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My favorite among the games listed is Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, which probably isn't surprising. What is yours? Anything we didn't review that you would suggest?

Remember, the games listed aren't all recommendations. Instead we're providing this as a quick reference guide to help you decide if a game is a good gift or not.

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

Price: $59.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: Third-person hip-hop shooter
Subject Matter: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand tells the unintentionally(?) amusing tale of rapper 50 Cent as he struggles to reclaim his diamond encrusted skull from a Middle Eastern bad guy. He's assisted by his G Unit hangers on and some laughably outlandish moments.
Value: An adequately long adventure, made seemingly longer by endlessly looping 50 Cent songs. There are much better games to give this holiday season.
Buy it for: someone as a gag. Or a die hard 50 Cent fan fresh from a six month coma.
Read the Full Review

Assassin's Creed II

Price: $59.99
Rating: M
Genre: Free-running platforming adventure game
Subject Matter: Assassinations and conspiracy spent mostly in 15th century Renaissance Italy.
Value: Lots more content than the first game had, probably lasting gamers at least double the time they spent with the first Assassin's Creed.
Buy it for: People who were let down by the first game, people who like history, beautiful scenery, dynamic platforming, solving mysteries and games that might be the Game of the Year.
Read the Full Review

Batman: Arkham Asylum
Price:$59.99
Rating: T
Genre: Action/Adventure
Subject Matter: Join one of comic books' most iconic heroes on an adventure in Gotham City's insane asylum, where The Joker is on the loose.
Value: With character ability customization, bonus challenge maps and tons of riddles courtesy of The Riddler, Arkham Asylum offers at least three playthroughs' worth of fun.
Buy it for: Batman fans and anybody jonesing for a Mark Hamill voice over fix.
Read the full review

The Beatles: Rock Band
Price: The stand-alone game sells for $59.99, the Limited Edition Premium Bundle sell for $249.99, the Rickenbacker 325 Standalone Guitar and the Gretsch Duo Jet Standalone Guitar sells for $99.99.
Rating: Teen
Genre: Rhythm music game
Subject Matter: The Beatles: Rock Band is a musical journey through the history of one of the world's most popular bands.
Value: For those new to the Rock Band phenomenon and fans of The Beatles, this 45-track game is well worth a purchase because this is the only way you'll play The Beatles music in a Rock Band game. If you're not into the band, give this a pass.
Buy it for: huge Beatles fans.
Read the Full Review

Borderlands

Price: $59.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: First-person shooter RPG
Subject Matter: Borderlands targets the loot-hungry region of the brain, offering four classes with which to stalk the planet Pandora, shoot things and level up, acquiring cool guns, sweet armor and totally rad superpowers. As role-playing games go, it's shallow, but offers a constant stream of junk food gaming.
Value: Seeing all that Borderlands has to offer could take hundreds of hours. But the real value comes in the form of being able to play with friends on PlayStation Network or via splitscreen.
Buy it for: the loot glutton with an itchy trigger finger and a history of playing Diablo.
Read the Full Review

Brutal Legend

Price: $59.99 Rating: Mature
Genre: Action Adventure
Subject Matter: Brutal Legend is a heavy metal-themed action game that combines racing, shooting, real-time strategy, and hack and slash into one slightly disjointed mix.
Value: Brutal Legend is a game from Tim Schafer, one of gaming's greatest comedy minds, and the absurd humor carries the game a long way. It's the story of a roadie who gets transported to a heavy metal world where he must raise an army to free the oppressed inhabitants. There's plenty to do, though the odd mix of genres might be too much for some players.
Buy it for: Anyone with a strong affection for heavy metal music or sa twisted sense of humor.
Read the Full Review

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Price: $59.99 to $149.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: First-person military shooter
Subject Matter: Lead a team of elite commandoes in Modern Warfare 2 as they try to prevent a Russian invasion and global thermonuclear war. Then take the action online, going head to head against other well-armed gamers. It's loud, violent and a hell of a lot of fun to play.
Value: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's single-player storyline may be short, but the package more than makes up for it with ample cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes. Near endless replayability will be stoked with future downloadable content.
Buy it for: the Michael Bay action movie fan who likes his shooters bombastic and nearly devoid of a comprehensible story, one who doesn't shy away from ultra-violent fare.
Read the Full Review

Critter Crunch

Price: $6.99
Rating: Everyone
Genre: Puzzle
Subject Matter: A puzzle game with bug eating, cute critters and sorta cut, sorta gross tecnicolor yarn.
Value: The good puzzle game mechanic is strong and addictive — add to that beautiful graphics, a lengthy adventure mode and super fun multiplayer and you have a good time. With barf.
Buy it for: Gamers with a strong like of puzzle titles and no fear of cute puke.
Read the Full Review

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood

Price: $39.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: First-person shooter
Subject Matter: Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is a Civil War era first-person shooter.
Value: With an engaging story, wide open maps and plenty of mulitplayer options, this game will take up quite a bit of your time.
Buy it for: First-person shooter enthusiasts, fans of the Wild West and Civil War buffs.
Read the Full Review

