The Sims 3: Fast Lane Stuff: Take a Spin

What’s your Sims’ style? Racing? Intrigue? Rockabilly? Classic Luxury? The Fast Lane Stuff pack lets you easily match that style with new cars, furniture, decorations, accessories, clothes, and more. Cruise around town in everything from a souped-up racer to the latest high-performance sports car — new Sims can take their love of a nice ride even further with the new Vehicle Enthusiast trait. Try on the latest fashions before a night on the town. And give the living room a much-needed makeover with the perfect furnishings. [Sep 15]

Amnesia: The Dark Descent: Digi Lovecraft

Turn off the lights. Put on your favorite pair of headphones. Launch Amnesia: The Dark Descent. And whatever happens, don’t look over your shoulder. You don’t know how you wound up in this decrepit castle, but that doesn’t matter now, because something is hunting you. You can’t kill it: run when you can, and hide if you have no other choice. Solve the castle’s puzzles and make your way to the inner sanctum, where you’ll discover the truth about your past. [Sep 08]

A Tale in the Desert V: The Way it’s Told

A Tale in the Desert’s fifth Telling opens with a new Pharaoh and a fresh opportunity to build seven monuments, one for each of the game’s disciplines. New technologies and skills await, including increasingly difficult mining puzzles and a brand new fishing system. “In Tale IV, players created new technologies for Tale V players to unlock,” says creator Andrew Tepperson. “They came up with stuff that I hadn’t considered in seven years of Tales.” [Sep 01, 2010]

City of Heroes: Going Rogue: Moral Choices

The City of Heroes: Going Rogue expansion pack takes the MMORPG’s good-versus-evil war into new territory, allowing your characters to migrate from superhero to villain, or vice-versa. New characters find themselves in a place known as Praetoria, a previously-unseen parallel version of the game world. There, a man named Marcus Cole became Emperor of the world, rather than the superhero Statesman — fresh characters can align themselves with the Resistance or with Cole’s Praetorian Guard, moving from a neutral stance to superhero or villain in the process. Existing characters can also visit Praetoria and learn more about its secrets. [Aug 16, 2010]

Defense Grid: Tower Defense

The enigmatic computer called Entity needs your help: build various types of towers — from basic gun turrets to lightning-dealing teslas — to stop the alien hordes threatening to overrun a desolate planet. The invaders come in 15 varieties, however, so you’ll need to plan your strategy carefully or they’ll escape with the power cores needed to turn on a dormant defense grid. “Be merciless. They are,” Entity advises. [Aug 04, 2010]

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty: Learning to Fly

“[StarCraft] isn’t a game you can hope to master in a weekend. It takes a lifetime to get good at it,” says Dustin Browder, game director for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. The Zerg, Protoss, and Terrans are back for an epic storyline starring down-and-out Terran Jim Raynor. The non-linear campaign lets you choose missions in any order. Browder and his team revamped StarCraft’s graphics with stunning 3D visuals and they painstakingly reworked all three races’ units for the optimal strategic challenge. [Jul 27, 2010]

Mini Ninjas: Small Stature, Big Powers

An evil samurai warlord is using Kuji magic to turn innocent animals into mindless minions. As a fellow Kuji adherent, only the fledgling ninja Hiro can stop him. With help from his fellow ninjas, Hiro travels the feudal Japanese countryside, defeating ever-more-powerful bosses as he makes his way to the dark fortress where said warlord resides. “We wanted to make a game with a wider appeal, so we could come home and play with our families,” level designer Ulrik Hauen-Limkilde says. [Jul 21, 2010]

Toy Story 3: Truth in Toys

Pixar may have concluded the Toy Story series with an emotional, thrilling third film, but you can keep the magic going in Toy Story 3: The Video Game, whose development team worked closely with Pixar, according to senior producer Vince Bracken. “Pixar was involved from beginning to end,” he says. “Their influence came as a natural byproduct of their expertise related to toys.” [Jul 14, 2010]

Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse

You are entering The Devil’s Playhouse and its first chapter, “The Penal Zone.” Sam and Max — an affable six-foot dog and his companion with a Napoleon complex — return for new adventures that throw a smorgasbord of pop culture references in a blender and pour out a delicious mix of pun-filled chaos. Max has acquired new psychic abilities that are key to defeating General Skun-ka’pe, but he is just the first in a new series of villains who make Batman’s rogues gallery seem normal. Dive in with us… [Jul 7, 2010]

