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Retail Roundup: January 20, 2009 on Game and Player

Retail Roundup: January 20, 2009

Ed Kirchgessner  //  January 20, 2009


So maybe RPGs aren't dead.

L

ove them or leave them, no developer publishes RPGs faster than Square Enix. Their sci-fi series returns to Sony's PSP this week via Star Ocean: Second Evolution. For those with very long train commutes: this just may be your salvation. That trek from Connecticut to Manhattan has never been shorter.

Electronic Arts brought some freshness back to the extreme sports genre with 2007's Skate. Skate 2 refines the original while retaining a focus on realworld skateboarding physics and tricks. While couch potatoes like me may continue to be attracted to the high flying antics of the Tony Hawk franchise, EA's interpretation stands as the more authentic. If ever there were a skateboarding sim, this is it.

When SSX hit the PlayStation 2 back in the 2000, it was a breath of fresh air for a stale genre. While that series' fourth sequel is now a few years behind us, I still wonder if Stoked may have arrived on the scene a bit too soon. Destineer, the game's developer, has some mighty big shoes to fill - considering I still throw the earlier SSX games into my PS2 from time to time, I'm not particularly stoked for this latest open-world boarding game.

Okay, so Square Enix isn't the only RPG house in town. NIS America is at it once again with Ar tonelico 2: Melody of Metafalica, their latest release for the PlayStation 2. While I raise an eyebrow at the title, it looks to contain all the staples that have made this genre so popular with a chosen few.

While I'm all for a resurgence of the oldschool shooting genre, I'm forced to wonder why so many of these titles are showing up on the Wii. Developer Milestone brings their Ultimate Shooting Collection to Nintendo's platform this week. The compilation includes three separate shooting games which all should be new to Western audiences.





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