Late in the Game Review: Dokapon Kingdom

Game title: Dokapon Kingdom
Platforms: Wii, PS2
Developer: Atlus
Release date: October 14, 2008

Late in the game review: Portal 2

Game title: Portal 2
Consoles: PS3, Xbox 360, PC/Mac
Developer: Valve
Release date: April 18, 2011

Late in the game review: Sonic Generations

Game title: Sonic Generations
Consoles: PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, 3DS, PC
Developers: Sega, Sonic Team
Release date: November 1, 2011

Late in the game review: Red Dead Redemption

Game title: Red Dead Redemption
Consoles: PS3, Xbox 360
Developer: Rockstar
Release Date: May 18, 2010

Flashback: Party however you want in Dragon Quest IX

For uninitiated readers, the Dragon Quest series is by far the most popular series of RPGs in Japan. It's not uncommon for Japanese businesses to shut down when a new Dragon Quest is released because so many employees have skipped work to pick up the next installment. The fact that the newest one is exclusive to the DS is a great asset to Nintendo. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies has some big shoes to fill, and it does not disappoint.

Flashback: Crackdown 2 is astoundingly mediocre

Crackdown 2 is finally out and gamers have greeted it with a well-deserved cry of "meh." The first Crackdown had more going for it: it included the Halo 3 beta.

Flashback: Transformers: War for Cybertron breeds Halo and Twisted Metal

The game industry is a lot like the film industry. More an more often, the fomula seems to boil down to taking existing intellectual property, adapting it to the medium and then cranking out as many sequels as possible. This has been done in video games for years, especially with superhero games, and thinking about these poorly-made, unoriginal disappointments gives the whole genre an overwhelming sense of dread. That's the feeling that comes when hearing that there's a new Tranformers game, but it will quickly dissipate this time around.