Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Frontier Developments
Genre: Pet Simulation
ESRB rating: Everyone
Release date: Available now

If you’re the kind of person who’s ever wondered how much fun you could have with a baby tiger without the fear of being either scratched to death or arrested (and no, I’m not labeling you), then you should check out Kinectimals. I bought this game with my four year old daughter, Leela, firmly in mind, but I can’t lie to you. I’m just going to confess straight away and clear my gaming conscience by telling you that I’ve played it more than she has.

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Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Square Enix
Genre: RPG
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

There are so many pieces to any well written story, usually with many different fragments of characters that end up colliding, making the incomplete tale whole. It’s Day 13 and you’re not sure what kind of stage is being laid out in front of you, just glimpses of passengers on a train, dressed in similar garb. An armed guard is patrolling. As the cameras weave in and out, you begin to see the opening act for what it’s unfolding to become. You’re watching prisoners, two in particular, who are planning to escape. With a whisper back and forth, a quickening of pace begins as one of these prisoners dispatches his captor, freeing himself and his companion. As more prisoners are freed and as seconds pass, a war of survival between captors and captives ensues, and then the monsters start appearing. The next moments are now in your control, the stage has now been set, and surviving The Purge is left in your hands. Interested yet? These are just the opening moments of the latest installment of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy series. This is Cocoon.

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Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: AQ Interactive
Genre: Action/Puzzle
ESRB rating: Everyone
Release date: Available now
Review by: Michael Rabalais

The conventions of the puzzle genre have had me confused lately. What makes a puzzler rewarding? Should items such as Puzzle Bobble and Tetris belong to the same genre as Braid or Portal? Should a puzzler reward creative thinking, quick thinking, or both? Ubisoft’s recent 3DS release, Cubic Ninja, has stirred up more of these questions, and has put me a little bit closer to establishing my definition of a puzzle game.

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Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Double Fine Productions
Genre: Tower Defense / Third Person Shooter
ESRB rating: Everyone
Release date: June 22, 2011

I think there’s something kind of neat about remembering a genre’s inception and watching as it evolves and grows. The Internet has proven to be a fantastic sandbox where novice developers can get their ideas, even in rudimentary form, out to the masses and see their reactions. One such concept was that of the tower defense style of game, where players build weapons and defenses in order to defeat increasing hordes of enemies and protect some object or point. Today, this basic, and very popular, style of game has spawned many iterations, and one is about to hit the Xbox Live Arcade – Trenched.

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Publisher: Digital Leisure
Developer: Digital Leisure
Genre: Adventure
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

Sometimes, you can be pretty good at a game and still finish it. Most games allow a little leeway in terms of player skill, making it so that even if you screw up occasionally, you can still complete the game. Dragon’s Lair is not most games. It demands perfection from its players. Dragon’s Lair II, recently released on the PSN, cannot be beaten without precise control and exact movements. Or, in my case, infinite lives and a whole lotta time.

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Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Gearbox Software
Genre: FPS
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

It was 4:30 pm on Saturday, June 11, 2011, when I could finally stop saying, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Duke Nukem Forever was vaporware no more. The longest development cycle in videogame history was finally at an end. An actual copy of the game was in my hands. My expectations were high, but they were also tempered with the knowledge that a game with a history such as this would never live up to them. All that was left was to play it and find out for myself if it was worth the decade-and-a-half wait.

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Manufacturer: XJacKer
MSRP: $19.99

Sound is an important part of gaming. Being able to hear your opponent coming can mean the difference between life and death, and clear communication is vital for your team to succeed. These are things the Soniq Rush Gaming Headset Amp Kit, created by XJacKer, promise to deliver to your Xbox 360. After I explain a little about how it works, I’ll tell you whether or not it’s worth your money.

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Publisher: 505 Games
Developer: Behaviour Interactive
Genre: Action
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

There’s a simple truth about humans: every so often, we all feel the need to vent our frustrations. Venting on other humans is generally frowned upon, so the responsible ones among us search for other ways to reduce our daily stress levels. Last summer, developer Artificial Minds and Movement (now known as Behaviour Interactive) offered us just such an outlet in Naughty Bear, a dark, fluff-covered fable about a world-worn, patchwork teddy bear and his quest for revenge against the bright and fluffy neighbors who have been tormenting him. As we approach the one-year anniversary of Naughty’s campaign of terror and retribution, publisher 505 Games offers a return to his island home in Naughty Bear Gold Edition.

