Nintendo DS

CHICAGO – Our fourth and final calendar could be your most essential! When is your next addictive video game hitting store shelves? And how can you pre-order it early? Bookmark this page and come back for a regularly updated list of what’s upcoming in the world of video games complete with links to buy them!

CHICAGO – The genre of video games based on feature films is a notoriously weak one in terms of creativity. There’s often the sense that these are mere marketing tie-ins with no passion or spark behind their development. Like their theatrical counterparts, Pixar video games are often an exception. “Up” had some inspired energy (especially on the Nintendo Wii) and “Toy Story 3” is arguably the best video game based on a kid’s movie. So there’s reason to hope when you open your copy of “Brave: The Video Game,” now available for the PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, and PC. Sadly, that hope dissipates due to uninspired gameplay, mediocre visuals, and thin storytelling. It’s not a total mess but the film’s fans deserved better.

CHICAGO – If you are excited for the upcoming Disney-Pixar film “Brave,” you may be interested to know that Disney Interactive Media Group announced today that a game is in production based on the upcoming movie. The game will be released on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, and Windows PC/MAC.

CHICAGO – I have long-defended 2K Sports’ “Major League Baseball” franchise, more commonly referred to as “MLB2K,” against the claims that it doesn’t compare to Sony’s more acclaimed “MLB The Show” and encouraged hardcore baseball fans to play both games. In fact, while I understood that “The Show” was a “better game,” recent installments of “MLB2K” actually took up more of my personal playing time.

CHICAGO – Honestly, one of the few reasons left to own a Nintendo DS (or 3DS) outside of the well-known franchises like “Zelda” and “Mario” is the consistently addictive and creative franchise known as “Professor Layton.” A blend of anime, fantasy, mystery, and, above all else, puzzle-solving, these games are about as enjoyable as a handheld title can get for a puzzle fan. The latest, “Professor Layton and the Last Specter” dips just a bit in quality in terms of puzzle structure and storytelling, but that’s only because of the high standard set by this franchise before and the areas in which it improves — setting, value — make up for it. It’s WELL worth the purchase price, especially if you’ve been sucked into the Layton world before.

CHICAGO – Imagine this — an X-Men game in which you don’t play a known member of the legendary team. Want to rage with Wolverine’s claws, shoot beams with Cyclops’ eyes, or rain chaos with Storm? Well, you’ll have to go back to the last “Marvel Ultimate Alliance” game to do so because they’re not playable here.

CHICAGO – Disney’s “Phineas and Ferb” is one of the most clever cartoons on the air right now, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t completely dreading the newest video game tie-in, “Phineas and Ferb: Across the Second Dimension,” now available for PS3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii, and timed to tie-in with the hit movie that premiered this week on the Disney Channel.

CHICAGO – Based on the incredible box office returns, a lot of the people reading this have probably already seen Michael Bay’s divisive “Transformers: Dark of the Moon.” It’s understandable that they may want to continue the adrenalin-pumping adventure at home with Activision’s latest game based on the legendary Hasbro toy line. Sadly, as much as the movie pops in 3D, the game is disappointingly flat.

CHICAGO – Last summer, Disney Interactive, Pixar, and Avalanche Software teamed on the ambitious-but-flawed “Toy Story 3,” a game that dared to do something more than your standard family movie tie-in. The game didn’t work 100% but it was a masterpiece compared to most games based on animated films. They’re back this summer with the tie-in for “Cars 2,” with similar results.

CHICAGO – Traveller’s Tales clearly seems 100% unconcerned about exhausting their “LEGO” brand as they have released “LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4,” “LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars,” and, now, “LEGO: Pirates of the Caribbean” in less than a year.