So, what's been happening this week? Nothing much in the way of games but plenty where upcoming games are concerned.

Call of Duty: Classic

There isn't anything major happening in the way of Arcade releases this week. That is, unless you are a Call of Duty fan. You know, one of those folks who loved the classic version and were having nostalgic memories about it. Or you could very well be one of those who kept hearing about it and never got around to playing it. In all honesty, I'm guessing this move is merely the folks cashing in on an ongoing fad. Hence we see the arrival of Call of Duty: Classic this Wednesday to XBLA.

You know what the game is all about. You are part of the military operation in the Second World War. Thus, you are leopard crawling all over the show, shooting down enemies and banking on NPC for additional assistance. I was partly joking about the leopard crawl but you get the general idea.

Incidentally, if you are the proud owner of two special editions of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, then you have the redemption code for downloading this game. Otherwise, nab it from XBLA for 1200 MS points.

Matt Hazard: Coming Soon

While there isn't anything interesting in this month's games list, there are great games queued up for future releases. The first one is Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond. It is an action game where you blast your way through weird and wonderful scenarios whilst laughing your head off at ridiculous gaming cliches. The game is well known for parodies of such sort and it will certainly be eagerly anticipated by most fans (well, those who are still willing to give it a shot after the letdown that was the last release). It's set for a an early 2010 release and will be all yours for 1200 MS points.

No Silent Hill for Xbox

Sigh, you know how excited I was about Silent Hill? The new one? Yea, well it turns out it will not be available for the Xbox. Looks like Silent Hill: Shattered Memories will be exclusive to the Wii and PS. I suppose they have been feeling threatened by the Xbox and how it is nabbing all the players. It's still pretty annoying that a fantastic horror game like that is not offered to all consoles.

Well, enough ranting on my side. I still want to refer to the article I read yesterday. It was via an editorial in Kombo. It's an excellent article that highlights the pros and cons of the game, especially from the point of view of a SH fan.

What interested me was the new changes implemented in the game. Apparently it will not be a combat cased game but rather, the main guy will run away /avoid creatures. Apparently there were complaints that Silent Hill:Homecoming focused too much on the kapow/slash/clubbing scenarios. A lot of fans were not happy about that. Then again, this new feature probably grabbed the attention of players who have not touched an SH game in their life. It goes both ways, as with any game. I always found that the Wii was not the best console for FPS or RPG games (I'm having painful flashbacks about Prince of Persia as we speak). So ... are they taking away some combat elements so it's not completely awful on the Wii? Then again, it is coming to PS as well and that is a good gaming console.

A lot of Woof Woofs

Something that folks are talking about, other than games, is the availability of online pets for your avatar. That's right, your Xbox Avatar can be the happy owner of a virtual pet. Sounds a bit weird, doesn't it? And I can understand getting a cat or dog (maybe) but a goldfish?! Really?! It doesn't matter that the price is set at 240 MS points which, when you really think about it, is a bit of a silly expense just for a strange accessory.

They could have done weird little quests ala WoW. You know, have themes for certain celebratory dates (Halloween) and if you had a game and finished certain levels or whatever, you get the pet for free? That would work. At least that would mean that folks would play those games for the achievement which would be a virtual pet.