Column: 'Release This!: Of Xbox 360 RPGs, Electroplankton, and Value Packs'

In today's installment of irregular column "Release This!," Frank Cifaldi reveals the lineup of video games set for release around the world this week in a list compiled exclusively for Gamasutra, and occasionally stops to smell the roses with a handful of highlighted games. In this excerpt, Cifaldi describes Nintendo's interactive musical software for the DS, Electroplankton: "This piece of software is not a "game" in the traditional sense. There is no goal, there is no score system or, indeed, any sense of progression at all. Instead, Electroplankton plays more like a musical toy, albeit a surprisingly rich one, designed to give the same experience to composers and the tone deaf alike. The software, typically described by reviewers as being an enjoyable relaxation tool, has been available in Japan since April of last year. It was also featured prominently in Nintendo's keynote at E3 in Los Angeles the following month, but hasn't been seen on these shores until today's sheepish release; Electroplankton is available only through online retailers and the Nintendo World Store in New York." You can read the full Gamasutra column, including highlights for the European launch of The Sims 2 for the PSP and the very first RPG for the Xbox 360, [eM] -eNCHANT arM- (no registration required, please feel free to link to the article from external websites).