Let's get the obvious out of the way — these games make serious dough.

"Business leaders have an opportunity to... reverse an alarming trend of not recognizing the sacrifices made by the men and women of our military service," CEO Robert Kotick tells Victor Godinez at the Dallas Morning News. Business leaders also have the opportunity to make a gajillion dollars on the backs of those sacrifices.

But, that's being jaded — perhaps too jaded. Video games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare have not been critical of the military like many war films of this past decade have. What's more, war, for better or worse, is an ideal setting for a video game. There's conflict, shooting, objectives — the laundry list goes on and on.

As Godinez points out, video games are filling that gap left by Hollywood.

"The last Brothers in Arms video game," developer Randy Pitchford says, "if that was a movie shot in live action, could never exist because it would cost a billion dollars."

Video games take command of war epics as movies retreat from recent conflicts [Dallas Morning News]

The World at War Map Pack Bundle collects all three of Treyarch's expansion packs for the latest World War II iteration of Call of Duty, which could be very convenient for those players who are showing up extremely late to the zombie Nazi party. The pack retails for $24.99 on the PlayStation Network and 2000 Microsoft points on Xbox Live, which works out to a savings of $5 either way you look at it. Okay, technically it works out to a savings of $4.98 on PSN, but pennies aren't real money anyway.

The pack will be available worldwide today for the Xbox 360 and in North America for the PS3, going up on the European PlayStation Store on January 7th.

Which is kinda what this game is like! Though, sadly, not exactly like; as this artwork shows, cues have been taken from the fan-favourite prequel series, but it's not quite the same. Ah well. Still looks a million times better than the spiky look-a-likes the films have been "blessed" with.

These two shots are just a sample; there's plenty more to be found at the Game Informer link below.

Transformers: War For Cybertron Art Gallery [Game Informer]

Remember when dinosaurs were cool? You know, when Jurassic Park ruled the box office, Dino Crisis wasn't set on a spaceship, and Turok wasn't totally lame? Recent reboots, such as 2008's return of the mohawked dino-hunter on consoles and, more recently, Will Ferrel's big screen remake of Land of the Lost, have failed to reignite interest in the beasts that so swiftly sent our jaws to the floor when they first rumbled across the silver screen in Spielberg's 1993 blockbuster. Finally, Jurassic: The Hunted puts the extinct monsters back in the pop culture spotlight, allowing them to once again sink their razor-sharp claws and drool-drenched choppers into willing fans.

While this budget title lacks much of the polish, production value, and creative vision that defines most current-gen shooters, there's no denying the dumb, B-movie-fueled fun you'll have picking off prehistoric beasties in this way under-the-radar release.

Loved
Dino-mite!:Let's not beat around the bush; shooting dinosaurs in the face is fun, and Jurassic: The Hunted delivers this experience in spades. Whether you're turning a cluster of acid-spitting foes into fleshy confetti with a well-placed grenade, shotgunning a killing blow before a velociraptor can tear your throat out, or hoofin' it from a screen-swallowing boss baddie, taking on Jurassic's beasts is a blast. Additionally, a familiar but fun-to-use arsenal-complete with cool reloading animations and punchy sound effects-nicely complement your killing spree. A quick-time button-mashing attack even allows you to punch the scaly menaces in the head-yes, please!

Dinosaurs Have Hearts:...And brains, and other vital organs you can blow up. We've seen the slo-mo, bullet-time, John Woo-meets-Matrix thing a dozen times, but Jurassic's take is one of the more inventive that's come along in awhile. When in slow motion, dubbed "adrenaline burst", you'll see enemies' vital organs light up like Tiger Wood's cell phone on a Friday night. So, for a limited time, these beasties' big pumping hearts and tiny pea brains are easy targets. It's a fun mechanic that makes two very familiar game tropes-slo-mo mode and weak points-feel somewhat fresh again.

Straightforward Fun:Aside from allowing us to fire hot lead into the bright, shiny hearts and brains of our enemies, Jurassic brings nothing new to the genre. That's mostly okay, though, as the comfort-food formula more than serves the purpose here. Red barrels explode, conveniently-placed crates brim with ammo, and enemies run towards your reticule. Similarly, the controls are ripped right from the FPS play book; shoot, jump, crouch, sprint, and grenade-toss pretty much cover it. The gameplay is simple, solid, and never gets in the way of the game's goal of allowing the player to stack dino corpses like cord wood.

