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Shippin' Out 4/24-4/28: FIFA, Belkan War, Advent Children

Soccer, Air Combat, and Square Enix's RPG-inspired movie join Black & White 2 and Guild Wars expansions on this week's release roster.

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Three thousand one hundred and ninety years ago, you wouldn't want to have been a Trojan. Because April 24, according to legend, is when the Greeks left a giant wooden horse outside the gates of the city of Troy on the coast of the Agean Sea. Thinking it was a token of surrender, the Trojans took the horse inside their city gates as a prize--and unwittingly set the stage for one of the earliest recorded commando raids. The horse was full of Greek warriors, who enthusiastically slaughtered the Trojans as they slept before burning Troy to the ground. (Whoops!)

If mythic war is your thing, this week's game releases have something to offer. Lionhead Studios' Black & White 2 gets its first expansion, Battle of the Gods. If you have a PC-gaming rig but hate Peter Molyneux, you've got plenty of alternatives. NCsoft is shipping Guild Wars Factions, the first expansion to its popular--and free--massively multiplayer online role-playing game. If you're into offline role-playing games, Aspyr is shipping SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars. Or, if you missed the boat before, Capcom is shipping the PC port of GameSpot's 2005 Game of the Year, Resident Evil 4, and Valve Software is releasing the Platinum Edition of Half-Life 2.

This week, the only game shipping on PCs, consoles, and handhelds is Sega's driving game OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast. It joins a variety of console-only releases, including Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War (PlayStation 2), Painkiller: Hell Wars (Xbox), Rampage: Total Destruction (PS2, GameCube), and 2006 FIFA World Cup (PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, PS2, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Xbox).

Ironically, one item generating a massive amount of interest among gamers this week isn't a game at all. After months of anticipation, Square Enix's game-inspired, computer-generated movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is finally coming to America. It will be available on both DVD and UMD, the proprietary format of the PSP, tomorrow.

A complete list of this week's releases is viewable below.

APRIL 24, 2006
Black & White 2 - Battle of the Gods (PC)
Half-Life 2: Platinum (PC)
Major League Baseball 2K6 (GameCube)
Neverend (PC)
Rampage: Total Destruction (PS2, GameCube)
2006 FIFA World Cup (PSP, DS, Xbox 360, PS2, GBA, GameCube, Xbox)

APRIL 25, 2006
Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War (PS2)
Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny (PS2)
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (PSP)
Guilty Gear Dust Strikers (DS)
The Hustle: Detroit Streets (Xbox, PS2, PSP)
Metal Saga (PS2)
Out of the Park Baseball Manager 2006 (PC)
OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (PSP, PC, PS2 Xbox)
Paradise (PC)
Shadowgrounds (PC)
Winback 2: Project Poseidon (PS2, Xbox)

APRIL 26, 2006
Dr. Sudoku (GBA)
Top Gun (DS)

APRIL 28, 2006
Guild Wars Factions (PC)
Painkiller: Hell Wars (Xbox)
Resident Evil 4 (PC)
SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars (PC)

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AuronCloud7

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Finally after 2 1/2 years.

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korn18m

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I'll be picking up FFVII: Advent Children, and Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny. I might end up getting the new Ace Combat eventually after the price comes down some. Over all I'd say it's a good week, I'll have enough entertainment to get me through a while longer. I do wish that the portable games coming were better though. I'm lacking on the portable side of entertainment right now.

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BYS2

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ace combat and ffvii advent children.. nice

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Zorak000

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interesting, RE4 4 PC... I smell another GOTY award! (I hope not...)

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FuguNabe

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Hmmm... I don't know why people are so excited about Advent Children. As soon as it came out here in Japan a friend of mine purchased it and many of us watched it together that day to conclude that it was way overrated. The DVD version is better than the UMD version anyhow. Hmmm I suppose if you are a fanboy of the FFVII game then it's worth seeing (though I personally thought that it spoiled the relatively crappy ending that was FFVII (though the game as a whole was quite great but overrated internationally)... [flame shields up]... anyhoo that my two cents on that. Other than that Atelier Iris 2 is not too bad (well the Jpanese version anyway).

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UpInFlames

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The only game that really interest me is Paradise - it's a classic point 'n click adventure game from Benoit Sokal, creator of Syberia. I'm also hoping that RE4 turns out a decent port. To the poster above: Half-Life 2: Episode One will be downloadable on Steam from May 1st, so it's entirely possible that the game is all done.

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drsquid

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How can HL2 Platinum be shipping tmmrw...it's supposed to include Afthermath (episode 2?)...which as Gamespot should know isn't done yet !

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SavoyPrime

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Advent Children and Metal Saga (depending on reviews) will be the only purchases I'll be making this week.

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blackIceJoe

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This will be a nice week can't wait until tomorrow to pick up the movie FF7

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damned_beast

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lots of good stuff

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Donkeljohn

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Some eagerly anticipated offerings in there, particularly for FF7-deprived North Americans.

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