Playstation 3

Cost: Starting at $299.99, PlayStation 3 120GB System

Best for: Teens; hard-core gamers

Features: The PS3 is a total entertainment system. You can watch DVDs, view your favorite photos, listen to music, or go online and battle other gamers.

Cool factor: The Playstation 3 doubles as a Blu-ray disc player.

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One

The popular Ratchet & Clank series adds another game to its line-up with All 4 One. This is the first of the 10-game franchise to offer the ability for four people to play at the same time. Each player can serve as a main character, Rachet, Clank, Qwark, or villain Nefarious to battle against a mysterious and powerful force. Mixed with humor and incredible graphics, this new game offers the same level of entertainment and visual effects that Ratchet & Clank fans have come to love. Approriate for: The whole family ESRB Rating: Everyone

Madden NFL 12

Madden NFL 12 continues to the longstanding tradition of hard-hitting and exciting football play. Players can now fully control their movements, including tackling, blocking, hitting and more, and will enjoy more than 100 new tackle animations in this series. There have been countless updates in this game and players will notice improvements and new functionality in everything from the broadcast presentation to on-field authenticity. Appropriate for: Older kids

NBA 2K12

Basketball legends like Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are the stars of 2K Sports' latest basketball game, which lets players recreate and experience the basketball legends’ greatest games. Of course, it also provides the ability to step into the modern NBA as well, complete with action-packed games and seasons as well as a deep "my player" mode that offers control over an athlete's career. A prettier game of basketball has never been made; fans will recognize all their favorite stars and marvel at how fluidly they dribble and drive. ESRB Rating: Everyone Appropriate for: Older kids

Little Big Planet

Up to four players control the characters in this game that lets players jump, move, and grab objects, manipulating the environment to create lavish architectural creations. Levels focus on co-operative, physics-based game play where players use mechanisms such as cogs and blocks to build anything from small parts to large, complex worlds. Loaded with a powerful new set of tools that vastly widen the scope of possibilities in-game, LittleBigPlanet 2 moves far beyond familiar level editing and delivers the power to literally create whole games.  Appropriate for: The whole family ESRB Rating: Everyone

Carnival Island

Compatible with PlayStation Move, family members of all ages will enjoy the 35 carnival games and attractions that come with this game. Whether it’s ring toss, basketball throws, mini bowling or more, you can enjoy the carnival experience from the comforts of your living room. Kids will also love the feature that allows them to create their own funhouse mirror photo cutouts! Appropriate for: The whole family ESRB Rating: Rating pending

SingStar Dance

Instead of just singing, add dancing into the mix to become a double threat. Using the PlayStation Move motion controller, you can show off your best moves with SingStar dance. Up to four players can sing and dance with one or two microphones and show off their talents. Players can even download new dance tracks from the SingStore and then upload all-star performances to My SingStar Online. Appropriate for: The whole family ESRB Rating: Rating pending

Skate 3

This third version of the breakout hit videogame of 2007 introduces an all-new Skate School and sees players learning the latest moves and tricks on wheels. Skate 3 also offers new six-player multi-playing functionality that enables skaters to engage in head-to-head battles. To top off the extreme action, digital grinders encounter the videogame versions of real-life skating stars. Appropriate for: Older kids and tweens ESRB Rating: Teen

EyePet and Friends

EyePet gets an update – and invites a friend, too! Now there are two EyePets to take care of and nurture. Using the same technology and similar concept to the original EyePet game, this updated version doubles the fun and introduces new games and activities so that you can share in the care and feeding of your EyePet, with someone else! Appropriate for: Younger kids ESRB Rating: Everyone

3-D Dot Game Heroes

A loving throwback to early adventure games many parents grew up with (like the original Legend of Zelda), all characters and objects in this simple but beautiful game are made with tiny little blocks. Players can even use a simple editing tool to create their own avatars by stacking cubes and changing their colors. The game itself is a fun mishmash of dungeon exploration, enemy thwacking, and puzzle solving that will keep kids glued to their seats for as long as parents let them play. Appropriate for: Older kids ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+

Sports Champions

The game that's bundled with PlayStation 3's motion control platform, Sports Champions lets players engage in half a dozen athletic events and games, including bocce ball, beach volleyball, disc golf, archery, table tennis, and gladiator duel. The best of the bunch are the last three, which give players unparalleled one-to-one control. Kids watch in wonder as their avatar's paddle-wielding hand mimics every twist and turn of their wrist. Gladiator duel -- a game that involves swords and shields but no blood or killing -- can be a little intense, making this one best suited for slightly older kids. Appropriate for: Older kids ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+

EyePet

Kids can watch and interact with virtual animals frolicking on their living room floors in this virtual pet simulator, which uses the PlayStation Eye camera and the PlayStation Move Motion Controller, to make it appear as though the player is actually holding food, a hair brush, or even a shower head. Players must keep their Monchichi-like animals clean, healthy, and happy over the course of brief, daily play sessions in order to be rewarded with toys that they and their pets can enjoy, plus new outfits for their pets. Appropriate for: Younger kids ESRB Rating: Everyone

