Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: VD Dev
Genre: Action Adventure
Release date: Available now

If you’ve ever been pulled over by a police officer, then you know it’s never fun. Most people driving by slow down and stare at you like you’re a sideshow feature at a traveling carnival; some people must enjoy it when others get in trouble. C.O.P.: The Recruit from Ubisoft gives you the chance to be on the side of the city protector, flashing your red and blue lights whenever you feel like it.

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Publisher: Namco Bandai
Developer: Monolift Soft
Genre: RPG
Release date: Available now

Take one of the most recognizable Manga and anime series and have it fused with a turn-based RPG. The result is…Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans for the DS. For the first time ever in North America, the world famous Dragon Ball Z series arrives in a turn-based RPG from Namco Bandai.

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Publisher: Oxygen Games
Developer: GameInvest
Genre: Sim
Release Date: Available now

Handheld systems have long been the perfect remedy for whiling away a long wait – whether it be in those Black Friday lines as we chase down the last copy of New Super Mario Bros., or at our local health clinic as we look to procure that life-saving substance that will ward off this season’s media emboldened Big Bad – the H1N1 virus. What better way to kill the hours spent suffering through an interminable hospital wait than by guiding ourselves through a virtual medical drama – the salve that the game designers at GameInvest have concocted in their latest release, Hysteria Hospital: Emergency Ward.

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Publisher: Oxygen Interactive
Developer: Oxygen Interactive
Genre: Sim
Release date: Available now

If playing Britney Spears at Abu-Grabe qualifies as torture, then forcing people to play My Make-Up must be tantamount to water-boarding. I’m noticing an alarming trend, as I review the latest slew of games from O-Games USA. “E for Everyone” is quickly becoming a euphemism for “N for Nobody.” My Make-Up is the latest evidence.

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Publisher: Oxygen Interactive
Developer: Oxygen Studios
Genre: Sim
Release date: Available now

Folks, I know Chicago is a harsh and unforgiving place in the winter. I know not all kids have room to run around in their parents’ houses. I know that parents don’t want their kids playing violent games with “mature” themes. But for the love of God, are we so lazy we can’t even get off our butts to play a real game of tag? O-Games seems to think so.

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Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios
Developer: Disney Interactive Studios
Genre: Adventure
Release date: Available now

So I’m a grown man who knows exactly in which house of Hogwarts the students at his law school belong. It takes a real nerd to admit that. I used to be a little cheesed at J.K. Rowling for not giving America its own school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Wizards of Waverly Place shows us why J.K didn’t bother: such a school would be run by Disney and populated by the daughters of country music stars, with most of the magic used to prepare and convey food.

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Publisher: Activision
Developer: A2M
Genre: Platformer
Release Date: Available now

Like any children’s movie to come out in the last 20 years Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs has spawned a video game adaptation. The DS version attempts to capture the humor and fun of the film. It deviates from the main characters of the series and focuses on one of the new characters introduced in the film. While obvious that this game is made for children, can it be enjoyed by older gamers as well?

Buck is a swashbuckling weasel who is in short, insane. His humor and character come across in the film, but somehow do not translate as well into the game. The game attempts to tell the story through cut-scenes in between levels but falls just shy of this goal. The levels don’t convey the story either, as you are often just going from point A to point B collecting items. There is some dialogue thrown in there but nothing to truly push the story.

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Publisher: Ignition Entertainment
Developers: Feel Plus, Brownie Brown
Genre: Strategy/RPG
Release date: Available now

The original Blue Dragon released back in 2007, exclusively for the Xbox 360, and was met with a somewhat bland response. At the time I remember being a little excited because I thought it was going to be an ongoing RPG series exclusive to the 360 and because the art style was done by Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama. However, after a short time playing the 360 version I just could not get sucked into the game due to its story and gameplay. Now, we have a new entry into the series with Blue Dragon Plus. This time it’s on a different platform and is in a new genre. Can it fulfill the promises that it’s bigger brother couldn’t?

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Publishers: Warner Bros. Interactive, TT Games
Developer: Hellbent Games
Genre: RTS
Release date: Available now

Daring to venture outside the lines of a movie-inspired setting, LEGO Battles invades the land of real-time strategy. It’s a welcome change of scenery for the series, but it might have overstepped its boundaries. This is RTS stripped down to the scaffolding, and the word “tactics” doesn’t necessarily apply. Sure, it might be an enticing notion to battle with all the jovial LEGO icons, as it always is, but the effect wears thin. The problem lies in that it doesn’t feel different to battle with one available army over another. And the cumbersome controls and bad pathfinding don’t make it easy to expand your empire.

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Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Powerhead
Genre: Pet Simulator
Release date: Available now

As a man who strives to avoid giving the impression of decency, there is very little I find morally abhorrent. Still, I’m a lover of both animals and the English language, and when I rule the world, two crimes will still be punishable by death: dressing animals in human clothing, and pluralizing words with a “z” instead of an “s.” Alas, I am yet a humble journalist, so I tried to approach Petz Fashion: Dogz & Catz with as little bias as possible.

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