Hated
Linear Lost World:While Jurassic's gameplay actually benefits from a no-frills approach, the level layouts suffer from it. Many shooters successfully hide their linearity with set pieces and the inherent nature of claustrophobic interiors, but Jurassic's vast jungle setting is anything but. It's not easy setting players loose in an organic environment, where man made obstacles are few and far between, and keeping them on a set path. By the end of the first hour, you'll begin to wonder how many more rocky outcroppings and creatively positioned tree trunks Jurassic will place in your path to ensure you remain on the straight and narrow. Linear shooters are nothing new, but Jurassic's environment's struggle to keep the restricted paths believable.

Fake Plastic Trees:Sullying the level design even further is environments that look as though they were pulled from a Hollywood studio's back lot. Trekking through the very green, very static jungle is more evocative of Disney World's Jungle Cruise ride than a mysterious lost world inhabited by dinosaurs. We've seen technology progress so much in other jungle-set titles that it really sticks out when individual blades of grass don't realistically react to the wind, or when bullets don't tear through foliage. As fun as it is blasting through packs of dinos, you're pulled from the experience a bit by the feeling that you're battling them in the produce section of your local supermarket.

If you're tired of peering down the barrel at yet another zombie horde, Jurassic's prehistoric giants might be just what the paleontologist ordered. Despite lacking the graphical polish and creative design of its contemporaries, it still packs plenty of satisfying, straightforward action, complemented by a good selection of weapons, frantic firefights and, of course, dead dinos.

An entertaining single-player romp, supported by silly B-movie style, and a solid live-as-long-as-you-can local Survivor mode, make Jurassic a worthwhile budget purchase or Gamefly rental. It doesn't quite recapture the magic of the dino-crazed 90s, but as a potential sleeper-hit it could pave the way for a T-Rex renaissance.

Jurassic: The Hunted was developed by Cauldron and published by Activision for Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2 on November 3rd. Retails for $29.99 to $39.99. A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Completed the game's campaign on Xbox 360 and played Survivor mode.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ. Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

NOTE: Throughout the month of December, Kotaku will review some of the games that we missed earlier in the year. We're catching up.

Kicking off Kotaku's review of 2009 are the headlines that generated the most heat, if not light, from the preceding year. The conflicts fracture along familiar faultlines - legal claims; violence and in-game content; marketing and etc. And by no means is this an exhaustive list. There were plenty of other decisions, indecisions, gaffes, gambits and shrewd calls made by the games industry - a dynamic capitalist enterprise, of course - and we invite you to continue the discussion of them in our comments.

Knuckleheaded
EA's press promo for Godfather II backfires when the brass knuckles it sends (including a pair to Crecente) turn out to be illegal in many of the states to which they are shipped (including Colorado). It's also illegal to ship them in California, where EA is based. EA asks for all of the knuckles back. Godfather II then backfires when the game sucks.

One Fallujah the Cuckoo's Nest
Konami tiptoed up to the "too soon?" line by announcing "Six Days in Fallujah," a combat FPS based on the deadly 2006 American operation to pacify the region in Iraq. Then developer Atomic Games took a flying leap over the line by mentioning it had consulted with insurgents on the game's initial design. By the end of the month, Konami dropped the project like it was a hot, nuclear-waste infused pop-tart. Atomic continued to insist the project was alive, while shopping it to other publishers. But by the end of the year, Atomic president Peter Tamte seemed to have gotten further with his idea for a "family-friendly" game about Marines pacifying Beirut, instead. That one is scheduled for a January 2010 release. Apparently, in video games, it's all about location, location, location. [Thanks to commenter ashleyillman001 for reminding us of this one.]

Our Legal Team Goes to 11
Activision's lawyers file a face-melting suit against studio Double Fine over Brütal Legend, whose publishing shifted over from Activision to Electronic Arts earlier in the year. Activision seeks to halt the game's release on grounds that Double Fine missed a key deadline when it was accountable to Activision. EA, not sued, still tells Activision STFU, and that they're just jealous in the manner of "a husband abandoning his family and then suing after his wife meets a better looking guy." Double Fine countersues, alleging Activision was trying to kill off Brütal Legend, seeing it as a threat to Guitar Hero. Ultimately, the two sides settle out of court, and Brütal Legend makes its declared release day.

