TWiG 2008-07-07: Revolutionizing the Dog Days

If you stare at this week’s release list long enough, you can hear crickets chirping. Try it.

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See? We’re into the sparse weeks of summer, where the games that are going to keep indoors for the season have pretty much all been released, and the winter holiday season is but a breath of anticipation, months away from beginning. So what’s on tap for this week?

Civilization: Revolution: looks like a winner, and so far, it’s been pretty well-received, so we’ll go with that. The problems with translating PC-style strategy games to consoles is well-documented, particularly given most consoles’ lack of a mouse. There are lots of PC-to-console strategy attempts, but most of them do one particular thing wrong: namely, they try to exist as straight-up ports of the originals. So far, it seems that Civilization Revolution has avoided this pitfall, making it a must-buy for console owning sim-whatever fans.

Of course, as Joystiq points out, any game that features the physical presence of Napoleon hovering over everyone else is a little bit suspect.

As for the rest of the offerings, the Wii offers lots of kids’ stuff, most notably a little bit of easy entry into the Final Fantasy series in the form of Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo’s Dungeon, which could be a fun way to scratch the RPG itch with my kids around. Sega has the officially licensed version of the 2008 Olympics on the way (though I suspect I’ll stick with Mario and Sonic, thank you), Unreal Tournament 3 is another PC-to-console port which might be worth looking at if the whole multiplayer FPS thing is cool for you, and hey! Nancy Drew! Adventure fans who are sleeping on Her Interactive’s Nancy Drew series of computer games are actually seriously missing out. Yes, even if you’re not a teenage girl.

Seriously, though, I’m off to give Civilization Revolution a look. I’ve gotta knock that Napoleon down a few pegs, after all. The full release list is after the break, with a Civilization Revolution trailer to get you as excited about the thing as we are.

Wii:

Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo’s Dungeon (08 July)

Wonder World Amusement Park (08 July)

Purr Pals (10 July)

Sports Party (11 July)

PS3:

Beijing 2008 – The Official Video Game (08 July)

Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution (08 July)

Xbox 360:

Unreal Tournament 3 (07 July)

Beijing 2008 – The Official Video Game (08 July)

Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution (08 July)

DS:

Carnival Games (08 July)

Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution (08 July)

PC:

Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice (07 July)

Devil May Cry 4 (08 July)

Ghost Online (08 July)

PSP/PS2: Nada…