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Platform: PC
Reviewed on PC

Windows System Requirements: Pentium 4 1.6 GHz or AMD equivalent, 512 MB RAM, DirectX 9 compatible video card with 64 MB RAM, 3 GB HD space, internet connection, Windows XP or more recent operating system

I've been playing Dungeons & Dragons Online since June 30, 2007. More precisely, I've been paying for it since then. Turbine has taken DDO "free-to-play," or as they term it – "Gold." That's not to say you can't still pay. You can, and I do still pay the $15 per month subscription fee.

DDO's free to play feature certainly seems to be gold. Since its implementation on September 9th, 2009 a great many new and returning players have joined the Turbine servers for their chance to slay evil humanoids, beholders, mind-flayers and other creatures from the Dungeon & Dragons canon. But what has changed about the game?

Platforms: PC and Xbox 360
Reviewed on PC

Windows System Requirements: 2.4 GHz Single-Core Processor, 1 GB RAM, DirectX 9C compatible video card with 256 MB VRAM, 5 GB HD space, Windows XP or more recent operating system

Can your (possibly) trustworthy second-in-command, Penultimo, help you lead a Caribbean nation to prosperity? If not, can you at least siphon a great pile of cash into your Swiss bank account before being deposed? Gain the love of your people and keep your post thanks to free democratic elections, or use the military and secret police to ensure your continued rule. The choice is yours, but the people are fickle and the rebels are plentiful. Your reign over Tropico will not be an easy one.

Platforms: Wii, PC, Mac and Linux
Reviewed on PC

Windows System Requirements: 1.0 GHz CPU, 512 MB RAM, DirectX 9.0c compatible video card, 100 MB HD space, Windows XP or more recent operating system

"The millions of Goo Balls who live in the beautiful World of Goo don't know that they are in a game, or that they are extremely delicious."

Platforms: PC and Wii
Reviewed on PC

Windows System Requirements: 2 GHz Processor, 512 MB RAM, DirectX 9.0c compatible video card with 64 MB VRAM, internet connection, Windows XP or more recent operating system

Following Guybrush Threepwood's untimely demise at the conclusion of The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood, Guybrush Threepwood: Mighty Pirate must somehow escape from the afterlife and return to the world of the living to rescue his wife Elaine from the clutches of the once-again-Demon Pirate LeChuck.

Platforms: PC and Wii
Reviewed on PC

Windows System Requirements: 2 GHz Processor, 512 MB RAM, DirectX 9.0c compatible video card with 64 MB VRAM, internet connection, Windows XP or more recent operating system

Guybrush Threepwood is in a bit of a pickle. His minor crimes from way back in Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 1 - Launch of the Screaming Narwhal have come back to haunt him. To avoid execution, Threepwood will have to master piratical law and destroy the credibility of every charge laid out against him. The penalty for each and every one of those crimes is death, but Threepwood must prevail to be reunited with his wife and cure her of LeChuck's Voodoo Pox.

Platform: Wii
Reviewed on Wii

"Remington: Great American Bird Huntis a fast-paced bird hunting game for one to four players featuring Remington shotguns. The object of the game is simple: get the highest score by hitting lots of birds and bonus items. Main targets are ducks, geese, wild turkeys, grouse and pheasant."

Platforms: Xbox 360 and PC
Reviewed on Xbox 360

Rivel is a powerful summoner, able to invoke powerful beasts to do battle with his masters' foes, and he does so while aiding one of the royal rangers on a difficult quest. You can aid Rivel in his quest thanks to his summoning monsters and doing battle through a variation on Bejewelled Twist.

Platforms: PC, Mac and Xbox 360
Reviewed on Xbox 360

It's not enough to attend the Peggle Institute, bouncing balls through fields of pegs, falling into Extreme Fever when pegs are eliminated and racking up high scores. In Peggle Nights, the instructors of the Peggle Institute share their dreams, allowing players to live out their peg-eliminating fantasies in even more levels of Peggle-style fun.

Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC
Reviewed on Xbox 360

The events of the original Assassin's Creed saw Desmond Miles, a sheltered young man from a reclusive community, captured by a pharmaceutical company. Forced into a machine called the "Animus," Miles was used to unearth information from the past by reliving the memories of his ancestor, an Assassin named Altair Ibn La-Ahad, active during the Third Crusade.

With a little help, Miles learned that his abductors were the Templars, a secretive order bent on world domination. Now he has escaped and is using a hacked and Jerry-rigged version of the Animus to try to discover secrets from Renaissance Italy before the Templars can put them to use. To do so, Miles must relive the memories of his ancestor Ezio Auditore da Firenze, an assassin trapped in the politics of the Italian city-states of Venice and Florence.

Platform: DS
Reviewed on DS

Archaeologist Sylvie Leroux finds herself flying to Malta after her mentor, an historian investigating a Crusader chapel, vanishes. Only by discovering the web of reasons behind the professor's disappearance and delving into the secrets of the Knights Hospitaller will Leroux get to the bottom of this mystery.