OnLive: Gaming on Demand

With nothing more than a web browser plug-in, you can enter the world of OnLive, where a wide variety of games are available for you to play with just a click of your mouse. No large files to download and install, no system requirements to worry about. All of the computing takes place many miles away, but it feels instantaneous, thanks to a variety of tricks employed by CEO Steve Perlman and his team. Read on to learn more about the phenomenon known as “cloud gaming.” [Jun 30, 2010]

Heroes of Newerth: RTS Redefined

Choose one of over 60 unique Heroes and leap into the struggle between Hellbourne and Legion for the fate of Newerth. You and up to four teammates must fight your way through the opposing forces and their supporting creeps to destroy their towers and barracks before setting your sights on their command structure — reduce it to rubble and you’ve won the battle. Success, however, requires mastery of your Hero’s skill set, strategic coordination with your allies, and quick thinking. [Jun 23, 2010]

Team Fortress 2: Style Equals Substance

“Good art direction doesn’t just look good, it should also solve functional problems for your players,” Robin Walker, Team Fortress 2’s co-creator and project lead, tells us. With that in mind, Walker and his fellow developers created a unique team-based first-person shooter with a cast of colorful characters, a back story involving world domination, and enough achievements to attain and game modes to master to keep you playing for a long time. And if you stumble across a gameplay trick Valve didn’t necessarily intend, don’t worry: “We like to reward players for being creative,” Walker says. [Jun 16, 2010]

The Sims 3: Ambitions: What Do You Want?

In The Sims 3: Ambitions, your favorite digital characters will get the chance to embark on the career of their dreams: firefighter, investigator, stylist, ghost hunter, doctor, architectural designer, or even a self-employed entrepreneur slicing their own path through the capitalism jungle. For the first time, you can follow them at work, thrilling as they rescue Sims from burning buildings or capture poltergeists. Ambitions also brings new inventing and sculpting skills to the game, lets you mark your Sims with elaborate tattoos, and serves up a new town, Twinbrook. [Jun 9, 2010]

Out of the Park Baseball 11: The Ballgame

Get ready for another season of home runs, strikeouts, and calls of “Hey, batta, batta” with the latest version of Out of the Park Baseball. Improvements in OOTP 11 include the most robust drafting system the game has yet offered, dynamically evolving historical leagues, owner personalities, and much more. All of the 2010 Major League Baseball and minor league rosters are included, so you can get started right away. As Annie Savoy said in “Bull Durham,” by way of paraphrasing Walt Whitman: “I see great things in baseball.” [Jun 2, 2010]

EVE Online: Tyrannis: All These Worlds

EVE Online’s planets have always provided appealing eye candy, but now they offer a key strategic purpose: the Tyrannis expansion lets you and your friends harvest resources from the game’s 60,000-plus worlds. No two globes are alike, and those in low-security space offer the greatest rewards, albeit with high risks attached. Plan your colonies well to get the most out of your extracting and processing facilities. [May 26, 2010]

Torchlight: The Ultimate Dungeon Crawl

Choose one of three character classes — Alchemist, Destroyer, or Vanquisher — and make your way into the mines below the town of Torchlight. Defeat increasingly-difficult series of monsters as you seek out the Black Palace and the person — or thing — responsible for the evil infesting the town. Emerge victorious and take on new challenges, including an endless dungeon, or retire and pass on a powerful item to a new character. [May 19, 2010]

Portal: A Piece of Cake

It seems simple enough: open an entrance portal on one wall and an exit portal on another, and pass through to complete tasks. The tests become fiendishly difficult, however, when you must use the portals to redirect deadly energy pellets toward their targets, or jump through a portal far below, so your momentum flings you out an exit portal toward a seemingly inaccessible area. GLaDOS promises you cake when you’re done, but something doesn’t seem right. What fate does she really have in store for you? [May 12, 2010]

