"Ghostbusters: The Video Game" (rated E, $60 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, $40 on Wii, $30 on PC and Nintendo DS, $20 on PlayStation 2): This game hardly needs an introduction. It's intended as a combination of a sequel to the two "Ghostbusters" movies as well as a way for players to relive scenes from those films. It's written by the same folks who wrote the movies, and it brings back Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson. (Sorry, Rick Moranis fans.) While reviews haven't been off the charts, they've been exceptionally strong for a movie game. It's puzzling that Activision decided not to publish this game, which they originally inherited when they bought Sierra. Regardless, it'll make a ton of money for Atari, its new publisher. The Wii and PlayStation 2 version has a different developer from the 360/PS3/PC version, and review scores for the latter indicate it's likely the better game.

"Magic: The Gathering -- Duels of the Planeswalkers" (rated T, $10 Xbox Live Arcade download): It seems kind of weird that we're three-and-a-half years into the current console generation and we're just now getting a game based on Wizards of the Coast's smash-hit collectible trading card game. "Planeswalkers" makes up for its tardiness by costing a cool $10. As someone who played M:TG back in its early days and wrote one of the first newspaper articles about it when I was a high school senior interning at my hometown paper, I'll feel oddly like I've come full circle when I review this title. I haven't played the game in more than a decade, but I'm looking forward to getting my feet wet all over again.

"Guitar Hero: Smash Hits" (rated T, $60 on Xbox 360 and PS3, $50 on Wii, $40 on PS2): A smart idea if there ever was one, "Smash Hits" reformulates songs from "Guitar Hero," "Guitar Hero II," "Guitar Hero III" and "Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s" for play as a "full band" game. Unfortunately, you won't be able to copy these songs to your console's hard drive like you can in "Rock Band," but if you're looking for more songs to rock out to and you don't feel like downloadable content, you could do worse than this game. It's worth noting that, while the early "Guitar Hero" games featured songs being performed by a cover band, the tracks in "Smash Hits" are the originals. Full price seems kind of expensive for songs many have played already, so there's no shame in waiting a while to pick this up.

"Flower, Sun and Rain" (rated T, $30 on DS): This is a port of a PlayStation 2 game that was only released in Japan. It's worth a look because it's from developer Goichi Suda, aka Suda51, whose games ("Killer7," "No More Heroes") tend to draw cult followings. In "Flower, Sun and Rain," you play as a visitor to a tropical island who's stuck in a "Groundhog Day"-like loop, with each day ending in the detonation of an bomb on the island.

"Metal Gear Solid" (rated M, $10 PlayStation Network download for PS3 or PlayStation Portable): The first "Metal Gear Solid," originally a PlayStation game goes digital. If you, like me, missed out on all the "MGS" games and plan to play through them in order, the best buy is still last year's "Metal Gear Solid: The Ultimate Collection," which includes this game, plus the two PS2 titles for $40. But if you're just looking for a chance to get into a cardboard box and sneak around, this download'll work.

"Let's Tap" (rated E, $30 on Wii): This, uh, game has you setting the Wii remote down on a box or other flat surface and using your fingers to tap around it. I guess the vibrations make all sorts of stuff happen on screen. It sounds absolutely insane, but the reviews are intriguing. Sounds like the kind of thing you rent first before bringing it home for good. It also sounds like the kind of game that'll achieve cult status and sell for $80 on eBay in three years. Remember "Electroplankton?"

What I'll be playing this weekend: Still working my way through "inFAMOUS." It's a bit repetitive, in the same way people said "Assassin's Creed" was (lots of similar missions), but that's not stopping me from liberating Empire City one corner at a time. Yeah, I'm a good guy. I almost always play as a good guy the first time through. I may sneak in some "Culdcept Saga," "Space Invaders Extreme" or "Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers," but not for too long. "inFAMOUS" is my gaming master.

If you've recently gotten into gaming on the PC or Xbox 360, a recently announced bundle from 2K Games should give you dozens of hours of great single-player adventure for $40.

An upcoming retail package, announced this week, will pair Bethesda Softworks' "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" with 2K's "BioShock." Though its visuals and non-player characters' wooden dialogue delivery can make it seem a bit dated, "Oblivion" was arguably the first truly great game of this console generation when it was released in early 2006. The main game was fairly typical swords-and-sorcery fare, but the cool thing about "Oblivion" was all its concurrent storylines you could follow. The Thieves Guild quests stand right up there with any of Bethesda's work on "Fallout 3."

