This week saw the release of a few games across a few platforms. The usual summer slump in AAA releases is biting a bit but there are some notable highlights.



(For those of you that are UK members a ‘summer’ is what happened 2 months ago when it stopped raining just long enough for the sun to pop out from behind a grey cloud for 30 seconds)



To me the highlight of this week’s releases is Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD on 360 and PS3. I remember loving this game, and it’s very cool music, on the PS1 many moons ago. Whilst not as up on skating parlance these days, due to an inability to stay upright on one anymore, this is certainly a game I will be revisiting in the near future to see if I can put together the sort of trick combos I used to when I had a clue what I was doing on games. All the while I shall be singing along, badly, to ‘Blitzkreig Bop’ by The Ramones.



Also out is Anna. A PC game from Italian indie developers Dreampainters that is supposed to rival Amnesia for its s***-your-pants horror shocks. So....on that note I won’t be playing it then, as I am a wuss, but it does look very good. In it the ghostly presence out to get you remembers what you do in the game and uses that against you to provide more scares later on. Which sounds like an interesting concept to me. You'll have to let me know how it goes.



In the ‘also out this week but only getting listed with a very small description given’ section is Mass Effect 3: Earth which is some more multiplayer DLC content for you ME3 MP fans out there.

On PSN you can indulge in some Resident Evil related on-rails shooting with The Umbrella Chronicles and The Darkside Chronicles.

On XBOX Live Marketplace or Kinect Central, for free, you get to answer the question you’ve been asking yourself for all those years “Can you land a Mars rover properly or will you Beagle II it?” on Mars Rover Landing which is from the dons of space exploration at NASA.



Special mention of the week goes to Frogger:Hyper Arcade Edition. This is part of the 30th Anniversary celebrations of the arcade release available on XBLA, PSN and WiiWare. Yet again trying to get a frog across a busy main road has never been so much fun or so tedious. Get the feel of playing in an arcade 30 years ago in the comfort of your own home. (Paedo handing out 10p for a ‘favour’, teens ODing on heroin (See ‘Zammo’ being found by ‘Roley’ incident in Grange Hill to get that reference. Bound to be available on Youtube) and suspiciously stained carpet not provided with game...you’ll have to find them yourself to get the true experience of an arcade in 1982).



It is also the last weekend of the SSS(tm) (NOT a rebranding of the particularly nasty arm of the Nazi led German Army.. but the Steam Summer Sale(tm). Much nicer all round I’m sure you will agree).

I picked up some Total War games I used to have but lost in various house moves/kicked out by gf moments (usually the same thing) but am too skint to make any other purchases right now even though the prices are great.



This weekend I would be playing DayZ (it’s addictive!) but my internet is down awaiting delivery of a new router after mine got trashed in a bizarre ‘falling-over-whilst-a-bit-drunk’ incident that was totally NOT my fault at all (...it was). So I will probably just play some of the aforementioned Total War games with some Olympics thrown in as the build up reaches frenzy point for the big kick-off next week (if Steam decides to start up without a connection (which can be hit and miss for me for some reason)).



So, that’s a rough guide to this week in the world of gaming. So what have you been playing this weekend and what, if anything, have you purchased or plan to purchase in the SSS(tm)?



Let us know below!