Genre: Puzzle
Publisher: Atlus
Developer: Blitz Game Studios
Release Date: June 2009

Atlus Software is starting to break into the casual space with several of their recent releases, such as manic puzzler Puchi Puchi Virus. However, one of their latest works breaks into the grand tradition of slow-paced, ultra-casual games meant to relax and inspire just the right amount of thinking. I spent some time at E3 demoing the PlayStation 3 and iPhone versions of Droplitz, but it's also coming to the Xbox 360 and PC.

Droplitz is a fairly basic puzzle game, somewhat reminiscent of PopCap's

Building on the success of Ubisoft's Naruto: Rise of a Ninja, this sequel features Naruto, who has now evolved into a well-respected Ninja, but his new status and abilities trigger the envy of his best friend and Ninja teammate, Sasuke. The enemy of the village, Orochimaru, takes advantage of the situation and convinces Sasuke to leave his friends and village in order to join his evil clan and become more powerful. With the help of his Ninja friends, Naruto goes on a quest to retrieve Sasuke and save him. Naruto: The Broken Bond is also the only Naruto

Developed by Ubisoft's Bucharest studio, Tom Clancy's HAWX delivers an intense and authentic aerial combat experience by fully leveraging the benefits of the next-generation platform. The story begins in the year 2012. As the era of the nation-state draws quickly to a close, the rules of warfare evolve even more rapidly. More and more nations become increasingly dependent on private military companies (PMCs), elite mercenaries with a lax view of the law. The Reykjavik Accords further legitimize their existence by authorizing their right to serve in every aspect of military operations. While the benefits of such PMCs are

Genre: First-Person Shooter
Publisher: Phantom EFX
Developer: 8Monkey Labs
Release Date: TBA

Time travel and its paradoxical twists have always been popular tools for fiction to use as convenient foils in wrapping up loose threads or in creating new ways in which to create the same. The adventure game Timequest, from now-defunct developer Legend Entertainment, casts you as a time agent sent back to pivotal moments in history in order to correct subtle changes that another renegade agent had left behind. The Journeyman Project series had also explored the same approach, and in both, you could screw

Genre: Role-Playing
Publisher: Atlus
Developer: Chunsoft
Release Date: Q1 2010

Mystery Dungeon: Shiren The Wanderer was a roguelike for the Nintendo DS, with most of the trappings thereof (when a character dies, all items are lost, etc.) The game has had several console releases in Japan, and now the third is coming to the U.S. for the Wii. At E3, they were showing attendees a demo of the Japanese game and explaining everything to those who were interested.

The basics of Shiren the Wanderer are your standard roguelike. The game even features two difficulty levels, with a hardcore mode

Genre: Role-Playing
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Release Date: October 2009

Stealth and adrenaline-soaked action are part of the spy genre's hallmarks, whether it is in trying to stop nuclear annihilation in Metal Gear or in slipping past enemy security by climbing along the outside of a cruise ship in Splinter Cell. Obsidian Entertainment is now set to shake up these conventions with a spy-based RPG that includes the combat, stealth, and plenty of options to allow a player to mix James Bond and Jason Bourne into the ultimate black ops agent.

While most spy games only have

Atlus U.S.A. has secured the North American publishing rights for Demon's Souls, a groundbreaking PS3 exclusive action RPG experience. Beautiful, compelling, and unforgiving, Demon's Souls is the hardcore RPG experience PS3 fans have been waiting for.

Europe, at the beginning of the 20th century: The beautiful dancer Mata Hari has collective manhood at her command. The performances of the native Dutch girl as an oriental nude dancer are an overwhelming success in the unbounded luxury and enjoyment of life of the Belle Epoque.

Mata Hari’s gamy presentations on wild parties of the ‚Belle Époque’ attract influential circles from industry and politics among the attractive Swiss Oscar Samsonet. He concludes that exotic dancer Mata Hari would be perfect for his further plans. Samsonet appeals to her thirst for adventures and baits her with easy money: Mata Hari becomes

Genre: Shooter
Publisher: City Interactive
Developer: City Interactive
Release Date: Oct. 2, 2009

Shooting should be one of the most generic genres on the Wii. Just look at all the gun-shaped items that have already been sold, and consider that some of the Wii's gem titles have included House of the Dead games. But the more I think about it, I haven't seen that many. As City Interactive's most complete game that isn't near release date yet, Redneck Chicken Riot is odd, perhaps inspired by Wallace & Gromit, but with a confusing idea of its very own.

