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Ever More Ways to Play

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For handheld gadget lovers, consider the PlayStation Portable, Sony's mobile game-playing device that also plays video and music files. There hasn't been a deluge of great games for this device, but the $250 gizmo is such a Swiss army knife that practically any gadget fan can entertain themselves with it.

For me, the only games that have held any interest have been the mature-themed Grand Theft Auto games, but cute oddball titles like Lumines II (sort of like Tetris) and LocoRoco have won enthusiastic reviews. LocoRoco is a Japanese-flavored title, where you roll and bounce a water-balloon-like figure across cartoony landscapes. Well . . . it's hard to describe, but people seem to love it, and it doesn't involve gangsters.

For younger game fans who have grown tired of or simply outgrown the GameBoy Advance, the $130 Nintendo DS is a flashy upgrade. The two-screen system, paired with a copy of New Super Mario Bros., can make the trip to grandmother's house seem a lot shorter for everybody concerned.

Get two DS systems, and the kids can play each other head-to-head -- wirelessly. It is a wonderful thing. While I hate to sell a lot of good games short, it's often the case that the best games for these handhelds come from Nintendo itself. Look for the name Mario in the title and, really, you can't go too far wrong.

Here's another tip. As a general rule, be careful when instinctively reaching for games that are tied to specific TV shows or movies. If I were cynical, I would say that it's almost as if gamemakers think parents will just snap these things up without doing any homework.

So, before grabbing a title with SpongeBob's face on it, check some online reviews. Most of these tie-in games, especially the ones aimed at kids, aren't all that great.

At Metacritic.com, a game review roundup site, the game for the animated movie "The Ant Bully" got an average review of 51 out of 100.

That sounds like one to avoid, to me. Come to think of it, you might be best off avoiding that "Sopranos" game for the grownups, as well.


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