This Week New Video Games Titles ( 13 July - 19 July )

On Shelves This Week heralds the launching of EA Sports' NCAA Football 2009 on the next generation consoles, plus the release of We Love Golf! on the Wii. Yet another movie-game adaptation can be seen this week, and you could owe that to the upcoming animated flick, Space Chimps.

Though there is a rush of PC games released in the week, you might find a few handheld games coming right 'atcha. We kick off the upcoming releases list beginning with Monday's offering, and don't be surprised if you see a few familiar ones - they haven't been released yet, somehow.

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Space Chimps - Ever wondered if mankind continued to send primates to outer space? Space Chimps, Fox's newest animated movie, explores just that possibility and dabs the story with a comical twist here and there.

Space Chimps is Brash Entertainment's bid to cash in from movie-game adaptations (that's what Brash is all about, anyway), and we really hope they'll be able to provide some enjoyment this romp of galactic proportions.

Not that space zero-gravity in itself isn't fun, mind you.

• Windows - July 14, 2008 DS , Wii , Xbox 360 - July 15, 2008
• ESRB rated E10+ for Everyone 10+ (Wii, Windows, Xbox 360), Everyone (DS)
• DS: US$ 29.99; Wii: US$ 39.99; Windows: US$ 19.99; Xbox 360: US$ 39.99
• Brash Entertainment

Yamaha Supercross - No kidding - some weeks prior to this issue of On Shelves, we were served with a Ducati-branded racing game. This, as you can guess, is Yamaha's version of virtualizing bikes demoing them on pixelized dirt.

Yamaha Supercross's courses are modeled after actual Supercross tracks, and its should be a great choice for fans of the Jet Moto series. Well - if they kept their PS2s, that is. You could always grab the PC, DS, or Wii versions if you have those platforms sitting around.

• DS, Wii, Windows, - July 14, 2009 (July 18, Sept. 23 on other sites)
• ESRB rated E10+ for Everyone 10+
• DS: US$ 19.99; Wii: US$ 29.99; Windows: US$ 19.99
• Destination Software

City Life 2008 Edition - An update to the first city simulation in the series, City Life 2008 Edition supposed to be everything City Life was, except with prettier graphics and more content.

Now while we can't argue the idea of remaking the game for the modern times, we're really expecting that Monte Cristo, developers of City Life 2008 Edition, delivered just a little bit more than the common city building sim would.

Or else, it could just be another Sim City with a facelift or a Children of the Nile with skyscrapers. First century Egyptian skyscrapers...now wouldn't that be something?

• Windows - July 15, 2008 (July 18 on other sites)
• ESRB rated T for Teen
• Windows - US$ 29.99
• Paradox Interactive

Code Lyoko: Quest for Infinity - Deja vu, isn't it? Several online retail sites have maintained that Code Lyoko: Quest for Infinity may definitely release for the PlayStation Portable on Tuesday, which we hope publisher American Game Factory could fulfill.

If you still have your trusty PlayStation 2 or the Wii, versions for those platforms has been out for some time already. But if you're the type to defeat supercomputer entities in the subway, then you'll probably have to wait.

• PSP - July 15, 2008 (promise!)
• ESRB rated E10 for Everyone 10
• PSP: US$ 39.99
• American Game Factory

Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm - It's back, but only because Greenwave's game hasn't set out to sea yet. Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm boasts that it possesses the most realistic sea waves in any game, though we're hoping it could bank on more than just visuals.

After all, this is a fishing tour simulation, and those King Crabs won't hop into the boat by themselves. You've got to rely on smarts, brawn, and what equipment you have on hand to ensure you survive the deadliest fishing season this side of the Pacific - and turn a mean profit, too.

• Windows - July 15, 2008 (July 29 on other sites)
• ESRB rated T for Teen
• Windows: US$ 39.99
• Liquid Dragon Studios
  

Hunting Unlimited 2009 - Somehow, Valusoft managed to announce an update to the long running Hunting Unlimited series, but there have been little information regarding the forthcoming Hunting Unlimited 2009 installment as of the moment.

What we only do know is that it's supposed to release this Tuesday, and it should be an improvement over Hunting Unlimited 2008. "Should be" is the operating phrase here.

• Windows - July 15, 2008 (July 19 on other sites)
• ESRB rated Pending
• Windows: US$ 19.99
• Valusoft

Mister Slime - Mix heroism with gratuitous viscosity and you'd probably get one-fourth of what Mister Slime for the DS is all about. Players will need to guide the brave hero, Mister Slime, through various levels in an effort to save Slime Village.

And you'd do all that via the touch screen, attaching pegs so that the hero could swing, whirl, and slingshot his way around. It's a nice touch given it's unique approach to game mechanics, honestly.

