This week’s game release post only had three games, all for the DS, but there was a big one: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. The last DS Zelda game, Phantom Hourglass, let you steer a ship, and this one lets you drive a train, which was kind of unexpected for a medieval-fantasy-type game. So, based on that pattern of each DS Zelda game having a new type of transportation in it, here are my best guesses at what the next Zelda game’s title might be:

• The Legend of Zelda: Mysterious Biplane
• The Legend of Zelda: The Forest Halfpipe
• The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Pneumatic Tube
• The Legend of Zelda: Rally Car Rumble
• The Legend of Zelda: Segway of Truth

In our latest gaming releases post, we covered three new DS games, because apparently they’re all that’s coming out now. We had only six Kidzworld-qualified games come out this week, and only five last week. There were, I don’t know, twenty or more the week before that. But don’t worry, we’ve got some big games coming up this month, though certainly not as awesome as November was.

First off, we’ve got the next DS Zelda title next week! The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks should be amazing, and it fits in your stocking!

A bit on towards Christmas, we get Guitar Hero Van Halen, which I don’t think I even have to look up to make sure is a new Guitar Hero game featuring mostly Van Halen music. Sounds like some classic guitar solos are coming up, if you’re in for a bit of a challenge.

And for a change of pace, on the day after Christmas, the next Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles comes out.

So, don’t lose hope, there are still some great titles coming out this month.

This week’s news post talked about the new Karaoke Revolution. Here’s the full tracklist.

1. “7 Things” – Miley Cyrus
2. “99 Times” – Kate Voegele
3. “A Labio Dulce” – Iskander (en Español)
4. “ABC” – The Jackson 5
5. “Addicted to Love – Robert Palmer
6. “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” – McFadden & Whitehead
7. “American Boy” – Estelle feat. Kanye West
8. “Beautiful” – Akon feat. Colby O’Donis
9. “Ben” – Michael Jackson
10. “Black Horse and The Cherry Tree” – KT Tunstall
11. “Burning Down the House” – Talking Heads
12. “Crazy” – Seal
13. “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” – Rod Stewart
14. “Dancing Machine” – The Jackson 5
15. “Disturbia” – Rihanna
16. “Enamorada” – Miranda! (en Español)
17. “Feels Like Tonight” – Daughtry
18. “Gives You Hell” – All American Rejects
19. “Human” – The Killers
20. “I Kissed a Girl” – Katy Perry
21. “I Melt With You” – Modern English
22. “I Ran (So Far Away)” – Flock Of Seagulls
23. “I Want You Back” – The Jackson 5
24. “I’ll Be There” – The Jackson 5
25. “I’m Yours” – Jason Mraz
26. “Just Dance” – Lady Gaga feat. Colby O’Donis
27. “Love Hurts” – Incubus
28. “Love Is a Battlefield” – Pat Benatar
29. “Love Story” – Taylor Swift
30. “Man On The Moon” – R.E.M.
31. “My Life Would Suck Without You” – Kelly Clarkson
32. “No Me Doy Por Vencido” – Luis Fonsi (en Español)
33. “Pocketful of Sunshine” – Natasha Bedingfield
34. “Rehab” – Amy Winehouse
35. “Ser o parecer” – RBD (en Español)
36. “Sex On Fire” – Kings of Leon
37. “Shout” – Tears for Fears
38. “Si Me Besas” – Lola (en Español)
39. “Smile” – Lily Allen
40. “So What” – Pink
41. “Solid” – Ashford and Simpson
42. “Soul Meets Body” – Death Cab For Cutie
43. “Space Oddity” – David Bowie
44. “The Logical Song” – Supertramp
45. “This Love” – Maroon 5
46. “Viva La Vida” – Coldplay
47. “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” – Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield
48. “What Hurts The Most” – Rascal Flatts
49. “Wicked Game” – Chris Isaak
50. “You Found Me” – The Fray

In our latest releases post, we mentioned the release of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and there are a few cool things related to that to share with you here. First of all, the game is in a red box, which is kind of crazy given that every other Wii game to date has been in a white one.

Second, Nintendo has made a lot out of saying how difficult this game will be, much like the classics, but there is a new “Super Guide” feature that will let Luigi take on an especially tough level for you, basically.

As bonus material, check out this video of the Super Mario museum at New York City’s Nintendo Store.

Battle of the Bands

We’ve got two more Rock Band/Guitar Hero games this week, according to this here news post I just wrote. That’s added onto Beatles Rock Band, DJ Hero, Guitar Hero 5, Rock Band Unplugged, and Guitar Hero Smash Hits already over the past couple of months, and then we’ve still got Guitar Hero: Van Halen set for later this year. Time for them to battle, I’ve decided, in my own little tournament, to see which game is most likely to garner the most purchases.

1st Matchup: Guitar Hero 5 v. Rock Band Unplugged

GH5 moves on. I’m glad there’s a portable Rock Band now, and at least it’s original, but it’s still no contest.

