After a slow start to the year (with no games coming out at all in Australia last week), 2009 is starting to pick up pace. The biggest game to be released for the week is EA and Pandemic's The Lord of the Rings: Conquest for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Like previous games published by EA using the LOTR licence, Conquest centres around you hacking and slashing your way through hordes of enemies in some of the films' and books' most epic battles. One interesting feature of the game is the Rise of Sauron campaign, which tells an alternate story of what would have happened if Frodo had failed to destroy the ring. Expect to see The Lord of the Rings: Conquest out this Thursday.

　　Other releases this week include the PC version of Mirror's Edge and AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack for the Wii. Stay tuned over the next few weeks because the close of January will see some bigger releases, and February will kick off with a bang with the arrival of Street Fighter IV and Resident Evil 5.

　　January 15, 2009

　　AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack (Wii)

　　Bolt (PC)

　　Mirror's Edge (PC)

　　The Lord of the Rings: Conquest (PS3, 360, PC, DS)

　　My Chinese Coach (DS)

　　Flower, Sun, and Rain (DS)