Disney Sing It: Family Hits

Unlike other Disney karaoke games, which tend to be packed with songs from the company's current crop of teen singing sensations, Family Hits focuses on tunes made famous in Disney's library of classic theatrical films. You and your kids will be belting out "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin's "A Whole New World," Cinderella's "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo," and even Mary Poppins's memorable "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." There are more than two dozen hits in all, and chances are the whole family will know all of them. (Also available for Wii.) Appropriate for: Younger and older kids ESRB Rating: Everyone

Start the Party

Another game designed for PlayStation Move, this is a collection of simple mini-games in which players see themselves onscreen holding virtual objects that have been mapped to their controller-wielding hand. In one game players might swat bugs that seem to be flying around the living room, and in another they use the controller as a flashlight to find roaming, floating ghosts. Games can be organized into competitions for group play, but most families will enjoy taking turns with the controller for short bursts of fun, or to see who can achieve the highest score in a particular game. Note: Players need the PlayStation Move platform for this game. Appropriate for: Younger and Older kids ESRB Rating: Everyone

Tumble

Stacking has never been this much fun! Tumble is a downloadable game that has players using the PlayStation Move Motion Controller to pick up and manipulate blocks of varying sizes and textures before gently placing them on top of a continually growing -- and teetering -- tower. The single-player portion of the game involves both building towers and destroying them, while the multiplayer mode allows players to hand off the controller to a friend so they can take turns stacking, trying to reach specific height milestones while stymieing their opponent. It's a habit-forming hoot. Note: Players need the PlayStation Move platform for this game. Appropriate for: Younger and older kids ESRB Rating: Everyone

ModNation Racers

A wonderfully creative and original kart racing game, ModNation Racers allows players to build their own karts and racetracks from scratch. Creating a circuit is simply a matter of picking a road surface or decorative building from a menu and pressing a button to "paint" it onto the environment. Players don't even have to finish their tracks; they do as much as they like and then have the computer close the course and make it ready to race. The difficulty level in the career mode can spike surprisingly high, making it a better choice for older, more skilled kids. (Also available for PSP.) Appropriate for: Older Kids ESRB Rating: Everyone

NBA 2K11

Michael Jordan is the star of 2K Sports' latest basketball game, which lets players recreate and experience ten of the basketball legend's greatest games. Of course, it also provides the ability to step into the modern NBA as well, complete with action-packed games and seasons as well as a deep "my player" mode that offers control over an athlete's career. A prettier game of basketball has never been made; fans will recognize all their favorite stars and marvel at how fluidly they dribble and drive. (Also available for Xbox 360, Wii, Windows PCs, PSP, PlayStation 2.) Appropriate for: Older Kids ESRB Rating: Everyone

Create

Create allows players to explore their imaginations on their televisions. A robust set of tools, including stickers, animated objects, and backdrops, lets users create wildly original scenes. Meanwhile, a series of more than 100 challenges forces players to test their creative skills by discovering a way to, say, push a group of balls across the screen to a finish line or have a little buggy safely make its way through series of obstacles. And if a player creates something truly special, he can share it with the game's online community or download someone else's creation to tinker with. (Also available for Xbox 360, Wii, Windows PCs, and Macs.) Appropriate for: Younger and older Kids ESRB Rating: Everyone

Hasbro Family Game Night 3

Family nights spent playing board games are fun, but what happens when you begin losing cards and pieces or spill punch all over the board? These are problems you'll never encounter with the third installment in Hasbro Family Game Night, a collection of classic, all-ages board games in digital form. The latest edition includes Clue, Twister, Mouse Trap, The Game of Life, and Yahtzee. But if the rest of the family is too busy to play, single players can connect with fans around the country via online multiplayer. (Also available for Xbox 360 and Wii.) Appropriate for: Younger and older Kids ESRB Rating: Everyone

Joe Danger

This cartoonish, downloadable motorcycle racing game is essentially Excitebike for a new generation. Players race down a straight track taking on or avoiding obstacles such as ramps and hurdles as they try to collect items, score points, and reach the finish line as quickly as possible. If kids tire of the career mode, they can head into the track editor and create the course of their dreams, making sky-high jumps and wild loops. The action is completely innocuous, but a sometimes demanding level of difficulty makes it a better fit for older kids. Appropriate for: Older kids ESRB Rating: Everyone

Where the Wild Things Are

This beautifully atmospheric video game does much more than simply retell the story of the big-screen, Maurice Sendak-inspired movie. Find great PS3 deals at Gamefly, Target, Best Buy, and J&R Computer World. You'll get up to 20% cash back when you shop online through Parenting Privileges. Appropriate for: Older Kids (and younger kids who won't get freaked out by a few scary parts) ESRB Rating: E for Everyone

Flowers

Flower is, in a word, stunning. It almost feels more like an interactive art experience than a video game. The player takes control of the wind, shifting from a light breeze to a blustery whoosh whenever desired. You brush past blooming flowers and carry their petals with you. As the brilliantly colored petals rush past certain areas in the environment, they cause changes - new stems sprout up, new grass grows, the world brightens. It's an astonishingly uplifting experience that shows just how different and unique a video game can be. Appropriate for: Younger and older Kids ESRB Rating: E for Everyone