DJ Hero
Price: $119.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Rhythm
Subject Matter: DJ Hero is a rhythm game featuring a replica DJ turntable so players can mix and scratch to the beat of original music mash-ups.
Value: DJ Hero features upwards fo 100 different DJ-driven mash-ups featuring songs from the 70's on up to present-day hits. Unlike the latest Guitar Hero or Rock Band games, however, it's only good for one or two players, so the party element just isn't there. The innovative turntable-based gameplay makes it a breath of fresh air in the currently band-centric music genre, but it certainly isn't as social.
Buy it for: Fans of eclectic music mixes and lonely Guitar Hero fans.
Read the Full Review

Dragon Age: Origins
Price: $49.99
Rating:Mature
Genre: Roleplaying
Subject Matter: An epic action roleplaying game set in a world besieged by evil inside and out.
Value: Dragon Age: Origins packs more than 100 hours of gameplay into this action RPG, with branching story paths that encourage multiple play throughs in order to experience it all. BioWare designed the game so it can be played by RPG gamers of any skill level, but mature content and strong sexual situations mean you might want to keep it in the high teens.
Buy it for: Anyone who has ever conversationally mentioned hit points.
Read the Full Review

EyePet

Price: £20 game only, £35 with PlayStation Eye (game currently only available in PAL territories)
Rating: E
Genre: Virtual Pet Management
Subject Matter: Using the PlayStation Eye, "directly" interact with a digital pet on your TV screen.
Value: Smaller kids won't mind the game lacks any real direction, they'll be happy to play it every few days just to check on their pet.
Buy it for: Kids who think Tamagotchi is so 20th century.
Read the Full Review

Fallout 3: Broken Steel

Price: $10 (Requires a copy of Fallout 3)
Rating: M
Genre: Post-apocalyptic role-playing game
Subject Matter: Fallout 3 expansion involving missions with a high-powered fighting force.
Value: High because it extends the level cap to Fallout 3, changes the game's ending and allows the adventure to be played infinitely once the story has "ended"
Buy it for: Fallout 3 fans who want to play more; essential for anyone getting any Fallout 3 downloadable content
Read the Full Review

Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta

Price: $10.00 (Requires a copy of Fallout 3)
Rating: Mature
Genre: Still a post-apocalyptic RPG
Subject Matter: It's Fallout 3 in space!
Value: Mothership Zeta gives the Fallout 3 player an entire spaceship to explore and make their own, some futuristic new weapons, and tacks a good five hours onto the regular campaign, making it a relatively fair value for your money.
Buy it for: Fallout 3 fans.
Read the Full Review

Fallout 3: Point Lookout

Price: $10 (Requires a copy of Fallout 3)
Rating: M
Genre: Post-apocalyptic role-playing game
Subject Matter: Fallout 3 in microcosm, set on a spooky island.
Value: Tons of content, and widely seen as the Fallout 3 downloadable content that best shares the strengths of the base game.
Buy it for: Fallout 3 fans.
Read the Full Review

Fat Princess

Price: $14.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Action
Subject Matter: Capture the flag? No, capture the princess. And feed her cake, so she's fat and hard for enemies to cart her off.
Value: Single player weakness aside, the main draw here is multiplayer. That, and cake. Cake's always a draw. Always.
Buy it for: Gamers with a sweet tooth for multiplayer.
Read the Full Review

FIFA Soccer 2010

Price: $49.99
Rating: E
Genre: Round-Ball Football
Subject Matter: The best football game on the market.
Value: Almost endless. There are so many leagues and cups, and such a deep singleplayer experience, that it can be played to death until FIFA 11 is released. And that's before we even get to the 10v10 multiplayer…
Buy it for: Anyone who has even a passing interest in the world game.
Read the Full Review

Fight Night Round 4

Price: $59.99
Rating: T
Genre: Boxing
Subject Matter: Boxing
Value: Tons of fighters, good online options and no real competition.
Buy it for: Boxing fans or people looking for a fighting-based game that has longer-lasting fights.
Read the Full Review

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Price: $49.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Action
Subject Matter: A arcade-style shooter loosely based on the live-action G.I. Joe movie.
Value: G.I. Joe is a movie tie-in strangely reminiscent of Konami's Contra series. One or two players take control of their favorite Joes from the movie and take on Cobra across multiple levels of run-and-gun action. There are a few unlockables catering to fans of the old cartoon series, but other than that this is strictly a movie-lover's affair.
Buy it for: Really, really big fans of the G.I. Joe live-action movie.
Read the Full Review

Guitar Hero 5

Price: $59.99 for the game, $99.99 with a guitar controller included
Rating: Teen
Genre: Music/Rythym
Subject Matter: It's Guitar Hero. You play a quintet of color-coordinated "notes" as they scroll downscreen to a new selection of music.
Value: Guitar Hero 5 offers a great suite of single and multiplayer modes, the most robust options yet for the series. What it doesn't offer is the series' most attractive soundtrack, despite an 85 song strong line up. Good for the new Guitar Hero gamer, but that money may be better spent on downloadable songs.
Buy it for: for Guitar Hero noobs who have extremely eclectic taste in music.
Read the Full Review

inFamous

Price: $59.99
Rating: T
Genre: Open-world action game
Subject Matter:Gritty adventures of an electricity-based super-hero from the makers of the Sly Cooper series.
Value:Designed to be played through twice to explore two distinct moral paths.
Buy it for: Super-hero fans and folks who like Grand-Theft-Auto style open-world games.
Read the Full Review

