This year holiday shoppers can find immense entertainment on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC (personal computer) and several titles on the Nintendo Wii.

The revolutionary Nintendo Wii console expands an active game catalog with the action thriller “Dead Space: Extraction”, the essential “Metroid Prime Trilogy Collector’s Edition”, the role playing “Little King’s Story” and “A Boy and His Blob”, where this young lad can feed his white friend jellybeans for shape shifting powers then can give him a hug after a job well done.

Boy and Blob

“EA Sport Active” offers a “More Workouts” expansion pack while Jillian Michaels continues her fitness game series with “Fitness Ultimatum 2010″. Other active games include “Punch-Out”, “We Cheer 2″, “Active Life Extreme Challenge” and “Wii Fit Plus”, which incorporates the balance board. “Wii Sports Resort”, “Grand Slam Tennis” and “Tiger Wood PGA Tour 10″ all use and can be purchased with Wii MotionPlus included. “Shaun White Snowboarding” continues with “World Stage” letting players create and name their own tricks. “Go Play: City Sports” and “Go Play: Lumberjacks” keeps the activity going.

“Harvest Moon: AnimalParade” includes fishing, mining and farming while caring for wild animals like penguins, pandas, and monkeys. Hunting games include “Ultimate Duck Hunting” and “Cabella’s Outdoor Adventure”. “Food Network: Cook or Be Cooked” lets players slice, dice, chop, and stir up great food recipes.

“Charm Girls Club Pajama Party”, which has 30 party games and multiplayer options for up to eight players. Other party games include “Vegas Party”, Game Party 3″, Boom Blox Bash Party”, “Ultimate Party Challenge”, “Hasbro Family Game Night 2″ and “Deca Sports 2″, which includes darts, speed skating and kendo.

The Wii exclusive “Spore Hero” expands the unique creative creature series as players defend their home planet. The new “Super Mario Brothers Wii”, includes a two to four player multiplayer mode where players can help or hurt each other plus helpful gadgets like propeller suit and penguin Mario.

Super Mario Bros.

“Ju-On: the Grudge” simulates a frightening haunted house experience while the action role playing game “Muramasa: The Demon Blade” has extraordinary graphics. Other RPG action exclusives include “Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga” and “Opoona”, which features the nunchuk control. “Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3″, which has new Wi-fi battle modes. Action adventure exclusive include “Spyborgs”, “Klonoa” and “Overlord: Dark Legend”, which lets players control minions to do their bidding.

Shooter action games on the Wii include “The Conduit” and “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Reflex”, which features Wii Zapper incorporation, online multiplayer mode and a two player cooperative campaign mode. “Nerf N-Strike Elite” features first person shooter action for two players with a real NERF Switch Shot EX-3 blaster that has a “red reveal” flip-up viewer to view hidden items and special messages.

NerfnStrikeElite

WiiWare game releases include “Ant Nation”, “Bonsai Barber”, “Contra Rebirth”, “DRiFT Mania”, “Frogger Returns” and “Harvest Moon: My Little Shop”.

PlayStation 3 exclusives include “Demon’s Souls”, which has an incredibly high replay value where players learn from their mistakes and accomplish difficult challenges with special guiding animations. “Damnation” features high flying aerial action scenarios and exciting vision options. Other exclusive games include “Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2″ and “Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time”.

“Afrika” has exploration challenges in a wildlife photographer role. Unique action puzzle games include “LittleBigPlanet: Game of the Year Edition” and “Katamari Forever”. PlayStation Network games include “Zombie Apocalypse”, which has four player cooperative play and the five player “Madden NFL Arcade”, which includes online challenges for football fans.

Demon Souls

The Xbox 360 role playing game “MagnaCarta 2″ has real time and turn based action amid a civil war storyline packed with amazing art design and in-depth cut scenes. Action exclusives include “Halo 3: ODST”, “Samurai Shodown: Edge of Destiny”, “BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger” and “Gears of War 2: Game of the Year Edition”. “Forza Motorsport 3″ includes a wide range of international motor miracles with a new single-player season game mode.

Magna Carta 2

PC games include “King’s Bounty: Armored Princess”, the sequel to the multi-award winning “King’s Bounty: The Legend”, featuring a new female character named Princess Amelie. The real time strategy game “Worldshift” takes place 1000 years from now within three factions of a post-apocalyptic Earth society. “Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II”, “Velvet Assassin” and “Guns of Icarus” provide more action plus “Star Wars The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition ” makes it to the PC.

“The Sims3″ continues to expand with “World Adventures” in China, Egypt and France. Players can teach Sims martial arts and other useful skills while bringing home additional options including basements. The Holiday Collector’s Edition includes new content. “Fabulous Finds” simulates garage/yard sales to redesign home interiors.

“Moshi Monsters” headlines an impressive lineup of free casual and social games where players get their own pet monster and solve puzzles to earn Rox points for bonus content. “Battlefield Heroes” features carton-style military action in a third person perspective as players advance by earning Valor Points or getting Battlefunds.

Happy holidays and good gaming!

BONUS REVIEW: “FIFA Soccer 10” (Electronic Arts)

The most popular sport in the world gets the royal game treatment on the PlayStation 3 as EA’s “FIFA Soccer 10” becomes the must have soccer game in the world. This primo soccer experience has comprehensive gameplay, international appeal and online challenges. Choose from more than 10,000 authentic players from all over the world from 21 leagues, including the MLS, Barcly’s premier league, Liga BBVA, Ligue 1, 1.Bundesliga, Serie A and Mexican Primera Division.

The free movement provides the most excitement though the learning curve for all the button combinations can be considerable. Manipulate play with improved physics and controls. Players can practice with no score or game clock while in a 1 on 1 or team format. Improved mechanics, amazing graphics and opponent AI, which has optional settings, enhance the basic gameplay. Players can cancel pass or shot and learn skilled moves (right stick + hold L2), which are always fun.

FIFA Soccer

You can play online with friends ranging from two to 20. The pro club championship mode online has amazing 10 vs. 10 player games. The ability to capture video in instant replay and share it enhances the experience. The premium content mode Live Season 2.0 lets players bring their records into gameplay as well as receive constant updates. Virtual Pro lets players upload two face profile pictures for a “game face” at www.easportsfootball.com (2 GB RAM needed).

Martin Tyler and Andy Gray provide commentary while technical enhancements include headset and Dual shock 3 compatibility. In February 2010, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 players can get “FIFA 10 Ultimate Team”, which features in-depth team management and new tournaments. A simply amazing soccer experience! It’s going to be a challenge making next year’s better than this essential experience (***1/2, rated E, also available on Nintendo DS, PC, PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox 360 and Wii .

This entry was posted on Friday, December 18th, 2009 at 12:01 am and is filed under Arts and Life, Video games.
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