I can't say enough good things about "BioShock," unless you're talking about its lame final battle. Warts aside, it remains my favorite first-person shooter of this console generation. With the sequel due out this fall (albeit from a different creative director), this summer's a great time to go back and play the original if you haven't already.

The bundle of games will be out July 7 on Xbox 360 ($40) and PC ($30). Both games are rated M. The only downside is that it doesn't appear that "Oblivion" will be the Game of the Year edition that includes the majority of the game's downloadable content. Still, there's between 50 and 100 hours of gameplay in the core title alone, provided you're not one of those players who's always in a rush. I have an e-mail out to 2K about whether this bundle will include any of the downloadable content and will update this post once I hear back.

Last week, I dinged "Killzone 2" (rated M, $60 on PlayStation 3), the best-looking first-person shooter I've ever played, for lacking heart. Despite all its technical polish and great online play, I had difficulty getting into the single-player game because of its unimaginative dialogue, boring characters and bland story.

Compared with gamers who value online play over everything else, I'm a stickler for good writing. I tend to start single-player campaigns slowly, waiting for the story, dialogue or plot to take hold of me. If it never happens, chances are it'll take me an eternity to finish, as I'll just play bits and pieces of the game, crawling slowly toward the end. In the case of "Killzone 2," I largely played just a chapter at a time. My primary motivation for finishing the game wasn't to see what happens, but to get to the multiplayer part of the game. (I have this weird thing about finishing single-player campaigns before venturing online.)

In a well-written game, such as "BioShock," I'll start slowly, then become consumed with finishing it as the story takes hold. In "BioShock's" case, I think I played through the last half of a game in the course of a day or two, blowing off other commitments so I could see how it ended. (I'm the same way with books.) With that in mind, here are a few games whose writing has willed me toward the finish:

"BioShock" (rated M, $30 on Xbox 360 or PS3, $20 on PC): Rapture, the underwater utopia gone wrong that's the setting for "BioShock" has to be one of the most fully realized single-player game worlds to date. But the signature fun, for me, was crawling through the art deco ruins, unearthing all the audio diaries, and discovering the personalities that shaped the civilization before everything broke down. It was kind of a shame when the game ended in one of the lamest boss fights in recent memory.

"Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic" (rated T, out of print on Xbox, available in "Star Wars: The Best of PC" bundle for PC, $40): Any "Star Wars" fan who plays video games will tell you that this role-playing game from Bioware stands right up there with the original three movies. For my money, it's better. With a stunning plot twist that outdoes, "Luke, I am your father," "KotOR" stands as a testament to the medium's narrative power. A cast of memorable supporting characters includes HK-47, a psychotic protocol droid that refers to humans as "meatbags." Side note: Why the heck isn't this available on Steam?

"Psychonauts" (rated T, out of print on PlayStation 2 and Xbox, $15 Xbox Originals download over Xbox Live, $10 PC download on Steam): Good writing doesn't necessarily mean "great story." In the case of Sonoma native Tim Schafer's platform-jumping game, the story takes a back seat to the creative dialogue and novel game worlds. A summer camp for psychic children serves as a hub, but the real fun starts when you, one of the kids at the camp, journey into the minds of the characters you meet. My favorite moment occurs when you encounter an oversized, mutated lungfish. The journey into the fish's mind is straight out of a Japanese monster movie, with your gargantuan boy savaging buildings and destroying military vehicles. The action is interspersed with "newscasts" from the lungfish TV network chronicling the destruction. I've never laughed so hard at a game. Another standout level is set in M.C. Escher-influenced mind of a paranoid security guard terrified of a mysterious "milkman."

"Grand Theft Auto IV" (rated M, $40 on Xbox 360 or PS3, $30 on PC): Really, this could be any "GTA" game since "Grand Theft Auto III." Even if the crime-and-mayhem-oriented stories wouldn't normally be your cup of tea, the sheer volume of writing -- dialogue, missions, billboards, radio, TV and, in "GTA IV's" case, Internet -- means most gamers will find something to like. In my case, it's the dialogue every time your character, Niko Bellic, interacts with Brucie, an overcaffeinated, oversteroided bodybuilder who shouts constantly and refers to everything as "awesome."

"Portal" (rated T, Xbox 360 and PC, prices vary): There's not much in the way of story here. You're a prisoner of an insane computer that forces you to run through a number of tests using a gun that creates tiny warps in space. The memorable writing, though sparse, comes in the dialogue delivered by GLaDOS, the computer, as well as the many automated turrets you'll come across. (Sample: "Touching the floor will result in an unsatisfactory grade on your testing report, followed by death.")

