All mySimon Gaming Shopping Picks

Everyone's got a guilty pleasure, something you enjoy but don't want to admit you enjoy. Like Funyuns, Us Weekly, reality television, or '80s music. If you're a closet '80s music fan, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s has your name written all over it. From Quiet Riot to Ratt, Flock of Seagulls to Bow Wow Wow, the PS2 game lets you live out your rock star fantasies. Start out in "practice" mode and work... more

It's not just July; it's Harry Potter month. The latest movie (Order of the Phoenix) opens this week, and the next book comes out on the 21st. If that's not enough to keep you busy, get the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix video game, available for all platforms. You'll immerse yourself in magic, cast powerful spells, lead Dumbledore's army, play fun minigames, and marvel at how well they've recreated Hogwarts. More... more

In the Ratatouille video game, you can relive the movie's most thrilling and hilarious moments as you assume the role of Remy, a young rat who dreams of becoming a great French chef, despite the obvious problem of being a rat! From the underground sewers to the bustling streets of Paris, players dash, glide, and slide through 6 action-packed, visually stunning worlds filled with dangerous enemies, intense heists, and perilous missions. Players can go... more

Get ready for the MLB All-Star game next week with The Bigs, an arcade style baseball game with power-ups and special effects, fast-paced gameplay, and larger-than-life players and ballparks. Features include a career mode, where your rookie goes from his first MLB game to the World Series, as well as mini-games that help you improve your skills, like Home Run Pinball. According to Gamespot, "anyone looking for a fun, arcade-style baseball game would do... more

Burn rubber at 60 FPS with 4x full-screen anti-aliasing, motion blur, and high-dynamic-range lighting - all in crisp 720p high-definition glory. Forza Motorsport 2 is here for Xbox 360. Giving it a 9.2 (Superb) rating, GameSpot says "Forza 2 delivers on nearly every aspect you'd want in a Forza sequel. It drives incredibly, it's wonderfully presented, and it's rich with modes and features." Plus you can take your personalized car onto Xbox Live for... more

Need another reason to buy the Nintendo Wii? Mario Party 8 comes out today. Use the Wii remote to row through a river race, punch a statue to pieces, drag and drop toppings in a cake-decorating competition, and more activities in a carnival setting. The game features dozens of new mini-games that draw upon the Wii Remote's motion, pointing, and button control in a variety of ways. More Wii games.

Venture into the world of Jack Sparrow and make the waters safe for piracy in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. With dynamic swordplay, interactive surroundings, and a plot that includes characters from the movie as well as some of history's most notorious pirates, the game will let you relive all your childhood swashbuckling fantasies. Shop for Pirates of the Caribbean action figures.

Help Shrek and his friends defend the kingdom of Far, Far Away against Prince Charming and his bumbling band of fairytale friends in the Shrek the Third video game. Suitable for players ages 10 and up, the game features 20 levels from the movie and beyond, each designed with signature Shrek humor, as well as a cast of all-new villains and multiplayer mini-games. Compare prices on Shrek toys.

Grab your deck and drop into the extreme speed of downhill racing in Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, now available for GBA, PS2, Wii, and DS. From the rocky terrain of Machu Picchu to the streets of San Francisco, you will ride down the steepest hills in the world on a variety of skateboards, all of which have different attributes that affect gameplay. If you've got the Wii, you can control turns and more with... more

In the video game console wars, Microsoft has launched a new offensive with the Xbox 360 Elite, which hits stores this week. The black-is-the-new-white Elite has a massive 120GB hard drive (twice as big as the PS3) and comes with an HDMI output to make it easier to hook up to HDTVs. It also comes with a wireless controller and Xbox Live headset. Compare prices on Xbox 360 games.

The War of the Ring has commenced! As the Fellowship embarks on their quest to destroy the One Ring, you must defend the Free Peoples against Sauron's evil minion, the Nazgul Witch-King. The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (PC) comes out this week. The game features innovative social networking features, including integrated voice chat, instant messaging, and automatically updated web pages with your characters' in-game stats.

Create and play any character you can imagine, from noble warrior to sinister assassin to wizened sorcerer, in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which is now available for PS3. The game features "first-person melee and magic systems," as well as a new Radiant AI system, 1,000 non-player characters who come to life, over 200 hours of play time, and a new race for PS3 called the Knights of the Nine.

Fly through canyons and rip through cities battling multiple enemies in Armored Core 4, which comes out this week for PS3 and Xbox 360. Play out 30 missions in detailed futuristic 3D environments, using "Primal Armor," an all-new defense shield that adjusts its strength according to specific battle conditions. The game has a multiplayer functionality that allows up to 8 players to battle each other online.

Armed with all-new brutal combat moves and magic, God of War II sets an epic stage for a devastating mythological war to end all wars. Kratos sits atop his Olympus throne, far more ruthless than Ares ever was. Gamespot.com gives the game a 9.2 (superb) rating, saying, "God of War II is another violent and highly entertaining achievement for the action adventure genre, and it's a fitting closeout to the PlayStation 2 era."

MLB: The Show returns to bat for the 2007 season, with lots of new features, including Adaptive Pitching Intelligence (artificial intelligence that considers the strengths and weaknesses of each pitcher and analyzes the tendencies of batters), new umpire personalities, and Online League Play, which offers the ability to set up customizable leagues with up to 30 teams, complete with full stat tracking, point benefits, and rewards.