Batman: Arkham City

CHICAGO – An art space in the West Loop was recently turned into a showcase for the next Nintendo console, the highly-anticipated Nintendo Wii U and we were there to get our hands on the exciting new system. What can gamers expect from the next generation of Nintendo games? Does it mark a massive step forward or a gradual one?

CHICAGO – We may already be planning our 2012 gaming experience (and watch for a piece next week on HC’s most-anticipated games), but there’s still time (before “Mass Effect 3” takes over our lives) to look back at the year that was and ask the key questions — Was 2011 a good year for gamers? What were the highlights? Let us guide the way with our ten favorite games of last year (and ten runner-ups).

CHICAGO – After a few releases that felt like perhaps the DC Universe line of straight-to-video animated films were in decline, they recently released what is arguably their best installment and a work that deserves to sit on the shelf of any Batman fan — the often-brilliant “Batman: Year One.” So remarkably loyal to one of the most influential comic books of all time that it sometimes recreates it verbatim and including some of the best voice work in the entire DC Universe line, this is a great animated film and possibly the best Blu-ray gift you could buy for a comic fan this season.

CHICAGO – Rocksteady’s “Batman: Arkham City” is everything you’ve hoped it could be and everything you’ve read that it is and more. It is the best game to hit the market since “Red Dead Redemption” and a likely choice for 2011’s Game of the Year unless something miraculously tops it in the next two months.