

PS2:

Persona 3: FES Edition (22 April)

PSP:

Chameleon

Wii:

Battle of the Bands (21 April)

Dream Pinball 3D (22 April)

Target: Terror (22 April)

Wild Earth: African Safari (22 April)

The Red Star (22 April)

Mario Kart Wii (27 April)

PC:

Turok (22 April)

Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle (23 April)

Xbox 360:

NBA Ballers: Chosen One (21 April)

DS:

Dream Pinball 3D (22 April)

River King: Mystic Valley (22 April)

The World Ends With You (22 April)

PS3:

NBA Ballers: Chosen One (21 April)

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Game of the Year Edition) (23 April)