“Viva Piñata,” originally developed and released to critical acclaim for Xbox 360, will now be available for the Windows XP and Windows Vista platforms. Developed by Climax Group, “Viva Piñata” invites gamers to create an immersive world where living piñatas inhabit an ever-changing environment. Beginning with a few basic tools, players build and take control of this environment, using their creativity and imagination to attract, protect and manage over 60 piñata species that can visit their world and make it their home.

Bringing a vibrant and engaging gaming experience to the Windows platform, “Viva Piñata” appeals to kids, adults, casual gamers

Genre: Action
Publisher: Vivendi Universal
Developer: Radical Entertainment
Release Date: August 23, 2005

If you've ever read an Incredible Hulk comic, you'll recall that almost every story has some point where Hulk has been, I don't know, shot by approximately 500 helicopters at once or something. Hulk will be all hunkered down, hands covering his face, experiencing some sort of animal rage… and then he'll just snap and go nuts on his attackers, like he suddenly remembered that he's functionally invincible. With a mighty "HULK SMASH!" he'll tear into every breakable thing in the vicinity. A few pages (or

Genre: RPG
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Bethesda Software
Release Date: March 20, 2006

Chad "Wudi" Crawford: With over 200 hours of gameplay and 16 square miles to be explored in the world of Tamriel, Oblivion is practically an alternate reality that gamers will live in for hours at a time. Plus, there's the Radiant AI, which allows NPCs to respond to the world around them like a real person would, adding to the immersion. Character's skills grow stronger the more they're used, which should make it that no two characters are ever alike. Throw together the game world, character

Genre: FPS, simulation
Publisher: Codemasters
Developer: Bohemia Interactive
Release Date: October 3, 2005

The first thing I noticed when the fine developers at Bohemian sat down with me to demo Operation Flashpoint was that the graphics were… to put it kindly, not exactly cutting edge. In fact, they looked like just what they are, a port of low-power PC graphics from 2001. Given how many polys the Xbox can push, it was an initially disconcerting sight.

Seeing a bit more of the game started putting the graphics into perspective, though. Flashpoint is the rare Xbox title that isn’t interested in

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: Racing
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Climax Group
Release Date: June 14, 2006

Vim and Vigor

The diversity of experience hidden beneath the rather reductive genre label "racing" can be mystifying to gamers for whom tooling around a paved loop – modeled on a real-world counterpart or not – falls somewhere beneath precision jumping and key-collecting on the scale of exciting leisure-time pursuits. It doesn't matter if we're talking car or kart, bike or motorcycle, tuner or arcade racer. The varieties and possibilities are lost on many potential consumers who aren't already fans of a particular sub-genre before

Genre: MMORPG
Publisher: Buena Vista Games
Developer: 10tacle Studios
Release Date: Q2 2007

Pirates of the Caribbean Online is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the Disney franchise of the same name. The goal here is to undertake enough adventure quests and gather enough treasure to become the Caribbean's most legendary pirate. You'll learn tactics and skills from Jack Sparrow, which will teach you how to battle evil undead forces, forge alliances, and hunt for buried treasure.

PotCO promises to be enjoyable by all ages and a treat for any serious fans of the movies. Players

Genre: Rhythm/Puzzle
Developer: Harmonix
Publisher: Red Octane
Release Date: November 28, 2006

Take one of the greatest, if not the greatest, rhythm-music games to ever enter the market. This is a game that lets you act like a virtual rock star, using an innovative controller that really makes you feel like you're on stage playing a guitar. It's got tons of songs that have universal appeal, and difficulty modes that challenge even expert guitar players, yet are still accessible to the complete newbie.

Take all of this guitar perfection… and now, pretend as if it were just practice

Genre: Fighting
Publisher: Majesco
Developer: Arc Systems Work
Release Date: September 1, 2006

Guilty Gear Judgment is the next game in the popular 2D fighting franchise from Sammy. Although the title of the game only mentions "Judgment," the disc itself actually is two games in one – the aforementioned Final Fight-style GGJ and the neoclassic fighter Guilty Gear X2: Reloaded, a practically perfect port of one of the best 2D fighters around.

GGJ itself is a side-scrolling brawler featuring almost the entire Guilty Gear cast, minus Justice, Kliff, and Robo-Ky. That's 20 characters in all, which is