Out already in Europe and Japan, Personal Trainer: Cooking launches in North America on November 24. Like other upcoming Personal Trainer titles (Math! Walking!), Cooking is more tutor than game. After sampling its recipes, we developed a taste for the concept. The cookbook of 245 dishes gives step-by-step instructions, meeting chefs with a range of skill levels.

Age of Empires: Mythologies follows the style of the DS Age of Kings, turning the PC real-time strategy into a portable, turn-based title. We checked out the game a the Nintendo Media Summit and found a lot of depth in the transition. While you'll only choose from Greek, Norse, or Egyptian armies, there's still ample Age of Empires inside.

The Rabbids are back. We liked the original, thought they dozed on the sequel, and hope the combination of randomness and fun returns for TV Party. More than 50 mini-games are shipping with the new Wii game, most of which will be playable with four people. About 30 percent of the games will be able to use the Balance Board, although the fad device won't be required.

We played three mini-games at the Nintendo Media Summit and are hopeful that this will be the best version yet. We'll know for sure after the November 11 release.

Game companies must find old IP profitable, with yet another retro remake on the way in Tecmo Bowl Kickoff. This DS diversion plunges into the nostalgia glands within our hypothalamus; we fondly associate the NES original with grade-school sleep-overs. Maybe there's a direct connection between our memories and Visa card after all.

And on that level, Tecmo Bowl wins. It's hokey, clunky, and fun. We think gamers who missed the NES or SNES versions won't enjoy it nearly as much as their John Maddens. But the Tecmo Bowl simplicity can even be elegant. You're limited to just a few runs and passes. There's no play clock. Team names and players are fictitious. Cut-scene interludes show the biggest graphical effects, with on-field play just clear enough to make out what's happening.

We've soaked up Tetris on countless platforms. There's a balance to strike between versions that retain enough of the core game to be authentically Tetris, and adding new puzzle elements. Tetris Party for WiiWare nails this demand, providing about a dozen game modes, many of which, are all-new. Call it "yet another Tetris?" Maybe. But this is a Tetris on which we'll gladly spend 1,200 Wii points with its release sometime this month.

Nintendo claims there are 18 modes, 10 of which are new, but we only agree technically; the company counts some modes twice as single- and multi-player games. (Most modes support up to four players on one system, and a few work with up to six online.) We tore into as many as we could before overloading like a kid on a Halloween sugar-high. Here's how they stand up.

We played Cave Story at the Nintendo Media Summit, and other than controlling the game with the Wii Remote – old-school sideways, natch' – it's nearly the same as the free PC and Mac game. The retro look and gameplay make this seem like an overlooked garage-sale find, for good or bad. (Usually good.)

Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop thins components from the 360 original into a Wii port. And that's not always a bad thing. As much as we liked the original, we were frustrated by losing track of side missions and the unforgiving save system. The Wii remake addresses both issues, running players through a condensed, linear story with more frequent save- and restore-points. And Wii controls often feel good, especially for pointing and shooting, although we're still uncertain about some of the motion additions, such as shaking off zombies.

But after playing at the Nintendo Media Summit, we're apprehensive about what's being lost. There's no photojournalism, many weapons have been cut, and we're just not sure if the Wii can push enough zombies-per-second to create the ambling masses of the first. The Wii version seems suited to gamers who never tried the original; it'll hold up better without any direct comparison to the 360 game.

Animal Crossing is a one-hit-wonder. You might like it and play it forever, hate it and avoid it completely, or think it was catchy and then just get tired of the tune. Animal Crossing: City Folk does little to change our perception. This is Animal Crossing, again; go fishing, pull weeds, repeat. Some love it, some hate it, and some just want something new.

From what we saw at the Nintendo Media Summit, the city is just another place to go. Instead of Tom Nook's shop in your own town, you can buy from an upscale store. Instead of waiting for the fortune teller to visit, you can see her in the city. A few minor additions include a city-based auction house and theater where you see shows.

The rest of the updates seem equally subtle. You can play with your Mii face. Up to four players can meet in one of their towns or the city. Gamer can talk over the WiiSpeak microphone (sold separately). You can type messages by plugging in any USB HID keyboard. Otherwise, it's Animal Crossing again.

We wandered the booths of E for All in Los Angeles over the weekend, taking in what the show had to offer. It all inexplicably began with a rousing tune played by a troupe of bagpipers. What? We weren't sure what the tie-in there was either, unless there's a Bagpipe Hero in the works. You heard it hear first.