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Publisher: Atari
Developer: CD Projekt Red
System requirements: Core 2Duo 2.2 GHz or dual core AMD 2.5 GHz CPU; GB RAM Windows XP, 2 GB Windows Vista/7; GeForce 8800 512 MB or Radeon (HD3850 512 MB); 16 GB Drive Space
Genre: RPG
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Everyone is at E3 right now and I’m not. There are two reasons for that. First, I have my finals this week. By the time you read this I will hold a degree in History and Anthropology. Second, I just really wanted to play The Witcher 2, a sequel to one of my top RPGs of all time. Both games are based on my favorite series of fantasy novels and although it is impossible for any game to match the type of experience a sublime work of literature can provide, in this case a valiant effort was made. Andrzej Sapkowski, the maestro himself, was consulting CD Projekt during the development of both titles. The bar was raised pretty high already, but it appeared that the development team was intent on not just raising it again this time around, but rather on rocketing right through it and into previously unknown heights.

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Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Developer: inXile Entertainment
Genre: Action
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Teamwork is usually optional in games. A lot of co-op campaigns have a very relaxed sense of camaraderie, where you can either choose to work together or alone, but the end result remains the same. There is rarely any need for interaction. This is not the case with Bethesda’s Hunted: The Demon’s Forge. Developed by inXile Entertainment, Hunted gives new life to the phrase, “everything is better in pairs.”

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Publisher: Sony
Developer: Sucker Punch
Genre: Action
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: June 7, 2011

Though they all suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous origin tales, once a superhero gets his powers, he usually gets to keep them. That’s one of the perks of getting bit by a radioactive Chihuahua in the funny pages. Until some evil-doer ups the ante and kidnaps his Auntie, these guys are free to wield that great power with no responsibility. But in video games, it’s one and done. Too often, gamers spend an entire title building their abilities, only to see them stripped by some plot inconvenience in the inevitable sequel. And then it’s back to square one. Having built their own powerhouse in the lightning bug Cole McGrath, the question remains, will Sucker Punch let this guy fly high once again in his long-awaited return, inFamous 2?

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Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Genre: Virtual Pet
ESRB rating: Everyone
Release date: Available now
Reviewer: Michael Rabalais

Everyone remembers their first pet. In fact, now that I’ve brought it up, I can guarantee that you’re thinking about his name (Mayonnaise), the games you played with it (Adventure Island), maybe how you got it (The Stork), and the day that it died (Didn’t. Lives on a big happy farm in Montana). Well now through the wonders of technology, Nintendo has developed a patented technodog that is completely portable, and can never die or feel any sort of genuine emotion towards you or your actions, with Nintendogs + Cats!

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Manufacturer: Cooler Master
MSRP: $29.99

When it comes to cooling laptops, my general rule has always been, “If the equipment can’t cool itself at room temperature, then it’s a piece of garbage.” Thus, I have always been a bit skeptical about third party laptop coolers. After all, it seems like a waste of hardware dollars that could be better spent on other things, like a laptop that can cool itself. When my editors sent me a Cooler Master, I was fully prepared to roll my eyes in bored frustration. Yet, it turns out that the joke is on me. Rather than using a pointless piece of hardware for a few weeks, it turns out that I have had the chance to review a well engineered device.

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Publisher: JoWood
Developer: Spellbound Entertainment
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 2.8 GHz dual-core CPU, Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX or better graphics card, 2 GB RAM, DirectX 9-compatible sound card, 9 GB hard-drive space
Genre: RPG
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

There is a formula that RPGs usually follow. You start at Point A with an overarching story objective. Sixty or so hours later (depending upon how many side quests you complete), you fight a massive, sometimes frustrating boss battle to arrive at Point B. Your level of frustration in that final encounter is determined by how well you’ve improved your character during the journey. Developer Spellbound’s Arcania: Gothic 4 fits into that paradigm like a glove. But whereas other games of the genre weigh you down with dozens of useless diversions, Arcania offers a streamlined version of the RPG that helps make that trip from A to B enjoyable.

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Publisher: Telltale Games
Developer: Straandlooper Animation
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 1.8 GHz Pentium IV or equivalent CPU, 256 MB graphics card, 2 GB RAM, DirectX 9.0c
Genre: Adventure
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

The reason why no one should ever negotiate with terrorists is because once you’re in such a situation, you can’t possibly win. The only reasonable course of action is to immediately cut your losses. Yes, there will be losses, and you must come to terms with the fact that they are unavoidable. The moment you falter and try do to damage control, they will grow. Moreover, you’ll be lucky if there’s only linear or logarithmic growth, since chances are you’ll find yourself facing exponential escalation. Coincidentally, the same advice applies in situations that involve girlfriends, but that’s of no concern to Det. Insp. Hector, since he doesn’t have one. What he does have is a cop job in the worst city ever, along with a hostage crisis on his hands. If it was up to him, he’d go back to bed, but the higher-ups insist on negotiating.

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