Remember those amazingly epic battles of good against evil seen in Peter Jackson's landmark trilogy of The Lord of the Rings? Wouldn't it be cool to command those battles yourself? Turns out…not so much. I guess there is a reason you don't see many RTS games on a console.

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If there is one genre I adore more than any other it is sci-fi. And it's a given that I'm a hopeless romantic, so when you throw a love story in there then I'm sold. Prey brings together those two elements into an amazingly touching love story, which tugged at my heart just as much the enemies made me tug on my gun's trigger. Die alien scum…there is a Cherokee on the warpath and his name is Tommy.

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Many games these days are of the Sims variety where players simulate anything and everything depending on the game system. The popularity of this type of game has been an enduring theme in PC gaming for many years. One of the first and best of these types of games was Sim City, where players built their own functioning city from scratch. For many years and through several versions this idea was expanded, but there was one factor never touched on and that was how to make Sims from different income levels interact. City Life addresses this and attempts to go where no Sim City has gone before.

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One of the first heroines of gaming history has been a staple for Nintendo's various systems for many years now. With the release of the Nintendo DS, it wasn't so much "if" Samus Aran would make an appearance, but "when." That time has come and now you can control the femme fatale with the touch of a stylus. But is her adventure really all that grand?

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Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane, no it's…okay, it's just a plane. The flight genre has always been a tricky genre to nail perfectly. Frequent issues arise such as games being too sim, too arcadey, or the constant dogfighting wears out its welcome real quick and gets old fast. So why does Blazing Angels ultimately sputter instead of soar to new heights?

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If you want the pinnacle of movie tie-in games then look no further than The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay. If you want a game that represents everything that is wrong with quick movie cash-ins then look no further than The Da Vinci Code. Since Da Vinci Code fans all love puzzles, here is an anagram to properly describe this game: A SMUG CHESS KIT.

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I go way back with Mario. Super Mario Bros. was the first game I ever played and I owned all the 2D iterations that came after. I remember going to see The Wizard starring Fred Savage in theaters, watching them compete in the Mario that I didn't even know was out yet, and I just had to have my parents rush me to the store so that they could buy it for me (thankfully I didn't have the same compulsion to go out and buy the Power Glove). Yep, I've had that kind of love affair with Mario, though it waned with later 3D versions (yes, though the Nintendo 64 installment is a great game, I still prefer all the past 2D versions, and I've yet to feel compelled enough to get Sunshine). So with New Super Mario Bros. the franchise is going back to its roots, but is that a good thing. In one word – yes.

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Apparently, in another life, I was born a sailor, because with Rockstar Presents Table Tennis I find myself swearing up a storm like one. Literally, it is one of those cases where after I say something, I have to think aloud if that choice word or phrase has always been in my repertoire. Besides that choice nugget, I'm "this close" to seeing how aerodynamic the 360's controller really is.

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Of all the simulations of WWII on the market, the best by far has been the Hearts of Iron franchise. Starting with HoI and progressing through patches and the excellent HoI2, this system has been improved and refined over the years. Now that game system is further extended with the stand-alone expansion called Doomsday, which adds new scenarios and campaigns to the basic HoI2 game, as well as extending the game into the nuclear era of the 1950s.

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In the annals of human history the greatest and most famous fighting army was that belonging to Rome. From its humble beginnings as a small town on the Tiber, Rome rose through a series of wars to be one of the greatest empires in human history. The instrument that made the empire work were the professional armies Rome raised and provided, coupled with the professional officers and Centurions that commanded these armies. Now you can re-fight the battles of Rome from her humble beginnings through the Imperial period with Legion Arena.

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Ah, 2D sprites in a RPG…how I've missed you so! That sentence isn't dripping with sarcasm either, because old school sprite based RPGs are my bread and butter. Final Fantasy III, Chrono Trigger, Secrets of Evermore, the Lunar series…yadda yadda yadda. I could go on and on about my favorite genre. Now comes Aveyond for the PC, and while it isn't on the same caliber as those beloved games I just listed, it does have an old school charm about it that helps it overcome some of the downfalls.

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"Time After Time," "Time Is On My Side," and "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" are just a few choice cuts you could use when you build a customized soundtrack to Timeshift, the upcoming FPS that takes those tricky scientific principles of time, throws them out the window, and gives you the same time warping abilities as a TIVO. So get ready to reverse time, slow down, and pause the action…just don't forget to shoot while you're at it.

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I've never been in a car accident - except one that happened at my house when I thought I was hitting the brake but really hit the gas, and then proceeded to bend the heck out of a chain link fence that put little Xs all along the back of my car. True story. Well, with Driver: Parallel Lines, I'm ending up in a lot more accidents than usual thanks to the loose controls, but I did learn the Klingons were right…revenge is a dish best served cold.

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During the early part of the 20th century organized crime was rampant in many large cities of America, especially the city of New York. These gangs were organized into families of Italian origin and were commonly referred to as the mob or the Mafia. One of the best books about their activity was written by Mario Puzo and this was also turned into the Academy Award winning movie, 'The Godfather.' Now you can live the life of Cosa Nostra and become a member of the dreaded Corleone family in EA's faithful game adaptation of that classic film.

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In 2013, the Army will unleash a new breed of soldier. A soldier whose lethality has been honed by the finest technologies. A soldier equipped to see first and strike decisively. Today, he's yours to command. Get ready to work your way through the streets of Mexico City in this pulse pounding military shooter as you bound from cover to cover to guarantee this is one mission you do walk away from.

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