"Hasbro Family Game Night" (360, $10 for each game, Everyone)
It's taken far too long to adapt classic board games to the digital realm, adding the crucial component of online multiplayer.
The downloadable "Hasbro Family Game Night" gives Xbox 360 owners reasons to throw away some classic board games. If you're like me, one of the reasons you don't indulge in the awesomeness of "Yahtzee!" or "Scrabble" very often is because of how much hassle there is to set up all the pieces.
The first wave of a la carte downloads, at $10 a pop, consists of those two, as well as "Battleship" and "Connect Four."
All except for the latter (who ever liked that simplistic, tic-tac-toe wannabe anyway?) are more fun and user-friendly in video-game form than they are on tabletops. The opportunity to challenge friends and strangers in online matchups makes the games well worth the price.
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This looks to be a franchise that will keep on giving. "Boggle" and two versions of "Sorry!" are due out later this year.
"PES 2009" (Wii, $40, Everyone)
A soccer game that was released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 last year finally has made it to the Wii. ("PES" stands for "Pro Evolution Soccer.") If you own other consoles, the game isn't worth the wait, but for those who have only a Wii, the game is a solid update to the groundbreaking "PES 2008."
You have the option of using motion controls or the straightforward, button-based method. As is usually the case, it's more fun and interactive to control the action with gestures, but you get much more precision with the buttons.
Deep online modes would add a ton of value, but in a week of playing I could never find an online game. Sadly, too few people have bought "PES 2009" so far to unleash the game's upside.
"Trivial Pursuit" (360, PS3, Wii, $40, Everyone)
With other board games downloadable at $10 each, it's hard to justify a $40 price tag for this one, especially since there's no online play.
But if you're an absolute "Trivial Pursuit" geek, long for a fresh set of questions and always find yourself losing those little pie-wedge game pieces, the game is a worthy investment. Think of it as a superdeluxe version of the game you've known and loved for decades.
Alternative modes liven things up. One challenges you to clear the board as quickly as possible, while another challenges you to place bets on whether or not opponents know the answer to each question, giving the game a "Double Dare"-style feel.
"Wanted: Weapons of Fate" (360, PS3, $60, Mature)
You'd think a game released eight months after the movie on which it's based would be silk-smooth, but "Weapons of Fate" feels rushed.
The story picks up where the film left off, letting you guide your sarcastic, bullet-path-curving hero through his newfound assassin underworld. The game is a straightforward shooter based on clunkily moving your character from one cover spot to the next. It's worth playing through only to find out what happens next in the well-written scenes — worthy of the excellent movie it follows — that play out in between levels. That's rarely the case in shooters.
There's no multiplayer, but that's OK because so much of the game involves slowing down time to kill a swarm of enemies and cheaply taking out hunkered-down enemies by curving bullets toward them.
