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This is one of the strangest game concepts I’ve seen in years. AFL Mascot Manor and NRL Mascot Mania are both DS games where you choose a team mascot and guide it through a 3D platformer. As a fan of AFL and NRL, this was something that caught my attention, but the main question I wanted an answer to was: were the games any good, or were they just a cheap gimmick? Surprisingly enough, a Google search revealed nothing in the way of proper reviews, and that’s when I realised the shocking truth: I had been chosen. I am a huge fan of AFL, NRL, DS and platformers, and I write reviews for a Nintendo site. I am THE MOST QUALIFIED PERSON IN THE WHOLE DAMN WORLD to review these games, and since no-one else had attempted to review them, I felt like I had been issued with a divine task.
As a huge fan of LEGO in my youth, my long held belief is that LEGO should start making games out of their own franchises (aside from Bionicle!). Sure, LEGO Star Wars was great for it’s time, but then there were LEGO versions of Indiana Jones and Batman, with Rock Band and Harry Potter on the horizon… I say enough of this blatant cashing-in! LEGO’s back catalogue is a goldmine of gaming opportunities, and I’d much rather sail the high seas as Captain Roger, take over the universe as one of the various alien races, or conquer the middle ages as one of those great LEGO kings then play one more LEGO-ified version of whatever franchise is popular that week. Fortunately, it seems that someone within the LEGO hierarchy feels the same way, and the end result is LEGO Battles for the Nintendo DS. 
The outlaw of videogames is back. Yes, you know what I’m talking about, Grand Theft Auto. Just about every GTA title in the past has received criticism from parents, legal eagles and, of course, the media. Chinatown Wars’ announcement was received in a similar fashion to its predecessors. Gamers were hyped and the rest of society decided to have a little b**** about the title. Rockstar, as usual, ignored this and focused on providing DS gamers with a true GTA game. 
Unlike most recent Spider-Man games, Web of Shadows is not based on a movie. It follows an original story that involves New York being invaded by the alien symbiote, resulting in the city being covered in said symbiote (read: black slime) and everyone being turned into a Venom clone. Enter your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man to save the day! But wait! This is not your average Spider-Man story! 
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia takes place during that time after the original reign of the Belmont clan, but before the Morris clan were given the Vampire Killer whip. During this time, the legendary whip has apparently been lost or sealed away or something, and mankind has been forced to find other means to combat Dracula. Enter Ecclesia (Wikipedia tells me it’s a latin word for ‘the chosen ones’ or something like that), a secret organisation made up of the world’s most powerful and talented sorcerers. Ecclesia have been given Dracula’s soul (magically sealed inside a container of course) and asked to find a way to destroy it. It appears that they are successful, having created a magical Glyph capable of destroying Dracula. Unfortunately, that Glyph has been stolen, and it is up to our hero, Shanoa, to retrieve it.
Say what you will about the recent Clone Wars movie, but I thought it was great. Sure, it was aimed squarely at kids, but on the flipside, it felt like a return to that fun, swashbuckling style of the original Star Wars trilogy. The battle scenes were epic, the acting was better (well, mostly) than in the prequel trilogy, and the main characters went on an adventure. The Clone Wars TV series is even better, because taking the franchise out of George Lucas’ hands has resulted in a Star Wars TV show that not only has far better acting and directing than the prequel trilogy, but manages to recapture that sense of fun and adventure from the originals. In short, Clone Wars is the best thing that’s happened to the Star Wars saga in a very long time (in my opinion of course). 
The realisation that Christmas had truly arrived came in an MSN conversation between myself and PrattP. You see, as a games reviewer my working relationship with him basically consists of me asking for games he’ll never get, and him sending me games I never like (with the exception of Monster Jam). Naturally, it was a surprise when he asked me, out of the blue, if I wanted to review Prince of Persia: The Fallen King. I nearly jumped out of my skin, because this game, a 2D platformer from Ubisoft that was said to make extensive use of the touch screen, was one I’d been looking forward to and was willing to spend real money on. PrattP claimed that the fact that he was finally sending me a game I actually wanted was a sign that the Christmas season was here. He must have thought it was a Christmas miracle, and I can’t really blame him, because unlike most of the games that have been reviewed for this site lately, Fallen King is actually quite good!
Littlest PetShop is a game based on the brand of the same name. The title is targeted at young females and is available in three different versions just like the Nintendogs series. The game involves players unlocking pets, collecting items, playing mini-games and exploring worlds.
