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This week, Split Second is pumping a ridiculous amount of adrenaline into the racing game genre. On May 25th, two more racers are coming out with very different approaches. Let’s just quickly compare the three.

Split Second: Race opponents and your friends over chaotic courses that anyone can blow to smithereens at any time, totally changing the course and taking racers out.

Blur: The only one of the three with real licensed cars, it’s more realistic than the others as well while still being arcade-y. Racers still try to perform stunts and use power-ups to take down the other cars.

ModNation Racers: Think LittleBigPlanet meets Mario Kart. It’s a kart racing game where you get to make the characters, the karts, and the tracks, all with incredibly detailed tools that anyone can use.

This week, we talked about the new FIFA World Cup game. Given my limited expertise in international soccer, I’m going to go ahead and predict the results of the entire World Cup, right here, right now. Not by simulating it in-game, no, I’m just going to guess. At least no one can really laugh at how terrible the picks are until July. Two teams advance from each group.

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You got the info on Final Fantasy XIII, Rocket Racing, and Muscle March in this week’s news post. Muscle March is, as I said, kinda really super unbelievably weird. But now, for your entertainment, I provide the Top 10 Weirdest Games I Have Ever Played *in no particular order* (with some awesome links!):

1. Bust-A-Groove 2 - Oh boy. I remember playing this when I was younger, and being just scared of this final boss. To begin with, he’s a tiny panda. Then he suddenly transforms into a creepy panda man, and it just starts getting surreal right there. *shudder*
2. Noby Noby Boy – You can read my review here on Kidzworld. The trailer released to sell the game was just gameplay, though it may not look like there’s any gameplay going on here.
3. PaRappa the Rapper – Awesomeness. Weird, but still awesomeness. Video for the best song.
4. Umjammer Lammy – Slightly less awesome than PaRappa. Slightly weirder, too, as you can tell from this level.
5. Katamari Damacy – C’mon, you know about this one, right? Still, it had to make the list for this kind of stuff.
6. Rez – Crazy rhythm/shooter game. Nothing makes a whole lot of sense, but it’s entrancing. Here’s a video.
7. Q-Bert – Arcade/Atari title. WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?
8. Taiko Drum Master – Another rhythm game, this one came with a taiko drum peripheral, rather than a guitar or something. Best yet, you could play the Katamari Damacy theme song in it!
9. Jade Cocoon – The most underrated RPG ever, and also a very odd one. This boss battle gives you just a taste of the oddities.
10. Super Mario RPG – If you think about any Mario game long enough, it becomes clear that they are REALLY REALLY WEIRD. Why is a plumber from Brooklyn in rather colorful clothes saving a kingdom of mushroom people who have a human princess from a spiky turtle who leads whatever goombas are? Also, why is Samus Aran sleeping in Super Mario RPG? Why?!

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing is the biggest kids’ release of the next week, and because maybe the coolest thing about kart racing games is all the characters, here’s a full list for you:

