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Shippin' Out 8/14-18: Dirge of Cerberus, Ninety-Nine Nights

Final Fantasy spin-off and Ninety-Nine Nights cut through the fog of a front-loaded games week; DS gets triple dose of new releases.

Though Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays are taking a hiatus this week, retail publishers still have a few key titles they hope will ameliorate the summer doldrums.

Square Enix's action-heavy spin-off to the 1997 role-playing classic Final Fantasy VII--a recent inductee into GameSpot's Greatest Games of All Time--will hit US stores tomorrow. Starring the elusive Vincent Valentine--a pistol-wielding character whom players may never have even seen in FFVII--combines first-person shooting with other action adventure elements for a title not focused on traditional Final Fantasy role-playing. For more on Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, check out GameSpot's impressions from the Japanese version of the game, which was released in January.

Though some of the early hype around the game has died down, Microsoft, Q Entertainment, and Phantagram still hope gamers are drawn to their Xbox 360 action game, which literally pits players against hundreds of onscreen enemies at once. The point-of-view-switching Ninety-Nine Nights plays similarly to games in the Dynasty Warriors and Kingdom Under Fire franchises, the latter also by Phantagram. For more on Ninety-Nine Nights, read GameSpot's review.

Nintendo's DS handheld is receiving a trio of games in distinctly separate genres. The first is Freedom Wings, a flight sim from Natsume and Taito, in which gamers don the role of a government pilot in the Air Patrol Association to rid the skies of pirates. Players can use the Nintendo DS stylus to maneuver their aircraft. Another, Konductra from O3 Entertainment and oeFun, is a puzzler in which players match colored tiles and can challenge other Konductra players either via a local or Internet wireless connection.

The last, Deep Labyrinth from Atlus and Interactive Brains, is a first-person role-playing game featuring both hack-and-slash dungeon-crawling and a memory-tangled backstory. Deep Labyrinth also has developmental ties to a few Square Enix RPGs--Chrono Trigger's and Final Fantasy XI's Masato Katou is working on Deep Labyrinth's scenarios, while acclaimed virtuoso Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Cross, Xenosaga) is composing its musical score. For more on Deep Labyrinth, check out GameSpot's most recent preview.

AUGUST 14
Civil Air Patrol Pilot Search and Rescue (PC)
DarkStar One (PC)
World Racing 2 (PC)

AUGUST 15
Backyard Baseball 2007 (PC)
D1 Grand Prix (PS2)
Deep Labyrinth (DS)
Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (PS2)
Freedom Wings (DS)
Games Explosion! (GBA)
Konductra (DS)
Ninety-Nine Nights (Xbox 360)
Payout Poker and Casino (PSP)
Pirates: Legend of the Black Buccaneer (PS2)
Super Monkey Ball Adventure (PSP)
World Racing 2 (Xbox)
Xyanide (Xbox)

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67 Comments

  • s0ild_snake

    Posted Jan 15, 2007 6:01 am PT

    this is nice game

  • Versus_XIII

    Posted Aug 26, 2006 7:17 am PT

    I can't wait for FFIII on the DS

  • Fiku42

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 8:13 pm PT

    ??.... Theres nothing good Left on Gba The Only thing thats left thats worth getting on it is FInal Fantasy V and FFVI thats about it.

  • lvlUNE3B

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 6:21 pm PT

    It won't be a good week for gba

  • Ponsardin

    Posted Aug 20, 2006 3:54 am PT

    Can't wait to play Konductra!

  • madroxide87

    Posted Aug 19, 2006 7:09 am PT

    I'm gonna have to agree with several of the other posters on this one. That game looked kinda dumb and felt worse....clumsy controls....bad angles...all the things that cause you to die and throw things at your TV.

  • Roxas_27

    Posted Aug 17, 2006 3:28 pm PT

    Dirge of Cerberus' developers said themselves that DoC is not a spin-off or a sequel.

  • Radai32671

    Posted Aug 17, 2006 1:18 am PT

    Who sells World Racing 2, so i can purchase it?

  • smbius

    Posted Aug 17, 2006 12:27 am PT

    The N3 demo was really fun....

    ...for about two mintes

  • King_Dodongo

    Posted Aug 15, 2006 7:01 pm PT

    Deep Labyrinth, Freedom Wings and Konductra!

    Nice trio!

  • wildsoul0509

    Posted Aug 15, 2006 5:27 pm PT

    N3 needs a co-op mode

  • Digital-Devil

    Posted Aug 15, 2006 12:34 pm PT

    N3 needed online or two player...simple as that

  • superman2OO7

    Posted Aug 15, 2006 12:14 pm PT

    Ninety-Nine Nights = crap

  • lilweightlifter

    Posted Aug 15, 2006 9:29 am PT

    I want Deep Labyrinth!

  • terrabreak13

    Posted Aug 15, 2006 8:55 am PT

    I enjoyed the demo for N3. It's hard to believe that somehow the final game is worst than the demo. I guess it's just a matter of taste.

  • The_Answer_1

    Posted Aug 15, 2006 8:39 am PT

    I knew this game would be bad I like the idea of trying something new but from the gamplay videos i knew it was coming home with me i expect gamespot to give a 7 maybe a 6 no more

  • Fatality4u

    Posted Aug 15, 2006 7:50 am PT

    Niney-Nine Nights was the only thing that seemed to make a good deal for this week and now that it stinks...

  • SavoyPrime

    Posted Aug 15, 2006 7:36 am PT

    I was hoping N3 was going to be a good title. Maybe an two-player XBL co-op mode would have helped it out some.

  • Flamingpostman

    Posted Aug 15, 2006 5:33 am PT

    N3 has got such bad reviews
    It needed atleast 2 player mode or something
    Online play...

  • shizwill03

    Posted Aug 15, 2006 4:52 am PT

    N3 bored me when I watch my nephew hack up the demo, and DOC did not get anything good as well.

    I was not intending to buy the games anyway.

Check Prices: $9.99 – 23.4

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