Katamari Forever

Price: $49.99
Rating: Everyone
Genre: Planet-building action
Subject Matter: Katamari Forever offers a greatest hits style package of the Katamari Damacy series' more memorable levels. Players will roll the titular sticky katamari over objects, building bigger and bigger piles of stuff to replace the universe's missing stars and planets and ultimately please the King of All Cosmos.
Value: At $49.99, Katamari Forever is the most expensive entry yet, a high price for a game that's largely rehashed content. But the content is vast and offers plenty to play. Sadly, there's no online component to help extend the experience.
Buy it for: the fan of quirky games who somehow missed every other Katamari Damacy game or the kid that longs to make snowballs in the summer time.
Read the Full Review

Killzone 2

Price: $59.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: Single-person shooter
Subject Matter: Killzone 2 takes the fight to the Helghast, with an invading force landing on Helghan.
Value: Even though this game landed back in February, you would be remiss if you forgot to check it out. Next to Uncharted 2, this is one of the top games for the Playstation 3. The chunky single-player experience backed by 32-player multiplayer matches makes this a very good deal as well.
Buy it for: Anyone with a Playstation 3 who some how missed this title when it first hit.
Read the Full Review

The King of Fighters XII

Price: $59.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Fighting
Subject Matter: SNK Playmore's latest entry in its King of Fighter series is a return to its roots with 2D fighting and hand-drawn graphics.
Value: The game feels largely unfinished — though, the parts which are done should please the hardcore fans.
Buy it for: Die-hard SNK fighting game fans.
Read the Full Review

Madden NFL 10

Price: $59.99
Rating: Everyone
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: The only video game licensed by the NFL, covering the current season.
Value: For the first time on the current console generation, Madden earns its must-own status among sports gamers. The fine-tuned action is slightly slower, creating greater big play potential on both sides of the ball.
Buy it for: Any sports gamer who doesn't yet have it. Madden is a no-brainer gift that any sports fan will enjoy.
Read the Full Review

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

Price: $59.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Action RPG
Subject Matter: Tons of Marvel heroes take on tons of Marvel villains
Value: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 may not quite live up to the thrill of the original, but it is a more cohesive package overall, with a storyline ripped from Marvel's Civil War storyline and a good dozen hours of heroic fun for 1-4 players.
Read the Full Review

Marvel VS. Capcom 2

Price: $15.00
Rating: Teen
Genre: Fighting
Subject Matter: Marvel characters. Capcom characters. Fighting.
Value: Marvel vs. Capcom 2 contains one of the largest roster in fighting game history, with 56 Marvel and Capcom characters to choose from. The sheer amount of variety plus online multiplayer makes this one downloadable title well worth the price.
Read the Full Review

Mini Ninjas

Price: $49.99
Rating: E
Genre: Juvenile Bush Disguise/Phantom Removal
Subject Matter: Play as one of a band of adorable child ninjas on a quest to kill a bad guy and free the adorable little forest animals.
Value: A somewhat short singleplayer game, but the ability to play as one of several ninjas means there's plenty of replay value.
Buy it for: Anyone. Everyone. Kids will love the straight-forward combat, adults will find there's a great stealth and combat system lurking under the hood.
Read the Full Review

Modern Warfare 2 Combat Controller Camo

Price: $49.99
Rating: N/A
Genre: N/A
Subject Matter: This wireless controller features programmable buttons, better triggers and a Modern Warfare 2 theme.
Value: It's a bit pricey, but if you're a big fan of the game and like the idea of programmable buttons, it's probably worth the $50.
Buy it for: Fans of Modern Warfare 2.
Read the Full Review

Modern Warfare 2 Combat Controller Camo Faceplate

Price: $14.99
Rating: N/A
Genre: N/A
Subject Matter: This faceplate snaps onto your Playstation 3 controller.
Value: For $15 it's not bad, but not a great deal. Consider it a cheaper alternative to buying a new controller.
Buy it for: HUGE fans of Modern Warfare 2.
Read the Full Review

Modern Warfare 2 Combat Wireless Headset

Price: $39.99
Rating: N/A
Genre: N/A
Subject Matter: This wireless headset gives weak lip-service to Modern Warfare 2.
Value: The painful design and static-filled connection makes this a bad deal.
Buy it for: Someone you hate.
Read the Full Review

NCAA Football 10

Price: $59.99
Rating: Everyone
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: The tradition and pageantry of college football's 115 teams, plus any schools you might choose to create.
Value: NCAA Football 10 is the deepest simulation of a sport, on and off the field, of any currently available sports title.
Buy it for: Any sports nut with a serious helping of school pride or leftover nostalgia for college days gone by.
Read the Full Review

NBA 2K10

Price: $59.99
Rating: Everyone
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: NBA 2K10 celebrates the 10th anniversary of 2K Sports' best-in-class basketball simulation.
Value: NBA 2K10 offers a much more varied set of gameplay modes, both single- and multiplayer, than its challenger NBA Live 10. Its season simulation lacks the aspect of playing in this year's league but is deeper in all other regards. My Player, in which you create and control one player on his journey from prospect to all-star, is tough but a rewarding experience.
Buy it for: Serious basketball fans with some exposure to the sport in real life, either as a player or a devoted fan.
Read the Full Review