The Secret of Monkey Island: SE

“Hi, I’m Guybrush Threepwood and I want to be a pirate.” Those words launched an iconic adventure game series, and now you can relive the first installment in The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition. Guide hapless Guybrush through his Caribbean adventures as he tries to rescue Governor Elaine Marley from the undead pirate LeChuck. Thrill to updated, hand-painted art, new dialogue recordings, and a remastered musical score. You can even flip back and forth between old and new gameplay whenever you want, in case you’re feeling nostalgic. A little grog should cure that, by the way. [May 3, 2010]

Chronicles of Riddick: Embrace the Dark

With two live-action films and an animated adventure under his belt, Riddick has proven there’s nothing he can’t handle. Or has he finally met his match in the “triple-max slam” called Butcher Bay? And even when he escapes, will he be able to find his way off the massive mercenary ship known as the Dark Athena? “The darkness, for me, is where I shine,” Riddick tells us. Step into the role of the galaxy’s most complicated anti-hero and embrace the dark. [Apr 21, 2010]

Brothers in Arms: Double Time

Brothers in Arms: Double Time features two games in one: Road to Hill 30 and Earned in Blood. Each takes a slightly different perspective on the paratrooper drops that paved the way for the June 6, 1944 Normandy Invasion. Command a squad of soldiers who follow your orders as you deploy the four Fs: find, fix, flank, and finish. Use situational view to plan your battle strategy, and when you think you’re ready, head online to use your squad-leading skills against live opponents. [Apr 13, 2010]

Settlers 7: Your Kingdom, Your Way

The feudal era didn’t have to be a futile one. Prove that in The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom as you restore the broken kingdom of Tandria to its former glory. Gather resources, put settlers to work constructing buildings, and decide which of three paths to victory you will take: trade, technology, or military. Accumulate enough Victory Points to begin the countdown timer and fend off last-minute attacks to emerge the winner. The single-player campaign will teach you the basic skills needed to take on AI opponents in skirmishes or live players in online multiplayer matches. [Mar 30, 2010]

WarBirds Dogfights: WGFP Tales

“We want to take you right into combat in Dogfights, rather than spending the time to fly there,” iEntertainment CEO Bill Stealey tells us, and that’s exactly what you’ll get in this simulation of World War II aerial combat. Choose from more than 100 historically accurate aircraft and fly over 40 missions that take place high above Europe, northern Africa, and the Pacific Ocean, or head to the game’s online arenas, where dozens of combatants engage in daily dogfights. Read on to learn more, including what “WGFP” means. [Feb 25, 2010]

Tales of Monkey Island: A Pox On You!

Huzzah! Guybrush Threepwood has triumphantly returned and stabbed the undead pirate LeChuck with the Cursed Cutlass of Kaflu, saving his kidnapped wife Elaine and … Oh, my. That’s not what should have happened. After surviving an explosion and floating through the ocean to Flotsam Island, Guybrush finds himself on an epic quest to reverse the voodoo pox that spread through the Caribbean after LeChuck inexplicably turned human, instead of dying. Oh, and he’ll need to figure out what happened to Elaine too. Solve puzzles and engage in witty conversations with goofy characters as you join us for Tales of Monkey Island. [Feb 17, 2010]

The Sims 3: High-End Loft Stuff

The luxurious Pythagoras Corner Bathtub. The Cradle of Civilization, billed as “the most comfortable sofa in the entire world.” Pambo Psimcasso’s famous “Scenic Circuits” abstract art piece. A GUGA JoyToy 3 videogame console, complete with a copy of Blood Buckets 7. Just a few of the dozens of items for discerning Sims found in the High-End Loft Stuff collection. Time to indulge. [Feb 10, 2010]

Rome: Total War: Time Devours All Things

Relive the rise and fall of the Roman Empire in Rome: Total War and its Barbarian Invasion expansion pack. Make your moves turn-by-turn on the main game map before zooming into a 3D battlefield for some real-time strategy. Acquire territory, grow your economy, improve your technology, and make a play for the rest of the world. Then fast-forward hundreds of years to a time when the Roman Empire was split in two and hordes of Huns, Goths, and other tribes presented a new threat to the balance of power. [Feb 3, 2010]