Platform: PlayStation 3
Reviewed on PlayStation 3

Following the events of Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Clank has fallen into the clutches of Dr. Nefarious, and Ratchet is wandering the galaxy in search of his friend. It turns out a clock-like space station has been constructed at the center of the galaxy to repair flaws in time created by reckless time-travelling, and Clank is heir to the clock's caretaker position. Unfortunately, every villain in the galaxy has their own plans to use the clock to undo past rights, and Ratchet and Clank must, once again, save the galaxy.

Platforms: Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
Reviewed on Xbox 360

There are plenty of former stars, living in the Fairytale Kingdom whose fame has faded and whose glory is gone. Little Red Riding Hood, Jack (of beanstalk fame), the Naked Emperor and Snow White were all once big deals and are now virtual unknowns. In an effort to reclaim their lost fame, all four characters are desperate to do something to attract the Storyteller's attention and once again see their names written in the Fairytale Kingdom's latest books. What should they do? Nothing captures the attention of the masses like some old-fashioned violence.

Platform: Wii
Reviewed on Wii

When I hear "fishing," I usually think of men slowly casting lures in a quiet setting, occasionally reeling in a fish. Shimano Xtreme Fishing is a reminder that fishing can involve bows and spear guns firing bolts with compressed gas. Choose your weapon in Shimano Xtreme Fishing to participate in tournaments or just fish freely.

Platforms: Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
Reviewed on PlayStation 3

Eddie Riggs is the ultimate roadie. On a night like any other, when Riggs was saving a show while remaining in the shadows and behind the scenes, an injury caused his blood to trickle into his belt buckle. But Riggs is no ordinary roadie. He's the best roadie who ever lived. His belt buckle, too, is no ordinary buckle. Fueled by blood, it transports Riggs to an ancient age when man is oppressed by demons, heavy metal is the source of all power and a revolution is about to begin...

Platforms: Wii, PlayStation 2, PSP and PC
Reviewed on PSP

The students at Fallcreek University have a problem. A problem that goes well beyond the promiscuous sex and rampant recreational drug use that permeates the dorms. Undergraduate life has recently been swept away by a new drug of choice – the pollen of a mysterious black flower.

On the same night as the frat party of the year, that addiction turns out to be more sinister than a buzz and a wicked hangover. The campus is suddenly overrun by nightmarish monsters... monsters that appear to be transformed undergrads.

The soundtrack for Spore Hero, by Winifred Phillips and produced by Winnie Waldron, has been released as an independent download through many popular music sites. Individual tracks are now available for download, or the collection of 18 tracks (just over an hour of music) can be purchased for $9.

Platform: PC
Reviewed on PC

Windows System Requirements: 2.8 GHz Processor, 1 GB RAM, DirectX 9.0c compatible video card (ATIx700 or nVidia 5900 Ultra with 128 MB of VRAM), 15 GB HD space, DVD-ROM, broadband internet connection, Windows XP SP2 or more recent operating system

Aion created the world of Atrea, a world with two hemispheres connected at the center by the Tower of Eternity. Aion then created humanity and other sapient species as subjects for the Balaur to rule over. But ultimately the nigh-demonic Balaur lusted after power, becoming Dragon Lords and violating the restrictions placed upon them by Aion. When humanity was the only species to resist the Balaur, Aion rewarded certain humans with ascension, transforming them into Daevas – immortal winged beings capable of battling the Balaur. Daeva's cannot die, although they can be forced to collect their essence at certain obelisks when grievously harmed.

Following a millennium of battle between humanity, the Daevas and the Balaur, a cataclysm occurred in which the Tower of Eternity shattered, leaving the world split permanently in half. One half, inhabited by the Asmodians, was plunged into eternal darkness. The Asmodians became dark-skinned and fierce to cope with their environment. At the same time, the Elyos lived in the half of Atrea bathed in light and joy. The Asmodians and Elyos are perpetually at odds, with both fearing and fighting the Balaur who inhabit the Abyss floating between the two halves of the world.

Platform: DS
Reviewed on DS

As a newly-minted paramedic for Harbor City hospital, start your professional career with a brief refresher course on a training dummy, then move on to rescuing real victims around town, starting with minor lacerations and moving on to life-threatening injuries.

Platform: Xbox 360
Reviewed on Xbox 360

Near the close of the 21st century, the inhabitants of the Moon have rebelled against their Earthly masters, in a battle fought on the crater-blasted landscape of Earth's major satellite, primarily using dated technology left over from World War III. Will a single commander be able to muster what military forces the Union has on the Moon and suppress the Xenos rebellion?

