Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Ensemble Studios
Genre: RTS
Release date: Available now

If you gotta go out, it ought to be with a bang. And that’s just what Ensemble Studios did. In early 2009, after 14 years as a game developer (eight of them as a subsidiary of Microsoft), Ensemble closed its doors. But their last project was Halo Wars, a real-time strategy chapter in the tremendously lucrative Halo shooter series. The fact that it prospered despite starting out with two solid strikes against it speaks volumes for the game and its creators.

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Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Developer: Artificial Mind & Movement
Genre: Action
Release date: Available now

It’s said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Nowhere is this cliché more evident than in the video-game domain, where each year new action games build upon the foundations laid previously by other developers. Think of Bullet Time. First “The Matrix” film series did it. Then Max Payne copped to it. And suddenly, everyone from the Prince of Persia to Blinx the Time Cat was slowing time to get out of a jam. Of course, the movies are no different. You only need look in Quentin Tarentino’s direction. Every film that cool cat has ever seen has stewed in his brain pan and been churned out into the pop-culture fever dreams that he’s concocted; their obscure grindhouse origins are ripe for the enterprising cineaste looking to connect each dot. It’s fitting, then, that Artificial Mind & Movement’s new third-person action game, Wet, should emerge as the love child of QT and the action game genre.

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Publisher: Activision
Developer: Neversoft
Genre: Music
Release date: Available now

Who hasn’t dreamed of being on stage singing for thousands of adoring fans? It’s a fantasy that knows no age limit, no racial or gender barriers. But most of us are missing the one major element that would make that fantasy a reality: talent. And that’s where developer Neversoft’s Guitar Hero series comes in. Playing interactive music games, be they Guitar Hero, Rock Band, even vocal-only products such as Lips, gives even the tone-deaf player the opportunity to step up and be a superstar. Guitar Hero 5 takes the now-commonplace music-game mechanic and spruces it up a bit, giving us another good reason to drag out the plastic instruments and rock out until our hands cramp and our vocal cords turn to mush.

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Publisher: Crave Entertainment
Developer: FarSight Studios
Genre: Pinball
Release date: September 22, 2009

Who doesn’t like pinball? Just the thought conjures up the glory days of the arcades, smoky bar rooms and bowling alleys of my childhood. When games like Ghosts ‘n Goblins and Final Fight were occupied, you could always find me belly-up to the nearest machine, anxiously paying too much attention to where the ball was, instead of where it was going. Thankfully, Crave Entertainment and FarSight Studios were paying full attention, and released Pinball Hall of Fame: the Williams Collection on the PS2 and the Wii to solid reviews. Why stop there, though? Current generations need their silver ball, too, right?

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Publisher: 2K Sports
Developer: Visual Concepts
Genre: Sports
Release Date: Available now

Would you pay to play a demo? That’s a question that has been lobbed by marketing forces ever since digital distribution really began to take root and thrive in the video game console space. While most consumers eagerly chomp at the bit to take the latest demo for a whirl, the moment a price gets slapped on the content, the voices often sing loud and clear in opposition. That hasn’t stopped publishers from attempting to make a little bit of scratch off those itching for their next eagerly awaited release, which was evident last summer when Microsoft and Lionhead Studios offered up Fable II Pub Games to whet fans’ appetites before Fable II dropped in October. This summer, 2K Sports has released their own premium pre-release content with the unveiling of NBA 2K10: Draft Combine on the XBLA and PSN networks.

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Publisher: Ubisoft Singapore
Developer: Microsoft
Genre: Action
Release date: Available now

Whether you love the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or not, or at least the memory of them, they still keep popping out of the sewers. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-shelled tries to bring back what we love about the turtles in this upscale, glitzy remake of the classic side-scroller. The levels and gameplay are reminiscent of the good old days, but it has trouble retaining its original arcade spirit.

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Publisher: EA
Developer: EA
Genre: Sports
Release date: Available now

Earlier this year, veteran broadcaster and former NFL coach John Madden announced that he was stepping aside from his color commentary duties to get busy enjoying the remainder of his days. Love him or leave him, Madden was an iconic presence on Monday Night Football and his absence will surely be noticed. While the Big Guy jumps aboard that famed Horse Trailer for one last ride into the sunset, there’s no doubt that his legacy lives on in the digital age, as the Madden brand has become synonymous with videogame football. With the annual release of his smash mouth simulator treated as a national holiday of sorts, it will be a long time before we divorce the man from the game. As the first title released following Madden’s exit, Madden NFL 10 bears the weight of living up to the man’s legacy.