NBA Live 10

Price: $59.99
Rating: Everyone
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: NBA Live 10 is EA Sports' current title covering pro basketball's upcoming season.
Value: EA Sports has poured a ton of effort into resurrecting the franchise. New controls enabling you to move players off the ball on offense and defense are easy to learn and a real plus. Dynamic DNA allows you to run your season simulation as if it were taking place among current league events in real life.
Buy it for: Basketball fans who prefer singleplayer sports gaming, want a very accurate league simulation, and an easy-to-comprehend control set.
Read the Full Review

NHL 2K10

Price: $39.99
Rating: Everyone 10+
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: NHL 2K10 is 2K Sports' current title covering professional hockey's latest season.
Value: NHL 2K10 is still a runner-up to EA's NHL 10, but it is not without merit. It features the same robust multiplayer package as its NBA cousin. The action's a little arcadey, but it also is the only NHL title with the league's popular outdoor classic venues.
Buy it for: A casual-to-moderate hockey fan who enjoys lots of scoring action.

Read the Full Review

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
Price: $59.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: Realistic military first-person shooter
Subject Matter: Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a relatively open-world tactical shooter that has players trying to take the fictional island of Skira from China.
Value: Plagued with problems this shooter doesn't deliver much for the premium price you pay.
Buy it for: hardcore fans of realistic shooters that offer no chance for mistakes or do-overs.
Read the Full Review

Pro Evolution Soccer 2010

Price: $59.99
Rating: E
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: Football title encompassing international and club tournaments, manager modes and online play.
Value: Pro Evo's "Master League", a time-devouring game mode incorporating RPG and strategy elements, is the one area fans remain devoted to this series ahead of its rival, EA Sports' FIFA.
Buy it for: Football fans who like to not only play a good game, but also roll up their sleeves and get lost in a sea of statistics and growth charts.
Read the Full Review

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time
Price: $59.99
Rating: E10+
Genre: Third-person shooter (Ratchet sections); Third-person time-manipulation puzzle-platformer (Clank sections).
Subject Matter: The third PS3 Ratchet is still an action game, but has a stronger than normal narrative, as Ratchet discovers he's not the last of his species, while Clank discovers his origins.
Value: A bombastic single-player campaign full of spectacular cartoon visuals is designed to be replayed, with new content and missions available only after the first play-through is complete.
Buy it for: Jaded Ratchet fans who were waiting for the series to feel special again; fans of cartoon visuals who don't mind their entertainment feeling like a fun all-ages sci-fi adventure.
Read the Full Review

Resident Evil 5

Price: $39.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: Survival Horror meets third-person shooter
Subject Matter: The latest iteration in the famed survival horror game ditches a bit of the slow pacing and fear for a bit more of an action feel.
Value: A worthy addition to anyone's library, but perhaps not the sort of game you'll keep around after it's completed.
Buy it for: fans of Resident Evil and those interested in the premise of the franchise but not in the steady pacing of the gameplay.
Read the Full Review

Street Fighter IV

Price: $29.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Fighter
Subject Matter: The next iteration in the storied and fabulous fighter brings with it a dynamic new look and a death grip on classic mechanics.
Value: Packed with playable characters both old and new and a mechanic that is timeless, the online play and in-room versus mode make this a great deal..
Buy it for: fighting fans, Street Fighter fans.
Read the Full Review

Tekken 6
Price: $59.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Fighter
Subject Matter: Once you've mastered the moves of your favorite character, Tekken 6's 3D fights are all about timing and tactics.
Value: With 40 playable characters and a seemingly endless single-player campaign, Tekken 6 is a good deal for fans of the franchise willing to put up with some online issues.
Buy it for: fighting fans, Tekken fans, and maybe as a taste of something different for Street Fighter IV fans.
Read the Full Review

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Price: $59.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Action adventure third-person shooter.
Subject Matter: A well-crafted story and pithy dialogue is backed by solid third-person shooter action, stunning Himalayan backdrops and a smattering of puzzles to solve and things to climb.
Value: The story-driven campaign will only take up about eight hours of your time, but the plentiful and creative mulitplayer modes are sure to be a lasting time drain.
Buy it for: anyone with a Playstation 3. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is destined to be one of the best games of the year.
Read the Full Review

WET
Price: $59.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: Third-person acrobatic shooter.
Subject Matter: Rubi Malone is a leather-pants wearing, wall-running, pole-spinning death machine. She can shoot two shotguns while flipping through the air, slide under tables to hamstring and gut with her sword, and regains health by swigging liquor.
Value: The single-player only game has a sizable campaign, fantastic music and troubled controls and camera work. It's sort of a mixed bag.
Buy it for: fans of Kill Bill and fast-paced action noire games.
Read the Full Review

Wolfenstein

Price: $59.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Subject Matter: World War II First-Person Shooter with Occult Tendencies
Value: While Wolfenstein is an excellent first-person shooter from a technical standpoint, the story is a bit far-fetched and the multiplayer is disappointing, especially in the face of games like Modern Warfare 2.
Buy it for: First-person shooter fans looking for a little something different.
Read the Full Review

WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2010
Price: $59.99
Rating: T
Genre: Pro wrestling
Subject Matter: WWE wrestling, with deep customization options allowing players to create and share their own characters, moves and — the big new addition — storylines.
Value: High value for those who will take advantage of the online play and content creation/sharing.
Buy it for: WWE fans, even those who don't like current WWE programming, since those disgruntled fans can create the WWE of their own liking using the game's deep editors.
Read the Full Review

Actually Drake and Lazarevic both went a bit heavy on the brown food, so competitive matches over the double cash weekend, which kicks off on Friday, will feature one team in Doughnut Drake skins, and the other as Doughnut Lazarevic. The dynamic duo will be leaving craters all over the new "The Fort" map, inspired by the Fortress level from the original game.

The title update also includes a slew of new leaderboards, allowing players to see what their friends have been up to and how they stack up against the rest of the world.

The month was packed with new software, including Forza Motorsport 3, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and NBA 2K10 which put big numbers on the board. And while the PS3 and Wii secured software spots one and two, respectively, the Xbox 360's showing as a platform resulted in six of the top ten games sold in the U.S. this October. That's a lot of royalty payments going Microsoft's way.

And speaking of Microsoft's fortunes, last month's U.S. software champ Halo 3 ODST managed to round up another 271,000 sales.

The top ten games for the month of October according to NPD are...

01. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3) - 537,000
02. Wii Fit Plus (Wii) - 441,000
03. Borderlands (Xbox 360) - 418,000
04. Wii Sports Resort (Wii) - 314,000
05. NBA 2K10 (Xbox 360) - 311,000
06. Halo 3 ODST (Xbox 360) - 271,000
07. NBA 2K10 (PS3) - 213,000
08. Forza Motorsport 3 (Xbox 360) - 175,000
09. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (DS) - 169,000
10. FIFA Soccer 10 (Xbox 360) - 156,000

That's just a portion of the $572.73 million that U.S. consumers spent on video game software last month, down 18% from the same period last year.

NPD's Anita Frazier notes that about half of Wii Fit Plus' sales for the month were of the bundled variety, meaning that plenty of Wii owners are investing in Wii Balance Boards for the first time.

"The top game for the month across all platforms was NBA 2K10, at 575K units," Frazier says of 2K Sports' latest. "It was a great launch for the game, outselling last year's NBA 2K9 by 60% in its launch month. Sales on both the Xbox 360 and PS3 platforms improved substantially over last year."

Now for the bad news.

"The music/dance genre saw big declines this month compared to last year," Frazier notes. "The genre generated $53 million in sales as compared to $137 million last year. Both Rock Band: Beatles, and Guitar Hero 5 have the potential to be good gifting items for the holidays, so we should expect to see an uptick in sales over the next two months."

The Senior Vice President of Business Development at Sony Computer Entertainment says that as of last week, Uncharted 2 is now among the list of PlayStation 3 games to chart a course to a million. Rosenberg also lauded the game's critical successes at today's BMO Capital Markets Digital Entertainment Conference, but we're betting the majority of those in attendance were far more interested in the game selling so darn well.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was released in North America on October 13, giving it plenty of time for NPD to track its sales.

Because the Danish Trophy description has finally been fixed. Wait. I mean... Because this weekend, the Naughty Dog folks will be offering up twice the in-game cash in multiplayer games, also giving you a chance to shoot the team behind Uncharted 2 right in the virtual face, showing them how much you appreciate their hard work.

"Double Cash Weekend" runs from Friday, October 30, 2009 11:00 AM PST to Monday, November 2, 2009 11:00 AM PST.

It may also give you the opportunity to kill scores of T-800s whatever those glowing eyed, glowing hearted skeletal monstrosities that Naughty Dog is showing off in the teaser image offered alongside the update info at the PlayStation.blog.

UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves Celebrates Halloween with a Title Update and a Double Cash Weekend [PlayStation.blog]

Hundreds of you spent time crafting stories, taking pictures, traveling, making things, drawing, dressing up, to prove you deserved a copy of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Fortune Hunter Edition.

We were so blown away with your submissions that we've decided to select ten of you as finalists. Unfortunately, only five will win prizes, but this way we are able to recognize a few more people.

I've listed the ten folks we at Kotaku Tower picked as our favorites. Don't worry, we went through all of the posts, all of the comments, both active and inactive, to make our selection.

Remember, as stated in the rules, you have to be 18 or older and live in the U.S. to win. If you end up being selected as a finalist or the grand prize winner and don't meet those requirements we'll select the person with the next highest votes to take your place.

Psudonym
Colewheeler
FortuneHunters
Rach_Create
Greyisokay
Levantine
Trocar-Slush-
andinakasone
reekme
Rated-G

After checking out the wonderful entries hit up the poll, which closes tonight, to vote.

Get to voting!

I've spent a few hours over the past two days playing matches online to see how things are working now that the game is out in the wild. Here's what I found.

Finding Games: Finding a good match on the Playstation 3 was easy. Over the course of the past two days, the auto matchmaker found ranked games for me usually in about a minute.