Turn Out the Lights, the LAN Party's Over
StarCraft is a longtime staple of LAN parties, but that tradition will end with StarCraft II. In late June, Blizzard tells Kotaku that the title will not support local area network gaming, and will instead steer players over to "our upgraded Battle.net service." One of the reasons given is that it cuts down on piracy. Predictably, Starcraft enthusiasts head to the Batpoles to draft a petition. Instead of making fist-shaking demands and threatening boycotts, what comes out is more of a polite "please?" The effort has gathered 244,510 signatures to date. But at Blizzcon, executive v.p. of game design Rob Pardo tells Fahey that "Only from the press," is Blizzard still taking flak for the decision. "Everyone else has accepted it."

Edgy Edged Edginess over Edge
Tim Langdell had a terrible reputation within the games industry prior to this year, but his pissing contest with Mobigame over the word "Edge" represents a coming out party. Langdell, excoriated for his aggressive defense of the trademark "Edge," which he registered years ago, has Mobigame's acclaimed title for the iPhone removed from the iTunes App Store in May. The controversy and terrible publicity result in Langdell's resignation from the board of the International Game Developers Association, and ultimately Electronic Arts suing to cancel Langdell's trademarks, over a dispute regarding 2008's Mirror's Edge. Mobigame's game resurfaces as "Mobigame by Edge" later in the year.

Who Sold Out Whom?
At E3 2009, Valve's announcement of Left 4 Dead 2 ignites feelings of betrayal and marginalization in some who bought the original Left 4 Dead barely seven months before. Immediately a boycott group forms on the Steam forums, vowing not to buy or play the new game. Some 10,000 people join it in the first few days. Stern criticisms include: "The fiddle-based horde music is extremely disliked, though the differently orchestrated music is otherwise welcome." In September, Valve shrewdly co-opts the boycott's leadership, flying two of its organizers to Valve HQ to get some hands-on time with Left 4 Dead 2. Both immediately sing its praises. On launch day in November, most in the boycott stick to their guns, but many cave in and play anyway.

Dante's Fiasco(es)
The Dante's Inferno marketing team was apparently on a rampage to execute the most boneheaded campaign of any title in 2009. After sending a bunch of fake religious zealots to E3 to protest the game there, pissing off real religious zealots with the stereotype, they cook up the "Sin to Win" whopper of Comic-Con. Basically, Comic-Con goers were encouraged to "commit acts of lust" by having their photos taken with booth babes, then submit the photos for judgment and a chance to win a "sinful night with two hot girls," plus other amenities. Outrage catches on, and the Dante's Inferno team apologizes. A real booth babe rips them a new one, and a gay man wins a runner-up prize for submitting his picture with a "booth bear."

Made from Scratch
It's a story that combines 2009's trendiest douche moves - lawsuits, and layoffs. In April, Activision is sued by publisher Genius Products and peripheral maker Numark Industries over its acquisition of 7 Studios, conveniently and coincidentally developing a rival game to Activision's own DJ Hero. A court in L.A. orders Activision to give over all the code from the competing title - Scratch: The Ultimate DJ. The two sides settle on a cash-for-code prisoner exchange, and Scratch is rebooked for an early 2010 release. DJ Hero, despite reasonably good reviews and a full-bore marketing campaign, disappoints in sales, which doesn't look good for Scratch next year. Finally, once 7 Studios is no longer useful to this corporate psychodrama, Activision lays off half of its workforce.

Sambo No Amigo
Scribblenauts, the wildly creative DS hit developed by 5th Cell, encounters an unintentional problem with racial sensitivity when writing the word "sambo" creates a watermelon on the screen. In the minor video games market known as the United States, both are overtly racist images with a history going back decades. 5th Cell points out the game is developed for multiple countries and languages, and that the watermelon summoned is in fact a "fig-leafed gourd," by which it is apparently known as "sambo" in Spanish. The game's publisher, Warner Bros. Interactive issues a more comprehensive apology, expressing deep regret for the word's inclusion. Internet tough-guy commenters who don't see what the trouble is with the word "sambo" are invited to say it around their black friends. None has any.

