This Week In Games: March 1st

With Dragon Age II and both MLB baseball competitors being released in a very busy next week, we find March 1st to be a relatively slow release date.  I don't personally mind, as I've got my hands full with Bulletstorm and Killzone 3.  The only major release is an intriguing one though, as the sports genre gets its first M-rated simulation game (with apologizes to BLITZ The League).  Here is what is being released this week:

• Fight Night Champion (360, PS3): The newest entry in EA's boxing series receives a bloody upgrade, bumping the ESRB rating from Teen to Mature for the first time in the game's history.  The game presents itself as a darker and gritter entry into the boxing genre, promising animations and physical damage that allows gamers to appreciate just how brutal the sport is.  Included is an all-new "Champion Mode", in which you take control of a convict and fight your way from the prison yard to the biggest arenas in the world.  With 50 fighters through 7 weight class divisions, Fight Night Champion has the largest roster of past and present boxing greats of any game to date.  The demo is currently available on both systems, and I hope to have some first thoughts this week.