Let’s put on our judgmental hat for a moment and complain about some MMOs. World of Warcraft? With the identical “bring me X of Y” quests and the nearly penalty-free deaths, WoW is grinding for pansies. EVE? No one has that much energy to dedicate to mothering one small frigate before anything can actually happen. Guild Wars? With the level cap at 20, it’s barely even a real MMO.

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There’s a new shop in Pleasantview creating quite a buzz. The Sims may have their own pets, and they discovered seasons (Winter…cold?), but something was missing. Thankfully, your Sims can rejoice and relax now that you can give them Swedish, new age furniture with the IKEA Home Stuff expansion pack. The good news: everything comes pre-assembled. The bad news is: there are no meatballs!

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Whether it’s Halo 3, Half-Life 2, or Call of Duty 4, all of us have experienced the hair-pulling frustration that is “respawning into death.” You die nobly in a blaze of glory, only to take your first step with your next life directly into the crosshair of an enemy sniper. Words cannot describe the fury that ensues, and most of us cannot understand how someone can kill us in a matter of seconds. The truth is, you may have fallen victim to a glitch in the system.

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The joy of the video game industry is that the industry leaders express their character, for better or worse, through the games they make. Recently released titles, or upcoming ones, are getting gamers excited for the return or their favorite franchise or the promise of an upcoming experience. But to truly understand what we can expect from developers for the future, we should take a look at the name they’ve made for themselves. Here’s a handful of companies who have, or sadly haven’t, been busy recently.

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Villains aren’t given enough credit these days. Let’s face it: they’re pretty much the reason why 99% of games out there exist. Being a protagonist is pointless without having antagonists; otherwise, we’d have games where hippies frolic about in green pastures hugging each other. Lame, right? Similarly, in the real world, the bad guys are the ones keeping newscasts attention-grabbing and bland magazines in business. Yes, they are huge inconveniences, but they give us something to talk about.

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Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe might have been less of a surprise when Capcom and Marvel were mixing it up years ago, but then they’d just be accused of copying. Now, it feels a few years too late, especially because DC hasn’t had a fighting game since Justice League Task Force (1995). Still, you would think MK could have found another game franchise to throw down with since then. Especially when some seemed perfect for a crossover, and others destined to be…

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Maybe you’re a little bored of the pre-scripted, narrative-heavy, feats of storytelling that are the hallmarks of many popular games that contain a lot of depth. Sometimes you just want to platform, so you bust out your old copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 and completely ditch the real world. Well, what could be better than combining that “comfort food platforming” with control over the entire world you’re playing in? LittleBigPlanet promises just that, putting the tools—and the materials—in your hands to not only jump in glee, but move arms and heads, grab objects and textures, and best of all, play with friends.

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Remember the Leapfrog books from your childhood? They’re used as learning devices with a secondary dash of fun that tied interactive adventure stories with early mathematics and spelling. Leapfrog is now upping the ante on its learning software, releasing two new handheld systems that hope to compete with the Nintendo DS. They’re reported to have a host of release titles with more educational content than Nintendo. Which is good news–if you’re into that kind of thing.

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