Shut Your Hole
Courtney Love, wife of self-martyred pop star Kurt Cobain, announces via Twitter she's gonna "sue the shit out of Activision," over its insensitive use of her hubby's likeness in Guitar Hero 5 - which includes his avatar singing songs not performed by Nirvana, which means in someone else's voice. Activision's response is all, "Um, RTFA," and points to the contract she in fact signed granting the use of Cobain's likeness as a "fully playable character." Jon Bon Jovi backs Love, saying he nothankyou.jpg'd Activision's offer of an appearance in the same game. Then Gwen Stefani, not one to be out-dramaqueened, and her band No Doubt file a lawsuit similar to Love's. Activision returns fire, suing No Doubt for failure to perform due diligence and breach of contract. Congratulations, everyone now looks bad.

A Lack of Dedication
In October, Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling goes on a podcast with hardcore Modern Warfare fans and announces the creation of the matchmaking service IWNet. You then hear the gears turning in the podcast hosts' heads: But ... that ... means the end of ... dedicated servers ... right? Right. Immediately, petitions and boycotts are announced, gathering some 20,000 signatures in the first day. Infinity Ward sticks to its claim that IWNet will be an improvement. By launch day, the boycott is effectively over.

Video About Gamers' Insensitivity Not Acceptable
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher - and noted Modern Warfare enthusiast - Cole Hamels (pictured) reminds us that "grenades are for pussies," in a faux-public service announcement brought to you by "Fight Against Grenade Spam." That, of course, makes the acronym FAGS and all, or at least partial, hell breaks loose. Infinity Ward, the producer of the video, is upbraided not so much for a veiled homophobic slur, but for a clip that portrays the game's community as dominated by uber-macho, insult-spewing assclowns. Infinity Ward removes the video the next day.

No Russian Was Harmed in the Making
Leaked gameplay footage of Modern Warfare 2 shows that players will - in the guise of an undercover mission - join terrorists as they invade an airport, kill and commit atrocities against civilians. Activision immediately points out the mission is skippable, both before it begins and at any point during it, and is "designed to evoke the atrocities of terrorism." The game, already classified for sale in Australia, is the subject of brief demands to have it reclassified and effectively banned, but they go nowhere. The sequence is removed from versions sold in Russia, and modified in the Japanese and German versions so that players shooting any civilians are given a "game over" screen. The Japanese version courts additional controversy when the mistranslation of "Remember, no Russian," - instructions to the terrorists not to speak in that language - comes out as "Kill ‘em, the Russians." In the United States, Totilo goes on MSNBC to plead for national calm and mainstream outrage fails to materialize.Modern Warfare 2 goes on to sell more than 4.7 million copies in the North America and the U.K. - on the day of its release.

Frumps on the Barbie
Australia's lack of an R18+ classification for video games comes back to the fore when Left 4 Dead 2 is refused classification by the nation's Review Board. Valve's reaction is, in order, to be "pretty bummed," then to appeal the refused classification and then finally publish a spitefully power-sanitized version just for Australia, which might as well have been titled Imagine: Zombiez.

Frumps on the Barbie II or: Australians vs. Predator
Luke attempts to set us all straight on what is and what ain't banning in Australia. But the country's image, that it's a nation of pantywaists tenderly sensitive to depictions of certain manly acts - such as decapitations - persists. And it seems to be having a cumulative effect. Aliens vs. Predator, at first banned - oops, I mean, refused classification - is reconsidered and then, amazingly, classified MA15+ making it good for sale. Then the government asks for public input on changes to the country's game ratings system. Finally Luke, waking up today and reading this last paragraph, bludgeons me to death with a didgeridoo, over the Internet, the end.

I think a lot of that comes from the fact that we are using the same engine - the Unreal Engine - and that we are third-person," Tieger, High Moon's game director, told TFW2005. He added:

However there are some notable differences. One, we are not a cover-based shooter (you think Megatron would take cover?) Two, transform anywhere. Three, special abilities add an additional layer of strategic depth. Four, finally, Transformers has always been a team based property and each character has unique abilities so teamwork becomes pivotal. None of this should take away from the awesomeness that is Gears. Honestly, if gamers compare us positively to one of the all-time best games ever, I am thrilled!

You can see more of the interview, plus a picture of the no-cover-takin' Megatron at the link.

TFW2005 War For Cybertron Interview with Aaron Archer and Matt Tieger [Transformers World 2005, thanks Darth Mallrat]

IW's Robert Bowling updated the Modern Warfare 2 masses on the developer's current plans to fix some nagging problems. He writes, "Update in Test now: 1887s Balanced. Public "private" Match fix. Infinite Ammo fix. Prestige Hack on PS3 fix. Texture Hack on PC fix."

