Blog Posts by Mike Smith

Gamers love fall: the leaves turn brown, the clocks go back, and stores nationwide fill up with an avalanche of shiny new video games.

True to form, the last few weeks have been packed with a bewildering quantity of top-tier releases that are sure to feature heavily on holiday wish-lists. But what should you know before buying a game as a gift? How can you tell if it's age-appropriate, or might be too much for a younger gamer to handle?

While the Entertainment Software Ratings Board -- or ESRB -- assigns each game a helpful age rating, not all Teen-rated games are created equal. Read on for the lowdown on six of the season's top picks.

(Photo credit: Alfred Hutter)Once a fixture of just about every town in America, the video game arcade isn't what it used to be. Beaten down by the popularity of high-tech consoles, the rise of longer, more complex games, and the general shift of childhood entertainment from streets and malls to homes and living rooms, arcades are mostly just a memory these days.

But with a little ingenuity, a little free space and a little spare change, it's a memory you can relive in the comfort of your own home. Depending on your funds -- and sheer desire to revive the glory days of your youth -- there are a few ways to go.

In case you didn't notice, Modern Warfare 3 is here.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda)Almost guaranteed to be the year's best-selling video game, the latest in the massive Call of Duty series is exploding onto store shelves just in time for the holiday season. The new game is formulaic, say the critics, but still awesome -- especially in multiplayer, where an avalanche of tweaks and changes add up to a game that some are calling the best in the series so far. Get the full details right here -- if you're not one of the millions that have already snapped up a copy.

Of course, Modern Warfare 3 isn't the only big game releasing this week. In fact, it might not even be biggest.

Uncharted 3 (Sony)Back for his third adventure, intrepid explorer Nathan Drake shows no signs of overstaying his welcome. Quite the opposite, if anything.

This week's Uncharted 3 brings all the thrills of a top-tier action movie to the world of video games -- and the critics are dubbing it one of the Playstation 3's best games. In fact, it's so good, we gave it its own write-up. Check it out right here.

But although Uncharted 3 might be the week's big news, there's plenty more out there -- including a downloadable expansion for Gears of War 3, a new Lord of the Rings adventure, and a chance to experience an all-time classic shooter in a revamped high-definition format. Read on for the full details.

Becoming a great chess player is a journey. And as is the case with any truly great game, understanding the rules is just the first step.

The second, we'd venture to say, is being able to identify, understand, and fix your mistakes. Fortunately, there are a few elementary (and easily corrected) blunders that nearly all beginner players fall into at some point. Dodge them, and grand mastery -- or, at any rate, a much better standard of play -- is just around the corner.

Here are seven of the most common.

You've walked the dog. You've gone around the world. Maybe you've even rocked the baby. You probably think you're pretty hot stuff.

Watch these five experts at work, and you'll most likely be thinking again.

There's more to true yo-yo mastery than a few quick spins and loops, it turns out. But never fear: in addition to wowing you with their skills, these vids will also give you a solid grounding in the steps needed to reproduce each feat. Learn one and you'll wow your friends; learn them all and you'll be world-class. Good luck.

Uncharted 3
Nathan Drake has a lot to live up to.

The star of Sony's Uncharted series has fought his way through Himalayan temples, trailed Marco Polo through the wildernesses of Persia, wooed more than his share of eligible female adventurers, and floored critics with Uncharted 2, a game that still ranks as one of the highest scoring games on the PS3. Just how do you top a performance like that?

You do it again.

You might associate jigsaw puzzles with quiet evenings in front of the fire, perhaps with a glass of eggnog and a cozy chair. Comforting, relaxing, reassuring: an untaxing pastime that's more soothing than stressful.

Don't expect such a mellow experience out of today's tougher jigsaws, however. Gone are the gentle 300-piece puzzlers of your youth, replaced by a range of multi-piece mindbenders that use every trick in the book to make your life difficult. Get ready to meet some of the hardest jigsaw puzzles in the world.