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 Dead Island: Riptide * Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen * Star Trek

NINTENDO WU Injustice: Gods Among Us 3DS LEGO City: Undercover – The Chase Begins

SONY PS3 Dead Island: Riptide * Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen * Star Trek PSV Nothing

VARIOUS PC Dead Island: Riptide * Star Trek

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

MICROSOFT Xbox 360 Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard * Sacred Citadel

NINTENDO WU Kirby’s Adventure (NES) * Kung Fu Rabbit 3DS Dig Dug (NES) * Fire Emblem: Awakening

SONY PS3 Injustice: Gods Among Us * Journey: Collector’s Edition * Motorsiege: Warriors of Primetime (PS2) * Sacred Citadel PSV Nothing

VALVE Steam Anna: Extended Edition * La-Mulana * Orion: Dino Horde * Papo & Yo * Sacred Citadel * Starseed Pilgrim

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

MONDAY REVIEW SimCity > The first real SimCity game in a decade is an often shambolic disappointment, at least on a technical level. Server issues, broken features and lengthy loading screens are the order of the day. When everything is working more or less as intended, the strong multiplayer concepts and addictive core gameplay shine through. Who knows, this already infamous game may one day be considered an important misstep on the road to a better SimCity experience.  READ MORE

TUESDAY REVIEW Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel > As the third entry in the competent yet unexciting Army of Two series, The Devils Cartel does little to improve what is a somewhat stale formula. There is nothing particularly wrong with it, but then again there is nothing particularly right either. The co-op shooting is tight, but with so many superior options on the market, this is a hard game to recommend at full price. There is fun to be had, but it’s a “2 for $50” kind of fun. READ MORE

WEDNESDAY NEWS Ubisoft exec envisions ‘always online’ future >If you endured crippling single player lag during the Diablo III launch, the idea of an always online console experience may not sound particularly enticing. If you spent an hour or two (or 10) trying to get SimCity up and running last month, you’ll probably be of a similar disposition. The broader gaming community is slowly learning something that MMO players have known for years, namely that always connected experiences come with their own set of problems and risks. READ MORE

THURSDAY JUST ANNOUNCED New Zelda, Yoshi and Mario titles > After the landslide of announcements in January and February, we suspected that Nintendo would allow the hype machine cool off for a while, at least until E3 rolled around in June. How wrong we were. The Japanese platform holder this week announced yet another batch of titles, all for its burgeoning 3DS handheld. As we’ve come to expect, Nintendo has delved into its back catalogue for inspiration. READ MORE

FRIDAY NEWS TimeGate facing $7.3m legal bill > The workers at TimeGate Studios may well be under intense pressure, but considering the ongoing drama surrounding the business, they’re very unlikely to be bored. After collaborating with Gearbox Software on Aliens: Colonial Marines, TimeGate watched on as its work was dragged through the mud by critics and consumers alike. It then faced another round of negative publicity after shedding some 25 members of staff. READ MORE

Mediation between TimeGate and SouthPeak takes a turn for the worse.

The workers at TimeGate Studios may well be under intense pressure, but considering the ongoing drama surrounding the business, they’re very unlikely to be bored. After collaborating with Gearbox Software on Aliens: Colonial Marines, TimeGate watched on as its work was dragged through the mud by critics and consumers alike. It then faced another round of negative publicity after shedding some 25 members of staff.

The Texan developer appeared to have turned the corner earlier this month when it announced Minimum, a promising free-to-play shooter. Unfortunately, the good news was short lived. It has now emerged, courtesy of Polygon, that TimeGate was recently on the wrong end of a massive court judgment related to Section 8, the 2009 release it produced in partnership with publisher SouthPeak Interactive.

In reinstating the previously overturned ruling of an independent arbitrator, a US court has ordered TimeGate to pay US $7.3m to SouthPeak. The judgment related to fraud and breach of contract in that TimeGate did not contribute the agreed sum to the project and pursued a sequel without the owner’s permission. The court also ruled that the Section 8 intellectual property rights reside with SouthPeak.

How the decision will impact the status Minimum remains to be seen.

A Link to the SNES.

After the landslide of announcements in January and February, we suspected that Nintendo would allow the hype machine cool off for a while, at least until E3 rolled around in June. How wrong we were. The Japanese platform holder this week announced yet another batch of titles, all for its burgeoning 3DS handheld. As we’ve come to expect, Nintendo has delved into its back catalogue for inspiration.

If you’re of a certain vintage, you’ll be pleased to hear that work has commenced on a direct sequel to beloved SNES adventure The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. It appears to retain the look and feel of the original, including its distinctive bird’s eye perspective. It will also allow Link to transform himself into a 2D image capable of running along walls. Expect this one to land in Q4.

Speaking of games from the 16-bit era, the publisher also revealed that a new instalment of Yoshi’s Island is incoming. The first game in the subseries was known as Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island and it attracted widespread praise for its creative 2D gameplay and dazzling visual style.

If nine home console games and two portable efforts haven’t sated your desire for Mario Party, you’ll be pleased to know that a new instalment is underway. It will reportedly feature 81 new minigames as well as augmented reality challenges.

Nintendo also confirmed that previously announced titles Bravely Default and Professor Layton & the Azran Legacy will be coming to Australia in 2013.