If you've got an Xbox 360, get ready for a day of offline play. Microsoft is taking Xbox Live down, starting at midnight Tuesday, for maintenance. While no new features will be added in the update, Microsoft's Larry Hyrb, aka Major Nelson, says that the work is being done to prepare for some of the services announced at E3.

I'll be spending the downtime playing "inFAMOUS" on the PlayStation 3. If the only console you own is an Xbox 360, any achievements you earn offline will still count. (They'll just be updated next time you log online.) Consider today an opportunity to play a single-player game like "Fallout 3," "Fable II," "Assassin's Creed" or, my favorite, "Dead Rising."

"Tiger Woods: PGA Tour 10" bundle (rated E, $60 on Wii, includes Wii MotionPlus): You can play this game on just about any modern console or handheld, but only on the Wii can you pick up the game bundled with Wii MotionPlus, the new add-on for the Wii remote that allows for more precise motion controls. "Wii Sports Resort," Nintendo's big MotionPlus game, won't be out for a few weeks yet, ensuring Tiger dominates the market for just a little bit. Not drinking the MotionPlus Kool-Aid? Standard versions of Tiger go for $60 on PS3 and 360. Or you can buy the game without MotionPlus on Wii for $50.

"Grand Slam Tennis" (rated E, $60 on 360 or PS3, $50 on Wii) or "Virtua Tennis 2009" (rated E, $50 on 360 or PS3, $40 on Wii: Both of these tennis games are designed with MotionPlus in mind, as well. "Tiger Woods" is the only game currently bundled with the device, but you can buy it separately for $20.

"Prototype" (rated M, $60 on PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, $50 on PC): Like the recent PlayStation 3 exclusive "inFAMOUS," "Prototype" is an open-world superhero game. I love this new mini-trend of making superhero games that aren't based on licensed characters. The fact that "inFAMOUS" and "Prototype" are based on wholly original characters gives the games' writers a lot more creative freedom and frees us players from expectations of the protagonists. In "Prototype," you play as Alex Mercer, a guy at the epicenter of a nasty disease outbreak in New York City. The outbreak appears to have killed a lot of people but also given Alex superpowers. Your mission is mostly just to kill lots of people, but along the way, you'll find out a few things about what gave Alex his superpowers and who's behind the outbreak. It's kind of weird that this is coming out just a week after "inFAMOUS." The two games are extremely similar in setting and themes. But whatever. "inFAMOUS" has been great to me so far, and "Prototype" is from the team behind last console generation's "The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction." There's definitely room for two NYC superhero/disaster games.

"Rock Band Unplugged" (rated T, $40 on PlayStation Portable): I honestly can't read about this game, a portable "Rock Band" that has you controlling every instrument at once, and not think of Appalachian one-man band/weirdo Hasil Adkins. The legend has it that, as a child, young Hasil heard musicians on the radio and thought they played all the instruments themselves. So, over time, he taught himself how to play drums and guitar at the same time. He went on to record hundreds of songs, but his signature accomplishment, aside from "No More Hotdogs," above, might be his "Poultry in Motion" album, whose songs are all about chickens. See? Who says you can't learn anything reading about video games all day?

"Call of Duty: World at War" (rated M, $60 on 360 or PS3): "Killzone 2" isn't the only big-time shooter getting new multiplayer maps this week. The second map pack for "World at War" will set you back $10 and includes four maps, one of which supports the game's zombie mode.

"Burnout Paradise" (rated T, $20 on 360 or PS3): The downloadable "Big Surf Island" sets you back $13 on the PS3 or $12.50 on the 360. It opens up a whole new gameplay area with dozens of new things to do.

"Bomberman Ultra" (rated T, $10 PlayStation Network download): It's probably because I went to college at the right time, but "Bomberman" was the first party game I fell in love with. "Ultra" is the PlayStation Network's equivalent to "Bomberman Live" on the Xbox 360, with classic, top-down graphics and the power-ups you remember. Run around a grid. Blow each other up. Repeat until giddy. Online play allows up to eight players.

"Sonic's Ultimate Collection" (rated E10+, $30 on Xbox 360 or PS3): A bunch of Sega Genesis classics went on sale over Xbox Live Arcade at $5 a pop. All but one of them ("Gunstar Heroes," which also hit the PlayStation Network) is available on this $30 disc, which includes a total of more than 40 games. Buying the games separately over Live will cost you more in the long run. On the other hand, you'll get 200 achievement points and leaderboards.