• DS - July 15, 2008
• ESRB rated E for Everyone
• DS: US$ 19.99
  
• SouthPeak Interactive
  

Nancy Drew: The Mystery of the Clue Bender Society - So what did Nancy draw?
Cheesy jokes aside, Majesco's latest offering in the action adventure department is the DS exclusive chapter in Nancy Drew's countless cases: the mystery of the Clue Bender Society.

Chalk one up to the makers of the first DS Nancy Drew game for this addition to the series, and we hear that Gorilla Systems isn't done yet. They've got another DS game coming this October that reprises the brainy, beautiful, blonde teen sleuth in "The Hidden Staircase" case.

• DS - July 15, 2008
• ESRB rated E10+ for Everyone 10+
• DS: US$ 19.99
• Majesco Entertainment

NCAA Football 2009 - EA Sports tenders next year's edition of NCAA Football as they always do, and while the brand delivers college pigskin action to the PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, and Xbox 360, you won't be seeing field goals made on the PC or the DS, yet

As always, EA Sports has integrated new mechanics and features to the series with NCAA Football 2009, but how fares the implementation? Find out when EA Tiburon's gift to football sim fans arrives on July 15. Hopefully, those breakaways actually do help in avoiding the swarming defense.

Oh, and if you can, don't stare to long at the box art of the Wii version of NCAA Football 09. We swear it starts looking straight at you before too long.

• PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox 360 - July 15, 2008
• ESRB rated E for Everyone
• PlayStation 3: US$ 59.99; PSP: US$ 39.99; Wii: US$ 49.99; Xbox 360: US$ 59.99
• Electronic Arts

We Love Golf! - They certainly do. And while you could haul yourself out to a real course and drive those balls hard to the green, there's nothing like practicing your stroke and grip right in the comfort of your own living room.

Okay, so Wii Sports Golf helps you do that as well, but in-between four hole servings and Tiger Woods PGA Tour golf-claps, you know you could settle for a third option: grab We Love Golf! and swing clubs away from the usual grass-laden courses. Also get to golf as some of Capcom's more popular characters.

Coming exclusively to the Western issue of We Love Golf! RAWR.

• Wii - July 15, 2008
• ESRB rated Everyone
• Wii: US$ 49.99
• Capcom

The Golden Horde - History buffs would call this the 13th century Muslim khanate that was a mostly mixture of Mongols and Turks. DreamCatcher Interactive, however, would call this a perfect idea and plot for a real-time strategy game.

Taking command of Mongol forces after the reign of the great Genghis Khan, players can help the late Mongolian warlord's sons defend their territories from retribution and invasion. Or players can opt to take the sides of the Crusaders or the Russians, who are out to cleave an empire of their own in Euroasia.

Whatever you choose, Worldforge assures you lush graphics, epic carnage, and maximum siege warfare in The Golden Horde, while attempting a different step to RTS gaming. Looks and sounds pretty Besieger-ey doesn't it?

• Windows - July 15, 2008
• ESRB rated T for Teen
• Windows: US$ 39.99
• DreamCatcher Interactive

1701 A.D. Gold Edition - Collectors take note: Aspyr has delegated a new SKU just for those who love any kind of special edition to their game library, though we'd rather admit this is for those who haven't discovered the gem that is 1701 A.D. (known as Anno 1701 in Europe).

The 17th century empire simulation is all about building a empire within a virtual, living world, and you might find it more of an annoyance that the game tosses so much distractions at the player (ala The Guild 2's attention to ambience and details).

But even with its pretty graphics, it delivers a lot more than The Settlers: Rise of an Empire did to sim fans. And that's saying a lot, since the latest The Settlers title didn't challenge the hardcore sim fan enough - well, not like how 1701 A.D. did.

The Gold Edition packs both the original game plus it's expansion pack, The Sunken Dragon, at a sweet price.

• Windows - July 16, 2008
• ESRB rated E10 for Everyone 10
• Windows: US$ 29.99
• Aspyr Media

Coffeetime Crosswords - Sounds like a game you would toss to the Wii and DS, doesn't it? Well, you couldn't be any more wrong. This, dear readers, is part of Microsoft's campaign to reach the mass market of casual gaming and Xbox LIVE Arcade's newest entry.

Coffeetime Crosswords is everything you'd expect from a crosswords game, minus the caffeine. It boasts over 150 puzzles, plus a multiplayer mode that could net you another brain to twist while you both try to net those 12 achievements lying around.

• Xbox 360 - July 16, 2008 (XBLA Wednesdays, folks)
• ESRB rated E for Everyone
• Xbox LIVE Arcade: US$ 10.00 (800 MS Points)
• Konami Digital Entertainment

*Courtesy of QJ.