Welcome back to the GearGames weekly video game release feature here at Gear Diary! The end of this week sees the release of the sequel to the Pixar franchise Toy Story 3, and of course there is a video game based on the movie coming to every platform. My kids were small enough to watch the ‘Buzz Lightyear’ animated series when it was new, and we had fun with Zurg and the LGMs, and are all looking forward to this one.

The Nintendo DS sees the release of the 100 Books Collection, which is a cartridge with 100 public domain books formatted for the handheld. Personally I’d love to have seen them set up a basic reader through DSiWare with the 100 books downloadable through that service … but this is better than nothing, and if it gets kids reading these classics over the derivative and under-edited top sellers these days, all the better! And there are plenty of other releases this week – read on to find out!

• Toy Story 3
• Naval Assault: The Killing Tide
• SBK-09 Superbike World Championship

• Toy Story 3
• SBK-09 Superbike World Championship
• Gundemonium Recollection
• GundeadliGne

• Toy Story 3
• Dance on Broadway
• Kid Adventures: Sky Captain
• Let’s Play Garden
• Bejeweled 2

• Toy Story 3
• SBK-09 Superbike World Championship

• Toy Story 3
• Legend of Kay
• 100 Classic Book Collection
• Yard Sale Hidden Treasures: Sunnyvillle
• Let’s Play Garden
• thinkSMART

• Toy Story 3
• Making History II: The War of the World
• The Book of Unwritten Tales
• SBK-09 Superbike World Championship
• Dance on Broadway

Some notes from last week:

• Green Day: Rock Band

- Exactly what it sounds like – another Rock Band retread … this time with Green Day music. Works well enough, but the genre desperately needs a refresh!

• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11

- The core golf game sees improvements for he first time in way too long … but much of the rest of the game is lagging. See my previous comments on the ‘every 2 -3 year’ upgrade strategy before grabbing this one!

• Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

- Tight stealth gameplay and some cool additions are countered with the usual PSP control issues and a rather lackluster campaign story. Still one of the best PSP games in the last year or more.

• Disgaea Infinite

- All about the story, which will please some fans … but for most, the lack of the great gameplay means this is a simplistic money-grab – and too short even for that!

• Mega Man Zero Collection

- Great way to experience this classic collection!

• Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

- They lost me between the mediocre gameplay and the unforgivable DRM system.

• Hearts of Iron III: Semper Fi

- Amazing way to fill in some of the missing spots in the Hearts of Iron III timeline. If you liked the original game you’ll LOVE this!

What games am I playing now? Here is a sampling:

• PC: Alpha Protocol – personally I love this game, already played as a tech/shotgun focus, now going back as pistol/stealth.
• PC: The Sims 3 Ambitions – did you know you could choose a career as a Ghostbuster? Cool stuff – but you have to already be invested in The Sims 3 to ‘get it’.
• PC: World of Tanks – Closed beta. I continue losing more than winning … but always having fun. There are some really great tank commanders out there!

So what are you playing? Chime in below!

Enjoy gaming!