Final Fantasy XIII by Square Enix

Square Enix brings us their next title in the beautiful and artistic Final Fantasy series which is actually the first game in a new sub-series called Fabula Nova Crystallis.  The battle system in this release is stemmed from FFVII Advent Children, and will maintain the strategic nature of command-based battles.  The completely new thing here will be a revamped Active Time Battle system which will allow the player to chain large numbers of commands together to produce combos and attack bonuses.  However, the main difference from other titles is that only one player is controllable during battle.  Some may think this would reduce game play complexity and involvement, but from what I have seen it will not be the case at all.  Of course the cinematic scenes are absolutely astonishing, and the graphics are incredible as well.  This title looks very promising and I am sure long time Final Fantasy fans and newcomers alike will be very pleased.  For those of you into the mmo style, FFXIVOnline is in development and may be on the market late this year.

• Release date: March 9, 2010
• Genre: Role playing Game
• Mode: Single-Player
• Platforms: Playstation 3, XBox 360
• Media: Blu-ray Disc, DVD
• Developer: Square Enix
• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
• ESRB Rating: Teen

BUY | Price: $60

Mass Effect 2 by BioWare

After BioWare’s release of the original Mass Effect in 2007, it was raved about by its players, and gained great standing for the next two “episodes” of a planned trilogy.  BioWare now brings us the first sequel of this trilogy: Mass Effect 2.  If you are unfamiliar with the mechanics of this series then you should know it is a single-player, tactical, shooter, action role-playing game based on party tactics.  It harbors a huge amount of content including many planets and systems, and this sequel is said to have 548 fully voiced characters.  The plot begins in the year 2183, and follows the quests of Commander Shepard and his team on their adventures through planetary systems to preserve the human race.  Other than a new story, Mass Effect 2 has many improvements over its predecessor including an upgraded combat system and AI, realistic damage modeling, more enemy actions, a new alien race, many other game play mechanic improvements, and of course enhanced graphics.  More specialized content is also available for those who pre-order and/or purchase a collector’s edition.

• Release date: January 26, 2010
• Genre: Role Playing Game
• Mode: Single Player
• Platforms: PC and Xbox 360
• Media: 2 DVDs
• Developer: BioWare
• Publisher: Electronic Arts
• ESRB Rating: Mature

BUY | Price: $50 – $60

Activision: DJ HERO Renegade Edition

As a spinoff to to the popular Guitar Hero series, Activision brings us DJ Hero.  This game reminds me of the Beatmania series by Konami from 10 years ago. I recommend the Renegade Edition which includes the game, turntable controller, 2CD Mix by Eminem & Jay Z and a case that converts to a stand.  The game features 94 remixes of two different songs from a selection of over 100 different songs across numerous genres.  Jay-Z and Eminem both served as consultants for the game development.  Many DJ and mix artists also contributed to the game and in lending their images for playable avatars in the game; including DJ Shadow, Z-Trip, DJ AM, Cut Chemist, J.Period, Grandmaster Flash, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Daft Punk, and Eminem.

CONSOLE: Available for PS3, XBOX360, Wii

BUY | Price: $200