Let's say you had a hundred dollars and you absolutely had to spend it on new releases within the week. This would be the worst week for that to happen. You'd end up blowing your money on GRID for the Nintendo DS, the reworked Monster Madness game for the Playstation 3 (unflatteringly pictured above), and maybe the System of a Down songs for Rock Band.

Although, to be fair, some people like System of a Down. And I was fond of Monster Madness on the Xbox 360 (I think I was the only one ), so I'm looking forward to seeing it gussied up for the Playstation 3. But this is a classic sleepy August week, perfect for catching up on old games, checking out the new Burnout: Paradise patch on your 360, or getting back into an MMO. Your wallet is entirely safe.

Also, I'd like to revise last week's wallet threat level to take into account the release of Geometry Wars 2 and PixelJunk Eden. There's $20 of must-haves right there, overlooked because they're downloadable games.