Looks like we can expect few double shotgun wielders in our future and less in the way of grenade spam. When all those updates will go live and onto your platform of choice isn't always Infinity Ward's call. But keep an eye peeled! I mean, stay frosty!

That makes it five platforms for the game - including the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 versions we already knew about. A news release says Hasbro and developer High Moon Studios will be cooperating on the prequel's story, which will establish much of the Autobots' and Decepticons' stories before their arrival on Earth. Hasbro's Aaron Archer, senior design director, said the game's story will be "used as canon for future storylines in a way we could have only dreamed of a few years ago."

And, of course, the visual appeal will be in tooling around the metallic homeworld of both factions, and meeting and greeting iconic Transformers characters in their native forms.

As for the game itself, an Activision representative said it will feature online competitive and cooperative multiplayer modes. It will also be broken down into two campaigns, one Autobot and one Decepticon. "For the first time in a TRANSFORMERS title, fans will be able to play the game with their friends through team-based online co-op, or go head to head in a variety of intense, online multiplayer game modes," the Activision release said.

Zhu Zhu Pets are, apparently, one of the hottest toys of the holiday season, and I should probably count myself fortunate that I was unaware of their existence. These tiny electronic replica hamsters have been flying off the shelves, regularly marked up 200-400% above their $10 retail price as parents struggle to get them under the tree for today's children, who'd off a real hamster in seconds flat if left unattended.

Activision Publishing and GameMill Publishing have entered into an agreement with toy company Cepia, LLC to produce games based on the adorable little androids, with the first Zhu Zhu Pets title coming to the Nintendo DS in spring 2010. I'm sure Ubisoft's Hamsterz team will be monitoring things closely.

"Zhu Zhu Pets(TM) success in 2009 speaks for itself and we're confident it will be even bigger in 2010," said David Oxford at Activision Publishing. Gary Miller, President, GameMill Publishing, stated, "It is our goal to expand this proven franchise in a way that fans of the wildly popular hamster toy line and video gamers alike will embrace and love to play."

I guess I'm just going to have to have children soon, if only to stay on the cutting edge of hamster robotics.

Essentially, we're hearing that people are joining MP matches, then finding that there are no ammo counters. It's unlimited ammo. On all weapons. Here's one forum post highlighting the issue, but hit the internet, you'll find dozens more. And some videos. Like these ones.

Like I said, I don't know how this is happening, but word on the street is that it's an exploit - created by modders - that can be "passed" around anyone and everyone who plays against them, as it sticks in their 360's cache. Only, instead of corrupting data, it blows up MW2 maps.

To get rid of the glitch, you'll have to disconnect from Live and reboot your 360.

I'd post more videos, but it seems every single one has awful cheese-metal/pop-rap playing over the top, so I'll spare you the torment. These ones should suffice for now.

Soon as we hear from Activision, Infinity Ward or Microsoft - or find out how extensive this glitch is, or how it's happening - we'll update you. In the meantime, any of you guys run into this? If so, fire off in the comments section, let us know how it went down.

UPDATE - Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling says "It's being addressed" and that "it'll be eliminated soon enough". Far from a concrete timeline for an update, but at least it shows IW are aware of the problem and are looking into it.

According to a new report from Gamasutra on last month's NPD figures, the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 moved "nearly 170,000" copies at retail. That doesn't include figures for Steam, Valve's digital distribution system, which are likely to have been significant—today, over 100,000 Steam users were playing the game online at the same time, but we're not sure how that breaks down to retail and online sales.

Still, at least 170,000 copies to a group of gamers that balked at the lack of dedicated servers and a higher-than normal price tag is.... pretty good?

Regardless of Modern Warfare 2's success or failures on the PC side of things, Gamasutra's in-depth look at November's NPD estimates are good reading for the sales obsessed gamer.

NPD: Behind the Numbers, November 2009 [Gamasutra]

We caught up with Hawk this weekend at the Spike TV VGAs to talk about his response to Ride's reception and future Tony Hawk's Pro Skater plans.

"I feel like the device is a flagship for other games," Hawk said. "I think we can do another skate game, I think we can do other board-type games, surfing, snowboarding." Hawk and company have hinted at such things in the past, speaking about his appreciation of Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer.

