Sign on Options
Theme: [Light Selected] To Dark»

Shippin' Out June 28-July 4: Call of Juarez prequel, Harry Potter

By Matthew Peters

Ubisoft's Western shooter and J.K. Rowling's boy-wizard lead this week's retail charge along with Mega Man Star Force 3, Worms 2: Armageddon, The Punisher: No Mercy, Ice Age film game.

On July 15, Warner Bros.' film adaptation of the sixth Harry Potter book will premiere across North America. But before Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince hits the silver screen, EA's game tie-in will reach the public with its Tuesday release.

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the eponymous wizard follows the single-player storyline of the book while participating in multiplayer wand duels, amateur alchemy, and quidditch. The game's release likely comes as a relief for EA, who had to delay Half-Blood Prince out of its holiday quarter last year following Warner Bros.' decision to bump the film to this summer. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will ship on the Nintendo DS, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, and Xbox 360.

Those who enjoy guns over wands may alternatively be interested in Ubisoft's Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. As the prequel to 2007's Call of Juarez, Bound in Blood takes place toward the end of the Civil War, with brothers Ray and Billy deserting from the Confederate Army and heading to the Wild West. This first-person shooter features a multiplayer mode with all-new features, including five initial playable classes and eight unlockable ones like spy, duelist, and gunsmith. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood will be available for the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.

Mega Man Star Force 3 is the third installment in the action role-playing series and adds a new noise change mechanic that randomly affects Mega Man and his surroundings. Following previous installments of the Star Force series, Star Force 3 comes in two varieties: Black Ace and Red Joker. Similar to the strategy behind Nintendo's Pokemon series, the two versions have unique differences that can be shared using the Wi-Fi networking capabilities of the DS.

Preceding the release of the Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs film by a day, Activision's game of the same name features the film's animal characters participating in a number of minigame challenges. For those seeking a portable game of knock-'em-sock-'em robots, Atlus Co.'s Steambot Chronicles: Battle Tournament may be the answer. This PSP-exclusive features customizable battle mechs in arena-style combat. The game has an open-world mission structure and sports a four-player ad hoc multiplayer mode.

Zen Studios' The Punisher: No Mercy allows players to take the law into their own hands as Marvel's infamous super-vigilante, Frank Castle. Exclusively for the PlayStation Network, this first-person shooter features a single-player story mode along with arena-style multiplayer. As for Xbox Live, Team 17 has Worms 2: Armageddon prepped for release this Wednesday. The game features new weapons like the Buffalo of Lies and offers five new landscape scenarios built in the style of its PC inspiration, 1999's Worms Armageddon.

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 the Wii Shop Channel will be revealed later this week. Release dates are based on retailer listings and are subject to change.


JUNE 28, 2009
No new releases scheduled.

JUNE 29, 2009
No new releases scheduled.

JUNE 30, 2009
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood--PC, PS3, X360--Ubisoft
Grand Theft Auto PC Trilogy--PC--Take-Two Interactive
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince--DS, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, X360--EA Games
Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming--DS--Natsume
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs --DS, PC, PS2, PS3, Wii, X360--Activision
Infernal: Hell's Vengeance--X360--Playlogic
Mega Man Star Force 3: Black Ace--DS--Capcom
Mega Man Star Force 3: Red Joker--DS--Capcom
My Dress-Up--DS--Oxygen Interactive
My Make-Up--DS--Oxygen Interactive
Roogoo: Twisted Towers--Wii--SouthPeak Games
Steambot Chronicles: Battle Tournament--PSP--Atlus Co.
Treasure World--DS--Aspyr

JULY 1, 2009
Worms 2: Armageddon--X360--Team 17

JULY 2, 2009
ARMA II--PC--505 Games
The Punisher: No Mercy--PS3--Zen Studios

JULY 3, 2009
No new releases scheduled.

JULY 4, 2009
No new releases scheduled.