Inside, we made our way through the maze of games and past the hordes of schwag-seekers to the interior, where we watched people vie for prizes and sampled some of the local fare. Check out some of our highlights after the break, including the audio of the bagpipery, our encounter with both Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell, and also Wolf from American Gladiators and what we thought about the show in general. Plus, you can also revel in the glory of our E for All gallery.

As an extra treat, check out the audio from the bagpipes that began it all below. Now if you just mail us your $35 money order, you can feel like you were there.

One of the biggest things we missed at E3 this year was the upcoming Vigil Games / THQ title, Darksiders: Wrath of War. How we managed to miss this one is still unclear -- we can only assume that it was in our blind spot the entire time. So, during our recent jaunt down to Austin for the Game Developer's Conference, we made time to stop by Vigil and take an in-depth look at the the team's debut title and two-year labor. Luckily, they weren't holding any grudges against our non-existent E3 coverage and were nice enough to give us a huge chunk of time with the game and the designers.

Concept artist and Vigil founder Joe Madureira and lead designer Hadyn Dalton sat down with us for two hours, taking us through the game and showing us levels that haven't been released to the public just yet. We got to take control of protagonist War and do battle with enemies, solve puzzles, and even take his massive warhorse Ruin for a spin. Check out the full writeup after the break, and be sure to check out the gallery, full of exclusive images from the game, just below. If you've been itching for a Joe Madureira Battle Chasers fix, this might be about as close as you can get.

It's official. Gaming-related cosplay has crashed the anime party. You'd think a bastion such as the New York Anime Festival would be sacred ground for pure Naruto costume play, but it certainly was not this weekend. With the three-day event at the Manhattan Jacob Javitz Center wrapping up today, we've seen hundreds of gamers strut their stuff amongst the common 'Misa Misas' and 'Sasukes.'

Who did we see at the show? Well for starters, the cool kids from The World Ends With You showed us just how awesome it is to be a Shibuya wallflower. Then, we greased up and wrestled with El Blaze from Virtua Fighter 5 -- he was tough by the way. The Persona 3 crew refrained from shooting themselves in the head to take a picture for us, which was a nice gesture. In honor of the festival's guest of honor, Yoshitaka Amano, several people dressed up as Amano-inspired Final Fantasy characters. Evermore intriguing, people also dressed up as characters from games that are not even out yet. Oh, and almost forgot, Pyramid Head; you can't have a convention without one of those. Anyway, there's more in the gallery below (including a spot of anime cosplay). Can you name all the characters and what games they belong to?

All week, Joystiq will be revealing the 25 finalists for the IndieCade: International Festival of Independent Games, set to take place October 10 through 17 in Bellevue, Washington. The winners will be announced on October 11.

Machinarium

We would hope it'd be enough to say it's from the creators of Samorost, but if we have to go on, Machinarium takes the classic point-and-click adventure game model and applies it to a world with more character than the 1,000 copies of Scrapland sitting in American McGee's garage waiting to be loved.

All week, Joystiq will be revealing the 26 finalists for the IndieCade: International Festival of Independent Games, set to take place October 10 through 17 in Bellevue, Washington. The winners will be announced on October 11.

And Yet it Moves
This Austrian-born title has a unique, papercraft-inspired art style and a simple trick (rotate the camera) that serves as the focus of a maddening, yet rewarding, puzzle platformer. A demo is available at the game's website for both Windows and Mac.

Some of you have seen these before, now buried in a pile of damp, wrinkly magazines stacked next to the john. Others capitalized on the brief window of opportunity that afforded speedy clicksters a glimpse at Game Informer's "world exclusive" Batman: Arkham Asylum images before Warner Bros. had 'em yanked from (most) corners of the internet. Today, the rest of us can finally be in on the experience. So go ahead, browse the gallery below -- and by all means, take your time.

Despite appearances of similarities, Warhammer Online and World of Warcraft are very different games. Looking at screenshots and videos will only tell you so much, because it's under the hood where you'll find the differences. That's where this handy guide comes into play. It's here to explain why certain quests in WAR are considered "public" and what "instances" are really all about. Unlike our previous guide, this is for the total MMO newb.

The MMO genre has been slow to evolve. A primary reason being that games take a long time to come to market. So what's so special about these two games that you'd actually want to know the differences between them? Click on through to find out.