Dragon Age: Origins: Next-Gen Role-Playing

Choose one of six origin stories as you set out to become a powerful Grey Warden and help protect the kingdom of Ferelden from an invasion by darkspawn and their Archdemon leader. The decisions you make during your adventures affect other characters’ attitudes toward you — even causing some to leave or join your party — and cause ripple effects large and small throughout the kingdom. Will you be able to make the tough choices necessary to defeat the Archdemon during the final climactic battle? [Jan 27, 2010]

Star Trek: D-A-C: Boldy Go

Take control of one of five classes of starcraft — fighter, bomber, flagship, support frigate, or missile cruiser — and jump into combat between the Federation and the Romulan Empire. Choose one of four game modes — Team Deathmatch, Assault, Conquest, or Survival — as you explore battlefields found only in the final frontier. We hope you live long and prosper. [Jan 20, 2010]

Ankh: Battle of the Gods: Deus Ex Rumble

The latest adventure starring Assil, Egyptian slacker turned unlikely hero, takes him to the Hotel of the Gods and beyond, as Seth and Horus prepare for a once-in-a-millennium battle. Seth is the favorite, but if he wins, all of Egypt will be plunged into chaos. Assil knows that would be a bummer, so he must figure out how to guide his infamous ankh necklace — a container for Horus — into position for that climactic slugfest. As in previous Ankh games, you’ll need to figure out the puzzles and navigate the zany conversations. [Jan 13, 2010]

Civ IV: Colonization: Conquer a New World

Take the helm of one of four European nations — the Netherlands, England, Spain, or France — and settle in North or South America. Establish relationships with native tribes and other European colonists as you build a presence in the New World. Your King back in Europe won’t be happy if you refuse to pay his draconian taxes, but if you manage to declare your independence and fight off his forces, you’ll emerge victorious. [Jan 6, 2010]

Star Wars The Force Unleashed: A New Chapter

In Star Wars The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition, Darth Vader suffers from “the loneliness of evil,” project lead Haden Blackman tells us. Needing a hedge against a possible betrayal by the Emperor, Vader takes on an apprentice codenamed “Starkiller.” Guide Starkiller through a series of secret missions, unleashing the full fury of the Force against Imperial and Rebel troops alike. But will you choose the path of redemption or the way to evil when the time comes? [Dec 30, 2009]

Guitar Hero World Tour: It’s Only R ‘n’ R

Get the band together and tour the world in the latest Guitar Hero game. Now you can also play bass or drums, or sing your heart out, to dozens of hit songs, including Paul McCartney and Wings’ “Band on the Run,” Ozzy Obsourne’s “Crazy Train,” Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again,” and many more. Use the guitar’s new slide bar to play in unique ways and hit the studio to create original songs. [Dec 23, 2009]

Brain Challenge: Mental Weightlifting

A healthy mind is crucial to a healthy body, so give your noggin some nourishment with Brain Challenge, which features 20 games spread across five categories: Memory, Visual, Logic, Math, and Focus. Daily tests offer regular workouts while the training room lets you focus on specific areas where you’d like to improve. Stress tests add new wrinkles to the challenges (don’t let that poor panda fall off the ball!) and Creative mode gives you a chance to unwind and doodle some pictures, construct mind-bending mazes, or set off spectacular fireworks displays. Ready to feel the cerebral burn? [Dec 16, 2009]

EVE Online: Dominion: Testing Loyalties

Controlling and defending star systems in EVE Online’s universe, known as New Eden, typically involves multiple player-run corporations and large fleets of starships of all sizes. The game’s latest expansion pack, Dominion, introduces new wrinkles to that dynamic, including ways to shape occupied star systems to your liking, new super weapons for massive Titan-class ships, new fleet management tools, and more. You’ll even find a pair of pirate mission arcs that let you travel on the wrong side of the trading lanes. [Dec 2, 2009]

The Sims 3: World Adventures

Send your Sims to Al Simhara, Egypt, Shang Simla, China, and Champ Les Sims, France in the latest Sims 3 expansion pack. They’ll explore musty tombs and find ancient treasures, learn how to make sweet nectar, hone the mental discipline needed for martial arts, and snap photos of all the fun they have along the way. They’ll also learn new skills, acquire new traits, and discover new lifetime wishes and rewards. Just watch out for mummies’ curses. [Nov 19, 2009]

