Video Game Review

CHICAGO – The so-so year for racing games closes with the semi-successful “Nail’d,” an ATV-racing affair with an impressive need for speed that still comes off a bit too repetitive and frustrating to fully recommend. Speed junkies will find some addictive fun here but aggravation plays nearly as significant a role in the final product as adrenalin.

CHICAGO – Disney has released two Nintendo Wii games in the hope of stealing a bit of Christmas cash this holiday season and one proves that family-oriented titles can still be creatively vibrant while the other proves the dictum that movie tie-ins usually are not.

CHICAGO – There are very few companies as talented at taking retro properties and making them new again as Namco Bandai and they’ve worked wonders again with the excellent “Pac-Man Championship Edition DX,” a totally-addictive variation on the arcade classic that merely proves once more that sometimes downloadable titles can be even more satisfying than some of the most-publicized disc-based games of the season.

CHICAGO – Just as home gaming was gaining popularity in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Namco released an ultra-violent variation on the hit platforming games of the day called “Splatterhouse” (and followed it with two sequels). In the world of video games, nothing ever really dies, it just goes away until it gets remade.

CHICAGO – After a few missteps, EA has handed the development reins for the new “Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit” to Criterion Games, the company who hit racing gold with the great “Burnout Paradise” and they’ve delivered an addictive, expertly-designed game that should captivate car fans not entrenched in “Gran Turismo 5” through the holiday season and beyond.

CHICAGO – “Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood” is all about power — taking it, keeping it, using it. Expanding on the world and gameplay of the first two “Assassin’s Creed” games, “Brotherhood” is another creative smash for Ubisoft and should easily be one of the highest-selling titles of the holiday season. A few minor glitches hold it back from perfection, but it’s damn close.

CHICAGO – Most of us who are old enough to have spent many of our formative hours playing “Goldeneye 64” often point to the title as one of the most memorable shooting games in history. Personally, I spent much of the time I should have been studying in college massacring my friends on the legendary Nintendo 64 game. Like most people of my age group, I was completely psyched for the 2010 reboot of the timeless game. It just makes my disappointment all the more painful.

CHICAGO – There’s no more accomplished gaming company in history than Nintendo when it comes to not only keeping classic characters vital but finding ways to reboot beloved properties from the past.

CHICAGO – It could still fall prone to some of the multiplayer glitches and failures that marred the experience with “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” but as of November 2010, “Call of Duty: Black Ops” is an amazing success and stands as one of the best games of its kind ever released.

Video Game Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – The classic board game “Monopoly” has never really gone away and yet there have been definite peaks in its popularity. I’m old enough to remember when they first introduced versions of the game that used different locations and thematic variations on the typical board, reigniting the game by appealing to a number of new fan based with versions based on “The Simpsons,” “Star Wars,” sports teams, major cities, and much more. In the fall of 2010, there’s been a definite effort to bring “Monopoly” back again with commercials touting phone apps related to the game, a new physical version, and the EA game “Monopoly Streets,” one of the more pleasant diversions of the season.