UEFA Euro 2008
PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Funny how a fanatic can be expected to pay any price for a soccer game. But as UEFA Euro 2008 is basically akin to a single-purpose expansion pack for FIFA soccer, is it so not worth a full $50. Not even close.

Kung Fu Panda
PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360
There's nothing quite like gathering the family together on the couch, firing up the oh-so wholesome Wii and then beating the crap out of all creatures great and small. And cuddly.

Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360
Swapping Force for Fedora, the plastic fantastic Lego games go grave robbing with some whipsmacking professor named Henry. Mind the snakes.

Silent Hill Origins
PlayStation 2
If you like your videogaming with mood, polish and some freaky scares, it doesn't get any more consistently stylish or creepy than the Silent Hill series. Silent Hill Origins specifically, meanwhile, is illustrative of why the ol' PS2 is still a relevant game system.

MLB 08 The Show
PlayStation 2
Meet the new Show. Same as the old Show. But you'll get fooled (again?) by the updated rosters, the new cover athlete, and the price tag insinuating "new Show."

Swashbucklers: Blue vs. Grey
PlayStation 2
Swashbucklers: Blue vs. Grey is an oddball historical hybrid -- superficially similar in its port-to-port mechanics to the classic Sid Meier's Pirates!, yet set against the pseudo-historical backdrop of the Union Blockade of the American Civil War. It's partly traditional port-hopper, partly role-playing game, partly action-oriented fighting game... and, sadly, it bites off a bit more than it can chew.

Star Trek: Conquest
PlayStation 2, Wii
A barely-advertised, "budget" Star Trek board-game / arcade-action mash-up that skimps on gameplay modes, completely eschews multiplayer, summarily chucks Gene Roddenberry's Utopian notions of The Federation right out the air-lock, divides both series fans and gamers on principle -- and manages to be something like compelling, despite it all. Fascinating.

The Simpsons Game
PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360
Videogame tie-ins rarely make for good games -- not that TV, movie and merchandising cross-overs can't be good game fodder, they usually just aren't because they sell well enough to a fan base as is. While The Simpsons Game does have plenty of laughs at the expense of the video game industry, gameplay is just as big a joke.