Worldwide PS3 releases for the week of July 23rd
by Jem Alexander 
{ Jul 22nd 2007 at 7:15PM }
Not a lot happening this week. Nor, really, for the next couple of weeks. You could call this period of time "The calm before the Storm." The "Storm", in this case, being Lair. Here are this week's PlayStation 3 offerings.US Games
EU Games
- No new releases
Oh yeah. How could we forget. This week sees the release of Minna no Golf 5 (you might know it better as Hot Shots Golf 5} and its bundle pack. Interestingly, this game currently resides at number 7 on Famitsu's top 20 most wanted list, with over 300,000 preorders of the title in stores. Could we be seeing a huge surge in PS3 sales in Japan over the next few weeks?
If you fancy playing some Minna no Golf 5 this week, then feel free to order it from Japan to play on your US/EU PS3. It won't mind. Release dates are fickle and subject to change at a moment's notice. Contact your local shop before potentially wasting a trip into town.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
miglaugh @ Jul 22nd 2007 7:31PM
The last NASCAR game I played was the very first (Bill Elliott's NASCAR Challenge). All i remember doing is driving in reverse in an attempt to cause a massive pile-up. I don't watch NASCAR on TV and have no interest in actually going to an event, but for some reason I have an interest in seeing how this game is. I have an idea it would suck without a racing wheel though... maybe I'll wait til I get one for GT5 (or whatever) and give it a rent then.
Anybody pickin this game up?
Consolcwby @ Jul 22nd 2007 7:35PM
I love Minna No Golf! Heh... Disappointing for the US and EU though - nothing here to see - unless your a Nascar fan. =/ Unfortunately, the only Nascar and Indycar games I really loved were the old Papyrus games for the PC. Classics... but EA just leaves me cold. GHE:RT80s comes out this week, so I'll probably get that! =D
Andy @ Jul 22nd 2007 7:38PM
I don't see what the appeal of Nascar is?
Yay I can't wait for a nice lagful 12 player racing session in Nascar 08 until EA cancels it in under a year.
Jldowning @ Jul 22nd 2007 7:40PM
Well its made by EA sports, so It has to be quality! oh wait... EA sports doesn't do quality... yeah not gonna buy this one.
sicklesdawg @ Jul 22nd 2007 7:40PM
I downloaded the DEMO my girl loves it i come home to her playing it sometimes will buy it
Phil @ Jul 22nd 2007 7:54PM
I can't read Japanese so I can wait 1 more month, Nascar looks really fun though! I just hope Sixaxis is better than an actual wheel...
humpty @ Jul 22nd 2007 8:57PM
Werent there something like 300k pre-orders for the HotShots Golf bundle in Japan?
Kxpuc @ Jul 22nd 2007 9:27PM
i gotta import Minno No Golf 5 almost forgot about it! can't remember the last time i imported something. Was a Bleach PSP game awhile back but forgot the site oh well.
adrian @ Jul 22nd 2007 10:27PM
is the hot shots golf 5 demo still in the japan psn store? if it is, i can't really can't find it. i'm downloading folksoul but id like to give hot shots 5 a whirl.
if it is still there, where do i look in the japan psn store?
Popfrogs @ Jul 22nd 2007 10:55PM
Nascar? *yawn*
Sometime I want to go to a race and throw a water balloon full of motor oil onto the track so the race is interesting for 10 seconds.
Justin @ Jul 22nd 2007 10:59PM
@ humpty...
there were 300K preorders for the game only i think...
not for the bundle.
William @ Jul 23rd 2007 12:15AM
The demo for Hot Shots Golf 5 is not in the JPN PSN store anymore. The last date for downloading this demo was 6/30, as I remembered.
dalejrfanfreak @ Jul 23rd 2007 12:22AM
Geesh, looks like a bunch of you haven't been to an actual NASCAR race. If you ever go to Talladega or Bristol you'd get hooked, that simple. If you're excuse is it's boring on tv well I agree because it is, that's why you have to go to the race and see what NASCAR is really like. Why else is it the 2nd most popular sport in the U.S.?
