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Shippin' Out: July 3-7

  • By Staff, GameSpot
  • Posted Jul 5, 2006 4:59 pm PT

Short holiday week even shorter on new releases; 360 Lord of the Rings RTS tops thin list as the pickings are slim.

When America wrote out its birthday wish list, it apparently had things other than games on its mind. While the country celebrated its 230th birthday, gamers browsed bare shelves as this week's game release list wasn't nearly as meaty as the millions of BBQ grills lit up on Tuesday.

Leading the pack is the Xbox 360's first real-time strategy game, Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II. Based on both the films and books of Tolkien's fantasy world, the game lets players command armies of elves, dwarves, orcs, and other beasties. LOTR: Middle-earth II was previously released on the PC and was published by Electronic Arts.

The PC added several games to its gigantic library, with strategy games For Liberty! and Glory of the Roman Battalion giving gamers with a penchant for historical action something to choose from. More war is available in DreamCatcher's WWII action game First Battalion and Tri Synergy's Terrawars: New York Invasion.

For those with a few extra bucks to spend, a second pressing of the collector's edition of Guild Wars Factions has also reached stores, according to GuildWars.com.

Current-gen consoles were dissed with only one game, the PlayStation 2's Ultimate Board Game Collection, and handhelds were completely shut out of new games. Next week's list is looking a bit anemic as well, but at least has two bigger next-gen titles in Chromehounds for the Xbox 360 and Prey for the 360 and PC.

This week's new releases are listed below (list taken from retailer information--actual dates may vary).

JULY 2, 2006
Kitty LUV (PC)

JULY 3, 2006
Glory of the Roman Empire (PC)

JULY 4, 2006
For Liberty! (PC)

JULY 5, 2006
The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II (X360)
Ultimate Board Game Collection (PS2)
First Battalion (PC)

JULY 6, 2006
Outlaw Chopper (PC)
Terrawars: New York Invasion (PC)
Big Oil: Build an Oil Empire (PC)

44 Comments

  • ewjim

    Posted Jul 8, 2006 1:12 pm GMT

    This is all?! Nine games?! Is there a war or something? WHERE NEW-COOL-GAMES??? There's no even "not bad" game, i'am not even talikng about good...

  • Sandman100

    Posted Jul 7, 2006 10:59 am GMT

    LOR:BME-2 maybe ok

    But NCAA 07 in two weeks. That going to be great for the 360.

  • Sandman100

    Posted Jul 7, 2006 10:56 am GMT

    Gears of War coming out the same day has the PS3.

  • Lupus64

    Posted Jul 6, 2006 11:32 pm GMT

    Gotta LUV that Kitty... *yawns*

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Jul 6, 2006 5:27 pm GMT

    nothing really stands out except lotr

  • flingkatu

    Posted Jul 6, 2006 12:07 pm GMT

    I heard of horrible frame rates...under 30 fps at some parts during the training mission...and during the last two levels parts there are tremendous amounts of slow down that even keep you from using your controller for a few seconds...ea really has been missing the mark lately...

  • CraigBezzle

    Posted Jul 6, 2006 11:04 am GMT

    Ugh, nothing good out until...NCAA 07 for 360 ? Sad.

  • HyruleanLink

    Posted Jul 6, 2006 9:56 am GMT

    NEXT!

  • sasuke55

    Posted Jul 6, 2006 7:45 am GMT

    Cant' wait to get my copy I will have to wait until the 10th that's pay day for me.

  • GoreObsessed

    Posted Jul 6, 2006 7:14 am GMT

    Cant wait to pick up my copy of BFME II .

  • sephiroth_4

    Posted Jul 6, 2006 7:00 am GMT

    ..."come on Gears of War"....

  • skitzocyko

    Posted Jul 6, 2006 6:30 am GMT

    [This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

  • SavoyPrime

    Posted Jul 6, 2006 6:00 am GMT

    Pretty bare selection.

  • roadrunner1178

    Posted Jul 6, 2006 5:41 am GMT

    Wow, only one console game.

  • Fallout_red

    Posted Jul 6, 2006 4:37 am GMT

    Prey is enough for the whole Summer!!!! Kant wait!

  • soulknight63133

    Posted Jul 6, 2006 3:15 am GMT

    I'll be getting the X360 version too.

  • chris_lorden

    Posted Jul 6, 2006 1:50 am GMT

    possibly good

  • faizali86

    Posted Jul 6, 2006 1:48 am GMT

    besides lotr i dont think any of those games are good

  • langrisser2005

    Posted Jul 6, 2006 12:58 am GMT

    tsk... yet another game already made going to 360, they just can't get many on their own can they? Majority have been games already released simply ported the 360 and boosting the price.... it's weak.

  • CorruptGamerGX

    Posted Jul 6, 2006 12:44 am GMT

    Garbage

  • Striker_Zero

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 11:46 pm GMT

    BFME2 is going to be awesome....RTS are the best....and personally i thought warcraft for the PS 1 was great too

  • _Sam_

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 10:48 pm GMT

    nothing very good this week

  • grave_rob

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 10:41 pm GMT

    there's a battle for middle earth going on right now...in my pants.

    worst...
    release week....
    ever.

  • Chemosh013

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 10:15 pm GMT

    it's going to be a very important game for console RTSes... i think a lot of people are viewing at as an experiment for next gen consoles and if it does well more RTSes could be heading the console way!

  • Tranceplant

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 9:26 pm GMT

    Nothing worth it.

  • SolInvictus-HGG

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 8:53 pm GMT

    Well, at least Titan Quest is finally out. I'll be spending my entire summer playing that game.

  • i_love_my_ds

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 8:42 pm GMT

    damn this week seriously sucked

  • Guidochua

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 8:18 pm GMT

    only 1 ps2 game? sheesh

  • paradyme777

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 8:07 pm GMT

    Next week is the Golden Week. Well for me it is, PREY!

  • troakun

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 7:57 pm GMT

    Hooray! Ultimate Board Game Collection!

  • rynmls

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 7:12 pm GMT

    nothing good for the ps2...

  • VampOrdinator

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 6:35 pm GMT

    dont scare me like that lol i thought they had delayed bfme 2 or somthing!

  • Kayrod29

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 6:34 pm GMT

    Only game there worth purchasing is LOTR.

  • pohlkat

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 6:14 pm GMT

    Sigh, I get so depressed, looking at the same games of 2 or 3 years ago in stores. Why wont someone GIVE ME A HUG!!!!!??????

  • samuraibambi

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 5:53 pm GMT

    LOTR

  • blackIceJoe

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 5:47 pm GMT

    I pick up The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II tomorrow at EB games can't wait to play that game.I can't wait until the July 18 can pick up Blade Dancer and Valkyrie Profile for my PSP.

  • samekila

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 5:44 pm GMT

    I might get LOTR I love strategy but only on PC I will give it a try though

  • Chubbums

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 5:38 pm GMT

    The summer drought continues......

  • ryokinshin

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 5:33 pm GMT

    could open up rts gaming for consoles if it pulls through

  • gamer_10001

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 5:22 pm GMT

    Not much.

  • _sean_05

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 5:19 pm GMT

    weak
    Japan pwnz us at videogames
    happy 4th

  • joeshoe1121

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 5:15 pm GMT

    typo

    "...Glory of the Roman Battalion ..."

    Glory of the Roman Empire?
    might want to fix that Gamespot

  • bob1717171717

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 5:07 pm GMT

    [This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

  • nigel

    Posted Jul 5, 2006 5:03 pm GMT

    LOTR shold be sweet n the 360. I'll get it ASAP

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