What I'll be playing this weekend: Now that I've reviewed "Killzone 2," I've moved onto "inFAMOUS." I've only played the first couple of missions, but I've fallen hard for the game. So lots of that. I'll probably mess around with a little more "Killzone 2" online, plus some "Culdcept Saga" and "Space Invaders Extreme" on the Xbox 360.

A first- or third-person shooter with both an epic single-player campaign and perfectly tuned, well-thought-out online play has become the white whale of video game design for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Both consoles are home to wonderful, single-player adventures and endlessly fun, battle-tested multiplayer bloodbaths. Yet no single game has hit the sweet spot, combining a compelling narrative and convincing acting with online gameplay that keeps the title fresh months after you've finished the offline part.

"Killzone 2" (rated M, $60 on PS3) falls firmly in the "decent online, so-so offline" camp, but not before teasing with a fantastic intro movie that only sets the stage for disappointment. An all-too-familiar gantlet of challenges has you checking out a downed aircraft for signs of survivors just in time to see the last one die, battling to gain control of a bridge, fighting your way to the front of a moving train, shoot down enemy aircraft with a turret, evacuating a disintegrating space ship and other missions you've probably finished half a dozen times in other, similar games.

The plot of "Killzone 2" revolves around invading the planet Helghan, the homeworld of an offshoot of humanity called the Helghast. In the first "Killzone" on PS2, the Helghast staged a surprise assault on a planet controlled by the Interplanetary Strategic Alliance. In the sequel, you play as Sgt. Tomas "Sev" Sevchenko, an member of an ISA special forces unit tasked with infiltrating the Helghan capital and capturing the planet's dictator, Scolar Visari.

Like a lot of video game sequels, "Killzone 2" could use some kind of "previously in 'Killzone' and 'Killzone: Liberation'" movie to set the stage. Those of us who didn't play "Killzone" or its PSP sequel would probably be more fired up to stick it to the Helghast if we were brought up to speed on their previous assault on the ISA planet of Vekta. But even the most basic information on the world and characters of "Killzone" is missing from the game's instruction manual. I had to turn to Wikipedia for all my exposition. I realize first-person shooters are the video game equivalent of summer blockbusters; few people play them for the story. But a little exposition would go a long way.

That's not to say the the opening moments of "Killzone 2" aren't memorable. The game begins with a defiant speech by Visari, brilliantly brought to life by veteran Scottish actor Brian Cox, as ISA forces begin their D-Day-like assault on Helghan's heavily fortified defenses. The heart-pounding score, fiery oratory and "Saving Private Ryan"-style shots of the battleground hoodwink you into thinking you're in for a series of white-knuckle battles tied together by a decent war story.

Sadly, Cox (a Shakespearean actor whose voice you may recognize from his turn as a screenwriting teacher in Spike Jonze's "Adaptation") is absent for the majority of the rest of the game. Most of the rest of the actors, as well as the lines they're given, never approach the quality of that first tease, and much of the dialogue is unprintable on the website of a family newspaper. The overall effect is as if Ben Kingsley were cast in an episode of "Rock of Love." Cox sticks out like a sore thumb.

Ham-handed writing aside, the production values are as good as anything you'll find in console gaming. The toxic, barren world of Helghan is rendered stunningly via its bomb-cratered urban wasteland, Nazi-inspired architecture and air so choked with toxins it makes Beijing look like Antarctica. (For some unexplained reason, the Helghast wear gas masks on their inhospitable home world, while the maskless ISA troops never so much as cough while fighting through the haze.)

While pretty much all the levels of the single-player game will remind you of something you played somewhere else, they all look fantastic. Designwise, most levels have you using the game's cover mechanic to slowly inch forward, capturing one key choke point at a time. The Helghast are a fairly cunning computer-controlled foe, as well. They seem to realize the importance of holding choke points on the map and will sometimes force you to temporarily back up. They also do a fair job of flanking you. On a few occasions, I was convinced I'd covered my behind, only to have one or two Helgast slip behind me and start blasting away. You can never get too comfortable.

Ultimately, though, the familiar gameplay, weak writing and generally short campaign mean folks only interested in offline play will want to make "Killzone 2" a rental or budget purchase. Online play, however, is well-tuned and robust.

For those looking for PS3 online experiences similar to what you'll get on the Xbox 360's "Halo 3" or "Gears of War 2," "Killzone 2" should be your first stop. Though it doesn't support as many features as those titles, it does offer a "Call of Duty"-style hierarchy with several classes of specialization to choose from. The game also features a clan system that lets you unite with other, like-minded, similarly skilled folks.

