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Shop Watch May

By Russ | May 5, 2009 at 6:57 pm

May has a good mix of genres for the systems. Updated with updates!

Hinterland: Orc Lords for the PC, shipping May 9. A combination of a sim-style building game and action RPG, this game might be out for download as of this writing. The retail copy will strike shelves anytime between the ninth and the sixteenth of the month.

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel for both the 360 and PS3, shipping May 12. CDV Entertainment recently announced Sacred 2 had gone gold for both systems. Hopefully the multiplayer will allow two people from your own home to play, and not just be over online services. Both types of multiplayer at the same time would be fantastic, but I’m already hoping too much for one type.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2 for the PS2, shipping May 12. Could this be the PS2’s last RPG hurrah? Atlus seems to think so with it’s collector’s bundle and huge box containing a Raiho plush. Look for it behind counters at your local game stores, because GameStop stores are not allowed to gut the collector’s edition.

Steal Princess for the DS, shipping May 19. Not an RPG, but a neat-looking game nonetheless. Steal Princess is a platformer with customizable levels – a bit of a rare treat on the DS.

Update: Cross Edge for the PS3, shipping May 26. Possibly. NISA had a print ad showcasing the date and every retail outlet agrees with it, but NISA’s website only has a vague release of ‘May’ listed. Regardless, this game’s pedigree has more in line with Namco x Capcom and Super Robot Taisen: OG Saga: Endless Frontier than other RPGs. That will tell a lot of you what is needed to know about the game.

Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled for the DS, shipping May 26. I’d love to see this game come out just so I can say I saw this game come out.

Fallout 3 Operation Anchorage/The Pitt for the PC and 360, shipping May 26. Here’s a weird item: more than likely this is being released for people who do not have the capability to buy online for either platform. More than likely this is a result of no internet connection. The kicker? This release is probably a set of download coupons. Update: Just kidding! Packaging does not seem to have the download-only content warnings on it.

Crimson Gem Saga for the PSP, shipping May 26. Don’t let the fact about this title is a sequel to Astonishia Story keep you away from it. It actually has a pretty solid and entirely different battle system to it. PSN users with access to a Japanese account can try out the demo and find out for themselves.

Some Advice: Devil Summoner 2 already has speculators attempting to ruin wallets. Atlus has announced a small print run and the Raiho plush/box set combo has such people salivating. If you are a fan of the first one it might be best to go for it. However, the first title did tank and found itself below $20 pretty quickly. Sacred 2 might have been a decent PC release, but the console versions will probably hit bargain bins soon. Cross Edge can go either way but the big PS3 release to overshadow it is InFamous on the 26th. Finally, it will be interesting to see if Black Sigil gets released.

The Future: After a portably-owned June the RPG market seems to die down until September 1st and the release of Dissidia and Kingdom Hearts Math. I doubt Infinite Space will garner much attention in July, and Champions Online will probably be pushed back until the holiday season. It’s another slow summer followed by a blitz of awesome with Muramasa in September, Alpha Protocol in October, and Dragon Age: Origins in November. Mass Effect 2 would round out such an impressive lineup, but a January 1st release date seems a bit close for Bioware and their standard bearing towards large projects.

Update: Champions Online now has a generic September date.

All games (with the exception of those marked as street-dated) will be in stores one day after their release. Release dates also tend to be shipping dates. All release dates are subject to change.

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