1. Sonic the Hedgehog – No surprises there.
2. Miles “Tails” Prower – Side note: It took me years and years to get the joke on why his name is Miles Prower. Do you get it?
3. Knuckles – Again, not too surprising.
4. Doctor Eggman – His real name is Dr. Ivo Robotnik. I guess “Eggman” was just a bad nickname he got in school.
5. Amy Rose – She was introduced in my favorite Sonic game ever, Sonic CD, for the SEGA CD. As a kid I had a combination Laserdisc/SEGA CD player, and I swear those are both real things.
6. Shadow the Hedgehog – I realize he’s the anti-Sonic and everything, but it still seems odd that a hedgehog can have a gun, like Shadow does.
7. Big the Cat – Another Sonic side character, and he looks about as much like a cat as Sonic looks like a real hedgehog. I mean, look at him.
8. AiAi – He puts the “Monkey” in “Super Monkey Ball.” Otherwise, the game would just be “Super Ball,” which actually might be trademarked already.
9. Amigo – From “Samba de Amigo.” For those keeping score, that’ s Monkeys 2 – 3 Hedgehogs.
10. Ryo Hazuki – The main character from the Dreamcast cult hit, “Shenmue.” Yeah, don’t worry if you’ve never heard of it.
11. Beat – From “Jet Set Radio,” another cult hit for the Dreamcast.
12. Alex Kidd – Oh boy, this is even more obscure. He was SEGA’s main man until Sonic took the stage, and hasn’t been in his own new game since well before you were born.
13. Billy Hatcher – From “Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg” for the Gamecube. He, uh, wears a chicken suit. Hm.
14. Zobio and Zobiko – A zombie couple. Too early for Halloween and too late for Valentine’s Day.
15. Ulala – From “Space Channel 5,” another Dreamcast game you’ve probably never played, but should. I miss the Dreamcast now.
16. Jacky Bryant and Akira Yuki – From the “Virtua Fighter” series.
17. B.D. Joe - From “Crazy Taxi,” which hopefully you’ve seen in an arcade or something. Do arcades still exist?
18. Robo and Modo – Now here’s one I hadn’t even heard of. They’re from “Bonanza Bros.,” which apparently came out in 1990. Ooooookay.
19. Opa-Opa – A living spaceship. Cool.
20. Chuih, ChuBei, ChuPea, and ChuBach – All from “ChuChu Rocket!,” another awesome game for the Dreamcast.
21. Banjo and Kazooie – Xbox 360 version only. Sorry, Nintendo fans like me who played the original “Banjo-Kazooie” on the N64.
22. Avatar – Not like James Cameron’s Avatar or the animation show Avatar, but your New Xbox Experience one. Obviously, also Xbox 360 only.
23. Mii – For the Wii.

Put your faith in Microsoft, they are serious about entertaining you. Their motion tracking technology, Project Natal, is aiming to go up and beyond the Wii. It has voice and face recognition and detects motion with nothing else other than a camera placed in front of the TV. There is no Wiimote, no wand, and no strange infrared LED glasses.

It is almost too good to be true and many gamers are following the entire thing with a healthy amount of skepticism. Afterall, the when the Wii first came out, it was toting near 1 to 1 movement tracking and is anything but that.

However, it has been revealed recently that Johnny Chung Lee, a TED speaker and Wii hacking enthusiast, has been hired by Microsoft to be a part of the team working on Project Natal. Of course, he is but a small part of a talented team, but he does bring ten years worth of interfacing and sensing technology experience with him, as well as a certain level of ingenuity.

Lee no doubt has had some school winning science fair projects of his own in the past. Using infrared LEDs, some Wiimotes, and his bluetooth enabled laptop, he has been able to create cheap electronic whiteboards and a head tracking program. So impressive was his work that Steven Spielberg wanted to put head tracking in the then upcoming game, Boom Blox.

The video games previewed for Project Natal are very impressive, like Milo and Kate’s life-like AI. We will have to put our trust in Johnny and hope that it can deliver everything it promises to.

Project Natal was first revealed during E3 2009. To see other big announcements that went on during the event, visit our safe kids website.

E3 2009 was a resounding success in everyone’s mind. While previously downsized for various reasons, it has now fully returned to its former glory, much to the excitement of gamers everywhere.

However, it is important to calm down and sit away from the edge of your seat. After all, the vast majority of the really cool stuff shown at E3 this year won’t be released before the new year. And that’s not including the delays and other complications that games are heir to.

During the Nintendo press conference, many games were announced, but of the video games previewed, those that we can expect this year are: Super Mario Bros Wii, Zelda: Spirit Tracks, Wii Fit Plus, and Mario and Luigi DS. These are the only upcoming games that we can hope for before Christmas. (Gift ideas guide: lots of great games come out around Christmas, so keep a close eye on them if there is a gamer on your list!)

Super Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid: Other M, Golden Sun, and the mysterious Zelda Wii game are far off in the distant future and will probably get a reprised role at E3 2010. Remember that Nintendo is nefarious for delaying game releases, so curb your enthusiasm even more regarding Big N first party games.

As for the motion capturing trend that was demoed this year, Sony is hoping to bring it to store shelves by next year while Microsoft has yet to even release a projected date (but it can be assumed to be sooner than Sony as their presentation featured a nearer-to-completion demo). At the very least, as far as hardware goes, we can expect to see the PSP Go this year.

While all the announcements are very exciting, it is important to not burn yourself out and become desensitized to the hype surrounding these products. After all, you will want to save some of that giddiness for when you actually have the product in your hand.

Be sure to check our safe kids website for our video games guide to third party games shown at E3 2009.