I will be picking up NASCAR 08 and anyone that is a NASCAR gamer should at least give it a try. This year EA has actually listened to gamers and improved on a lot of things which is strange for EA Sports. Now instead of 6 tuning options we have 46, oil temperatures and tire temperatures are vital to tuning the car, the ability to pan the camera around the car and the cockpit is now available, there's finally a full 43 car field of REAL drivers no fantasy drivers (only in the nextel cup series), you can save ENTIRE races for replays, the damage modeling is real this year where if you hit the wall too hard the tires cave into the front end and your day is done, dirt and grime can get all over the windsheild, now you don't have a fuel gauge so now you only know when you're getting close to running out, there's a new career mode, and best of all it SHOULD be able to support 42 ai drivers without lag in the framerate! FORTY TWO, I'd like to see Gran Turismo, Forza, F1, Project Gotham Racing, Motorstorm, and any other racing game try to support a field of AI drivers that large.
If you're a NASCAR fan like me, this is the best week since the launch of the PS3 (unless the game turns out to be crap).
dalejrfanfreak @ Jul 23rd 2007 12:22AM
Geesh, looks like a bunch of you haven't been to an actual NASCAR race. If you ever go to Talladega or Bristol you'd get hooked, that simple. If you're excuse is it's boring on tv well I agree because it is, that's why you have to go to the race and see what NASCAR is really like. Why else is it the 2nd most popular sport in the U.S.?
I will be picking up NASCAR 08 and anyone that is a NASCAR gamer should at least give it a try. This year EA has actually listened to gamers and improved on a lot of things which is strange for EA Sports. Now instead of 6 tuning options we have 46, oil temperatures and tire temperatures are vital to tuning the car, the ability to pan the camera around the car and the cockpit is now available, there's finally a full 43 car field of REAL drivers no fantasy drivers (only in the nextel cup series), you can save ENTIRE races for replays, the damage modeling is real this year where if you hit the wall too hard the tires cave into the front end and your day is done, dirt and grime can get all over the windsheild, now you don't have a fuel gauge so now you only know when you're getting close to running out, there's a new career mode, and best of all it SHOULD be able to support 42 ai drivers without lag in the framerate! FORTY TWO, I'd like to see Gran Turismo, Forza, F1, Project Gotham Racing, Motorstorm, and any other racing game try to support a field of AI drivers that large.
If you're a NASCAR fan like me, this is the best week since the launch of the PS3 (unless the game turns out to be crap).
dalejrfanfreak @ Jul 23rd 2007 12:23AM
Sorry about the double post, internet messed up on me.
mccomber @ Jul 23rd 2007 12:30AM
FYI, Lair apparently got a nice 9/10 from Play magazine—figure that should mean about an 80 average score on metacritic.
Oh yeah, and I've played the demo for Everybody's Golf 5 as it was lovingly called on the Korean store for more than a couple hours now. Will probably be another game I'll have get when it releases here. Hopefully it picks up the sales in Japan a bit, they've got a few great games now...
kingnick @ Jul 23rd 2007 1:00AM
I shall look at the positives; if this rate of game releases keeps up I could buy a PS3 this Xmas and easily purchase all the decent exclusives.
Looking through the game lists for PS3, Xbox360 and Wii on wikipedia I expected more exclusives that I hadn’t heard about but I have heard about almost every PS3 and Xbox360 exclusive and the Wii exclusives don't interest me in the slightest save MP3.
Hopefully things pickup next year as I haven’t been playing my 360 that much lately due to time constrains or bought a game for it in a while.
Maybe I'm a jaded gamer who just can't justify $100AUD per game for flashy graphics without anything new.
FM @ Jul 23rd 2007 12:58AM
Wangan Midnight>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>NASCAR
That is all.
Xoonaka @ Jul 23rd 2007 1:03AM
There's no way I can buy that NASCAR is more popular then Football, Basketball, or Baseball... well, maybe Baseball.
So I'd figure at best it's number three, with Basketball and Football rounding off the top two.
dalejrfanfreak @ Jul 23rd 2007 1:33AM
@19
Why is that so hard to believe? When you go to a NASCAR race there are many tracks that feature 150,000+ seats. Bristol Tennessee's short track sells out every year at 170,000 fans and has done this for years. I've been to a Talladega race that had 209,000 people, and Indianapolis can hold 300,000 people! I mean, the crowds that go to these events dwarf any other sporting event in the country, including the beloved superbowl. Nascar is only second to football in ratings and completely tears apart hockey, baseball, basketball, golf, etc.