"That really was the master plan," he said of increased Ride board controller support. "I didn't think it was some gimmick that people were going to have to buy again next year."

Hawk, who says he typically plays his latest game on "confident" difficulty, didn't have much to say about a return to traditional controls for the Pro Skate franchise, but did talk about one of his goals for the current implementation.

"I think it could maybe be a bridge for people who were intimidated to try skating in the first place," he said. "They could get on this and realize maybe they do have a sense of balance they didn't know and that that will inspire them to try the real thing. I could only hope."

According to official word, the rebooted True Crime will "look, feel and play like a true Hong Kong action flick," following the exploits of undercover cop Wei Shen as he attempts to take down the Chinese crime syndicate, the Triad.

The True Crime elevator pitch is as follows: "As a newly hired thug within the Triad organization, Wei must do whatever it takes to stay undetected and survive, balancing his moral duty as a cop with the objectives of the assignment. In order to ascend the ranks of the underworld gamers will engage in visceral, fast-paced martial arts combat and explosive gunfights, along with high-octane driving sequences and acrobatic free-running chases as they go deeper and deeper undercover."

To sum up: visceral, high-octane, explosive, moral choices, Hong Kong.

True Crime is penciled in for a fall 2010 release on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, specifically "the Games for Windows."

The trailer featured a Vader vs. Yoda voice over, Starkiller fighting a beast muuuuch larger than a Rancor, but no gameplay, and no release date. Earlier in the day a Kotaku tipster emailed us describing exactly this trailer. The tipster said the game is being developed internally at LucasArts and will be out in late 2010. "It is everything the first game could/should have been and a lot lot more (online support!)" the tipster wrote.

Earlier, if you guessed that the mystery spike VGA teaser from late November, and the deep cover detective game set in Hong Kong that it depicted, was in fact Activision's True Crime, then give yourself a gold star. The game is being developed by United Front Games.

The EA chart was shown at an investor's conference, designed to appeal to people who EA hopes will think positively of the company's stock, which is labeled as ERTS. So they show off unusual stats, as you can see above, such as the number of games delayed or not delayed. That sends the message that: You can trust our company to deliver on its promises when we say we will.

That's sort of interesting, but how about this idea that EA puts out the most good games? The chart you see above was created by EA and pulls from Metacritic, the aggregator site that pulls review scores mostly from gaming outlets that publish review scores (i.e not Kotaku). EA had gone into the site and counted up the games released between January 1 and November 30, 2009 that scored an 80 average or more. The evidence points to EA not only improving quality year over year — I haven't met a gamer who would deny that — and now leading in quality — which is more controversial.

Shall we check that?

The Beatles: Rock Band (92)
Dragon Age: Origins (91)
FIFA 10 (91)
Left 4 Dead 2 (90)
Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box (89)
Skate 2 (89)
NHL 10 (88)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 (88)
Fight Night Round 4 (87)
Boom Blox Bash Party (86)
The Sims 3 (86)
Madden NFL 10 (85)
Tetris (85)
Battlefield 1943 (84)
Need for Speed Shift (84)
Brutal Legend (83)
NCAA Football 10 (83)
Dead Space Extraction (82)
Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure (82)
Mirror's Edge PC (81)
The Sims 3 World Adventures (81)
EA Sports Active (81)
EA Sports More Active Workouts (81)
Left 4 Dead Crash Course (80)
NBA Live 10 (81)

I can see why EA didn't count some of the above 25 in its chart. In fact, I can get to their 19 easily. Let's knock out six listings: 1) Mirror's Edge PC, because it's a port of a 2008 game 2) Burnout Paradise Ultimate Box (compilation of an '08 game), 3) The Sims 3 World Adventures and 4) EA Sports More Active Workouts (which both expand and somewhat require ownership of their earlier edition or edition's peripherals), 5) Left 4 Dead Crash Course DLC and... Well, 6) could go one of two ways. We could not count Rock Band, which EA distributes but doesn't publish, or we could not count the PSP Minis release of Tetris.

This is a hefty amount of 80+ games. If we average the full 25, we get this: EA's average 80+ metascore is 85.20. Let's not count six games. We'll include Rock Band but not Tetris. Then we get 85.95. It goes down only to 85.58 if I use Tetris and not Rock Band.