Matchmaking: With the exception of one completely off-kilter match up that pitted a group that included two level 34 characters against a bunch of level 5 characters, I've noticed no issues with how the game finds playmates for you.

Reaction Time: I haven't run into any noticeable lag yet, despite occasionally having what the game identified as a weak connection.

General Consensus: There are complaints in the official thread for the game on Playstation.com with a handful of people complaining about waits of five minutes or longer to find a match.

People are also complaining that the online stats for the game are tracking cooperative mode kills and deaths.

Overall Personal Experience: The inclusion of jumping, climbing and stealth kills makes Uncharted 2: Among Thieves' a breezy bit of online fun for competitive play.

I'm a little put off by the unlockable perks that can make matches a bit harder for those new to the game, but with a bit of time spent playing you can quickly unlock your own set and the whole thing evens out.

Read our complete review here:

We'll also be chatting about family-friendly music, the lessening glut of fall games and why porn stars should read Kotaku. Of course don't forget to listen to our week's taste of music too. Most importantly, we'll be taking calls from you. Now's your chance to ask a developer a question. Call now! Ask away.

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We are proud to launch this new era of virtual fashion scrutiny with a check of what the beautiful virtual people of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves are wearing during their new and critically-acclaimed PlayStation 3 adventure.

Assisting Kotaku this time are:

-Amy Hennig, Creative Director of Uncharted 2 development studio Naughty Dog. Her studio also provided the many reference photos included here.

-Heather and Jessica from fashion blog Go Fug Yourself, who asked us to refer to them as "The Fug Girls." Their blog is best at cracking jokes on poorly dressed celebrities. They were a shade kinder here. They have not played Uncharted 2 yet.

-Latoya Peterson, editrix of Racialicious, and a contributor to our women-oriented sister blog Jezebel. She has not played Uncharted 2 yet.

Let's dive in...

Nathan Drake

Amy Hennig : Drake is not a man concerned with fashion. He wears what's comfortable and practical, regardless how stained and well-worn those items of clothing may be. His only indulgences are his belt buckles, and the ring he wears on a cord around his neck – a ring supposedly passed down from his ancestor, Sir Francis Drake.

The Fug Girls: Drake's basic outfit has all the qualities a guy could need: It's comfortable, relaxed, breathable, suggests he might be super ripped, and prevents holster-chafing. Our quibble is with the accessory hanging from his belt — surely any adventurer worth his stubble knows that if you might need to break into a run, you shouldn't dangle a dagger anywhere within stabbing distance of your thigh.

Latoya Peterson: Excellent outfit for the circumstances. Casual but sturdy, easily adaptable for a variety of situations.

Naughty Dog Reference: Converse Jack Purcell shoes

Naughty Dog Reference: Henley shirt.

Naughty Dog Reference: Diesel Jeans

Naughty Dog Reference: Belt Buckle

Naughty Dog Reference: Watch

Drake In The Cold

The Fug Girls: If it's cold enough for Drake's enormous fur-trimmed sleeves — he looks like a Mongol hunter about to gnaw on an enormous leg of mutton — then why isn't Drake's bare neck totally freezing? Are scarves insufficiently manly? And would it kill an adventurer to wash his pants every once in a while?

Latoya Peterson: The shearling coat for winter weather is a nice touch.

Chloe Frazer

Amy Hennig : We wanted Chloe's outfits to be practical but sexy, and to display a sense of style. Rather than put her in shapeless cargo pants and standard-issue boots, she wears form-fitting cargos that accentuate her figure, and high boots that have a retro-designer flair. Chloe doesn't want to look too "put-together," but she's got a good body, and she knows it.

The Fug Girls: What else would you wear to scramble around the Himalayas looking for treasure than a belly shirt and a bunch of grungy accessories that might get caught on a tree and accidentally garrote you? That being said, we have to congratulate Chloe for wearing appropriately practical cargo pants. They're still tight enough to be sexy, but she also has all those pockets – so convenient for the adventurer on the go.

Latoya Peterson: Overall, the look works. It's utilitarian, and it's clear this character is out to handle her business. The shrunken tees are a bit much though - not much protection against weather or assault. They are perfect layering pieces though, so this could be easily rectified with a long sleeve kevlar undershirt.

Chloe In Red

The Fug Girls: Correct us if we're wrong, but isn't this the same shirt Chloe was wearing earlier, just in a different color? Is she like the Albert Einstein of treasure-hunters, with a closet full of multiple examples of the exact same outfit? Regardless: Better a t-shirt than a bra top.

Naughty Dog Reference: Cargo Pants

Naughty Dog Reference: Boots

Naughty Dog Reference: Holster

Elena Fisher

Amy Hennig : Like Drake, Elena tends to wear what's practical in her line of work as an investigative journalist – jeans, sturdy boots, and a blouse that will look all right on camera. In a field dominated by men, she still tries to maintain some femininity in her look, but it's hard when you're spattered with mud half the time. Her belt-mounted sidearm reflects the danger inherent in her job.

