Games releasing week of Sept. 17

BY LISETT ARAUJO

laraujo@miamiherald.com

This week the Sims franchise comes to the Wii, street racing gets Juiced and composer Frederic Chopin stars in Eternal Sonata.

MY SIMS
The Sims franchise gets Wii-fied with My Sims for Nintendo's next-generation console. In true Nintendo style, the characters are adorable and the towns are more colorful and kid-friendly. You control the town - who moves in and who moves out - as well as your residents wants and needs. Making your city thrive is solely in your hands.

The whole town is your creation. You can build homes and businesses and everything in between, from hot tubs to jukeboxes. Also thrown into the mix is growing plants and harvesting food, a throwback to Harvest Moon. You can also control your Sims look. Pick your Sims appearance from head to toe. This game is all about personalization.

JUICED 2: HOT IMPORT NIGHTS

For a safer street racing experience, pick up a copy of Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights. The game features a real-life tour experience, complete with actual locations around the world. The game is loaded with customization. Choose from 90 digitally scanned cars and over 250 aftermarket mods.

Test your powersliding skills in drift races. Think you're good enough? If you like to gamble, join an online pink slip race where you challenge other players for their cars. You can even bet on live races with up to 1,000 other players.

The game is available for the Xbox 360, PS2 and DS. It will be available for the PSP and Playstation 3 later this month.

ETERNAL SONATA

Its not often classical music and video games collide. But Eternal Sonata takes one of the most famous composers of all time, Frederic Chopin, and weaves his life into the storyline of a game that deals with the enternal fight between good and evil. Eternal Sonata is set in a fairy-tale world said to be dreamt by the composer before his death. The anime style cel-shaded graphics give the game a whimsical, ethereal feel.

The land is populated by residents with incurable diseases tha somehow also possess magical powers. It is a role-playing game, which means turn-based combat. However, the game does include free roaming during battles. But it throws in a twist. Enemies lurking in the shadows have different attacks and take on different forms. Bring them into the light to defeat them.

Eternal Sonata features world-renowned pianist Stanislav Bunin performing Chopin's original works. The game is only available on the Xbox 360.