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Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Developer: Bethesda Softworks
Genre: Action RPG
Release date: Available now

It seems like every month I’ve been sitting down to write a review for one of developer Bethesda’s DLC packs for Fallout 3. The company has been able to consistently deliver content for the popular action RPG and has somehow kept the game fresh and relevant. The add-ons have been received well for the most part, and everyone has had fun with them. With five now released, Bethesda claims they’re done with Fallout 3 DLC and are finally escaping from the Capitol Wasteland to move on to other things. The final release for the game, Mothership Zeta, transports you to a new setting and new story unlike anything experienced thus far. Could it deliver the quality of the previous offerings and end the saga on a high note?

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Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Tiburon
Genre: Sports
Release date: Available now

Football season for the NCAA is almost here again. The heated rivalries, the body paint and those adorable mascots are all coming home. With all the fervent school pride and love of the game shown by the fans, it would be no small wonder if they got their fill simply by watching it. But EA Sports helps to scratch the football itch with NCAA Football 10, in which fans can live out their passion and guide their favorite teams to victory.

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Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Techland
Genre: First Person Shooter
Release date: Available now

Westerns–those tall tales of the Wild West–are an American invention, yet some of the best myth building has come from outside sources. It was Italian director Sergio Leone who placed Clint Eastwood on the map as The Stranger With No Name in his series of blood-drenched Spaghetti Westerns from the 1960s. While Americans took these oaters for granted and rolled their eyes at the creaky conventions that defined the form, it took an outsider to see the core attraction in these tales of the good, the bad and the ugly things men do and pump them up to operatic majesty. And while the world of cinema has long ushered its heroes towards that triumphant ride into the sunset, the video-game world has merely dabbled in the genre from time to time, most notably in the old Konami arcade side-scroller Sunset Riders and Gun, the Neversoft epic that ushered in this current generation of Western-themed games. Taking a page from Leone’s playbook, Polish developer Techland exploited this niche a couple of years back with their original release, Call of Juarez. This FPS benefited immensely from the developer’s decision to build a strong narrative around an aging archetype, following Leone’s lead in crafting a hero shaded in gray: the memorable Reverand Ray. Well, Ray is back, and he’s brought his brother along for the ride in Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood.

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Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
Genre: Action RPG
Release date: Available now

Bethesda’s DLC support for Fallout 3 has been nothing but fantastic. There have been some minor bugs and loading issues when some of the add-ons launched, but all were fixed rather quickly. Each piece of DLC has been progressively better than the last, and Point Lookout continues this trend. It not only expands the universe, but it also truly captures the essence of what it is that fans of Bethesda’s action RPG’s love: exploration.

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Publisher: Telltale Games
Developer: Telltale Games
Genre: Adventure
Release date: Available Now

Earlier this month at E3, developer Telltale Games announced that Guybrush Threepwood and the denizens of Monkey Island have joined the developer’s growing stable of character-driven episodic adventure games. Fans of the old LucasArts adventures can now check another buried treasure off their wish lists and set their hopes high for a potential Full Throttle or Grim Fandango reunion. Of course, it was Telltale’s expert handling of the beloved Sam & Max series (originally released on the PC two years ago) that paved the way for the return trip to Monkey Island. PC gamers and Wii wagglers have had their chance to reacquaint themselves with the canine gumshoe Sam and his psychotic little buddy Max, and now Xbox players finally get to enjoy their hijinks in the recent release of Season 1 of Sam & Max Save the World.

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Publisher: Atari
Developer: Terminal Reality
Genre: Action
Release date: Available now

I stumble blindly back to my feet after suffering a stomping that could only have come courtesy of the embodiment of evil (in the shape of a 100-ft-tall Sumerian marshmallow). A familiar “ching-whiiiiirrr” emanates from my proton pack, and I eagerly unleash a stream of nuclear energy at the white giant, crisping his outsides and spawning a fully blown craving for graham crackers and chocolate. After 25 years of waiting, I’m finally a Ghostbuster, and it’s everything I’ve ever dreamed it would be…almost.

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Publisher: PopCap Games
Developer: PopCap Games
Genre: Puzzle
Release date: Available now

Freude, schoner Guterfunken Tochter aus Elysium. Anyone with some training in classical music will recognize this snippet of German as a lyric from the fourth and final movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Moviegoers might know it as the featured music in the final scenes of the original Die Hard film, but gamers of all shapes and sizes will recognize this phrase from Pop Cap’s multiplatform puzzle-game hit Peggle Deluxe. Turns out, the game is equally as memorable as the music.

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Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
Genre: Action RPG
Release date: Available now

When the retail version of Fallout 3 released back in October 2008, it was met with mixed reviews. Many looked at it as a great achievement in gaming, with its expansive world and unique VATS combat system. Then there were those who just couldn’t get into the game because of its open-world structure and menu complexity. There were even those who couldn’t believe that Bethesda had actually put an ending in their game. Well, fear not: Bethesda has listened to your cries with the DLC package Broken Steel, opening up the Capitol Wasteland to you once again beyond the previous ending. Oh, and they also threw in some new quests, gear and perks.

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