Weekly video game releases: 'Bit.Trip VOID', 'Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles', 'Lego Rock Band', 'Avatar: The Game'

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The two-week period from November 23 onward sees psychedelic pixel joy in Bit.Trip VOID, an additional gameplay pack for Borderlands, the arrival of Lego Rock Band in Europe, twitchy shooting in Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, specialized movie trivia in Scene It? Twilight, button mashing glory in Tekken 6, and an ambitious game-of-the-film in James Cameron's Avatar: The Game.

Though the video game release schedule is still recovering somewhat from the November 10 release of Modern Warfare 2 and November 17/20's Assassin's Creed II, there are still gems to be gleaned in the coming days and weeks.

Bit.Trip VOID (Wii)
North America, November 23. Europe, TBC.
The Bit.Trip series has been steadily gathering pace and praise for its classic gaming influences reworked for a graphic-heavy generation, and in VOID it once again teaches an old dog new tricks. The now characteristic pixelated Bit.Trip beauty is deployed this time to invoke memories of the much-loved SpyHunter and Rez, receiving a positively glowing early review from gaming site Destructoid.
Price: 600 Wii Points ($6 / €6)

Borderlands: The Zombie Island of Dr Ned (360 PC PS3)
Release: November 24, online download.
The frantic fighting and exploration of hysterical off-world shooter and colorful Mad Max pastiche Borderlands is transplanted to a nocturnal island infested with the good doctor's unfortunate patients - now transmogrified into Frankensteins, werewolves and zombies - while the player, accompanied by friends online, tries to fend off the hordes whilst aiding Zed in his quest to find a cure. A cure that is, almost inevitably, gun-based.
Price: $9.99 / €9.99 (PS3), 800 Microsoft Points (360, PC)

Lego Rock Band (360 DS PS3 Wii)
Release: Europe, November 27. North America, already released.
Lego Rock Band is Harmonix's Rock Band re-done as seen through bricky Lego-style spectacles with on-screen Lego versions of rock and pop stars through the ages. The title at last hits European shores with an all-new cache of songs to sing and play through, plus a Super Easy mode to make it fun for all the family. It's compatible with the special controllers available separately or as part of other games in the Rock Band franchise.
Price: $49.99 (360 PS3 Wii), $29.99 (DS); €59.99 (360, PS3), €44.99 (Wii), €39.99 (DS)

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (Wii)
Release: Europe, November 27. North America, released November 17.
The Darkside Chronicles is a Mature / 18+ rated light-gun style shooter in the survival horror tradition of the Resident Evil stories. The game revisits portions of Resident Evil 2 and Code: Veronica along with new elements, and has been well received on its North American release as an improvement on the already impressive Umbrella Chronicles from 2007.
Price: $49.99 / €49.99
Bundled with Wii Zapper accessory: €59.99

Scene It? Twilight (Wii)
Release: Europe and North America, November 24.
The Scene It? movie trivia franchise started off as a hybrid DVD/board game and here makes its first appearance on a console outside of the Xbox 360 platform - for which Box Office Smash and Lights, Camera, Action are already available - this time concentrating on the world of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight young-adult vampiric fantasy romance.
Price: $49.99 / €45.99 (Wii), $34.99 / €29.99 (DS)

Tekken 6 (PSP)
Release: North America, November 24. Europe, December 11. Also available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Tekken 6 (or, more precisely, the update of Tekken 6 appended Bloodline Rebellion) is everything that Tekken fans expect - fantastic graphics, a furious pummelling of controller buttons, bizarre character choices, and perhaps a little too much happening on screen for its own good. Yet, we wouldn't have it any other way.
Price: $39.99 / €39.95

James Cameron's Avatar: The Game (360 DS PC PS3 PSP Wii)
Release: Worldwide, December 1
Just like director James Cameron's big screen film, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video games are expected to have 3D capabilities when displayed on a powerful enough screen (HD, 120Hz display). Though the game is released nearly three weeks before the film, it follows a distinct and separate storyline so no crucial spoilers are contained within. There are also collectors editions available at selected retailers, packaged with a bonus action figure.
Price: $59.99 / €59.99 (360, PS3), $49.99 / €49.99 (PC, Wii), $39.99 / €39.99 (PSP), $29.99 / €29.99 (DS)
Collector's Edition: $59.99 / €59.99 (PC, Wii), $79.99 / €79.99 (360, PS3)