Three new games that speak to ME!

I didn’t plan it but this is turning out to be a week of great new “Shawn” games! Joystiq is reporting on three very different (downloadable) games, each of which appeals to a very different part of my being. Up top is a dazzling looking video of Droplitz, Atlus’ first downloadable title coming to just about every online platform except for WiiWare. I like the Escher-ish design of what is basically Pipedream meets Hexic.

FOUR! sho’

Up next is what I’d call a spiritual successor to the original Xbox’s Outlaw Golf series, an irreverent spin on the gentlemens’ sport that needs to come around at least once every few years. Ghetto Golf is currently a mod for Unreal Tournament 3 on PC, but the developers at Illifonic (founded by Tony! Toni! Tone! member Raphael Saadiq) are shopping it around in hopes of finding a publisher to bring it to the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network. Not only do you play golf in the ghetto, you’ll fight rival gang members with guns and clubs in order to make par. It’s totally shameless (and plays a little too much on urban stereotypes) but it looks like a fun spin on golf, and we could definitely use one of those right now.  There’s much more at MTV Multiplayer’s blog.

ZAMN! for Today?

And lastly is Zombie Apocalypse, a new game from Konami that — despite being played by dozens of game journalists — is almost a complete mystery. The game was hidden away at Konami’s Gamers Night even and was playable on PlayStation 3 but no one has yet to confirm which platforms it’ll hit or even who’s making it. Regardless of the details, the game sounds promising, letting four players battle zombies in cleverly designed “arenas” with the ultimate goal being to herd the undead swarms into grizzly death traps like car compactors and jet engines. If that hasn’t won you over, try this rose-tintend analogy: It sounds like the Dreamcast’s Zombie Revenge meets Chu Chu Rocket. Of course, because these are games that I’m interested in they all stand a chance of being dropped, delayed, and completely forgettable. But I’ve never learned from the past and I’ll continue to champion the quirky graces of anything that isn’t just another FPS or RPG!