The game is a pretty

Genre: Role-Playing
Publisher: Nippon Ichi Software
Developer: Ride On
Release Date: July 1, 2009

Before we go any further, let's listen to that little voice of Robin in our heads. You know you want to. Now, wonder who at Atlus decided this would be a name to trademark. Imagine that the title fits the actual game just enough to be even more hilarious. Just three minutes convinced me that Atlus has invested wisely in a game that truly captures its name like few other games on market. I mean, a lot do better and a lot

Genre: Sports
Developer: Hudson
Publisher: Hudson
Release: Q4 2009

Sports-based mini-game collections might be the most specific genre you can get to on the Nintendo Wii and still find a metric ton of competing products. Wii Sports, Big League Sports, EA Playground and, of course, Deca Sports are just a few examples of the area and how crowded it can be. Now, Hudson's giving its work a sequel with Deca Sports 2, and they were showing it off at E3.

Fortunately, they've added several new ideas to the series to match with the 10 new games. Not only will

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom pits Capcom's iconic characters against Tatsunoko Production's anime superheroes. This clash of heroes face off in two-on-two battles for the ultimate 2D tag-team battle. During the E3 madness, we sat down with Capcom's senior communications director, Chris Kramer.

WP: Who has the honor to speak with us? State your name, rank, and occupation!

I'm Chris Kramer, and I'm the senior director of communications and community at Capcom.

WP: One of the big announcements for E3 was the fact that Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is coming to the U.S. and Europe. What was it like getting that brought over? We kept hearing

In Baby Life, players take charge of their own, unique babies. A combination of different "genetic material" allows players to (pro)create a baby that almost no one else could have, with more than 3 millions possibilities. Each baby is unique physically and mentally. The baby behaves very realistically, its movements are life-like, it plays, smiles or cries.

As parents, you have to help your baby to grow up from 9 to 15 months, team him/her to speak, move, and behave better. More

The first in the revered tennis simulation series for the new console generation, Smash Court Tennis 3 for Xbox 360 tests the player's skills against 16 of the world's finest international tennis players. From established stars such as world number one Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, Rafael Nadal and Martina Hingis, to rising talents including Italy's Andreas Seppi and Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic, each player has their own strengths and weaknesses which come into play on the game's painstakingly rendered courts.

Making the most of the power of Xbox 360, Smash Court Tennis 3 boasts enhanced graphics including

The sequel to the mighty World War II flight combat game Heroes of the Pacific, Heroes over Europe takes aspiring combat pilots into the bullet-ridden heart of major World War II European air battles in glorious dogfight-friendly high definition. Heroes over Europe follows the Allied campaign from the attacks on London to the destruction of Berlin, with players under orders to strap themselves into the authentically rendered cockpits of the campaign's iconic aircraft. Their mission: to survive the most ferocious dogfights ever seen in a flight combat game.

"The Heroes series has brought some of the world's most exciting air battles

Genre: Puzzle/Platformer
Publisher: Nobilis
Developer: Frozenbyte
Release Date: July 2009

On the surface, Trine is not a difficult game to understand, as it is essentially a puzzle game in which you can switch on the fly between three varied characters. However, the basic puzzle mechanics and characters are mere underpinnings for the meat of the physics-based gameplay and cooperative play. The co-op was not present in our preview build, but the physics most definitely are, along with a surprisingly developed theme and production values for a puzzle title.

The three characters in Trine all have varied roles and

The single player game follows Goku and his clever sidekick Bulma as they travel the world overcoming enemies and obstacles to collect the 7 Dragon Balls. In the shoes of Goku, the player must protect Bulma from incoming enemy attacks using special skills, such as fighting with his power pole, or unleashing a kamehameha. Combined with Bulma's ability to invent machines and weapons, the intrepid pair make a formidable team able to defeat even the strongest enemies or trickiest of obstacles.

The innovative controls mean the player uses only the touch pad to control Goku. Players must draw lines or shapes

In Lost in Blue: Shipwrecked!, players will find themselves stranded on a mysterious island filled with lush forests, ancient ruins, and an active volcano. With the help of trusty pets and new friends, players can explore the mysteries of the island to find a way home, or make a new life for themselves and stay forever. Vibrant 3D graphics make the island environment, weather systems, and various items more life-like than ever. An island tutorial with a greater focus on exploration enhances the accessibility for new players.

Taking full advantage of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controls, Lost in

Genre: Platformer
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Release: Q4 2009

Nintendo came out of E3 2009 much stronger than they did in 2008. They started off our booth tour with their big announcement of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and I got to squeeze in some play time with the game.

If you've played the DS version of New Super Mario Bros., most everything is going to be familiar, including major elements of Super Mario Bros. 3 from the NES era, new and entertaining power-ups, and a fair supply of secrets to keep things interesting for a good, long