Marching to a Different Drummer in Warhammer Online

“Warhammer Online is unique in a lot of ways,” executive producer Jeff Hickman tells us. This massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) pits Destruction against Order in a large-scale conflict that requires all the resources each side can muster, including victories in small-scale skirmishes, completion of quests, and success in player-versus-player combat. The ultimate goal? A massive assault on the enemy’s capital city, which Hickman says is “pretty awesome to experience.” [Oct 28, 2009]

X3TC: Coming Full Circle

“We sell you a universe. Do with it what you like,” remarks Bernd Lehahn, managing director at developer Egosoft. X3: Terran Conflict takes that concept further than previous games in the series, giving you more storylines to explore, new characters whose eyes give you fresh perspectives on the X Universe, and the long-awaited reconnection with the Sol System, where a mythical planet called Earth waits. Unfortunately, the deadly mechanized Xenon have found Earth too, and the fate of the Terran race rests on defeating them. [Oct 14, 2009]

BioShock: Ain’t Rapture Grand?

At the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean sits Rapture, a grand experiment gone horribly wrong. Fourteen years after it opened in 1946, you explore the ruined city in search of answers to what happened. Arm yourself with powerful plasmids that augment conventional weapons, and hack security turrets and robots when necessary. Defeat Splicers and Big Daddies along the way to confronting Rapture founder Andrew Ryan and learning terrible secrets. [Oct 7, 2009]

Quake Live: A Browser Blast

id Software’s signature Quake franchise comes to the world of browser-based gaming with everything you want in a first-person shooter, from oodles of maps, weapons, and power-ups to powerful stat filtering and social network building. Create your character, hook up with your friends, and choose from five game modes and 35 maps. Learn advanced techniques, such as rocket jumping, join a clan, and ascend the leader boards. Fame and fortune await in this fragger’s delight. [Aug 19, 2009]

Digital Downloads: Anytime Fun

Want to play a new game right now? Then read on to learn about the services that deliver titles right to your computer. No need to search store shelves or wait for a shipment to arrive, and there’s a wide variety of selections to choose from. Get ready for a Mac game revolution on par with the way iTunes and the App Store have changed how you buy, organize, and enjoy music, movies, TV shows, and games and other applications on your iPhone or iPod touch. [Aug 6, 2009]

Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword: New Ways

Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword features 10 additional civilizations, six leaders for existing ones, and a host of new technologies, units, and buildings, such as the corporation technology (see if you can franchise Sid’s Sushi Co. around the world), airships, and Moai Statues. Dozens of special events, including earthquakes and floods, keep you on your toes, while the espionage system lets you strike a blow against the enemy without mobilizing your military. [Jul 27, 2009]

The Abbey: Have Faith

A quiet remote monastery proves to be anything but serene when one of its monks dies mysteriously. Play as Leonardo, whose sharp analytical skills uncover the truth but also get him in trouble when the Catholic Church’s Grand Inquisitor arrives to take him off the investigation and charge him with a crime. Converse with other characters, collect objects, and solve puzzles as you guide Leonardo toward redemption. [Jul 15, 2009]

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The penultimate chapter in the Harry Potter series finds our teenage hero dealing with not only romantic entanglements and other coming-of-age problems but also the build-up to a climactic confrontation with Voldemort. As you explore a version of Hogwarts based on the blueprints used for the movies, become adept at wizard dueling, learn how to mix potions, and lead Gryffindor to the Quidditch Cup. After the story concludes, Endless Day mode lets you discover all of Hogwarts’ secrets. [Jul 1, 2009]

SPORE Galactic Adventures: Boldly Go

Add new twists to SPORE’s endless space stage with Galactic Adventures, which lets you design your own adventures and try out ones created by other players. For the first time, spaceship captains can beam down to planets, with or without crews, and undertake missions that earn them higher ranks as well as new weapons and accessories. Use a pre-existing creature as a captain or design a new one. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination. [Jun 25, 2009]

The Path: A Fairy Tale For Adults

“What if ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ was not simply a cautionary tale, but a metaphor for life instead?” asks Michaël Samyn, co-creator of The Path. He and Auriea Harvey set out to explore that question, as well as others, in a game that you can’t win or lose. You must guide six sisters, one by one, to grandma’s house. There is only one rule — don’t leave the path — and you must break it. We’ll let you discover what happens next. [Jun 17, 2009]

