The King of Pop might have passed on, but this week gamers
can celebrate his legacy in the best way they know how: hopelessly trying to
keep up with his most epic dances.

Ubisoft's Michael Jackson The Experience is out now for the Wii, DS and PSP (Xbox 360 and PS3 versions are coming next year), and while it doesn't rewrite the dance game genre, it certainly looks like a thriller for fans. Check out the debut trailer, which we will not stop playing 'til we get enough:

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Thought it's a little weird watching a Jackson doppelganger bust out his legendary
moves, the trailer serves as an immediate reminder that, when all is said and
done, Michael was simply one of the best dancers anywhere,

Read More »from Michael Jackson returns to gaming in ‘The Experience’

With the third expansion to blockbuster online game World of
Warcraft just weeks from release, the folks at Blizzard Entertainment are in
the final stages of polishing and tweaking.
It's a tall order: Cataclysm not only adds new zones for high-level
characters, but radically revises the old level 1-60 areas.

We caught up with Blizzard's J. Allen Brack and Shon Damron
to find out what motivated the design choices behind the expansion, and what
Blizzard is doing to grab those folks (yes, there are still some) who have
never tried Warcraft.

Yahoo! Games: What was the philosophy behind revamping the
old world? Was it about attracting new
players, or just trying to keep the content from

Read More »from Get your Warcraft on – the ‘Cataclysm’ is coming

Spelling success Want to stick it to your Scrabble opponent? Then hope you spy "MUZJIKS" on your tile holder.

Not including the 50-point bingo for using all seven letters, bonuses for any double- or triple-letter/word scores and any points
doled out by connected words, the 29 natural points you can net for "MUZJIKS" makes it a true Scrabble heavyweight -- the highest scoring seven-letter shot out there. Use it on your first turn and you'll land a jaw-dropping 128 points, another high. Not bad for a rarely-used word describing Russian peasants.

Hasbro's long-running word game is more popular than ever these days, though it seems most folks are playing a copycat instead of the real deal. But whether you're

Read More »from Scrabble’s top seven-letter words

Can't wait for Gran Turismo? Play these racers instead

Game makers don't make it easy on us during the holidays. Every year, a glut
of blockbuster releases arrive simultaneously, each vying for a spot on
your holiday wish list. Couple that with whatever awesome games you
happened to miss in months prior, and you wind up with some dizzyingly
difficult decisions.

We're here to help.

Listed below you'll find three can't-miss holiday picks for each game system,
with an emphasis on titles released over the past two months. We've also
listed other games absolutely worth your holiday cash; with a bounty
this big, there's plenty of fun to be had.

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Xbox 360

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Halo: Reach [more info]
Halo Reach The swansong from original Halo developer Bungie is perhaps their veryRead More »from Holiday shopping: Three must-have holiday games for each system

Ever been playing a video game and got the feeling that you were just along for the ride?

Looks like that's literally true of Microsoft Kinect launch title Joy Ride, according to this Youtube video posted by user Geltonz. Despite him sitting entirely motionless
for the whole three-minute race -- and remember, this is supposed to be a
motion-control system -- he lands a bronze.

To be fair, Kinect Joy Ride isn't the most high-profile of the Kinect
launch lineup, but critics have still been scoring it around the 60% mark. That's not bad for a game where participation seems to be entirely optional.

Via Kotaku.

Read More »from Kinect Joy Ride: The game that plays itself

Civilization V

Civilization V

Platforms: PC

Fans of gaming's shockingly addictive Civilization series have had a long wait. It's been almost five years since the release of the series' last full installment, and expectations are running high for its fifth game, which releases this week.

Critics have already had their crack at it, of course, and the Civilization V verdict is trickling in: it's the best in the series so far, at least according to The Escapist's Greg Tito.

"My favorite Civilization to date," he writes. "Hex tiles and no stacking makes combat fun and more tactical...Civ V is an excellent game." Up for particular praise is the game's unobtrusive yet informative interface, its "welcome"

Read More »from Stunning new Civilization rules this week’s releases

GLENDALE, Calif. - When veteran video game designer Warren Spector
spots a pamphlet for a never-erected extension of Disneyland's Main
Street U.S.A. inside the Walt Disney Co.'s archive vault, his eyes seem like they want to burst out of their sockets through his oval-shaped glasses. The expression is not unlike
the cartoons that power his geeky enthusiasm.

The last time the "Deus Ex" designer was here three years ago, he
plunged deep into the depository with his colleagues in search of
inspiration for "Disney Epic Mickey," a daring action-adventure game
starring Mickey Mouse set for release Nov. 30 for Nintendo's Wii. He found it in drawings and paintings created long before Donkey Kong

Read More »from ‘Epic Mickey’ draws on Disney history