Genre: Action/RPG
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami
Release Date: Fall 2008

I've loved Castlevania since the moment I took Simon Belmont on his awkwardly difficult adventure through the castle to punch Dracula in the face, and while not every title in the franchise has been good, the 2-D titles remain some of the best offerings on their respective systems. The announcement of a new Castlevania for the DS brought joy and happiness to my heart. While I was a bit disappointed with the last DS title, Portrait of Ruin, it was still a great game, albeit a tad

Genre: Action/Role-Playing
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega
Release Date: November 2008

With the announcement that Final Fantasy XIII will be coming to the Xbox 360 in addition to the PS3, things are looking kind of grim for Sony in one of the areas where they used to be the undefeated champ: role-playing games. With titles like Infinite Undiscovery, Star Ocean 4 and now Final Fantasy XIII coming to Microsoft's system, in addition to support from niche companies like Atlus, Sony's lost a lot of its normally unbreakable hold over the RPG gamer market. Yet for all of that,

2K Sports announced that 11-time NBA All-Star and 2008 Defensive Player of the Year Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics will be featured as the cover athlete and spokesman for this year's version. NBA 2K9, developed by Visual Concepts, is not yet rated by the ESRB and will be available this fall for Xbox 360, PS3, and PS2.

With over ten different exciting game modes including the traditional Practice, Exhibition, League and Home Run Challenge modes, MLB Power Pros 2008 will bring fans closer to the action than ever before. Gamers also get the opportunity to act as general manager and control the destiny of their own franchise in Season mode, or engage in entertaining role-playing story modes such as Success and MLB Life modes. As general manager, gamers can trade, sign free agents, coordinate practice schedules, purchase new equipment, call up and send down players from the Minor Leagues, along with other management options to bring in

2K Sports has signed three-time NHL All-Star and captain of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Rick Nash, as the cover athlete and spokesman for NHL 2K9. Visual Concepts has taken over the development and are building a brand new experience from the ground up to create an additively fun sport simulation of the NHL.

The No.1 Head-to-Head Fighting game franchise based on Naruto arrives on PS3 for the first time to reign supreme in the next generation of video gaming. Armed with gorgeous cinematic quality HD graphics, a revolutionary next-gen battle system, interactive multi-dimensional battle grounds and seamlessly explorable world of Naruto, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm will capture the heart of any Naruto fan! Your dream to live and breathe the show will come true!

Get the Afro Samurai [PS3/X360] Trailer off WP (38mb)

He who possesses the #1 Headband, will rule the world! Afro Samurai is the cutting edge game that delivers a new kind of cinematic game experience, a living episode that offers addictive, immersive and compelling gameplay that's dripping in style. Join Afro in his epic hunt for revenge to avenge the murder of his father by the current owner of the #1 Headband. Afro Samurai blends traditional Japanese culture, funky technology and hip hop to create a brutally fresh interactive experience. The hit, animated TV series now comes to

Genre: Survival Horror
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Electronic Arts
Release Date: October 20, 2008

Survival horror's a genre in transition. It began as a sort of half-assed, 3-D subcategory of adventure games, and while the involved technology changed, many of the tropes didn't. From 1996 to 2006, you were still using tank-style controls to steer some luckless chump through a terrible situation.

Resident Evil 4, while not really horror by any stretch of the imagination, reinvented the genre while also giving action games a good swift kick in the ass. Dead Space is the first post-RE4 survival

Genre: Role-Playing Game
Publisher: Majesco
Developer: Mistwalker
Release Date: October 2008

Last year at GDC, Hironobu Sakaguchi was at Microsoft's hotel talking up Lost Odyssey. He was seriously jet-lagged and, in response to another reporter's question, mentioned that Mistwalker Games' next project was going to be a DS game. He was promptly hushed by a PR agent.

Away: Shuffle Dungeon is apparently that project, with character design by Sakaguchi and music composed by Final Fantasy legend Nobuo Uematsu. Unsurprisingly, it's an RPG; specifically, it's an action-RPG starring a brash young hero named Sword. (The name is meant to

Genre: Fighting
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Eighting
Release Date: Fall 2008

Three-dimensional Castlevania games have always been a bit lackluster than their 2-D counterparts. While Symphonia of the Night or Dawn of Sorrow are considered among the best games on their respective systems, Lament of Innocence and Castlevania: 64 are generally held to be mediocre at best and borderline unplayable at worst. There's just something about the trip into 3-D that makes Castlevania lose its magic. Perhaps this strange curse is what made Konami decide to make the first Wii Castlevania title into something completely different. Castlevania: Judgment