Arkham City is a sequel to Arkham Asylum, which was based on the DC Comics superhero Batman. It does everything that Asylum did right, and then some. Gotham City is back, but with richer detail than ever. It’s not huge, but it more than makes up for that with its superb atmosphere. You play as Batman, who works to bring order to this crime-ridden neighborhood called Arkham City. This area of north Gortham is a super-prison for the city’s worst criminals. An all-star cast of villains make an appearance in this game. The chaos that they create is your problem, or your delight, rather.

It’s a blast to play as Batman. The combat is genuinely satisfying. Players are rewarded for good timing and use of the appropriate items (AKA actual skill). Speaking of items, new gadgets make Arkham City even more fun than its predecessor. Toss a smoke pellet to confuse enemies while you make an escape using your grapnel gun, or use the Disruptor to stealthily jam an opponent’s gun. Enjoy a laugh as you approach and he tries to shoot you, with no result. If all the gizmos are too sophisticated for your gaming style, you can stick with just your fists to get most jobs done.

Arkham City has an endless amount of content. You’ll continue upgrading long after you have completed the main game. There are 440 Riddler challenges to keep a player busy. Outside of the main campaign and side missions (which is estimated to account for about 40 hours of gameplay), you can actually have quite a bit of fun just traversing the city. Soar, glide, dive bomb, and use many other moves to travel from building to building by air. And if you’re bored of playing Batman (unlikely), you can also take a break and play as Catwoman instead! (This feature is accessed with a code that comes with a newly purchased game, though it can be separately obtained from the game’s online store). Her combat capabilities are close enough to Batman’s to allow you to feel instantly comfortable with the switch, yet different enough to make the transition well worth it.

Well done, Rocksteady Studios.

Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster. This Sesame Street game for Xbox 360 Kinect requires no controllers, and it allows kids to play the game by jumping, dancing, running, and being active in front of the television. The game allows children ages four to six to interact with the Sesame Street characters to learn about making friends, sharing, teamwork, and problem solving.

Monkey Quest. This computer game from Nickelodeon has exploded in popularity this past year for children ages eight to fourteen. Found online for both Windows and Mac, Monkey Quests connects players from all over the Internet. The child plays a monkey who goes on adventures to save the world of the game, which is brilliantly displayed in 3D. The missions are funny and engaging, and they are conducive to learning for the whole family, as there is an option for the whole family to play on screen.

The Magic School Bus: Oceans. This Scholastic game is best for ages five to nine, and is available for the Nintendo DS. The favorite show of many children, the game players join the zany Ms. Frizzle on an adventure under the ocean. The players interact with several species of underwater sea life, and learn about the creatures of the deep. The Magic School Bus always has plenty of energy and fun, and combines games and missions to keep the attention of elementary aged children.

Lego Harry Potter. This Warner Brothers game is the children’s version of the multitude of other Lego Harry Potter games available with each movie. For Harry Potter fans ages five to seven, the game is a recount of all of the major events in the last four films. Along with Harry’s intense missions, there are plenty of collectibles and even stimulating puzzle play. It is available for all gaming systems, and it is best suited for children in upper elementary school.

Super Mario 3D Land. For the Nintendo 3DS comes yet another game in the classis Mario Brothers series of racing and strategy games. In this edition, Princess Peach has been kidnapped from the evil Bowser. The player must use puzzles, logic, and strategy to free the princess from her captor; moreover, the game is completely in 3D, leading to extremely engaging game play for children eight and up. This edition of the ever-popular game will not disappoint.

Fiona Finch and the Finest Flowers

What really makes this particular game different from other flower growing games is that you can actually combine seeds and create new species. This twist brings a fresh approach and provides an additional challenge to your goals.

You start with some basic seeds and a plot of land. Where you want to plant the flowers is up to you. Once the flowers are planted, ensure they are watered. When the time is right, either prune your flowers for bigger and more expensive ones, or harvest them to sale. Don’t forget to save at least one plant so you can try different combinations of seeds to grow new plants. The ultimate goal is to win the flower contest.

Graphically, this game looks like spring. The colorful flowers all look different. The combination of seeds works rather well, but it is a little hard to tell which plants have actually sold and which ones haven’t without going into the barn.

