Long read: The beauty and drama of video games and their clouds

"It's a little bit hard to work out without knowing the altitude of that dragon..."

If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

New PAL Releases Roundup - 30/01/09

Saints Row 2, SimAnimals, er...

Your wallets may be fixed expectantly on the end of next month, but there's still the small matter of this Friday's new releases to deal with, not to mention all the others in the meantime. That said, tomorrow's line-up really is a small matter.

Best of a boring bunch is the delayed PC release of Saints Row 2, which you can get through Steam or any shops that haven't died out yet. We weren't massively impressed - it's a pretty average port of a deliciously indecent game, and the things on your screen seem to bear no relation to the massive coronary unfolding in the brushed aluminium heart of your pimped-out gaming rig (and did you really need the window, or the neon lights?).

We don't know what will be on WiiWare tomorrow yet (and it's probably a WiiWare week, given last Friday's Virtual Console double), but it stands a good chance of outshining Xbox Live Arcade at least. PSN may surprise us later, although Psyonix's Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars (they tell us it's out today) will probably have to be flanked by others to get there.

Still, next week there's Chrono Trigger on DS, Pikmin's Wii reissue and the chance for Rise of the Argonauts to stand up for itself after a few brutal reviews surrounding its US release late last year.

This week:

  • CSI: New York (PC)
  • FunTown Mahjong (Xbox Live Arcade)
  • Saints Row 2 (PC - shops and Steam)
  • SimAnimals (DS, Wii)
  • Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars (PSN)