Blog Posts by Ben Silverman

Time to take a break.The humorist Don Marquis once said that "a sequel is an admission that you've been reduced to imitating yourself." He died in 1937, so I'm pretty sure he wasn't talking about video games. But glance at the sequel-flooded game industry these days and you'll know that he was on to something.

The good news? Despite their prevalence, video game sequels tend to be technically superior to their predecessors. They often fix flaws, improve visuals, and add features than fans have requested. The best games in most successful franchises are often not the first ones.

Skylanders Giants (Activision)Bad news for parents who are having trouble tracking down those suddenly elusive Skylanders toys: the problem is about to get a lot bigger.

Activision unveiled Skylanders Giants at the International Toy Fair in New York on Tuesday, bringing more figurines and a new video game adventure to fans of the franchise.

And those fans are legion. According to the NPD group, last year's Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure -- with its associated action figures -- was the top new children's property of 2011. More telling? A glance at empty retail shelves, which have been picked clean of the collectible little devils since their arrival last holiday season.

uDraw (THQ)Not every game is going to be a hit, but some misses are uglier than others. Much, much uglier.

During an investor call Thursday, troubled game publisher THQ drew a pretty grim picture of their uDraw game accessory.  Launched just before the 2011 holiday season, the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the device -- which lets users draw pictures and interact with games via a tablet-sized drawing pad -- failed to sell as well as the Wii version, which was released to decent sales in 2010.

And by 'failed to sell', we mean the thing totally tanked.  The company shipped about 1 million uDraws to retailers, but once they hit store shelves, they didn't budge. That leaves the company with a stunning 1.4 million units of uDraws taking up space in warehouses.

Nintendo might be thought of as a kid-friendly company, but they've proven over the years to be pretty good with the older crowd, too.

Much, much older.

Take the amazing case of gamer Kathleen "Kit" Connell, who credits her time spent with the Nintendo DS as the key to her mental acuity despite being 100 years old.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Square-Enix)The most misleading name in role-playing game history is back for seconds.

Releasing Tuesday, Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a direct sequel to Final Fantasy XIII, one of the most controversial games in the long-running franchise. It's a rare move by game makers Square-Enix; aside from a few spinoffs, they've traditionally introduced brand new worlds and characters in each new Final Fantasy release rather than pump out sequels.

So why now? Because while the last game was a sales monster, it was a polarizing experience for gamers. Many decried it as being too linear, featuring what amounted to a 25-hour tutorial before finally blossoming. And while it scored decently overall, Square-Enix couldn't shake the criticism.

Madden NFL 12 (EA Sports)The New England Patriots might be the odds-on favorite to win Super Bowl XLVI, but the New York Giants have proven an uncanny knack for making odds-makers look ridiculous.

And according to Madden, they're about to do it again.

EA Sports has simulated Sunday's Big Game in Madden NFL 12 on the Xbox 360, and in another insane playoff nail-biter, the Giants edged out the Patriots, 27-24, to take home the franchise's fourth Lombardi trophy.

Margaritaville Online (THQ)Everyone's getting in on the social games act these days. Even Jimmy Buffett.

Margaritaville Online is now officially kicking back on Facebook and iPad, bringing Buffett's beachy message of cheeseburgers and tropical hangouts to Parrotheads the world over.

"The Margaritaville laidback state of mind is inherently social, and this game has captured the spirit of that lifestyle," said Buffett, who added that "fans across the globe can party together any time and any place."

The founder of file-sharing site Megaupload isn't just considered one of the most notorious digital pirates in the world: he's also one of the best Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 players around.

Kim Dotcom (Getty Images)Unfortunately for Kim Dotcom, he's no longer on top of either game.

Last week, Dotcom was arrested in his New Zealand mansion over accusations that Megaupload cost copyright holders $500 million in lost revenue by facilitating millions of illegal downloads. That's keeping him tied up in court, which means he's not doing what any hardcore gamer should be doing: protecting his high score.