The Fast And The Furious - House Arrest - Kill Time Killing Everything

Drifting has taken the video game world by storm, and Namco's The Fast and The Furious jumps on board to offer gamers a sweet way to get into the action. Although the game shares the same name as the recent movie, this is not a "movie game." Developers say it takes place in a racing world that is "related" to the movie-meaning, the game can go in any direction without movie plot constraints.

Attention to detail shines here as developers worked closely with real world drivers and sport companies like Westco, Top Secret, McKinney Motorsports, and Spoon Sports to give gamers the authenticity and realism they expect. Not only that, but it boasts an impressive car list of nearly 100 vehicles, including Honda and Acura-who are notoriously hard to get for games that aren't strictly racing sims. There is a good balance between Tuner cars and American muscle cars, plus a few concept cars thrown into the mix so that car fans of all types can own and drive their ultimate rides.

Brand new game engines were built with groundbreaking mechanics and a revolutionary drift model that accommodates all levels of driving skill-from newbie drivers to the hardcore enthusiast.

The whole driving area is open-ended so gamers can cruise around at their leisure or take on rival drivers that happen by for a quick race to earn some extra cash. For the big money and prizes, the game focuses on two kinds of racing: Grip and Drift battles. In Grip battles, gamers race flat-out to win at all costs, where as in the Drift races, the points earned for style and execution is what gets gamers to the winner's circle. Gamers need to use that prize money to keep vehicles running fast and looking hot, and with all of the aftermarket parts available in the game, it's easy to spend that cash quickly. The Fast and The Furious breaks away from the generic movie game mold to bring fans a new experience in racing that looks as good as it plays.

Genji: Days Of The Blade
Last year, when Genji: Dawn of the Samurai debuted on the PS2, it became a hit with it's incredibly beautiful environments, great fighting, and an inspired storyline loosely based on Japanese historical events. For the second game in the series, Genji: Days of the Blade, developers take the game to new heights by jumping to the PS3 to become one of the first set of games released for the new, next-gen console.

Taking advantage of the new technology, Genji: Days of the Blade once again delves into the sweeping historical landscape of feudal Japan to pick up the story three years after the end of Dawn of the Samurai. Yoshitsune's continuing adventure provides gamers with plenty of action in small fights with just a few enemies to enormous battles on both land and sea with hundreds of warriors at a gamer's command. Two new characters are introduced to bring the total number of playable characters to four, and like all good character sets, each come with their unique fighting skills. Each of the characters can be swapped in or out anytime during gameplay to maximize a gamer's chance to defeat the enemies at hand. In bigger battles, it's possible to use all four characters to string together team-based fighting combos for devastating damage attacks to wipe out loads of enemies or to help take down a powerful warrior in a boss battle.

As in the first game, detailed environments come to life to create incredible backgrounds for the action at hand. Yoshitsune's world expands greatly in Days of the Blade, and there are formidable battles to tackle like the famous naval battle of Dannoura, and the huge land-based attacks on horseback at Ichinotani. Genji: Days of the Blade has much to live up to, but with the powerful PS3 console backing it up, gamers won't be disappointed in the intense action and gameplay the sequel has to offer.

Tekken: Dark Resurrection
The PSP has had it's share of hits and misses when PS2 games are directly ported over, but Namco's Tekken: Dark Resurrection makes a great transition from Tekken 5 and turns in a stellar game. For Dark Resurrection, two new characters named Lili and Dragunov make their debut, plus there are also over 30 playable characters so fans are sure to find their long-time favorites. The added bonus for the PSP is the fact that all the characters are available right from the start of the game, so gamers don't have to spend time going through story mode just to open new characters.

Dark Resurrection looks amazing on the PSP and all the hot, fighting action hasn't been watered down for the portable version. The battle venues and backgrounds are vibrant, richly detailed and have destructible objects that amp up action throughout all the stages of combat. All characters can be customized with cool accessories, hairstyles and gear that stay with the character even when going online to play against friends.

Like certain racing games, Dark Ressurrection uses "Ghosts" for gamers to go up against A.I. players of different skills and styles. Players can even record their own "ghost" of their fighting style to use in games, against friends or even trade them with friends for additional challenges. To acquire even more ghosts, just pop to the game's official website and get the Ghost Pack Download. For the PSP, load times can be a pitfall to the overall game, but Tekken: Dark Resurrection keeps the action moving between rounds with speedy load times and transitions. Namco scores big with Tekken: Dark Resurrection, a perfect port from the PS2 and one of the best games to be released on the PSP to date.