Shippin' Out Sept. 11-17: God of War Origins

With Resistance 3, Warhammer 40K: Space Marine, Driver: San Francisco, Dead Island, and Star Fox 3DS, the first full week of September was chock-full of high-profile new releases. The second week lets up ever so slightly, with a new PlayStation 3 compilation of Kratos' portable conquests leading a slate featuring EA Sports' annual hockey sim, Twisted Pixel's first Kinect game, and a free downloadable add-on to last year's smash hit Red Dead Redemption.

The God of War: Origins Collection brings together the two PSP installments in Sony's popular god-slaughtering action series: 2008's God of War: Chains of Olympus and 2010's God of War: Ghost of Sparta. Both games will be remastered in high definition with support for 3D displays, as well as PlayStation Network trophies.

While NHL preseason games don't start until September 19, this week's release of EA Sports' annual puck sim will signal a welcome end to a tragedy-filled offseason. Putting the focus back on the ice, EA Sports has updated this year's version of the series with a new "Full Contact" physics engine. The publisher aims to increase realism in the game, adding in such features as goalies that can be interfered with more realistically, as well as net battles. It has also revamped the Be a Pro career mode and added a handful of legends to the game, including Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Gordie Howe.

The launch of Twisted Pixel's Gunstringer marks a pair of firsts for the developer. The Western-themed marionette-based shooter is both the first Kinect game from the studio, as well as its first retail offering. The Gunstringer will sell for $40 in stores and will be bundled with a voucher code to download Halfbrick's slice-'em-up Fruit Ninja Kinect. The Halfbrick-developed produce-slicing game saw a stand-alone Xbox Live Arcade launch August 10 and sells for $10 separately.

Red Dead Redemption gets a posse of new multiplayer characters this week with the free Myths and Mavericks Bonus Pack. The eight new characters are pulled from the original game's single-player mode and highlighted by aging gunslinger Landon Ricketts. The rest of the new additions include Vicente DeSanta, Drew MacFarlane, Deputy Eli, Deputy Jonah, Javier Esquella, Nastas, and Uncle. The add-on also includes 11 new locations for multiplayer matches.

For further details on the week's games, visit GameSpot's New Releases page. The full list of downloadable games on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Live Marketplace, and Wii Shop Channel will be revealed later this week. Release dates are based on retailer listings and are subject to change.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2011
Dungeons & Dragons Online: Secrets of the Artificers--PC--Atari

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011
The Gunstringer--X360--Microsoft
NHL 12--X360, PS3--EA Sports
Red Dead Redemption: Myths & Mavericks Bonus Pack--PS3--Rockstar
God of War Origins Collection--PS3--Sony
Hard Reset--PC--Flying Wild Hog
Bit.Trip Saga--3DS--Aksys Games
Bit.Trip Complete--Wii--Aksys Games
White Knight Chronicles II--PS3--D3Publisher
Camping Mama: Outdoor Adventures
Challenge Me: Word Puzzles--DS--O-Games
Thor: God of Thunder--3DS--Sega
Deca Sports Extreme--3DS--Konami
Call of Juarez: The Cartel--PC--Ubisoft
Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad--PC--Tripwire
Nicktoons MLB--X360, Wii, DS--2K Play
Balloon Pop 2--3DS--UFO Interactive
Kinect Zoom peripheral--Nyko

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011
Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 Expansion--PC, PS3, X360--Wizards of the Coast
TrackMania 2 Canyon--PC--Ubisoft
Defense of the Middle Kingdom--DS--Aksys Games
Bridge--DS--Cosmigo
MotoHeroz--Wii--RedLynx