Warhammer 40K, the much praised table top battle game from GamesWorkshop, became famous in the world of video games when THQ released their epic RTS titles.  While these games were indeed great, it always felt like such a tragedy that the 40k universe had only been done well on the PC.

Well friends, that has now changed.

THQ has officially announced a new title for both the DS and PSP called Warhammer 40,000:  Squad Command.  While almost no details appear to be available for the DS version, Gamasutra did have a few tid bits to reveal about the PSP version.  The PSP version will have a 13 missoin single player campaign, destructible 3D battlefields, online and offline multiplayer, and can support up to 8 players.  The game also will be turn based, alleviating some of the worries I had about having to manage an RTS with an extremely limited interface.

The title is scheduled to release this Fall for both hand held platforms.

Chufmoney

IGN has posted some release date updates on their platform specific sites, and it’s looking like it’s going to be a catastrophically expensive September this year. Why’s that, do you ask? Well, here’s a list of releases for the week of September 3rd and the follow two weeks, and you tell me what you think.

1. Blacksite: Area 51 (PS3 & 360 & PC, September 3rd)
2. Cliver Barker’s Jericho (PS3 & 360, September 3rd)
3. DiRT (PS3 & 360 & PC, September 3rd)
4. Tabula Rasa (PC, September 3rd)
5. NHL 2K8 (PS3 & 360, September 3rd)
6. Unreal Tournament 3 (360 & PC, September 3rd)
7. Mass Effect (360, September 3rd)
8. Dewy’s Adventure (Wii, September 4th)
9. Dark Sector (360, September 4th)
10. Heavenly Sword (PS3, September 4th)
11. NBA 08 (PS3, September 4th)
12. Warhawk (PS3, Sept. 4th)
13. NHL 08 (PS3 & 360, Sept. 4th)
14. Medal of Honor: Airborne (PS3 & 360, September 11th)
15. Brothers in Arms: Double Time (Wii, September 11th)
16. Burnout Paradise (PS3(?) & 360, September 11th)
17. Eternal Sonata (360, September 11th)
18. Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer (PC, September 11th)
19. Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (PS3 & 360 & PC, September 17th)
20. Turok (PS3 & 360, September 17th)
21. Hellboy (PS3 & 360, September 18th)
22. Skate (PS3 & 360, September 18th)
23. Timeshift (360 & PC, September 18th)
24. Battalion Wars 2 (Wii, September 24th)
25. Assassin’s Creed (PS3 & 360 & PC, September 25th)
26. Sega Rally Revo (PS3, September 25th)
27. Heroes of Might and Magic V: Tribes of the East (PC, September 25th)
28. The Witcher (PC, September 25th)
29. Halo 3 (360, September 25th)

You’ll notice the panic setting in right up to the 25th; while I believe Ubisoft and Sega will blink, it still demonstrates brass balls to release Assassin’s Creed on the same day as Halo 3. Again, remember that these dates are very much subject to change, and assuredly, about half of them probably will. Even so, should half of them move, we’ve still got more than 10 major titles in September. And this isn’t including any surprises EA or Nintendo might have for September (Army of Two or Mario Kart Wii, anyone? Maybe some Smash Bros. Brawl?) More specifically, a majority of the year’s most anticipated games are releasing in September, rather than the later, more traditionally crowded November. Has Halo changed the release schedule tradition, or are companies really that eager to get their game out before Halo 3? Regardless, you can find IGN’s release lists for the 360 here, the PS3 here, the PC here, and the Wii here.

-Aegies