Developed by tri-Ace (creators of Star Ocean, Valkyrie Profile, and so on) and published by Square Enix (of Final Fantasy fame) comes one of those somewhat rare RPG titles that are exclusive to the XBOX 360. I have to admit, I’ve actually been looking forward to this for quite some time (it’s one of the reasons I ended up getting a 360 before a PS3), and a really do hope that it lives up to its promises… else I shall be very annoyed.

The storyline of the game focuses largely on a young man named Capel, who is mistaken for a rebel hero and imprisoned, only to be drawn into the fight against the wicked Order of Chains.

At the core of this title is the “situational” nature of the game in which every choice and battle permanently changes the in-game world in some way. Battles are in real-time (think Radiata Stories, rather than Final Fantasy XII), and you can control a party of up to 4 people (with a choice between 18 playable characters). There are also day to night transitions during play that can work both for and against the player.

Infinite Undiscovery is scheduled to ship September 1 and release on September 2. For those who like free stuff, EB Games is offering a pre-order bonus of a limited foil print and a download code for your choice of five different in-game items.

Have you pre-ordered it yet?

Returning from my mini-vacation over the holiday weekend, I bring you What’s New This Week?… A little late. So what IS new this week? Well… not a whole lot.

For Consoles

Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution | PS3 | 360
Also available on Nintendo DS
The latest entry in the popular Civilization series, in Civilization Revolution, you can choose from 16 civilizations throughout history, and lead them, playing the part of several famous historical leaders.

Unreal Tournament III | 360
UT3 comes to the 360. Sure this shooter was released on the PS3 ages ago, but not all of us can afford a PS3 right now… so if you’ve been waiting for some Unreal online multiplayer action, here you go. Game modes include Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Warefare, and more.

Beijing Olympics 2008 | PS3 | 360
The official game of the 2008 Summer Olympic games, this title includes over 30 official events, and the ability to represent the country of your choice. This is one of those games, like any sports game that is associated with a specific year, that will wind up in the deep discount bin at EB by this time next summer.

Monster Madness: Grave Danger | PS3
This one is a top-down shooter/brawler in which you must save your town and rescue your neighbors from the hoards of evil that have been unleashed. The game supports multiplayer for up to four people, and provides highly destroyable environments.

WiiWare

SPOGS Racing (1000 Wii Points)
From D2C Games, SPOGS Racing is an arcade-style racer that lets you upgrade your vehicle on the fly. For 1-2 players.

For Handhelds

Pony Luv | Nintendo DS
The horse version of Nintendogs. Train your pony, accessorize your pony, care for your pony, and compete in races. Bonus (if you’re like… 10…): it comes with a free sticker sheet to make your DS pony-rific and virtually impossible to ever get completely clean again.

We see it all the time. A game is released, or appears somewhere on the internet, that pushes the limits of good taste, and suddenly everyone from Fox News to CNN is up in arms about how is corrupting our youth. Critics tell us all how awful it is, some gamers defend the game, some agree, some couldn’t care less, parents panic, lawsuits are launched, etc., etc., etc.

What’s ironic here is that the public outcry just makes the game that much more popular. People who have never even heard of the game, or who have heard of it but just weren’t all that interested in trying it out, now flock to it, raising traffic and/or sales figures (just look at what the Hot Coffee scandal did for sales of GTA San Andreas…).

Today’s video game controversy is brought to us by Newgrounds and Kongregate, and is called “The Torture Game 2″. It’s a free flash game (well, really more of a ragdoll physics engine). It started with a parental alert from the Parents Television Council, then MSNBC picked up the story, and then it popped up on FOX News.

Don’t get me wrong… the game is one of those tasteless little creations that are kind of fun for a while because they’re so very wrong, and then people get sick of it. And a lot of the people commenting on the game even acknowledge this. Most of these titles enjoy a brief stint as a novelty and then fade away into the archives.

It’s when mainstream news gets ahold of the story that they become something more. Is there really anyone out there who can say that they never once wanted to do something even more after their parents told them no? Had it not been for the overzealous critics and the warnings about how “dangerous” it is, the game would have made the rounds online and then quietly the attention would die off.

But thanks to outlets like MSNBC and FOX News, even more traffic is being driven to the game, gaming blogs like Game Politics are posting about the mainstream attention on the game, and traffic to game itself is up.

It’s a perfect example of the old axiom “there’s no such thing as bad publicity”.