The Sims 3: Imagine the Possibilities

The latest version of the wildly popular people simulator offers a host of new features, including: a seamless world uninterrupted by loading screens; more robust options in Create-a-Sim; the ability to apply any color, pattern, or material to any object; overhauled personality indicators; and more. The Sims 3 also includes more options for creating, saving, and sharing Sims, objects, and gameplay video. [Jun 2, 2009]

UP: The Video Game: Up and Away

The Heavy Iron Studios team began its collaboration with Pixar minutes after they finished watching the moving storyboards for “UP” in 2007. Producer Brian Wiklem explains how they captured the essence of Pixar’s latest adventure, which takes elderly widower Carl Fredericksen and eight-year-old Wilderness Explorer Russell to the tepuis of South America in a house carried aloft by thousands of balloons. “We tried to capture the essence of UP’s most exciting film moments and offer an experience that happens between those big moments in the film,” Wiklem says. [May 27, 2009]

CSI: NY: Five Stories From the Naked City

Five cases. Five murders. Many suspects. Step into a pair of well-worn detective shoes as you collect evidence, interrogate witnesses, and ultimately pin criminal charges on the guilty party. Play as characters from the TV series, each voiced by the actors and actresses who portray them, and solve the puzzles that move you closer to the truth. There are eight million stories in the naked city. These are five of them. [May 6, 2009]

Commander: Napoleon at War: Find Glory

This turn-based strategy game features eight campaigns that cover the famous French Emperor’s reign from 1805 through 1815, ending with the infamous Battle of Waterloo. Assume control of the French forces or the Allied Coalition, which may include Great Britain, Prussia, Austria, Russia, and other nations, depending on the current scenario. Command 12 different types of land and sea units that march across a detailed map covering all of Europe. A dynamic weather system, including snow and rainstorms, may play havoc with your strategies, while trade routes and privateers offer wild card opportunities. Recruit historic commanders to give your side a key edge. [Apr 30, 2009]

SW Snowboarding: Your Mountain

Master tricks, take on challenges and competitions, and even discover secret areas on four mountains around the world. Professional snowboarder Shaun White and his friends serve as guides for your adventures, which also take you online for some friendly competition. If you become good enough, Shaun might even teach you a few special skills. Don’t forget to capture your favorite moments on film, edit your footage with the game’s built-in tools, and share the clips with your friends. [Apr 22, 2009]

C&C Red Alert 3: Back to the Past

“The Red Alert games are all about wacky alternate realities and time travel gone wrong, so the storytelling possibilities are really limitless,” says associate producer Matt Ott. Read on to learn more about the third edition, in which time travel shenanigans have led to the rise of a third world power: the Empire of the Rising Sun and its robotic military. Naval warfare adds a new “layer of depth,” Ott explains, while live-action cinematics make Red Alert 3 feel like an “interactive movie,” notes cast member Jenny McCarthy. [Apr 15, 2009]

Prince of Persia: Something Old, New

Two decades later, the Prince is back, but he’s not the same one from Jordan Mechner’s 1989 classic, nor is he the Prince who starred in the Sands of Time trilogy. He’s a new protagonist, one who shares this story with Elika, a princess trying to save her kingdom from the Corruption unleashed by Ahriman the God of Darkness. Together they must defeat Ahriman’s warriors and heal the lands infected by him. You’ll learn some new skills along the way, including wall-running and grip-sliding. [Apr 8, 2009]

LEGO Batman: The Videogame

More than 70 years after his debut, Batman’s journeys take him to a new world: LEGO. Building on the success of the LEGO Star Wars games and LEGO Indiana Jones, LEGO Batman takes you to Gotham City, where the caped crusader and his sidekick Robin battle Joker, Riddler, Penguin, and other villains. As you complete levels from the heroes’ perspective, switch to Arkham Asylum and experience the same adventures in the villains’ masks. [Apr 1, 2009]

