This week is pathetically skimpy on the new release side of things, but here you go.

XBOX 360

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Game of the Year Edition - Featuring a token to download a free “variety map pack”, this is really nothing more than an excuse to re-release the game. The variety pack will also be made available on XBOX Live in April, so if you already own the game, no need to rush out for this.

PS2

Mana Khemia: Alchemist of Al-Revis - Mana Khemia is an RPG from the makers of Atleier Iris. Combat is turn-based, and the game takes place in and around an academy for Alchemists. Missions tend to be divided up day by day, month by month, semester by semester, giving it the feel of something like an academic sim at times.

Wii

WWII Aces - Pretty much exactly what it sounds like, WWII Aces is a World War 2 flight game for the Wii, that features 12 different planes and more than 70 missions based on historical campaigns. If you’re really into it, you might be interested in the Wii Airplane Navigator peripheral, as well.

Nintendo DS

Double Sequence: The Q-Virus Invasion - A puzzle game for the DS, Q Virus attempts to add a plot to the game by turning the multi-colored blocks you have to slide around with the stylus into some sort of civilization-destroying virus. Crack the virus’ DNA code, and save the world.

George of the Jungle - Based on Cartoon Network’s bastardization of the George of the Jungle Cartoon, this is a platformer. If you’re a fan of the show, it might be appealing, but beyond that I don’t think so…

I made an egg that looks like Sephiroth. I even sewed him a tiny little trenchcoat. Yeah, sure, it was for a contest, but still…

Head on over if you want to give me some competition (not that you’d have to try very hard… my entry’s kind of lame… )

These are some of my favorite pick-me-up games for those days when nothing seems to be going right, and everything you do turns out to be a complete disaster. Or occasionally just to unwind after a really, unspeakably long Friday.

10. Kingdom Hearts

I enjoy it largely because the fighting system is fairly mindless, meaning that you can concentrate on the storyline and the sidequests rather that the frustration of being repeatedly defeated in a boss battle. And it’s a very pretty game… it’s bright and happy, and it’s hard to stay tense for long once you sit down and start playing.

9. Fatal Frame II

Sometimes the best cure for the stress of the day is a good scare. Of the Fatal Frame trilogy, the second game is by far my favorite (they’re all a lot of fun, though). Play it alone in the dark for a few hours, and it really starts to suck you in. I’m especially fond of the scene with Sae laughing maniacally. Creepy, disturbing, and all manner of wrong.

8. Tetris

Stop laughing. To be honest, I suck at Tetris. I panic when it speeds up, and do something stupid. Every time. But it’s still fun anyway, that’s why it’s still around. Plus it has that ultra-catchy theme song that you can’t ever get out of your head no matter how hard you try. And you know exactly which theme song I mean, don’t you?

See? Now it’s stuck in your head, too. You can thank me later. On with the list!

7. Karaoke Revolution Party

Singing makes me feel better. And the game doesn’t really care that I sound like a cat stuck in the dryer on most songs. Heck it doesn’t even care if I know the words… Bonus: It has a sing-and-dance mode if you have some Konami (or third party) dance mats. The last time I played that mode with friends we ended up laughing so hard the game booed us off the stage.

6. Super Mario Bros. 3

An oldie, but a goodie, and arguably the best Mario game ever made. Sending a Koopa shell careening into a line of oncoming Goombas is strangely satisfying as is breaking through a wall of bricks with a racoon tail. And it has Giant World! You can’t top Giant World. I never did actually figure out why a leaf turned you into a flying racoon, though. Eh… not important.

5. Wii Bowling

Personally, I think most of the Wii Sports package sucks, but Wii Bowling makes it worth keeping around. It’s also a great party game, so invite your stressed-out friends over to play, too. I like to scare the other players by “accidentally” throwing the ball behind me when it’s my turn. Also amusing is trying to chuck your ball into the wrong lane. I’m not sure this is actually possible, but it’s funny.

4. Okami

The absolutely gorgeous art style is very relaxing, and the story has plenty of comic relief to keep you amused throughout. Besides… how many other games out there have an optional a skill that allows you to cause damage to your enemies by peeing on them? I’m looking forward to the upcoming rerelease of this on Wii.

3. SSX 3

Yay snowboarding! I detest sports-based games… but I willingly make an exception for the SSX series. Between the gameplay, the character options, the customization, and the awesome courses, you’ll have a great time. And when you get frustrated, you can shove the other racers and knock them off their boards. Go on… it’s fun.

