It"s December. That means that major new retail game releases will be few and far between for the next several weeks. However, there are a couple of interesting games coming out this week. The biggest is one that was actually released on Sunday.
Mario Kart 7 for the Nintendo 3DS console is the latest version of Nintendo"s long running and highly popular kart racing series where Mario and a number of other Nintendo characters battle it out in their vehicles across a number of very colorfully designed tracks. Players can customize their karts in this version which can affect how their vehicle handles on the track. There"s also online and local multiplayer support for up to eight players.
Ubisoft tries once again to make a successful movie tie-in game with The Adventures of Tintin which also comes out in stores this week for several different console platforms. The game is based on the CGI feature film (already out in Europe and due in the US later this December) which is of course based on the well known European comic book. Ubisoft is obviously hoping this game will be more successful than their attempts to make games based on King Kong and Avatar.
There are some cool downloadable content options this week. PS3 owners of Battlefield 3 will get the first shot at the Back to Karkand multiplayer map pack (PC and Xbox 360 owners will be able to download the map pack next week). Also the PC and Xbox 360 tower defense game Defense Grid: The Awakening will get an eight level expansion pack this week, Defense Grid: You Monster, that will feature a crossover appearance by Portal"s 2 evil AI GLaDOS.