It's certainly gorgeous for the eyes with stellar anime-inspired graphics and a first-rate capturing of old-school 2-D fighting game charisma. But a short single-player adventure and some overly frustrating controls reveal some of Skullgirls' warts. However, as a budget-priced fighter, those imperfections don't detract too much from what is a solid 2-D fighter with smooth and lag-free online gameplay.

Playing off the huge popularity contests on television that has everybody that watches them dreaming of that being them on stage being adored by millions, the Sims 3 provides that same level of daydreaming-of-stardom to individual Sims 3 players with The Sims 3 Showtime Limited Edition.

Playing this collection on the big screen TV has left me wanting for more.

All in all, I enjoyed Final Fantasy XIII-2 – it was a fun RPG game to play, looked spectacular and ate up a significant amount of my free time. It didn't give me everything I wanted out of the experience, but I still had fun.

All in all, Prototype 2 does a good job of creating an interesting combat engine, but falls short visually, in story-telling, and general mission design. Assuming that you are geared for some mindless death and dismemberment, this is a good way to spend the time until the new releases hit the open market.

SSX is a great reboot of the series. While the game has some shortcomings, it does provide an amazing adrenaline rush and sense of speed you rarely experience in other titles.

With plenty of other tower defense titles and strategy games out there, Defenders of Ardania is a poor choice on which to spend your money.

Hard Reset isn't a bad game, but it's rote old school sensibility has passed me by. I don't have the same kind of reflexes I did 5 or 10 years ago to properly appreciate the twitch elements, so maybe I have to take some responsibility on that front. For me, Hard Reset is unremarkable because it seems about 5 years too late for me.

Radical Entertainment has delivered on their promise of improving the foundation laid by the original Prototype.

Gamers who already bought the game when it came out in 2011, though, won't find enough in the "komplete" edition to justify purchasing it. However, any fighting-game fan that missed it last year shouldn't pass it by the second time around. With smooth graphics and gameplay, great controls, and excellent online multiplayer and spectacular single-player gameplay, Mortal Kombat has reclaimed its crown as the best fighting game.

The randomness of some of the board effects can be frustrating; it's akin to Nintendo grabbing the chess board mid-match and throwing it across the room. It doesn't seem fair and there's nothing you can do about it except enjoy the experience while it lasts. And the kids liked it.

PokePark 2 is, more or less, on the same footing as the Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball games. It's much more kid friendly, of course. But like DOA Extreme Beach Volleyball and Xtreme 2, PokePark 2 is all about playing nice and doing favours (or maybe even "battling") in hopes of acquiring more friends in this world devoid of humans trying to stuff unwitting creatures into Pokeballs.

Save your money; don't bother with Operation Raccoon City.

TTT is only going to meet the needs of the hardcore fans who need something to keep them busy until TTT2 is released this Fall.

Certainly not on the challenge or quality level of the stellar puzzle-action blend of Portal 2, Warp still has enough of a puzzle-solving complexity with light action gameplay blended in to be enjoyably entertaining.

Mass Effect 3 is thoroughly enjoyable and a good sci-fi romp.

Despite a learning curve, gameplay is very smooth, with a first-class presentation, from the fighter introductions, to the actual UFC announcers and referees, to the good audio features of the crowd and impact of punches and kicks onto each fighter.

Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D is a step in the right direction when it comes to reaching out to the "hardcore" audience, but there are too many strikes against the title to make it one I'd recommend. Unless you like crazy.

All in all, FIFA 12 is another spectacular game in the series. The differences between this game and the real thing continue to be chipped away at, and with the depth of material available in this title you can really submerge yourself into beautiful game.

In the end, I found myself sticking to the story mode more than anything (which was short, but decent enough), but I just couldn't get into the game. I have to commend Spike on replicating the look of the anime, but I felt I was left with a shallow experience. Hardcore DBZ fans will probably find it the game worth it and battling fellow fans online might be a good way to pass the time.

When I was able to get connected, I would often stay connected for three or four matches before something would slip and I'd have to restart the matchmaking process.

While there's nothing revolutionary in the gameplay of SoulCalibur V from its predecessors, fans of the franchise will enjoy once again the blade battling that looks just as good as it plays.

I hope to God the guys at Firaxis are watching this, because Jagged Alliance: Back In Action is, and probably will for many years hence be, the definitive textbook example of how to mess up by the numbers when attempting to "relaunch" a classic franchise.

Offering much more action-heavy gameplay and battling with weapons and magic than Skyrim, but lacking some of Skyrim's RPG complexity, Kingdoms of Amalur is still a long-lasting, adventurous game that will provide plenty of fantasy-infused dungeon-crawling fun.

It warms my heart that SSX has finally made a full-on next-gen appearance and warmer still that it's so much fun to play. There's definitely some nostalgia playing into my opinion of SSX -- the original was one of the first games that The Armchair Empire received for review -- but even taking that out, I'd still say SSX is a damn fine title and definitely worth your time and attention.

This game is not an exercise game per se but you will get up and moving and have fun with it. I am happy to say that with the inclusion of some of the extra modes it looks like the developers cared enough to put some other extras into it. Overall, it's a good game (but not a great one) and if you already have the Active Life mat then this is a no-brainer.

I'm not convinced that anyone who hasn't already played the original game -- which is available on Xbox 360 for $20US most places, and just launched on PC with the DLC episodes -- would be able to even marginally follow what the hell is going on in American Nightmare. No doubt it would up the bizarreness of the game for those players but the main draw is more or less for fans only. And, really, this writer is okay with that.

This writer is glad that games like Shank 2 still get made. While the nostalgia of the genre is there, the developers were sure to make the combat fun and varied enough so there wasn't a mashable way to charge through the game. No, it's almost a science chainsawing dudes or impaling them with their own machetes.