Nintendo Wii

CHICAGO – While most critics were praising the lavish visuals and impressive screenwriting of the animated hit “Rango” starring Johnny Depp (for one such rave, check out Patrick McDonald’s review here), the video game landed on my desk and I wondered if the pattern of bland movie tie-ins would be broken. If the film is that creative, shouldn’t the video game be as well?

CHICAGO – Millions of players remember the worldwide phenomenon that is the witty and cheeky “You Don’t Know Jack” trivia game as a blast from their past.

CHICAGO – In our latest special edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Video Games, we have two video games up for grabs to the all-new “You Don’t Know Jack” video game from Chicago-based game developer Jellyvision Games!

CHICAGO – We may be a little late to the wrap-up of the 2010 video game party, but there’s still time to take one final look back at the year that was before we get (more) addicted to “Little Big Planet 2” and “Dead Space 2.” What were the outstanding titles of the last twelve months? And what games will you still be playing in 2011? Chances are, these are the ten titles that won’t be leaving your console anytime soon.

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 – 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 – 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.