New Releases for The Week of Black Flags and Eyeliner

Imagine: Makeup Artist

First up: Imagine: Make-up Artist for the DS. I’m always fascinated to see what the Imagine franchise will come up with next. This time, the little girl in your life will get requests for make up creations tied to certain events and outfits, mostly centered around going on dates with boys (as opposed to getting made up to receive a Nobel Prize or go to a high-level job interview). Use the stylus to apply make-up, and play mini-games to earn money to buy more make-up with.  It even has a multi-player mode via DS wireless.

Star Trek D-A-C

If you’d like to take a chance on a movie tie-in, there’s the new Start Trek D-A-C for Xbox 360. Here’s the thing: Not only have I been disappointed by almost every movie tie-in game ever, but I’ve also been disappointed by almost every Star Trek game ever, even the ones that weren’t movie tie-ins. I’m very skeptical that this will turn out right, but honestly, it looks like they at least have the right idea: Battle in space with the ships from the new movie, including the new Enterprise model. With multiplayer missions for up to 12 players, and matches designed to last about 10 min. The designers have specifically said that they are avoiding all presentation of plot in order to avoid the mistakes of past Star Trek tie-ins that tried to follow movie or episode storylines. Side note: I once had a Trouble with Tribbles screen saver that I couldn’t get enough of. I enjoyed it much more than any Star Trek game.

Family Pirate Party

The first of two Pirate-themed games in the dock this week is Family Pirate Party from WiiWare. You and three of your friends can engage in a Mario Party-esque game of roll-and-move island hopping and piratey minigames. Unfortunatly, it doesn’t seem that players can use their Miis in-game.

On the horizon, and hogging this week’s Icrontic Spotlight is Age of Pirates 2: City of Abandoned Ships for the PC. Choose from three distinct classes, each with their own storyline, then either join a privateer-age navy or strike out on your own to complete the endless number of variations on 40 different main quest types. Discover ancient ruins, find buried treasure, rescue governor’s daughters, and shoot stuff with cannons. The game runs like an RPG with an advancement system called the P.I.R.A.T.E.S. system (seemingly inspired by Fallout‘s S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system). The player can choose from a large number of different ships and weapons and explore a vast, non-linear game world. Screenshots and website descriptions make it seem like a cross between Sid Meier’s Pirates and Mount & Blade.

Following is a list of all releases for the week:

PC

• Age of Pirates 2: City of Abandoned Ships
• Apassionata – Le Gala Equestre
• Battlestations: Pacific
• The Clockwork Man
• Dragonica

Web

• NinjaTrick

iPhone

• Peggle

Playstation 3

• Sacred 2: Fallen Angel
• Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon (PS2 only)

Wii

• Family Pirate Party (WiiWare)
• Galaxy Force II (VC – Genesis)

DS

• Apassionata – Le Gala Equestre
• Imagine: Makeup Artist
• Mission Runway
• Real Soccer 2009 (DSiWare)

Xbox 360

• Battlestations: Pacific
• Sacred 2: Fallen Angel
• Star Trek D-A-C
• Jonny Crush (Live)
• Trino (Live)