[UPDATE: I originally used the 360 Dragon Age metascore of 86 but have since updated the math above using its PC score of 91. Seemed only fair given PC was its lead platform. I've gone through this post and updated all listings to reflect the highest score given to any PC or console version of these games.]

Let's see if EA counted its competitors correctly.

Modern Warfare 2 (94)
Guitar Hero 5 (89)
Guitar Hero: Metallica (86)
DJ Hero (87)

A little math shows that: Activsion's average 80+ metascore is 89. Better than EA's, but it's only four games, and really, if you want to do a fair comparison of publisher quality, you'd have to do an average of all their games. Also notable is that there was a wide disparity between some versions. I used the highest Guitar Hero score, which was an 89 on the Wii. The game averaged an 85 on the Xbox 360.

Assassin's Creed II (92)
Might and Magic Clash of Heroes (86 *Game was released in December)
Dawn of Discovery (82)

More math: Ubisoft's average 80+ metascore is 86.67 with Might and Magic. It is another publisher with just one 90+ game.

Dawn of War II (85)
Red Faction Guerilla (85)
UFC Undisputed (84)
WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2010 (82)
Rocket Riot (80)

Result: THQ's average 80+ metascore is 83.2. They had no 90+ games.

GTA Chinatown Wars (93)
GTA IV: The Lost and Damned (90)
GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony (89)
Borderlands (84)
NBA 2K10 (83)
Beaterator (80)
The Bigs 2 (80)

I do Take Two no favors for the average here by including The Bigs 2, but I did just make them look better by counting it in the overall tally, right? Anyway, Take Two's average 80+ metascore is 85.57. And look! They have two games with a 90 or above.

Metroid Prime Trilogy (91)
Mario and Luigi Bowser's Inside Story (90)
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (87)
New Super Mario Bros. Wii (87)
Punch-Out (86)
New Play Control Pikmin (84)
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (84)
Art Style Digidrive (83)
Art Style Pictobits (83)
Rhythm Heaven (83)
Pokemon Platinum (83)
Mario Vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again (82)
Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon (81)
Art Style Box Life (80)
Wii Sports Resort (80)
Wii Fit Plus (80)

You could load up this one with caveats, noting that the Metroid and Pikmin games aren't new, but let's include them. Nintendo's average 80+ metascore is 84 even. Credit them with a pair of games at 90 or above.

Uncharted 2 (96)
God of War Collection (92)
Killzone 2 (91)
MLB 09 The Show (90)
Wipeout HD Fury (89)
LittleBigPlanet PSP(88)
PixelJunk Shooter (87 *Game released in December)
Flower (87)
PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe (86)
Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time (86)
infamous (85)
Patapon 2 (81)
Resistance Retribution (81)
Buzz! Quiz World (80)
Zen Pinball (80)

Let me average that up for you. Sony's average 80+ metascore is 86.6. Not shabby at all. Plus, the company can boast four 90+ games, albeit one of them a compilation of PS2 hits.

Forza Motorsport 3 (92)
Shadow Complex (88)
Trials HD (86)
Splosion Man (84)
Halo 3 ODST (83)
Halo Wars (82)

Let's crunch that. Microsoft's 80+ metascore average is 85.83.

EA didn't tally the top scorers for Capcom, Sega and Warner Brothers. All had a batch of stellar games, so I figured I'd do the work.

Street Fighter IV (93)
Resident Evil 5 (85)
Marvel Vs Capcom 2 (82)
Monster Hunter Fredom Unite (81)

Capcom's average 80+ metascore is 85.25.

Empire Total War (90)
Football Manager 2010 (88)
MadWorld (81)

Sega's average 80+ metascore is 86.3

Batman Arkham Asylum (92)
Scribblenauts (80)

Warner's average 80+ metascore is 86. They've got a 90+ as well.'

It's no surprise that EA's chart accurately showed that the publisher had the most well-reviewed games, though, thanks to Kotaku, you can now see what those games were. This breakdown shows a couple of other things:

1) While EA had the most games that received 80+ scores, its average score for such titles settled between its two most prolific game-publishing competitors. It beat Nintendo but was beaten by Sony.

2) It's clear that no matter how many well-reviewed games a publisher has, getting an 80-89 score is far easier than getting a 90+. That seems to be the big equalizer among these top publishers. No one makes lots of those and few make more than a couple.

So which company made the most good video games in 2009? Probably the one you like the most. But if you want to try using numbers to back it up in 2009, I think you have to go with EA for quantity or Sony for 90+ excellence and a higher average score from its 80+ titles.