2. Hitman: Blood Money

For those days when really all you want to do is hit someone. Or strangle them. Or stab them repeatedly with a kitchen knife. Or mow them down with an AK-47. Or kill them in some other creative manner that appears to be an accident, which is always fun. Better to take out your aggression in a game than on the street, right? Of course you could always go the stealthy route, and only take out your targets, but some missions are just too tempting.

1. Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2

Getting up and moving instead of just collapsing onto the couch is always a good thing, and exercise is a great stress reliever. Extreme 2 isn’t exactly the most recent, but personally I think it has the best playlist. It’s also compatible with the PS2 EyeToy, which is kind of gimicky, but entertaining for a while.

If you’re heading up to the Milwakee area this weekend, or are looking for a bit of a road trip to while away your days off, you might want to check out the Midwest Gaming Classic going on all weekend long.

What is it? Why it’s a gaming convention. In the midwest. And it covers just about every aspect of electronic gaming imaginable. You can buy and play classic arcade and pinball machines, check out some new stuff, buy, sell, and trade gaming merch, listen to one of the speakers at the event… maybe win a raffle prize (like a Wii or a trip to Six Flags).

But most of all, it’s an excuse for gamers to get together with other gamers. Things kick off Saturday at 10am at Olympia Resort, and the convention runs through Sunday. Tickets are $10 for one day or $20 for both.

Check the official site for more details.

Rumored to be the final installment of the Metal Gear Solid series, MGS4 will be released this summer on June 12. The game will features characters new and old, a new form of camoflage called “octocamo”, and a robot drone called Metal Gear Mk. II.

The game will be released in three separate editions: the standard stand-alone version, the special edition version (comprised of a metal game case, Blu-ray documentary, four chapters of the digital graphic novel, and a soundtrack CD), and as part of a PS3 bundle (which includes the game, an 80GB PS3, and a Dualshock 3 controller). So if you like MGS, preorder it.

For some reason I’ve come across more bizarre games than I usually do on a daily basis today, so here’s a quick look at them, for your entertainment.

Zombie BBQ
Platform: Nintendo DS
Publisher: Gammick
Developer: Enjoy Up
Genre: Shooter
Coming In: October 2008

Synopsis: Little Red Riding Hood (no, really…) must fight evil zombies (seriously…) to save a fairy tale land (so not kidding…). Bonus: one piece of official artwork depicts a scythe-wielding zombie-pig. It’s described as a shooter that uses the DS stylus for targeting. I guess the BBQ part comes when you get yourself a flamethrower…

Bus Driver
Platform: Windows PC
Publisher: SCS Software
Developer: SCS Software
Genre: Driving Sim
Coming in: Available now

Synopsis: All the heart-stopping, mind-blowing action packed excitement of… driving a bus. That’s pretty much it here. You pick up passengers, and you drive them along 30 different routes. Whilst obeying traffic rules. Without upsetting them. You even have your choice of 12 different kinds of buses!

Chicken Shoot
Platform: Wii
Publisher: Destination Software
Developer: DSI Games
Genre: Shooter
Coming in: Available now

Synopsis: Grab you Wii Remote and shoot some chickens. In Chicken Shoot, you do pretty much what the title implies… You help a farmer obliterate his fowl. Thankfully this game is meant to be a little weird.

Last Flight
Platform: Wii (WiiWare)
Publisher: Blobber Team
Developer: Blobber Team
Genre: Hack and Slash
Coming in: Late 2008/Early 2009… if you’re in Japan

Synopsis: The WiiWare section of the U.S. Wii Shop Channel is pretty lame at the moment, but the Japanese sector has got some pretty nifty game downloads (we’re supposed to start seeing the same in May over here). Coming later this year for them is Last Flight, a Wii downloadable game in which food critic Larry Adelman must fight vampires. On a plane.

I read a post on MTV Multiplayer this morning that made an argument about Adult Only-rated titles that I hadn’t really considered before. That the fact that they are kept off the major consoles and out of major retailers is actually beneficial to the gaming industry.

There are a lot of gamers out there who feel that the unwritten ban on AO titles is a slap in the face to the first amendment. Anyone who pays any attention at all to the current goings-on in the gaming industry knows that an AO rating is essentially a death sentence for a game, because the console makers won’t endorse them and the retailers won’t sell them.

In many people’s opinions, this amounts to nothing more than censorship… and in a way, it is. Censorship brought about by capitalism. The companies want to sell their product, so rather than sell something as taboo as an AO game, they bow to the will of those who would call them morally irresponsible for doing so.