Platforms: PC and Wii
Reviewed on PC

Windows System Requirements: 2 GHz Processor, 512 MB RAM, DirectX 9.0c compatible video card with 64 MB VRAM, internet connection, Windows XP or more recent operating system

At the conclusion of Tales of Monkey Island: Chapter 2 - The Siege of Spinner Cay, Guybrush Threepwood ("Mighty Pirate") was swallowed by an enormous manatee while fending off his would-be assassin, the pirate hunter Morgan LeFlay. As his incarceration in the belly of the beast stands to prevent Threepwood from acquiring a special sponge that will enable him to cure the Caribbean of a Voodoo Pox, Threepwood must escape from the Leviathan (otherwise known as a very big manatee) with his ship and crew intact.

Platform: PlayStation 3
Reviewed on PlayStation 3

The kingdom of Boletaria has been consumed by a mysterious fog, masking a plague of demons who hunt men to claim their souls. Once the newly-created soulless began to attack the survivors, the entire kingdom descended into chaos. Now, warriors, adventurers and holy men are heading to Boletaria to free the land from its demon infestation – even if they must do so from beyond the grave.

Platforms: PC and Mac
Reviewed on PC

Windows System Requirements: 700 MHz Processor, 256 MB RAM, DirectX 8.1, internet connection, Windows XP or more recent operating system

The lovable ball-barfing frog from the original Zuma has been washed far away from his Mesoamerican homeland by a catastrophic storm, only to land on a tropical, Polynesian island replete with tiki-toting spirits. Only by keeping his cool can the frog avoid an onslaught of colored spheres and take out the tikis that would do him in.

Platform: DS
Reviewed on DS

The Hardy Boys, teenage sleuths, have been invited to join the Royal Express on its trek to St. Petersburg in search of the lost Romanov treasure. Starting in Paris, Frank and Joe stop in the cultural centers of Europe as they unravel their first mystery to grace the DS.

Platforms: PlayStation 3 and PC
Reviewed on PC

Windows System Requirements: 2.0 GHz CPU, 512 MB RAM, Radeon X800 or GeForce 6800 or better video card, 600 MB HD space, Windows XP or more recent operating system

The story may be generic, but Trine certainly isn't. Despite sending players into a series of dungeons with a wizard, knight and thief, bound by an ancient artifact to end a soulless evil, Trine is a unique downloadable adventure.

Platforms: Xbox 360 and PC
Reviewed on PC

Windows System Requirements: 2 GHz Processor, 768 MB RAM, GeForce 6600 or Radeon 9800 Video Card with at least 128 MB of VRAM, 5 GB HD space, Windows XP or more recent operating system

Moments before the Battle of Little Bighorn, Alexander Morris was transferred to General Custer's regiment. Fortunately, due to a dearth of paperwork documenting the transfer, when Morris was about to pass away thanks to fatal wounds, he was snatched to safety by a time-travelling agent from the future. Now Morris is working for a corporation called KronoteK, defending time from unknown assailants attempting to rewrite history by tweaking critical battles throughout history.

Occasionally, a piece of hardware comes along that fills a gaping void – a need that you didn't even know existed. The FragFX controller is that kind of hardware. It brings the precision of PC-style controls to the PlayStation 3, and while it is perfect for first-person shooters, it works well with most PlayStation 3 games.

Platforms: PC and Xbox 360
Reviewed on Xbox 360

A millennium of peace has lulled a distant planet into a false sense of security. Fortunately, when the alien invasion began, it was just barely possible to reawaken an ancient defense grid, capable of constructing defensive weaponry emplacements guided by the digitized personality of a long-dead operator. The defense grid needs only one thing to save the planet from a deadly onslaught – an operator capable of balancing the available resources against the planet's defensive needs.

Platforms: Wii, PC and DS
Reviewed on DS

Jonathan Coleridge has been murdered! Fortunately, the retired Chief Superintendent of Scotland Yard, Edward Bannister, was present at the party where the foul deed was committed. Only by solving a variety of Sudoku Ball puzzles can the former detective determine what happened at this sleepy English manor.

Platforms: PC and Wii
Reviewed on PC

Windows System Requirements: 2 GHz Processor, 512 MB RAM, DirectX 9.0c compatible video card with 64 MB VRAM, internet connection, Windows XP or more recent operating system

In the previous chapter, Guybrush Threepwood, "Mighty Pirate," unleashed a vicious Voodoo Pox that is plaguing every pirate in the Caribbean, while he dodges an aristocratic French doctor pursuing him in the interests of science. Now that same doctor has put a bounty on Threepwood's head while Threepwood continues to track his missing spouse to an island of Mer-people under piratical siege. Can Threepwood juggle all these factions while seeking out the mythical sponge that will help him cure the Voodoo Pox?

Simply put, GameFly is a positively ideal game rental service for a very specific type of gamer. Unfortunately, I'm not that gamer, and I don't know anyone who is. If you like to play single-player games that have been out for a few months (and play enough of them such that it's not cheaper to purchase old, used games), then GameFly can be a worthwhile service. If you play seldom and casually, love to play in-depth games extensively and to exhaustion, really enjoy multiplayer action (or certain downloadable content) or just want to play the very latest games, GameFly won't meet your needs as well as the alternatives.