The title's release date is still TBA, but Transformers: War For Cybertron will be hitting the PS3, the Xbox 360 and the PC.

GameSpot reports that the majority of those sales were to Wii gamers, with 67,000 copies of Tony Hawk Ride and the accompanying skateboard sold to the peripheral comfortable Nintendo fan base. Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 gamers snapped up the rest, with the 360 version outselling the PS3 version almost two-to-one.

That's behind Activision's other recent controller-dependent, high ticket game, DJ Hero, which debuted with 123,000 units sold in the U.S. in October.

That's potentially disappointing for Activision, which went back to the drawing board after the previous entry in the series Tony Hawk's Proving Ground saw middling reviews—some of the lowest in the series—and hefty competition from EA's Skate. Metacritic scores aside, Proving Ground at least went on to sell more than a million units in the U.S. across the five platforms it was released on.

Tony Hawk may be "proud" of Ride, but it appears that U.S. video game consumers (and critics) may have a harder time getting on board.

Under 114,000 ride Tony Hawk in November [GameSpot]

In the console version of the online mini-game you and up to three others fight off a never-ending horde of Nazis. When it came time to try and bring World at War over to the iPhone, the developers made the right call: Zeroing in on the zombies rather than the World War II realism.

Let's see how they did.

Loved
Concept: The premise of Call of Duty: World at War Zombies seems a perfect match for the iPhone and iPod Touch. You are a Marine hiding out in a German barracks trying to stave off the ever-encroaching horde of ambling zombies. While the game may look like a traditional first-person shooter, the emphasis on resource management and guarding the boarded up windows creates a game vastly different than you'd expect to find in the genre.

In the iPhone game, as with the console game, you'll find yourself spending as much time running between windows to repair barricades as you do shooting zombies. This makes the game a more natural port to the iPhone than it would if it were a straight-up shooter.

Controls: While shooting zombies is an important part of the game, it's not the only thing you spend your time doing. That makes me OK with the developers' decision to essentially add auto-aim to the title. Sure, you can take the time to zoom in to snipe or even quickly adjust your aim as you walk, but if you start firing off shots with the crosshairs on a zombie it will lock on and let you keep firing. The game also has three control schemes, allowing you to use touch, digital dual analog sticks or tilt controls. My favorite is the dual sticks control.

Hated
Single Map: For $10, even with Wifi multiplayer for four, it would be nice if the game came with more than the single map. Sure you can play the hell out of it, and you will. But I'd like a bit more variety for so steep a price.

More maps are said to be coming for the game, including the zombie asylum, Verruckt, but you'll have to pay to get them.

Call of Duty: World at War Zombies is most favorite iPhone game at the moment, and I'm not the only one. The game has enjoyed three weeks at the top of our iPhone Charts list.

The combination of zombies, Nazis and, essentially, horde mode, is highly addictive and fun. Despite the pleasure I've gotten out of the game, the $10 price tag means you should maybe hold off a bit until the maps, and a likely price drop, hit.

Call of Duty: World at War Zombies developed by Ideaworks Game Sudio, and published by Activision for the iPod Touch and iPhone on Nov. 20. Retails for $9.99 USD. Code for the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played multiple matches alone and with one to three others.

NOTE: Throughout the month of December, Kotaku will review some of the games that we missed earlier in the year. We're catching up.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

No Doubt's beef comes from the fact they claim they only signed on to appear in the game singing No Doubt songs. Activisions, meanwhile, are suing the band over allegations including "failing to do its due diligence on the videogame before signing away its digital likeness, breaching a contract to provide marketing and promotion to the game, and being unjustly enriched by their inclusion in the game."

You have to wonder whether the money Activision stand to win from this - if they win - is worth all the bad press.

Activision countersues No Doubt in 'Band Hero' flap [The Hollywood Reporter]

The title was submitted for classification way back in June, and earned the game a Mature rating (for "fantasy violence"). Interestingly, it's listed as an internal Lucasarts project, with Activision down as publisher.

And it's not just the Classification Board making stuff up; "Star Wars: Legends" also appears as a recent filing with the US Patent Office.

A Star Wars game we've never heard of, developed by Lucasarts, mature content...anyone would think this was the game due to be revealed at the Spike VGAs later this month.

[thanks Brodie!]