Katamari Forever

The strange-yet-addictive Katamari games have developed a cult following, and this entry - the first on the PS3 - offers the grandest, most immersive experience yet. Here's the admittedly surreal concept: A katamari is a little ball - rolled around by a thimble-sized prince - which has its own gravitational pull. Anything smaller than the katamari will stick to it, so as you steer your ball through houses, parks, cities, etc, a snowball effect occurs and the katamari gets bigger and bigger. Appropriate for: Older Kids ESRB Rating: E for Everyone

Ratchet & Clank Future

This team of likable PlayStation heroes - a laser-toting space cat and his robot sidekick - pumps out more action than your average Hollywood summer blockbuster. In their latest outing, you'll find their gorgeously rendered sci-fi world packed with danger, and it'll take quick thinking and fast reflexes to help them stop an intergalactic war and save a peaceful alien race under attack. The whole thing plays out very much like an interactive movie, and the graphics are not too far behind what you could see in a lot of theatrical releases today. Appropriate for: Older Kids ESRB Rating: E10+ for Everyone 10+

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

In a game that loosely follows the storyline of Ice Age 3, the movie, players get a chance to take on the roles of most major characters from the film - Sid the sloth, Diego the sabertooth, Manny the mammoth, and Scrat the strange furry little whatchamawhosit. Appropriate for: Older Kids ESRB Rating: E10+ for Everyone 10+

Critter Crunch

What may at first appear to be a standard things-move-down-from-the-top-of-the-screen puzzle game, turns out to be a creatively different, undeniably fun pastime. Players control a cute fuzzball monster who must stop the downward rain of Pokemon-looking critters. He does so by grabbing smaller critters with his long, frog-like tongue and feeding them to larger critters, essentially following the food chain. As levels progress, new elements are added, and disposing of the advancing critters becomes more and more complicated, making for frantic thrills through the entire game. Appropriate for: Older Kids (and younger kids who get the "small-medium-large" concept) ESRB Rating: E for Everyone

Band Hero

For kids who want the virtual rock idol experience of Guitar Hero, but are not so into the Ozzy Osbourne-heavy soundtrack of those games, here comes Band Hero. Appropriate for: Older Kids ESRB Rating: E10+ for Everyone 10+

Disney Sing It! Pop Hits

This karaoke game aims squarely at the wide world of tween idol fandom and lands a slam dunk. Fans of the Jonas Brothers, Hannah Montana, Jesse McCartney, and Demi Lovato will rejoice in the chance to sing along with their favorite tunes - complete with official music videos. Appropriate for: Older Kids ESRB Rating: E for Everyone

Hail to the Chimp

When the King of the Animals is forced to resign in disgrace, a ragtag group of candidates turns out for an action-packed bare-knuckle campaign to win the crown. Hail to the Chimp is a party game that delivers excitement, rich interactive environments, and unique team-up possibility so kids can mix cooperation with competition as they claw their way to victory. Appropriate for: Younger kids ESRB Rating: T for Teen

Face Breaker

Facebreaker is a wacky (but hard hitting) cartoony boxing game that demands digital fists to be flailed as gamers vie to become best of the best. The game incorporates "Game Face" technology, previously seen in the Tiger Woods titles, to allow armchair pugilists to import personal photos and transform themselves into in-game characters. Watch out: the beat downs can be graphic for the younger set. Appropriate for: Younger kids ESRB Rating: T for Teen

Spider-man Web of Shadows

Venom, Spidey's arch-nemesis, has returned to New York to infect the city with an army of alien symbiotes. After S.H.I.E.L.D. has quarantined Manhattan, Spider-Man and a ragtag team of heroes and villains have to work together to squash the menace in this action-packed title that features plenty of web-slinging and super-powered brawls throughout the city. Appropriate for: Older kids ESRB Rating: T for Teen

Little Big Planet

Two players control Sackboy and Sackgirl, ragdoll-like character that can jump, move, and grab objects, manipulating the environment to create lavish architectural creations. Levels focus on co-operative, physics-based gameplay where players use mechanisms such as cogs and blocks to build anything from small parts to large, complex worlds. Appropriate for: The whole family ESRB Rating: E for Everyone

Madden 09

The 20th anniversary of the king of videogame pigskin franchises adds several tweaks to further envelop players in the essence of pro football, including weather-specific animations, a new running engine, and the ability to create highlight clips that you care share with friends online. Pick your favorite teams and go for it! Appropriate for: The whole family ESRB Rating: E for Everyone

Rock Band 2

Rock Band 2 builds upon the success of the first game by adding more popular songs (such a Blondie's "One Way Or Another" and Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way"), and allowing players to purchase posters and figurines of their in-game characters. If you own the first Rock Band, here's some good news: most of the original game's downloadable content is compatible with the sequel. Appropriate for: The whole family ESRB Rating: T for Teen