Supporters argue that current generation consoles are all equipped with parental controls, and if parents paid a little more attention to what their kids are playing (and, for that matter, what they’re buy for their kids to play), AO titles would be no more an issue than NC17-rated movies (admittedly taboo in and of themselves, but when was the last time someone called for a boycott on a DVD player because it could play movies intended only for adults?).

I myself am strongly in favor of fewer attempts at “regulating” the gaming industry and more personal responsibility on the part of the parents and guardians of kids who play video games. If you feel that your child isn’t mature enough to handle certain titles, don’t let them play them. Read the back of the box before buying the game, or just freakin’ Google it. Parents are far too reliant on other people to raise their precious little snowflakes these days. But that’s another rant. What was I talking about?

Oh right… AO titles. One Adam Thierer, director at Washington D.C. think-tank The Progress & Freedom Foundation, spoke of the ramifications of Adult Only games going mainstream. His stance on the issue is that the collective shunning of the rating is a good thing. Essentially, his opinion is that by discouraging that rating in mainstream titles, the gaming industry has spared itself a full-on legislative assault.

And in today’s society where everyone seems to be suing someone and games are a convenient scapegoat for society’s ills, he might just have a point there. Certainly there have been plenty of news-worthy stories related to AO content. The whole “Hot Coffee” thing awhile back, for example, and more recently, Manhunt 2’s AO rating, the subsequent editing done to the game, and its re-rating to a less offensive M.

First amendment aside, the mainstream just doesn’t seem to be ready for AO yet, so maybe, just maybe, it’s a good thing that the AO rating is a marketing death sentence. For now.

It seems like it wasn’t so long ago that Sony was in hot water over patent issues with force-feedback in its DualShock 2 controllers… which subsequently resulted in the SIXAXIS. That lawsuit that was finally settled, and PS3 owners will soon have the DualShock 3 in hand. And of course, back in February, Toshiba’s HD-DVD surrendered to Sony’s Blu-ray, effectively ending the format war. Sony should be sitting pretty right about now.

Gertrude Neumark
Rothschild

Unfortunately for them, this week, the US International Trade Commission has announced that it will be starting an investigation into possible patent infringements involving the Blu-ray technology, based on a complaint filed by one Gertrude Neumark Rothschild, a retired Professor Emeritus at Columbia University who has done research into blue and violet LEDs.

Rothschild claims that the blue laser diodes used in Blu-ray players and the PS3 infringe upon one of her patents, and has requested cease and desist orders against Sony and other companies involved in the development of the technology in order to block imports into the U.S. of Blu-ray products and components. What’s really worrisome is that she apparently filed a similar suit against other electronics manufacturers, which was settled out of court earlier this month, in her favor.

Check out mrontemp for a more detailed look at the complaint.

This week’s game: A Boy and His Blob: Trouble on Blobolonia
Released in 1989 for Nintendo Entertainment System

The gist of this game is that you are a boy. And you have a friendly blob who follows you around wherever you go. And the blob can turn into a multitude of different objects when you feed him various flavors of jelly beans, which you just happen to have on hand.

No! Come back! I swear it’s not as asinine as it sounds!

It’s actually a tricky game with a combination of platforming and problem-solving. A nifty little twist that make the game that much more difficult is that the boy cannot attack enemies. The object is to evade, while at the same time finding your way through the game’s various areas and collecting treasures so that you can purchase vitamins used as ammo for the only weapon in the game (which has a limited number of times it can be used), the Vitablaster.

As strange as the plot (such as it is) is, the game itself was quite a lot of fun. Using the correct flavor of jellybean at the right time in the right place isn’t as simple as it sounds, especially as certain flavors come in very limited numbers. As this was one of the very first games I ever owned, I’m probably a little nostalgic about it. I made my parents rent it so many times, they finally decided it would be cheaper to just buy it for me (and I still have it in my collection).

There was even a sequel released on GameBoy, and talk of another game for DS (which sadly looks to have been cancelled).

Breaking news on the Wii front. Harmonix officially confirmed a release date for this summer for the upcoming version of Rock Band on Nintendo Wii. The Special Edition bundle will retail for $169.99 and will include the game, drums, microphone, and wireless guitar. Instruments will also be able to be purchased on their own on the same date.

The Wii version will contain 63 songs including 5 bonus songs, but it is not clear whether or not downloadable content will be available on the Wii as it is for the PS3 and 360 versions. Release is scheduled for June 22. Pre-orders don’t seem to be open anywhere yet, but I’ll keep looking. Hit up Kotaku for the full press release.