Kung Fu Panda: The Bodacity of Hope

Meet Po. He’s a panda who dreams of becoming the fabled Dragon Warrior — in his words, “a fighter of extreme skill and bodacity” — but for now, he finds himself working in his goose father’s noodle restaurant. When the evil snow leopard Tai Lung threatens the Valley of Peace, however, Po rises to the occasion, learning the ways of kung fu from The Furious Five and eventually earning a spot next to them in the history books. Help him become a bodacious warrior. [Mar 25, 2009]

EVE Online: Apocrypha: The Unknown

The latest EVE Online expansion pack increases the game’s universe by 41% with the addition of more than 2,400 new solar systems. You can only access them through wormholes that randomly appear and last a certain period of time, but they contain powerful technologies that allow you to design and manufacture next-generation starships. To obtain that new treasure, however, you must defeat a vicious race known as the Sleepers. [Mar 11, 2009]

InstantAction.com: Just Add Fun

Head over to InstantAction.com, create an account, and engage in five unique games: the futuristic arena sport Rokkitball; the first-person shooter Fallen Empire: Legions; the action platformer Marble Blast Online; the third-person shooter ThinkTanks; and the retro arcade shoot-‘em-up ZAP! (Zero All Productivity). Lead games, join sessions hosted by others, maintain a friends list and trade messages with buddies, and more. Most games offer solo play so you can practice before taking on live opponents. [Mar 4, 2009]

The PBS KIDS PLAY! Neighborhood

Let your kids spend time with the characters they know and love — from Bob the Builder to the residents of Mister Rogers’ neighborhood — and learn crucial skills in the process. PBS KIDS PLAY! features “a personalized experience that adapts and grows with each child,” according to PBS’ Ben Grimley, thanks to a focus on age-appropriate curricula covering creativity, healthy development, language, literacy, math, science, and social studies. Read on to learn what else your kids can do in this online playground. [Feb 25, 2009]

Game Designer Profile: John Carmack

John Carmack may have sparked a revolution when he and his fellow id Software co-founders released Doom in 1994, but he’s been the driving force behind so much more, from the lighthearted Commander Keen series to the Orcs & Elves cell phone games. Along the way, he’s helped advance videogame technology with innovative engines and has championed the cause of open source software. [Feb 11, 2009]

A Vampyre Story: Gothic Humor

Travel to Draxsylvania for the humorous tale of Mona, an aspiring opera singer kidnapped from her home in Paris by Baron Shrowdy von Kiefer. He turns her into a vampire and casts a curse that keeps her in his castle, but when he dies, Mona has an opportunity to escape, if she can figure out how to solve the puzzles that stand in her way. The sardonic bat Froderick provides help when he can. [Feb 4, 2009]

City of Heroes: A Super-Powered Existence

Create a unique character and travel to Paragon City, where superheroes battle villains and keep the remnants of an alien invasion at bay, or to the Rogue Isles, home of sinister Lord Recluse and his Arachnos organization. Undertake crucial missions, strengthen your powers, and join forces with other players for epic battles. [Jan 21, 2009]

FusionFall: Playing in the Cartoon Network

Planet Fusion has decided to make Earth its next takeover target, but the Cartoon Network characters — from boy genius Dexter to the Powerpuff Girls to Courage the Cowardly Dog — are determined to stop Lord Fuse’s Fusion Matter from infecting the globe. Explore a game world inspired by Cartoon Network’s most popular shows as you take on missions and battle Fusion monsters. Watch out for dark versions of Dexter and the gang. [Jan 14, 2009]

Black & White 2: Playing God

Take your deific ambitions to new heights in the sequel to this popular “god simulator.” The Greeks have been driven from their land by the Aztecs and they’ve summoned you to help them fight back. You and your Creature guide them in the gathering of resources, the raising of an army, and the building of impressive structures. Interact with the environment in all sorts of ways, from picking up rocks and throwing them at enemy soldiers to casting miracles that shake the ground. But will you be a good deity or an evil one? [Jan 7, 2009]

ATITD IV: The Pharaoh is Dead

As the fourth Telling of A Tale in the Desert opens, the Pharaoh is dead. His oldest son Sami wants to take his place, but another son, Wahim, opposes the move. Out of their conflict come tests in seven disciplines; each discipline culminates in a monument that can only be built with all players’ cooperation. As you explore ancient Egypt, many surprises await, from new characters to unique events. Read on to get a glimpse of them. [Dec 31, 2008]