"Killzone 2" ships with eight, well-balanced (if sometimes overly symmetrical) multiplayer maps and a variety of somewhat standard game modes. (Two pieces of downloadable content priced at $6 add two new maps each.) My favorite game type was Assassination, in which one team is tasked with taking out a specific player on the other team. The target must stay within a designated area, and his teammates must do everything they can to keep him alive until the timer runs out.

Other game types include capture-the-flag variant Search and Retrive, team killcount varient Body Count and a territory-control mode called Capture and Hold. A fifth game type, Search and Destroy has one team trying to set explosive charges to destroy a target, while the other team defends.

Between the eight to 12 maps, five gametypes and deep class system, you're unlikely to run out of things to do online. If throwing yourself into the fire against a bunch of l33t strangers isn't your bag, the skirmish mode lets you practice the online modes offline against computer-controlled bots. The only things really missing are a couple more game types and online co-op play during the campaign. The latter, in particular, seems like it should be a given when Sev's got at least one guy fighting alongside him for much of the game.

Back in January, the folks at Microsoft apparently thought enough of PC and Xbox 360 game-creation tool "Kodu" that they included it in the company's Consumer Electronics Show presentation. When it didn't make the cut during Microsoft's presentation last week at E3 in Los Angeles, I naturally assumed the program, which was supposed to be out this spring, had hit a snag and been delayed or, worse, killed.

On Monday, though, Microsoft surprised seemingly everybody and announced "Kodu" will be out sometime this month.

What is "Kodu," and why is it worth getting excited about? On its face, the colorful, cartoony application looks a lot like Sony's "LittleBigPlanet" for the PlayStation 3: It allows players to create their own games and upload them to Xbox Live. What's been shown so far looks undeniably cute.

Whether "Kodu" ends up being more ambitious than, inferior to or simply different from might take a while to figure out, however. With a simple programming language that aims at being accessible to gamers of all ages, "Kodu" has the potential to eclipse "LittleBigPlanet" by letting gamers create everything from platform-jumping games, like "LBP," to racers, strategy titles and beyond.

Yet "Kodu's" success will largely depend on what gamers create. More important, it'll depend on the infrastructure Microsoft builds to distribute the levels. If Microsoft builds a "LittleBigPlanet"-style sharing and rating system that lets users download levels for free, offer feedback and provide YouTube-style star ratings, "Kodu" could be a hit. If Microsoft incorporates Amazon-like recommendation software, it could be a megahit. But if the company simply relegates "Kodu" content to the ghetto of the ratingless Community Games channel and insists that users pay to download others' creations, expect it to be forgotten by everyone but enthusiasts.

A couple of little things in Microsoft's promotional video for Project Natal, its camera-based peripheral that will allow for gamers to play without holding a controller, jumped out at me, but I left them out of my original post on the device.

The video played at last week's E3 (above) was clear to state it was a "product vision" and that "actual features and functionalities may vary." Yet one feature they might want to leave out is the one where a woman turns off her Xbox 360 by saying, "Good night."

Could you imagine the epic suffering this might cause? You're cruising along through "Gears of War 5: Gears for Fears," making headway in an epic battle against some insane, 8-foot-tall Locust dude wielding a Phillips screwdriver gun, when your 3-year-old kid, about to go to bed, yells, "Good night, Daddy!" and your screen goes black. Even worse, anyone who's ever had a sibling can attest to the sadistic glee an 8- to 16-year-old would take in just yelling, "Good night!" every time he or she walked past the Xbox 360. Oh, the horror.

The other thing that stood out was the scene where the kid is skateboarding in his living room, performing tricks on his invisible skateboard by jumping up and down. Wait a minute, I thought. The Xbox 360 has a well-publicized disc-scratching problem. While I'm not willing to subscribe to conspiracy theories that say the console will scratch discs on its own, it does seem that even the slightest movement of the console places spinning discs at risk of being scratched and rendered unplayable. With games costing as much as $60, this is a pretty severe design flaw. A colleague of mine at The Press Democrat had to replace a game disc simply because excited kids jumping around her living room created enough rumbling to ruin a game.

In other words, jumping around and performing tricks mere feet from your Xbox 360 probably isn't going to be the best thing for your game discs. Sure, you can get around the problem by installing the game to your 360's hard drive, but is the average customer going to know to do that? The potential flood of consumer complaints about an issue like this ought to make Microsoft think twice before introducing any motion-controlled games that feature jumping.