LEGO Harry Potter Years 5 – 7 is a terrific culmination of the Harry Potter storyline, and a perfect addition to the LEGO franchise. Entertaining for the young and old alike, it is a game the whole family will enjoy. Fans of the books and films will love the fan service Travellers Tales doles out, and veteran gamers will enjoy the finely tuned gameplay.

It's hard to rate Jurassic Park: The Game as an actual game. While it's a terrific movie, when it's sold for PC at $30 for an experience only slightly more interactive than watching the original movie on DVD, it's a pretty terrible game. It'd be worth chipping in together with friends and gathering around to play it together, since it's a genuinely wonderful experience, but alone, it's incredibly hard to justify.

They've created a world as much as they've created a game, and it's utterly brilliant. If you've got a computer that can run it, and the ability to manipulate a keyboard and mouse in any way, you owe it to yourself to play Skyrim.

If you really feel like inflicting some permanent damage on an unsuspecting 5 year old then by all means pick this title up. Otherwise, just put in LittleBigPlanet and be considered the cool adult in the room.

Dead Space: Extraction is still my favorite on-rails light gun shooter for the PS Move, but The House of the Dead: Overkill - Extended Cut ranks right up there as one of the best arcade shooting games you can play on the PS3. Even if you don't have a plastic gun to snap your Move motion controller into, the sensation of blasting away the mutant hoards is undeniable and gratuitous fun. And the whole grindhouse presentation only make the game that much more mutha-F'in fun.

Carnival Island is great family fun and an awesome way to experience the PS Move. With so many games and game variations, and so many rewards, prizes, and balloons to unlock, kids and their parents will find countless hours of wholesome entertainment waiting inside this magical playground

So if you own a Kinect (or there is one waiting under the Christmas tree) and you want to experience the best gameplay the hardware has to offer then you definitely want to get Puss in Boots. Not only does it get my vote for best Kinect game and best movie-inspired game, it's probably the best kid-targeted game of the season, if not the entire year.

In addition to the main Discovery mode you can also compete for times in Ghost mode or tackle the levels in the Challenge and Bonus modes where you are often required to complete the level with 100% of your mercury. There is plenty of content that easily makes this worth the $5 initial purchase and with the promise of more DLC and some that is already available; Mercury Hg is one of the better XBLA purchases this holiday season

With some good there of course has to be some bad. The standard music that plays isn't the best that I think they could have gotten, which made the custom playlist feature so nice for me. With a game of this pricing and quality I couldn't understand why they had to create a DLC for a later date instead of just giving me all the levels in the initial purchase. Mercury Hg is not really something I see spending money on twice.

Skylanders a charming game with a fascinating toy tie-in, but there isn't much here to offer to older gamers.

I admit that I was not expecting much from Dead Island, given the oversaturated subject matter and the delayed development time. And while the game definitely has its share of weaknesses, it is pleasantly surprising in its own right.

I enjoyed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3: Defiance on the DS though there are a few things that bring it down. The graphics are still rough and they totally missed an opportunity to use the now affordable 3DS's power.

Happy Feet Two is easily the best movie-inspired game of the holiday season…perhaps the entire year.

Dance Central 2 is a solid game and perhaps an even better dance instructor.

Just Dance 3 manages to edge past Dance Central 2 in overall accessibility and definitely in fun factor.

I enjoyed the refreshing diversity of the 40+ track sections you get to experience as you cross our great country.

Retailing for $49.95, The Sims 3 Pets is a solid game that provides hours of creative and exploratory sandbox gameplay.

Ultimately, Stronghold 3 is a promising game that really could have used another year or two of development time.

Heroes VI brings back the kind of game I thought I'd never see any more. It's rare to see a turn-based strategy game come from a major company these days, but Heroes VI goes back to the series' roots, and comes out with a great game.

In the end, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record isn't a bad game by any means. It's just a game that pretty much everyone who's interested in Dead Rising's already played. While it'd be a good entrance point for new players, and it might be worth playing through with a friend, only the most fanatical zombie killers need to consider it.

Saints Row The Third never lets up, and that's to its credit. As someone who always shelved his free-roaming crime games once I ran through the plot, Saints Row The Third is the first sandbox game to keep my attention once it's done. And with more DLC on the way, it looks like it's going to have an incredible amount of staying power.

Overall, I feel that this game is well worth the $7.99 on PSN, or just a free download if you are a member of PSN Plus.

Will Rocksmith revive the dying music game market – probably not. But as an engaging and entertaining tool to help beginners learn to play guitar, it is fantastic. In fact, I would not be surprised if in five years from now we hear a famous rocker or two say "I first learned to play guitar using Rocksmith." It is that good.

Saints Row: The Third released during the biggest gaming week of 2011 – and is sure to be overshadowed.by the simultaneous releases of Skyrim, HALO Anniversary, and previous games like Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3. But gamers would be remiss in overlooking this fantastic experience, because all morality aside – Saints Row: The Third offers dozens of hours of unbridled and entertaining sandbox gameplay, the challenging and humorous Whored Mode, and some of the best weapons and vehicles available.

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Impact was a complete blast to play and offers plenty of challenges along the way both locally and over Ad-Hoc.

Crazy Escape is crazy fun and a total delight to play.

Saints Row: The Third is the ultimate sandbox, and Volition has given gamers a massive playground and the biggest and best set of toys possible to carve their own unique destiny in Steelport, both in the engaging single player story and the limitless fun waiting to be shared in the co-op game.

I feel sort of bad ripping this game so badly, but I went into it really hoping to be blown away, and came away feeling like I, and anyone else unfortunate enough to have fallen for their ruse, had been duped.