Dragon Quest 9 -- Scheduled Release: Summer
"Nintendo must overcome several challenges before Dragon Quest 9 can succeed. The first is Nintendo's lack of recent experience with RPGs. They're going to have to dig deep and go back to their SNES heyday, when they were pushing other publishers' successful RPGs left and right. Another big obstacle: DQ9's offline multiplayer features. The main quest lets you create a party using pre-made characters, but you can also hook up with three friends to complete the game together. This may work well in Japan, but it's asking a lot of U.S. gamers. Given that the Japanese release didn't include online play, Nintendo and Square Enix are going to have to come up with some sort of solution to make the mode viable." -- Jeremy Signor (read the full article here)

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge  -- Scheduled Release: Summer
"LeChuck's Revenge stands among giants. For me, it ranks with games such as Super Mario Bros., Final Fantasy 6, Xenogears, Super Metroid, and Ico -- games that have defined my love of the medium. They are games that mean something personal to me; experiences that remain vivid despite the ravages of time. I am giddy with anticipation for the special edition. After the superb respect paid to the special edition of the first game, I have total faith in LucasArts' ability to remake my youth." -- Daniel Andres (read the full article here)

Civilization 5 -- Scheduled Release: September 1
"Civilization 5 overhauls the tired and broken combat system, and draws on the lessons learned from Civilization Revolution, the Colonization remake, and Lead Designer Jon Schafer’s expert knowledge of Panzer General. The new AI and leaders look like they’ll make the single-player game a more unique and individual experience, with each civilization having its own agenda that can vary greatly across campaigns. I can’t see how it won’t be the best Civilization to date." -- Richard Moss (read the full article here)

L.A. Noire -- Scheduled Release: Q3
"The most exciting aspect of this game is the fact that it's an homage to film noir. Is there a cooler setting than that? I truly hope they can capitalize on this artistic direction with gameplay and thematic elements. They are going to have to do something above and beyond conventional video game tropes to fully realize the potential of the art design." -- Andrew Hiscock (read the full article here)

Scribblenauts 2 -- Scheduled Release: Fall
"Despite my drive to push much further into Scribblenauts than many others had, I ultimately hit a wall. The frustration overpowered the small bits of joy so much that I just had to give up. Will Scribblenauts 2 solve that problem? God, I hope so. All they need to do is really nail the controls and I'll be happy. My concern is that they will instead spend entirely too much time trying to add a slew of new words and adjective support, and the controls will be just as broken as before." -- Alex R. Cronk-Young (read the full article here)

Fable 3 -- Scheduled Release: Q4
"While many may balk at the idea of removing some of the elements that add complexity to the Fable series, trimming some features and expanding on others should allow for more players to experience the true depth of this series. It should also make people less inclined to blow through the story in a ten-hour binge. Peter Molyneux, the game's designer, may talk endless about new features, such as adding a touch mechanic to Fable 3, but what he is really trying to do is to make more people feel more connected to their own personal experience while playing the game." -- Frank Anderson (read the full article here)