Post comment as twitter logo facebook logo
Sort: Newest | Oldest
ShaquillleJ 5 pts

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

Coolyfett 5 pts

I was interested in the Punisher game, but it will not be on UMD, hopefully he will be in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. Fingers crossed.

dragonsama 10 pts

Hey Gamespot you forgot that BlazBlue came out on Jun 30. I picked up my copy last night. it's Awesome!

devilscry 11 pts

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

devilscry 11 pts

Eh hem..... Since Gamespot has failed to fix its omission, i'll report on it. ALSO COMING OUT THIS WEEK JUNE 3OTH IS BLAZBLUE THE FIRST 2D FIGHTER TO BE RELEASED IN ALL ITS HD GLORY ON BOTH THE XBOX360 AND PS3. MANY FANS OF THE GAME GUILTY GEAR WILL RECOGNIZE THE ART STYLE BEING THAT BLAZBLUE IS SOMETHING OF A STEP BROTHER COMING OUT OF THE SAME PUBLIHER ARC SYSTEM WORKS. ANY AND ALL FIGHTER FANS SHOULD GIVE THIS BEAUTIFULY HAND DRAWN AND FAST PACED FIGHTER ATRY. You're Welcome

anik786 5 pts

@kong_sevixnine same here lol!

kong_sevixnine 5 pts

Awww, I saw "call of..." and I thought this was for COD MW2. Still, this game looks good.

scar4ever 5 pts

Only looking forward for Call of Juarez.

firehawk998 119 pts

I like a lot of people here have the same question why isnt Blazblue on the list the game had already got good review scores. Anyways the game I am most exicted about is the Call of Juarez. As for Harry Potter EA had enough time to polish the game and make it good but I seriously doubt it whether they will polish the game.

MegaXtreme 5 pts

Also, those whining about no MVC2: Capcom's own Seth Killian stumped that release date out. It's NOT coming this week, but I think the tentative date is late July.

MegaXtreme 5 pts

Where the **** is Blazblue? Seriously, that's probably the biggest and best release this week, to be honest. Got my call from GameStop today, so it's mine tomorrow. MegaMan also looks cool, and I've got the Black Ace version on pre-order, though no call yet. That may not be until Wednesday.

nurse_tsunami 10 pts

I can't wait till they release Worms 2: Armageddon on the PC! I loved the original when it came out 10 years ago. Team 17 has announced it is coming to Steam, but hasn't given a date yet.

Flame_Blade88 5 pts

No Blazblue? huh? Whatever, my preorder for that monster is ready to be picked up tomorrow.

Devil_Vergil 5 pts

@devilscry: haha well regardless I got the call from Gamestop and I plan on picking up this bad boy tommorow so truth be told, its all good.

devilscry 11 pts

@Devil_Vergil: i had figured it was one of the few top teir games coming out this summer. apperently Gamespot didn't share my opinion....i dunno. then again My Dress up/make up and Roogoo do have a bigger following......what the hell games are those?!

Pete5506 21 pts

I got some games to rent this week

aceoaces 5 pts

Sweet, consoles have now caught up to where the PC already was 10 years ago.

Devil_Vergil 5 pts

@devilscry: I had wondered the EXACT same thing BlazBlue will essentially be ending the VG boom of Q2 and they dont mention it? Low. . . . really really low. . . . .IR sad now

Gorilla97 5 pts

i'm looking forward to the new Call Of Juarez. i liked the first one, especially the wild west themed shoot'em up multiplayer, although heavily glitched, it was still fun and had a lot of potential. COJ will atleast tide me over for awhile while i wait for Red Dead Redemption.

Darth_Nater307 50 pts

*sniff* No "Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 *sniff*

jediknight52501 69 pts

what, no Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 on Live Arcade, i thought it was going to be released this week, i am so disappointed in Capcom now.

devilscry 11 pts

Um.,...why the Blazblue Snub? Probably the bigger game Next to Call of Juarez(tho i have zero interest in juarez) and Harry Potter (do those games even sell well?) coming out this week and not even a mention? not even at all next to all the other crap thats coming out, not one word?? Hey Gamespot, what give???

denicola_a_god 5 pts

damn the summer doldrums of gaming :(

arcelonious 5 pts

How come Blazblue isn't on the list for the new releases for this week?