You can check out this wikipedia for a great summary, or just do your own google searching if you don't trust wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASCAR
As I said earlier, if you actually go to a race you'll see why millions are in love with this sport. Tv coverage of NASCAR is horribly boring compared to what it is in real life. 200,000 fans cheering is a sound you never forget.
dalejrfanfreak @ Jul 23rd 2007 1:37AM
@19
Also, I forgot to say that you are partially right, Football is #1 in ratings, but I did clearly say that NASCAR is #2.
reedwetzel @ Jul 23rd 2007 3:36AM
umm , Nascar , i heard its a blast to go to one , but the tickets are expensive, so i wont probly ever go to one , plus its hard to get some tickets
vasago @ Jul 23rd 2007 11:05AM
if you download a demo from the us.or japan store its only in black and white is it because i dont have HD tv
Galley @ Jul 23rd 2007 9:10AM
Real men do not drive in circles. That is all.
Mishi @ Jul 23rd 2007 9:31AM
@Galley
haha i couldn't have said it better myself
dalejrfanfreak @ Jul 23rd 2007 1:17PM
@22
Tickets aren't that bad. You can spend $100 and go to the entire race weekend, meaning you can see 3-4 races all the practicing and qualifying. Or, you can get tickets for roughly $60-80 for a single day ticket at most tracks. Bristol's fall race is the only race that's very difficult to get a ticket for.
@23
You know it's people like you that make my job so easy. Have you ever driven a car at 200mph? Do you really think Football, baseball, basketball players put their lives in danger each game like NASCAR drivers do each race? Here's some facts from cnn:
On straight-aways at 200 mph, NASCAR drivers in one second travel 293 feet, almost the length of a football field.
On turns, NASCAR drivers can experience 3 Gs of force against their bodies, comparable to the forces pressing down on shuttle astronauts at liftoff.
Research shows fit drivers are better able to handle g-forces while muscle mass offers more protection in a wreck.
Temperatures in the car often exceed 100 degrees, reaching as much as 170 degrees by the floorboards.
Drivers can lose 5-10 pounds in sweat during a race.
If a driver loses more than 3 percent of his body weight in sweat and doesn't replace those fluids, focus and reflexes start declining.
In a race, a NASCAR driver maintains the same heart rate -120-150 beats per minute for 3-plus hours - as a serious marathon runner for about the same length of time.
A study in "anticipatory timing" found race car drivers to possess the same ability to anticipate what was going to happen as a hockey goalie or a quarterback.
Jerry Nadeau recorded the hardest crash - 128 Gs at Richmond International Speedway in May 2003 - since NASCAR began putting black boxes in cars in 2001.
http://www.cnn.com/services/opk/driven/news.htm#nff
I'd like to know who you think "real men" are because in my opinion NASCAR drivers put way more on the line each race than some football player.
pete @ Jul 23rd 2007 2:35PM
oh the name says it all, dalejrfanfreak, its nice to know you enjoy it so much, but stop trying to sell me something i dont give a damn about.
On straight-aways at 200 mph, NASCAR drivers in one second travel 293 feet... blah, blah, blah blah, you go on for a while there.
you think your little rant is gonna change anyones mind. go back to the track drink your keystone lighe and relax, buy the game play it, i know i wont.
coplice @ Jul 23rd 2007 3:28PM
i think anyone can drive at 200mph in circle.. as long you dont fear driving fast, but i dont think anyone can drive at 200mph, then break at 60mph in 2 sec, speed up, turn, break, turn, speed up, in a car that break if you touch anything.. like F1 and the like, not like in nascar... "oops i crashed in the guy in front of me, no prob man, we still can both end the race"
sure, to drive in nascar you have to be good, but it doesnt require as much skills and talents as in F1... same for tactics... there is some in nascar... but not as much as in F1
i like F1 :D
coplice @ Jul 23rd 2007 3:29PM
i mean driving at 200mph in a circle ALONE, nothing dangerous around, but ALONE, could you drive like a F1 pilot?
coplice @ Jul 23rd 2007 3:36PM
i mean, driving at 200mph ALONE, nothing dangerous around you beside your speed, but ALONE in a F1?
pete @ Jul 23rd 2007 3:52PM
pissing match: f-1 vs nascar ....................................................................................................................................................................... GO!!!11
dalejrfanfreak @ Jul 23rd 2007 9:48PM
coplice I don't under stand by you're alone statement. NASCAR drivers race at nearly 200 mph at Talladega where you have 43 drivers within INCHES of each other for the entire race. F1 guys get spread out very quickly and are in cars designed to handle perfectly where as you have to man handle a stock car to make it do what you want. If F1 was so great why did Montoya leave?