The biggest complaint is that this game only has five areas, so it is a bit too small for the price. It would have been a winner if it had at least a few more complimentary areas.

The game is a good one for kids of all ages. The basic game play is easy for young kids to handle. Although, if they are going to play, it is probably better for them to play in the free play mode rather than the story line. This gives them the freedom to create their own gardens without the time pressure of meeting the demands of the judges.

Pick up this game for a discounted price for a real value. Unfortunately, because of its limited areas, it isn’t worth paying full price for.

When I was first introduced to console emulation on the PC, Nesticle (an old NES emulator) was the big kahuna. New emulators were popping up right and left, with increasing frequency and increasing quality. I remember when SNES9X got emulation of the SuperFX chip running – man, that was a good time. Being able to run Starfox and have it actually look correct was a big deal. Over the years, lots of progress was made. Bleem! and UltraHLE were released to much fanfare because of the advanced nature of the applications, and the fact that the consoles they emulated (the Playstation and Nintendo 64) were still considered modern consoles.

The console emulation scene came to a slow crawl around 2003, when both the lack of ability and lack of interest was making it increasingly difficult for programmers to work on emulators for even the previous generation of consoles. One needs only to look to Emulator Zone to see what I mean. Whereas back in the emulation heyday, there would be in upwards of twenty posts per day about various goings-on, there is now roughly one post each month. For what was once a flourishing community, this is very sad, indeed.

To get to the point of this writeup, I’d like to introduce to you, Dolphin. An emulator for both PC and Mac, Dolphin emulates both the Nintendo Gamecube and Wii systems and claims to do so nearly flawlessly. Judging by their Wii compatibility page on their wiki, they aren’t lying. Me gusta.

Having not had the chance yet to try it out for myself, I can only wait patiently until I’m able to dump a game of my own and give it a spin. If you’re so inclined, take it for a whirl and let us know how it goes in the comments.

Fable III

The storyline for Fable III happens approximately fifty years after Fable II. Choose between becoming a Prince or Princess. Either way, your evil sibling is in control of the kingdom and bent on keeping it all for themselves. It is your classic story of repression. As the Hero, you have to lead the revolution to reclaim the throne.

You have three weapons at your disposal – magic, a melee weapon, and a long range weapon. Each weapon is controlled by a different button on the controller. The first quest is basically used to learn how the weapons work and how to control which enemy you want to destroy. Along the way are treasure chests to open and spots to dig up as signaled by your faithful companion.

The additional challenge to this game is the social interaction. Fable III allows its Heroes to marry, produce children, buy houses and shops, and rent out houses to produce income. You can make villagers hate you or love you depending on your mood. It is this particular aspect that rounds out the experience of the game.

While the basic game is good, there are still a few details in it that tend to bring it down a little. First, the graphics tend to make the characters appear bigger than an average hero, and you can actually get fat in this game despite all of the combat action. The moral to eat your vegetables is a turn-off.

It takes awhile to learn how to direct your magic, and upgrades are earned through chests rather than experience points. The weapons themselves also develop on their own and have no real customization options. This does detract from the combat system since you are limited by what you can do.

But my biggest complaint is that there is no easy access to the inventory. You have to keep popping back into your guild room to get the necessary items and to change clothes.

The biggest advantage of this game is the travel system. It is based on a map and portals. This makes it super easy to travel between spots and find your quest targets.

Overall, if you like combat with a socialization factor, than you will like Fable III. While it isn’t the best of the series, it still has plenty to offer. Pick this game up as used or rent it.

To the dismay of many gamers, the video games to be released in 2012 appear to be no different. Released earlier this week was “Amy,” which revolves around escorting an autistic 8 year-old girl out of a town overrun with disease and monsters. Sound familiar? Unigine Corporation is also set to release their long-awaited game, Oil Rush, whose story is a little more interesting and unexpectedly more political than fleeing a town full of zombies.

Originally planned to be released near the end of 2010, the release of Oil Rush was pushed all the way through 2011, with a final release date of January 25, 2012. The publisher expects such a huge demand, as Oil Rush has been on pre-order since March of 2011.

