With the spring semester almost complete, summer is on its way, which also means another batch of summer video games are also released.

The three major game systems: the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii will showcase their newest and best games at the Electronic Entertainment Expo and to fans.

Michael Lattimore, a junior political science major, said he is looking forward to the various sports games, first-person shooters and fighting games on the way for the summer. These include “Tiger Woods PGA Tour ’11,” “Madden NFL ’11,” more “Call of Duty” games and “Tekken” games.

Zach Schwulst, a freshman pre-business major, said his Xbox 360 will keep him occupied for the entire summer, along with the batch of new releases.

“The summer releases coming out are either sequels or games produced by companies that have strong reputations for cranking out high-quality games.” Schwulst said.

Schwulst said some games he is looking forward to playing this summer are “Halo Reach,” “Splinter Cell: Conviction,” “Red Dead Redemption” and “Mass Effect 2.”

The 2010 summer looks to be one of the best. With releases like “Green Day: Rock Band,” “Madden NFL ’11,” “Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days,” “Alan Wake” and “UFC Undisputed 2010” on the way, the summer releases look to be a potential bag of goodies. Here are a select few:

Green Day: Rock Band

As their popularity rises from their latest album “21st Century Breakdown,” Green Day is finally getting a Rock Band game of its own.

After the success of “The Beatles: Rock Band,” Harmonix and MTV Games got together and decided to give the honors of the next Rock Band game to Green Day.

Some of the songs featured on the game, according to GameStop.com, will be “American Idiot,” ‘When I Come Around,” “Restless Heart Syndrome,” “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life),” “Murder City” and “Warning.”

Along with that, those who pre-order the game at any available GameStop store will receive tracks like “21 Guns,” “Know Your Enemy,” and “Last of the American Girls” as downloadable content.

“Green Day: Rock Band” officially releases to the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii systems June 8.

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days

With its release on November 13, 2007 to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, “Kane and Lynch: Dead Men” set a scorching pace of blood, guts and violence, resulting in massive popularity, despite several gaming websites official ratings of the game.

The sequel, “Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days” will pick up with the same amount of intensity and violence as its predecessor.

According to IGN.com, the story starts after the events of “Kane and Lynch: Dead Men.”

Here, the lead character Kane had to make a difficult choice of taking down The 7, or going off with his daughter.

The sequel will follow Lynch, as he has

makes his way to Shanghai. There, he calls his buddy Kane and asks for his help in one last big score. With no objections, Kane obliges to secure money for his daughter’s survival.

Combined with the revamped third-person shooting style, the violent shadows of the original game and controlling Lynch, who is a full-blown psycho, “Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days” is a potential title that gamers of mature ages should not overlook for one second.

“Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days” officially releases to the 360, PS3 and PC Aug. 24.

Madden NFL ’11

With the announcement of Super Bowl MVP and New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees as the official cover-boy for “Madden NFL ’11,” Madden gamers of all experience types and ages will be paying attention to see if Drew Brees can break the fabled “Madden Curse.”

The “Madden Curse” began with Madden NFL 2002, and cover-boy Daunte Culpepper, who then was the quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings.

Once an athlete appeared on the cover, their following season would be horrendous. Stars like Marshall Faulk, Michael Vick, Donovan McNabb, Vince Young, Ray Lewis and Brett Favre have all appeared on the cover, and have fallen to the curse.

According to GameStop.com, this year’s game will feature an all-new GameFlow playcall system, which places the player inside the helmet of an NFL QB.

The game also has the ability to play full-length games in 30 minutes and offers the perspective that virtually places players right on the field, as if they were experiencing the NFL for themselves.

“Madden NFL ’11” officially releases to the 360, PS3, Wii PlayStation 2 and PSP Aug. 10.

Jose Gonzalez can be reached at

581-7942 or jlgonzales@eiu.edu