Microsoft

I had hoped that Forza would let me jump into the game with at least some reasonably beefy cars, but I hoped in vain and was forced to spend many boring hours trudging along with average cars before getting to the cool ones. Had I not had to do that, I certainly would have enjoyed Forza more than I did.

Game Description: Forza Motorsport revs up gamers who are passionate about cars and racing. It's the ultimate car-lover's playground, letting gamers buy, sell, trade, tune, modify and race their customized car collection. On the track, players experience an impressively accurate simulation, putting their performance-tuned creations to the test against the best the online world has to offer on Xbox Live! Take online racing from intense multiplayer wheel-to-wheel racing to challenging individual bests and beyond Gorgeous graphical showcase—well-balanced reflections, lighting, and shadows; Real camera effects like blooming, lens flare, heat shimmer, light rays, depth of field, and haze create TV-quality presentation.

In Mike Doolittle's review of Crimson Skies, although he had many splendid things to say about the game, I was surprised to see a rating that was just above average. Perhaps I tend to immerse myself in a game world too deeply, from reading the backstory to wondering what experience the designers expected me to have as the roguish pilot Nathan Zachary. What I found at the end of my journey was a far richer experience overall than Mike gave the game credit for.

According to the ESRB, this game contains: Mild Language, Violence

Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge arrived with so much hype and fanfare that it's easy to forget that, at one time, it was nearly vaporware. After a dismal E3 showing a couple of years ago and tepid feedback from testers, Microsoft made the decision to halt the title in mid-development and start from scratch with a new team of artists, writers and programmers.

Game Description: Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge combines thrilling aerial combat with the swashbuckling style of a Hollywood action-adventure movie. Set in an alternate 1930s world of gunship diplomacy and sinister intrigue, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge lets gamers pilot powerful aircraft against nefarious air pirates and behemoth war zeppelins. As the daring air pirate Nathan Zachary, leader of the infamous Fortune Hunters, players take off on a high-flying adventure, filled with daring escapes and damsels in distress.

Videogame golf has recently undergone a similar transformation. For years, golf games invariably relied on the three-button press swing system. Games like Hot Shots Golf refined this interface to the point where it became the golf game standard. However, with the advent of dual analog stick controllers, things have changed. Now, instead of simply pushing buttons to make the onscreen player swing, players will actually control the swing and its tempo by pulling back on the stick for the backswing, then driving it forward to hit the ball. To say this new approach has made videogame golf more realistic is an understatement. This is a transformation of the way the game is played in much the same way that club technology has changed the real game.

Game Description: Amped 2 is the ultimate freestyle snowboarding experience, offering the largest, most varied trick library of any snowboarding game. Explore vast areas of wide-open, spectacularly rendered real mountains packed with terrain parks designed by world-famous snow park architect, Chris Gunnarson. Play head-to-head with friends in the various multiplayer modes. When you're ready to take it to the next level, connect to Xbox Live to check rankings and challenge the world's best virtual riders. Feel what it's like to live the life of a real professional snowboarder. Travel the globe, and pull sick tricks in front of sponsors, photographers, and fans. Build your fame, and get photos and demo reels in the latest snowboard magazine or video. Climb to the top ranks of the sport, and become a media superstar … all to the sounds of more than 300 killer indie tracks.