The Fug Girls: Presumably, it's no surprise to Elena that she enjoys the occasional gritty quest, so while this shirt is cute, perhaps she should shop for something more practical and less tailored — you know, so she looks like a thrill-seeker rather than a helpless disaster-movie damsel who is running away from the lava that just wiped out her law office. (Note from Kotaku: Blame us for not notifying our fashion experts that Elena is a reporter as well as an adventurer/videographer.)

Latoya Peterson: This outfit is not working for me. An anthropologist doing light field work would wear this outfit. But an adventurer? Not so sure, plus the nude colors are washing her out. Military style is back in fashion, so I would swap out the easily destroyed button up with a sturdier blazer/jacket that can be matched with her existing camisole or a scoopneck top.

Naughty Dog Reference: Shirt

Naughty Dog Reference: Shoes

Harry Flynn

Amy Hennig: Flynn's fashion is meant to betray a little more vanity than Drake's more down-to-earth clothing. Flynn's outfit, while basic, is all designer clothing – expensive jeans, designer boots, and a trendy t-shirt and necklace. Even his choice of a gunslinger-style holster is a conscious fashion choice. The differences in their clothing is meant to set up a subtle distinction between Flynn and Drake from the outset.

The Fug Girls: Nothing says, "roguish" like black clothes, leather gloves, man-jewelry, multiple weapons and a pompadour so aggressively retro that we wouldn't be surprised to hear it was inspired by the many violent downward spirals of Dylan McKay. Flynn might as well just wear a tee shirt that reads, "I'm troubled, and hot. Love me."

Latoya Peterson: Sorry, this look is completely over. The bad boy stereotype is screaming off the page. "Look at me! I'm the one in black! The unpredictable one! Do my one-liners make me look cool?" Lighten up on the black, lose the accessories and use a piece like Tom Ford's Herringbone Trench to add some drama and mystery. Plus, it's the perfect place to keep both those guns, and keep the chill off.

Naughty Dog Reference: Shirt

Naughty Dog Reference: Necklace

Victor Sullivan

Amy Hennig, Creative Director, Naughty Dog: Sully is a throwback to early action-adventure heroes like Errol Flynn and Clark Gable, with a healthy dose of Ernest Hemingway thrown in. We wanted his outfit to reflect this heritage – thus the embroidered guayabera shirt, khakis, old-school boots, and ever-present cigar. His preference for a long-barreled Colt Python revolver completes the picture.

(Note From Kotaku: Victor Sullivan was spared the scrutiny of our fashion experts. You're a lucky man, Sully! )

Naughty Dog Reference: Shirt

Naughty Dog Reference: Dockers Pants

Did you pick up a copy? If you didn't you should check out our review of the game and everyone else's. If you did maybe you could help Kotaku out a bit.

When I reviewed the game I was only able to play against developers, now that the game is in the wild I want to check out how it plays online against the vast gaming public.

To test it out I'll be on and offline much of the day playing online matches. If you'd like to join me hit up KotakuCrecente.

In the meantime feel free to use this post to drop in your own opinions of the game and to help set up online matches if you'd like.

For the upcoming launches of Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, PlayStation Home is launching two new virtual spaces and creating a new apartment for Home users to enjoy.

The Ratchet & Clank space was built with several casual mini-games like find-the-sheep and actually has music that sounds like something out of one of the games. There's a firing range game as well that changes what kind of enemies you're shooting at depending on if you're playing the Past, Present or Future range. Sadly, the apartment isn't Ratchet's apartment from the games – but it does have three levels and a massive view of space from the basement.

Oh, also, you get a Ratchet costume complete with ears, a tail and a Clank backpack.

The Uncharted 2 space is Nepal, complete with prayer flags, breathtaking temples in the background and a massive interactive board game in the middle of the town square. It seems a lot bigger than the Ratchet & Clank space – but perhaps that's because there's open sky instead of a robot factory.

The space has several casual mini games like the sheep-hunting one in the Ratchet & Clank space – but the board game really impressed me. It's called "Fortunate Thieves" and its oriented around changing terrain spaces with treasure hidden on certain tiles. Players choose what terrain map they want to play on (mountainous, desert, etc.) and each get cards that somehow change the terrain (e.g. an earthquake card). This allows them to stall other players out or open up other parts of the map to move to during the movement phase on the hunt for treasure.

Like with everything else in Home, there's always a reward to be had for getting really good at the games built into these specific spaces – so be sure to check them out whenever they go live (usually right around a game's release).

And sadly we didn't get any Nepal screens, so here's a parting Ratchet shot:

The fall gaming season starts off with a bang next week with two huge titles both dropping on Tuesday the 13th, but GameStop doesn't think you should wait. More than 800 North American GameStop locations will be staying open till midnight in order to make sure eager gamers get their Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Brutal Legend fixes as soon as humanly possible. There's a list on the GameStop website you can consult to see if your local store is among those with slightly angrier than normal employees come Monday night.

Sadly my local stores are not, which means I might just have to go to Wal-Mart and pick the games up instead. Sure I'll miss out on waiting in line, but at least I'll be able to buy a rake in case the need arises. Take that, GameStop!

