Presented in glorious alphabetical order, New Media: Retail Roundup is your indispensible checklist of the home console and handheld titles arriving in stores this week. What will you be playing?

MICROSOFT Xbox 360 Nothing

NINTENDO Wii Nothing 3DS Nothing DS Bejeweled Twist * Plants vs Zombies

SONY PS3 Ratchet & Clank Platinum Pack * Resistance Platinum Pack * Uncharted Platinum Pack PSP Nothing

VARIOUS PC Nothing

New Media: Downloadable Digest is your handy reminder of the new downloadable titles released during the past week.

MICROSOFT XBLA From Dust

NINTENDO WiiWare Nothing eShop Let’s Golf 3D DSiWare Nothing

SONY PSN 3D Ultra Mini Golf Adventures * Dead Block Minis Nothing

VALVE Steam Chantelise: A Tale of Two Sisters * Cogs * Dead Horde * Defy Gravity Extended * EYE: Divine Cybermancy * Legend of Fae * Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill Remastered * Nancy Drew: Trail of the Twister * Nancy Drew: The Captive Curse * Supreme Ruler: Cold War

Recent instalments of New Media: 24.07.11 l 17.07.11 l 10.07.11 l 03.07.11 l 26.06.11

Welcome to The Black List, your one stop shop for the stories published on the site this week.

MONDAY JUST ANNOUNCED Sideway > In recent years, a number of platformers have experimented with the dimensions. Titles such as Zoë Mode’s Crush and Intelligent System’s Super Paper Mario allowed the player to switch from 2D to 3D and back again, while Lost in Shadow challenged the player take on the form of a shadow cast against a wall. A new example of this burgeoning trend is now in the works at indie developer Playbrains and it looks to have enough originality in its favour to distinguish itself from its predecessors. READ MORE

TUESDAY NEW TRAILER El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron > Are you ready for some eye candy? A dazzling new trailer has been issued for El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron, the forthcoming third person action game from UTV Ignition. The one minute clip boasts an impressive level of gravel voiced silliness, with the narrator promising us a tale in which “one man” journeys into “the depths of hell… and beyond.” READ MORE

WEDNESDAY NEWS nanoBITES 50 > Microsoft is working on an expanded edition of Kinectimals. The new game, which will also be made available as DLC for the original product, will feature 10 new animals, including five bears. Look for Kinectimals: Now With Bears in spring. This is just one of the stories in this week’s edition of nanoBITES, our ongoing feature devoted to small but important news items. READ MORE

THURSDAY REVIEW Bastion > Indie games are often experimental in nature. Small overheads and low distribution costs allow these indie developers to explore possibilities that are not even considered when creating AAA games. Basically they can take risks and, as with all risks, sometimes they pay off and sometimes they don’t. This leads us to Bastion from Supergiant Games and if their goal was to reinvent the way a story is told, they have succeeded admirably. READ MORE

FRIDAY NEWS 3DS price slashed, early adopters compensated > Just four months after it arrived on store shelves, Nintendo of Australia has announced plans to slash the RRP of its 3DS handheld from $350 to $250 on Friday 12 August. The price of the unit has also been heavily reduced in Japan, Europe and the United States. The 3DS is currently in the midst of a crippling software drought and, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, Nintendo has already conceded that its latest offering has experienced slower than expected sales. READ MORE

Recent instalments of The Black List: 23.07.11 l 16.07.11 l 09.07.11 l 02.07.11 l 25.06.11

Mario Kart: Super Circuit: One of 20 games being offered to early adopters

Just four months after it arrived on store shelves, Nintendo of Australia has announced plans to slash the RRP of its 3DS handheld from $350 to $250 on Friday 12 August. The price of the unit has also been heavily reduced in Japan, Europe and the United States. The 3DS is currently in the midst of a crippling software drought and, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, Nintendo has already conceded that its latest offering has experienced slower than expected sales.

The platform holder plans to soothe any resentment on the part of early adopters by offering them free downloadable games for the device. In order to qualify for the compensation, 3DS owners must connect to the eShop prior to Friday 12 August. From September, players will be offered 10 Virtual Console titles from the NES library, including Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda and Donkey Kong Jr. Players will also be granted access to 10 GBA titles by year’s end, with Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion and WarioWare Inc: Minigame Madness among the highlights.

Does the new price make you more likely to pick up a 3DS? Are the 20 classic games fair compensation for shelling out an extra $100 at launch. Let us know!

Indie games are often experimental in nature. Small overheads and low distribution costs allow these indie developers to explore possibilities that are not even considered when creating AAA games. Basically they can take risks and, as with all risks, sometimes they pay off and sometimes they don’t. This leads us to Bastion from Supergiant Games and if their goal was to reinvent the way a story is told, they have succeeded admirably. Read the rest of this entry »