On Shelves This Week: April 7 to April 13, 2008

Compared to last week, gamers will have quite a diverse collection of newly released titles this time around with an old-school dungeon crawler in the form of Atlus' Baroque, and the obligatory summer sports-themed casual game that is Summer Sports: Paradise Island for the Wii. But the most exciting thing to hit the gaming streets could be the retail stand-alone re-release of The Orange Box Games: Team Fortress 2, Portal, and Half-Life 2. And yes, there's also the new PC version of...

Assassin's Creed. This bestselling Ubisoft title finally hits the PC platform, letting PC gamers get into the shoes of Altair as he strives to restore peace in the Holy Land. Considered as a director's cut of sorts, the PC version will sport some improvements over its console counterparts, such as the addition of new sidequests.

PC - April 8, 2008
US$ 49.99
ESRB Mature
Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft
Team Fortress 2. Part of The Orange Box, Valve Corporation finally releases Team Fortress 2 as a stand-alone retail title for the PC. Play as any member of the Team Fortress 2 motley crew divided into two groups: the demolition team (Reliable Excavation Demolition) or the construction team (Builders League United). Compete against the opposing team to meet certain objectives with the use of various over-the-top weapons, including Sasha.

PC - April 8, 2008
US$ 29.99
ESRB Mature
Valve Corporation
Baroque. Originally produced for the Sega Saturn in Japan, Baroque is an old-school dungeon crawler rendered in a dark, gothic palette. Atlus finally releases this gem for both the Sony PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo Wii, with the Wii version sporting motion controls. Lauded for its intricate storyline, Baroque is recommended for those who wouldn't mind delving into a dark, dank dungeon rife with secrets that are begging to be unravelled.

Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 2 - April 8, 2008
US$ 39.99
ESRB Teen
Atlus and Sting Entertainment
Portal. Also part of Valve Corporation's The Orange Box, Portal is the award-winning, innovative game that makes people think of...yes, portals. Aided by the passive-aggressive AI GlaDOS, players solve puzzles and go through mazes with the use of the Aperture Science Handled Portal Device (just call it Portal Gun). If you haven't experienced The Orange Box yet (blasphemy!), we suggest that you start out with this great title.

PC - April 8, 2008
US$ 19.99
ESRB Teen
Valve Corporation
Summer Sports: Paradise Island. Yes, it's summer and it's about time that we hit the beaches for some good old fun in the outdoors. But if you choose to stay holed up inside your room with your Wii, then you can use Destineer's Summer Sports: Paradise Island to fulfill your summer sports activity quota. With sports events such as Badminton, Mini-Golf, Basketball, Croquet, and many others, you'll eventually forget that you aren't playing outside in the first place.

Nintendo Wii - April 11, 2008
US$ 39.99
ESRB Everyone
Destineer and Digital Embryo
Ikaruga. Finally, the much awaited vertical scrolling Treasure shooter hits the Western Xbox Live Arcade service around the same time as its Japanese counterpart. Going through Ikaruga unscathed requires only not shooting anything that moves, but also knowing how to properly utilize the game's polarity system.

Microsoft Xbox 360 - April 9, 2008
Treasure
Sam & Max Episode 205: What's New, Beelzebub? After helping a half-man, half-beast return to his normal self, the hilarious furry police duo Sam and Max now visits Hell, where they meet the demonic head honcho Beelzebub to retrieve Bosco's lost soul. As the fifth and final episode to the second season of Telltale Games' Sam & Max video game adaptation, we can expect to encounter the usual rollicking hijinks and the same brand of humor that made this series so popular.

PC - April 10, 2008
ESRB Teen
Telltale Games and GameTap
MiniCopter: Adventure Flight. It's the ultimate RC hobbyist's dream: flying a mini-helicopter through common day-to-day locations, such as the parks, clinics, classrooms, and even the school cafeteria. It's not only all about flying, MiniCopter: Adventure Flight will also let gamers fulfill certain missions using the RC helicopter by airlifting litter and dropping them off into the trash.

Nintendo Wii - April 8, 2008
US$ 29.99
ESRB Everyone
Aksys and Arc System Works
Half-Life 2: Episode Pack. Relive Gordon Freeman's adventures in Valve Corporation's retail release of Half-Life 2 episodes 1 and 2. Fight against the aliens and the seemingly insurmountable odds that they present, with the help of your allies.

PC - April 8, 2008
US$ 29.99
ESRB Mature
Valve Corporation, Electronic Arts
Plushees. Nintendo DS users fond of pet simulation games such as the Nintendogs series may take a liking to the saccharine-sweet Plushees by Destineer (yes, Destineer is proving itself to be a prolific game developer this week). Give these virtual stuffed toys some real TLC, because you know you can't resist the puppy-dog eyed stares that they flash your way.

Nintendo DS - April 8, 2008
US$ 19.99
ESRB Everyone
Destineer
Fab 5 Soccer. Destineer's portable soccer game will have gamers pit 5-on-5 teams against each other. Play as any of the real-life soccer icons rendered in big-head versions such as Luis Figo, Roberto Ayala, Dejan Stankovic, among others.

Nintendo DS - April 11, 2008
US$ 29.99
ESRB Everyone
Destineer
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