rohail88 5 pts

@kavadias1981 sometimes yes, sometimes no

Bgrngod 9 pts

So a bunch of crap tie-in games. A handful of games that are the 24th or so entries in their series. And, some half-assed "been there done that's". Not a good release week. Not even remotely. The only game on their even slighty interesting is Infernal. And it's probably going to be a stinker. Oh well. This at least means more time to play prior releases.

jokers_anarchy 5 pts

im getting call of juarez bound in blood

Zathic 5 pts

@kavadias - To a certain extent yes

Sins-of-Mosin 5 pts

Call of Juarez and Infernal: Hell's Vengeance for the Xbox 360 have my attention this week. Then it's slow till NCAA comes out in mid July.

kavadias1981 5 pts

When I was a kid and I wanted a game for my Amiga 500 or Master System it was the packaging that sold it to me. Does that still apply to kids today? Genuine question there guys, feel free to answer.

kavadias1981 5 pts

Wow, if you have any games console, EA and Activision have got you covered!

Sechu 5 pts

I am considering picking up the prequel to Call of Jurez and the new Harry Potter game. Latter was long enough (release was postponed by half a year or so because of delays in the movie shooting) in the development to be a good game.

Hyperion_1400 5 pts

Arma 2 came out last week... but what ev.

xhizors96 5 pts

OMG yes ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs will be GOTY 09 just watch.

meesterwong18 5 pts

where is marvel vs capcom 2? Grrrrr

playa42018 14 pts

I always wondered what type of people bought those terrible terrible movie games. It finally hit me last night when my uncle asked me to pick up a copy of Transformers: The Game for my 6 year old cousin.

Singularitarian 5 pts

What's up with movie tie-ins being spammed to every last system? The Singularity is near.

Game_Master359 5 pts

yes!!!!!!!!!!!! wooo!!!!!!!!!!!! gettin hp6 tomorrow accio gamestop get here already!!!!!!!

EchoEcho 5 pts

What the hell, where is Marvel vs Capcom 2 in that list? Isn't it supposed to be out this week?

raahsnavj 21 pts

I still haven't got the first Worms on XBLA mainly because I was waiting to drop a huge Concrete ASS (sorry, Donkey) on all the unsuspecting worms instead. Looks like I can go pick up a worms game this week... maybe. It will eventually hit a deal of the week someday and maybe I'll get it then.

rohail88 5 pts

Hopefully HP6 is fun this time!!

rohail88 5 pts

Hopefully HP6 is fun this time!!

Conversation powered by Livefyre

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

  • New Star Wars game coming to E3

    New Star Wars game coming to E3 Thumbnail

    LucasArts to offer first look at new project May 31 on Spike, with gameplay debut slated for June 4 during annual Los Angeles tradeshow. Full Story

    • Posted May 25, 2012 1:14 pm PT
  • Reckoning dev lays off entire staff - Report

    Reckoning dev lays off entire staff - Report Thumbnail

    [UPDATE]: Source says beleaguered 38 Studios and Big Huge Games sent out pink slips to all employees, believed to number close to 400. Rhode Island governor calls Kingdoms of Amalur a "failure." Full Story

    • Posted May 24, 2012 1:59 pm PT
  • Skyrim adds mounted combat

    Skyrim adds mounted combat Thumbnail

    Update now live for PC version of latest Elder Scrolls title that allows players to do melee and ranged damage while on a horse; console release TBA. Full Story

    • Posted May 25, 2012 7:04 am PT
  • Diablo III servers not hacked - Blizzard

    Diablo III servers not hacked - Blizzard Thumbnail

    Dev says number of reported potential account compromises "extremely small," real money auction house delayed again; working "around the clock" to address issues. Full Story

    • Posted May 24, 2012 1:30 pm PT
  • Xbox 360 should be banned in US, says judge

    Xbox 360 should be banned in US, says judge Thumbnail

    [UPDATE] ITC judge recommends US import ban on 4GB and 250GB Xbox 360 slim consoles amid ongoing patent dispute with Motorola; Microsoft confident board will rule in its favor. Full Story

    • Posted May 23, 2012 7:17 am PT

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!