2nd Matchup: Beatles Rock Band v. Guitar Hero: Van Halen

Well, let’s compare the album sales of the bands each game is using. Van Halen: 200,000,000 albums sold. Wow, that’s a lot. The Beatles: 200,000,000 albums sold… in the US alone. Beatles Rock Band moves on.

3rd Matchup: DJ Hero v. Band Hero

Two “Hero” games? Which will sell more? I have no idea. But DJ Hero is more interesting to me, so I’ll give it the edge.

4th Matchup: LEGO Rock Band v. Guitar Hero Smash Hits

Guitar Hero Smash Hits was basically just all the old Guitar Hero songs, but allowing you to play them with any instrument. Not a horrible idea, but it’s just an expansion, so LEGO Rock Band has to win.

2nd Round, 1st Matchup: Guitar Hero 5 v. DJ Hero

Guitar Hero 5. It’s the main series, and DJ Hero is just getting off the ground with its new turntable peripheral. GH5 will sell more than twice as many copies, I’m afraid.

2nd Round, 2nd Matchup: Beatles Rock Band v. LEGO Rock Band

Not even close, slightly modified Beatles will beat LEGO David Bowie any day of the week.

FINAL MATCHUP: Guitar Hero 5 v. Beatles Rock Band

Well, in the US Beatles Rock Band has sold more so far, and almost paradoxically, Guitar Hero 5 won in the UK. Is it a tie? Yes, but I’m not going to let that happen. Beatles Rock Band is the winner, by a coin flip. It landed tails.

Alright, FIFA 10 is finally here.  If you missed the last post, what I’m doing here is taking the big-name sports games and simming seasons in them to see how close they are to real-life results. Now, the soccer season isn’t even a fourth complete in most places, but we need to establish results now before tricky old FIFA updates the rosters later on in the year. Without further ado, let’s see just how it thinks two of this year’s major soccer (football) leagues are gonna turn out!

England’s Premier League: The top four in-game: Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool. Chelsea came next. We’ll see how that turns out, but one important error between real-life and the game here: Tottenham Hotspur came in 18th in the game, and they’re currently third in real life. Something’s up, there.

Italy’s Serie A: The league table came out to be Inter, Sampdoria, Juventus, then Roma in the game. The current real-life table is Inter, Sampdoria, Juventus, then Fiorentina, but Roma’s definitely coming up to higher spot in the future. In other words, FIFA was scary accurate on this one.

In this week’s gaming news post, we talked about the new FIFA. I’d like to announce that I am taking the realism of sports video games to task! I’m going to run through one season in whichever sports game I’m covering, then tell you how close it came to getting it right. Now, FIFA doesn’t come out until the 20th, so I’m sorry if I can’t tell you who’s going to win the Scottish Premier League just yet (it’ll totally be Hibernian, though).  I do have MLB 09: The Show sitting right here with me, though, and the MLB playoffs are in full swing, so here’s the way Sony’s baseball title thought the season would go:

In the playoffs, names in bold if team made playoffs in real life: Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers

So, I guess four out of eight ain’t bad. The AL was only off by one team, and the Tigers were about an out away from making it to the playoffs in real life. Unfortunately, MLB 09′s NL guess was terrible. The computer inside my alarm clock could have guessed the Dodgers would win their division, and the other three who made it in the game were pretty terrible in real life.

Who won the world series in my sim, you ask? Why, the CHICAGO CUBS did, for the first time in over a hundred years. That would have been a lot more exciting than how this postseason is turning out in real life. Check back next week for my FIFA sim results!

In our latest news post, we talked about Cities XL, the latest City Builder game. Among city-building games in the modern age, there’s not a whole lot past the SimCity series and this new one. But here are some others, most often set in different times or places:

• The Tropico series. You’re dictator of a small Caribbean island.
• The Anno series. Several different settings, but all based on trading and city building, usually with a naval theme.
• CivCity: Rome. Clearly set in the time of the Roman Empire.
• The Settlers series. Usually set in the 5th century BC.

Well, we learned in today’s Kidzworld gaming new releases post that in Wii Fit Plus, you can weigh your dog or cat, even though they can’t really play any activities! Well, I’m here to give Nintendo some ideas on how to better integrate our pets into the game:

1. If you have a dog, then the screen should show a picture of a kitten and make meowing sounds. That’ll get your dog running, or barking, or jumping, or something. At least he’ll be burning calories. Just switch roles if you have a cat.
2. Let’s add in some really high pitched notes into the game at various points, just see how your dog reacts.
3. Toy bone-shaped Wiimotes are a must.
4. Wii vitality sensor technology inside a tempting ball of yarn for your cat.
5. Maybe a new Wii balance board that can double as a scratching post?

And today’s question for you all: Do your pets ever even react to what’s on your TV screen?

There are four different cars you can get as a bonus for pre-ordering  Gran Turismo, and I’m going to give them all to you at once here, so you can decide.

• Amazon.com – 2002 Enzo Ferrari
• Gamestop – 2009 Bugatti Veyron
• Game Crazy – 1974 Lamborghini Countach
• Best Buy – 2008 Citroen GTbyCITROEN

I truthfully can’t decide which is my favorite out of those, but I think I’m going to go with the Ferrari anyway.