This Week’s New Releases + Game News: August 3, 2015

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New Retail Releases
There’s no Video Game Librarian Pick of the Week this week as I’m pretty unfamiliar with all of these games.

Other New Retail Releases

  • Lost Dimension is the latest tactical RPG from Atlus. Set to be released for the PS3 and Vita, Lost Dimension asks players to join the ranks of SEALED, “eleven psychics with superhuman abilities,” who are doing battle with The End. But watch out, at least one of those psychics is a traitor!
  • Legend of Kay Anniversary resurrects the ten-year-old PS2 game for a new generation of players on the PS4 and Wii U. This new version of the game has received a graphical makeover, but the cat is still kung fu fighting.
  • Finally this week, Arc System Works’s latest fighting game, BlazBlue: Chronophantasma Extend, will be released for the Vita.

New Release Round-Up For Downloadable Games

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This Week’s New Releases + Game News: July 27, 2015

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New Retail Releases
vgl-pickThe Video Game Librarian Pick of the Week is Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PS4 and Xbox One). Originally released as a download-only game back in May, The Old Blood is a budget-priced prequel to last year’s excellent Wolfenstein: The New Order. The game brings protagonist B.J. Blazkowicz back to the frontlines of World War II where he’ll have to do battle with a horde of Nazi Zombies and other mutated monsters.

Other New Retail Releases

New Release Round-Up For Downloadable Games

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This Week’s New Releases + Game News: July 20, 2015

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New Retail Releases
vgl-pickThe Video Game Librarian Pick of the Week is Rory McIlroy PGA Tour (PS4, Xbox One). The first golf game from EA Sports not to feature Tiger Woods on the cover in almost 20 years, Rory McIlroy PGA Tour will combine a traditional golf simulation with a variety of fantasy courses.

Other New Retail Releases

New Release Round-Up For Downloadable Games

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This Week’s New Releases + Game News: July 13, 2015

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New Retail Releases
There aren’t any new retail releases to talk about this week, but several publishers brought big announcement to this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, and you can read all about them below.

New Release Round-Up For Downloadable Games

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How to Build a Quality Circulating Game Collection in 5 Minutes

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Minute 1… Choose Your Platforms
Dozens of video game platforms have been released since the 1970s, though only a handful are active at a time. Personally, I think supporting as many platforms as possible is the best course of action, but that’s not always possible. If you are forced to limit the number of platforms in your collection, the best way to choose is to go directly to your patrons and ask them what platforms they’d like to see on the library shelves.

Minute 2… Visit Metacritic
Metacritic is a review aggreagator that averages together hundreds of reviews to produce a “Metascore” for every game. While not perfect, the “Metascore” is a reasonable approximation of the overall critical consensus for every game. So point your mouse here and get to it: Metacritic.

Minute 3… Make a List of the Top 10 Titles on Each Platform You Chose
Metacritic also provides a list of the top-ranked titles on each platform broken down further into a “games released in the past 90 days” list and an “all time” list. Cruising down each list and pulling out the top ten for every platform you want to collect. This process will give you a wide selection of games that covers multiple genres and player preferences. Basically, you’re picking a little something for everything.

Minute 4… Order the Games on Your List
You’ve picked your games, so it’s time to do it, hit that “Buy” button.

Minute 5… Bask in a Job Well Done
Obviously, there’s more to building a game collection than all this. But this process will give you a good base collection that you can then supplement in the future with additional titles. Like the ones I select every week as “The Video Game Librarian Pick of the Week.”

Best of E3 2015 Winners Selected by Game Critics Awards

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e3Every year, the Game Critics Awards, a collection of editors from more than 40 major publications that cover the video game industry, get together to choose the best games at the E3 Expo.

While all of these titles are still in development, you should keep them in mind when you add games to your collection this Fall and into 2016.

Fallout 4 was named “Best of Show,” and the full list of winners and nominees can be found below. Continue reading →

This Week’s New Releases + Game News: July 6, 2015

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New Retail Releases
vgl-pickThe Video Game Librarian Pick of the Week is Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Xbox 360). Originally released for the PS2 in 2004, Rockstar created a special anniversary edition for the Xbox 360 in 2014 that was previously only available through the Xbox Games Store. That version of their gangland classic, which is more or less unchanged from the PS2 original, is now available as a retail disc. And anyone interested in game preservation should be interested in picking up a copy.

Other New Retail Releases

New Release Round-Up For Downloadable Games

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