In brief: this week's game announcements
Each week GamesIndustry.biz brings you a round-up of all the games announced over the last five days, plus a guide to what's arriving on shop shelves this Friday.
Rockstar may be having difficulties with the mainstream press, but its announcements this week remind us of its pedigree - with acclaimed PS2 title Bully returning as Bully: Scholarship Edition for Wii and Xbox 360 this winter and a Wii port of Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis due in the autumn.
Some way away, Sony's Japanese PlayStation event brought news of Buu Buu Cocoreccho! by LocoRoco for PlayStation Network - a follow-up to the PSP's LocoRoco - while Nobi Nobi Boy sees Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi returning to a Sony format on PS3.
Also at Sony's event, Konami brought news of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops+ for PSP - a continuation of its own celebrated PSP Metal Gear line - while Nippon Ichi's turn-based strategy following will enjoy news of Disgaea 3 for PS3.
Xbox was quiet by comparison, although Arc System Works' announcement of Guilty Gear 2 was a surprise to fans - partly as it's an Xbox 360 title, and partly because it eschews its 2D beat-'em-up roots, adopting a 3D action strategy premise. Meanwhile, Eidos announced GEON: emotions for Xbox Live Arcade, capturing interest with the game's interesting premise and colourful graphics.
Also due out on Xbox Live Arcade, and already a success on PSP and DS handhelds, D3Publisher's Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is now also set for PC, PS2 and Wii release this year, we learned this week.
And while EA may have tied up original Far Cry developer Crytek for PC must-have Crysis, Ubisoft's announcement of Far Cry 2 for release next spring is still likely to tweak the noses of PC gamers.
Elsewhere, Koch unveiled Deal or No Deal for Nintendo DS - a take on the TV show that's been a hit in the UK and the USA - while Atari announced My Horse and Me for PC, Wii and DS, and EA promised a return to PSP with Medal of Honor: Heroes 2, the latest instalment in its multi-million-selling World War II shooter series.
By comparison, shop shelves weren't exactly groaning in the UK this week, but there will be room for Take-Two's PS3 version of The Darkness, and Nintendo is likely to enjoy chart success with Big Brain Academy.
Also on the shelves are Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword, an expansion to Sid Meier's much-loved strategy game, a Final Fantasy XI Starter Pack for PC owners, at a budget price of GBP 4.99, and the multiformat release of Transformers: The Game to tie in with the Michael Bay live-action film.
Finally, PS3 Online was quiet this week, but Xbox Live Arcade grew by two with the addition of Bomberman Live and Yie Ar Kung Fu, as Nintendo's Virtual Console offered up retro ports of Street Fighter II Turbo (SNES), Silent Debuggers (TurboGrafx-16) and the original Metroid (NES).