With all of the extra time, the developer apparently took care in adding a single-player mode, as well as a version of the game for Mac OS X. With versions for Microsoft Windows, Linux, and PlayStation 3, Oil Rush will soon have a presence in every sphere of the gaming world.

The storyline is on par with many of the other apocalyptic games I mentioned. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, the game involves a similar mission to the other games; however, Unigine brought in a whole other dimension to game play: one of politics.

The player’s job is to defend the last resource in a flooded world. The resource happens to be oil, and the players must use strategy to protect the oil wells and natural reserves through a “tower defense” strategy. Many, especially residents of the American Gulf Coast, have viewed this theme as highly controversial. Oil Rush is to be released less than two years after the devastating Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill that decimated the ecological systems and economy along the Gulf Coast.

In response, Unigine’s CEO commented that the game will actually send a message of environmental warning, saying, “Fuel devouring armies that fight over the last drops of oil and pollute already trashed world is nothing but doublethink. That is a warning environmental message we’d like to deliver.” Even with this being said, it is still quite a political statement to have players trying to protect a substance that is so controversial.

With all of this being said, many in the gaming world are excited for a storyline that is slightly more original than average. Pre-sales have been solid, and the graphics and soundtrack are receiving slightly above average reviews. If you are shopping around for a game this winter with an interesting storyline and active game play, pick up Oil Rush, but only if you can look past the politics of it. This naval strategy game can be found for approximately $20.00.

You have a ship with two grappling hooks. Lower the hooks to grab the trash and waste that is floating on the bottom of the river. Coordinate the grappling hooks with the ship’s movements to capture big items. Meet the monetary goals and secondary goals to complete the level. The money allows you to purchase temporary upgrades and additional tools for your ship.

While there were a few harder levels, most of the game was very easy to play. Meeting the secondary goals wasn’t that challenging. It appears that they made the game play for younger players; however, this game requires too much coordination for younger players, as you must manipulate both the mouse and the arrow keys. So, if your child isn’t a two-handed player quite yet, they won’t have a lot of luck with this game.

The graphics for the bottom of the rivers are decent, but all of the rivers look the same. All that seems to be done is the occasional addition of wildlife in an effort to make a distinction between the world rivers. But really, all of the levels are the same basic river with just a few minor changes.

The music really could use some work. It would have been nice had they matched the music to the area you were fishing in. It would have brought a sense of the region. Sadly, you get the same generic rendering of classical music that is more annoying than enhancing.

The big problem with this game is that it fails to achieve the balance between kid appeal and expectations for an adult challenge. It errs on the kid side, but it is too hard for some younger players.

Don’t buy this game unless it is part of a bundle. For the price, there really isn’t enough game play or challenge to keep interest. With all of the same backgrounds, you just don’t get that around the world appeal that should be there.

Want to dance solo to Wilson Pickett? You can! Want to have a group of eight friends perform to the Black Eyed Peas? Again – it’s possible! Other popular tracks include songs by: A ha, Queen, Rihanna, Katy Perry, and even Donna Summer. So if you’re looking for motivation to get moving this new year, or if you just want to have a party with friends, Just Dance 3 is for you.

I love the board game Settlers of Catan. If you haven’t heard of Settlers of Catan, it’s a German-designed game that involves earning resources and building from there.  In the game, players build settlements, cities, and roads to connect them as they settle the island. The more settlements and cities, the more points! There’s a whole lot more to the game, but I’ll leave that for you to discover on your own.

Many of my friends and family play Settlers of Catan, but we don’t have the luxury of living close to each other. As an alternative, we recently discovered an online version. PlayCatan offers an the online platform that allows you to play in a single player mode as well as to participate in group games. The game is pretty good, but it’s a little too much animation and “pretty stuff” for me. I would rather see my hand and play “to the point” rather than go through a series of menus and more in order to play one turn. While playing in person does not even begin to compare to this online version, at least I can get my Catan fix even though the people who I want to play with live across the Atlantic Ocean.

The base game can be played at no extra fees; however, like most games, this one isn’t entirely free if you want to do anything above the base game. There are monthly membership fees, but they are pretty low (around $2).