This morning Sony released some numbers to show just how popular the demo, currently the most popular demo on the Playstation Network, has been:

Total Number of games played – 1,217,424
Total Number of Kills – 92,110,787
Total Number of Treasures Captured – 1,860,645
Total Amount of Money Earned – $38,841,367,350
Total Time Played – 9,905 days (or 27+ years)

Sony also notes that Uncharted 2 has racked up a staggering 17 perfect review scores out of the 34 currently on Metacritic, the rest are 90 percent or higher.

While we don't score games, we certainly heaped our share of love on Uncharted 2: Among Thieves in our review.

UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves By the Numbers

Naughty Dog multiplayer designer Justin Richmond spoke to Eurogamer at Sony's London HQ recently, revealing that he'll be working on downloadable content for the game for the foreseeable future, and while he's "fascinated" by cooperative gameplay, time and size constraints will keep the focus on the competition.

"What you'll probably see is more of the competitive type: more maps, more modes, stuff like that. The co-op stuff is hugely time-intensive and the size of it - the physical download size - is huge, so that's probably not an option. I'm not going to say never, but for the foreseeable future we're not going to be doing that."

That doesn't mean there won't be more cooperative in the franchise's future, however, with Richmond explaining that he'd be keen to explore playing together in future Naughty Dog titles.

"Naughty Dog does a really good job of defining things, and I think no one's really done a definitively amazing amazing co-op experience and I think we can do that, and it's something that at some point we'll tackle," he said. "If I have my say, then that's what we'd do."

I'm of the mind that co-op in Uncharted isn't entirely necessary, and while it is a nice inclusion, the series wouldn't suffer without it. Your thoughts?

Naughty Dog details Uncharted 2 DLC [Eurogamer]

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To listen, head over to our BlogTalkRadio page. Unfortunately, you can only listen live on the BlogTalkRadio website.

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The original Naughty Dog-developed third-person shooter was one of the crown jewels of the Playstation 3 launch, its critical success highlighting the technical prowess of Sony's new console and the storytelling chops of the game's creators.

Now nearly two years later, Uncharted 2 has not only to live up to the game's growing expectation but to improve upon those few areas in which reviewers found fault in the original.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves puts players back in control of Nathan Drake a few years after the events of the original game. This time around Drake is on the hunt for Marco Polo's lost ships and the treasure they may hide. The story eventually leads Drake on a search for Shangri-La somewhere in the Himalayas.

Loved
Page Turner: There really aren't many surprises tucked away in Uncharted 2's workable plot. But the delivery and character development help make the story something worth reliving. The strongest element is how the writers managed to create a story that has you pushing through the game at an unforgiving pace. Like a good book, each chapter ends in a way that makes you want to continue playing to see what happens next. Before you know it, the story comes to a perfectly-proportioned ending.

Dialogue : While the story in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has plenty going for it, the thing that really drives home its strengths is the clever back and forth among the main characters. Unlike a movie, a video game doesn't tell its story over a few hours. There are, in all video games, hours and hours of trial and error, repeated performances and sudden deaths. This forced repetition is one of the things that handicaps the medium. Naughty Dog does an amazing job of filling that typically bland space with sharp conversations that help to build the rapport between the lead, love interests, friends and enemies.

Amazing Moments: Planted throughout this solid adventure title are the sorts of moments that you'll want to talk about with your friends. Some involve plot points, others amazing backdrops and still more, cleverly crafted fighting scenes. They come timed to elevate the game's potentially slow points, ridding it of any valleys and instead making Uncharted 2 an upward journey across a series of peaks.

Camera Framing: More than most games, Uncharted 2 looks like a movie. And I don't mean that just as a compliment to the graphics, but also because so much care was put into the way we see those colorful pixels.

This is something tricky to do in a third-person shooter when the gamer has almost total control of the camera. But the default view, the place the camera drifts to at the beginning of a scene and as you play, was obviously crafted with care. I found my attention drawn to the game's beautifully detailed scenery and unusual settings not just because they were so unique, but because of the way the camera framed them.

Ending: My biggest complaint with the first Uncharted was with its ending. After delivering a fairly stunning and rather original journey to gamers, Uncharted fell back onto bad habits, forcing players to confront a final boss that was redundant and anti-climatic.

Lesson learned, it seems, for Naughty Dog because this time around the ending feels like the reward it should be. The conclusion neatly wraps up all of the loose plot lines into a tightly woven climax and then slows down the story just enough to allow the emotional impact of the final scene to wash over gamers.

Free climbing: A bit heavier on the climbing this time around, Uncharted 2 gives Nathan Drake the ability to free climb up and around objects. Not everything is climbable, Drake will still have to hunt out fingerholds. But there's enough there to give gamers different ways to tackle obstacles, in particular the gun-wielding obstacles.

Melee: Hand-to-hand combat this time around feels much more fleshed out than it did in the original Uncharted. You can perform a number of savage, but silent take-downs on unsuspecting enemies and even slip effortlessly between gunplay and melee without losing the pace of an encounter.

The biggest improvement is the need for gamers to use both melee buttons when facing certain enemies to dodge attacks and perform counters. This relatively simple addition adds a very welcome facet to what had been a borderline mundane mechanic.

Mechanics: The best of games can be brought low by faulty controls. Fortunately for Uncharted 2, the game's controls are as solid as the rest of the title. The familiar controls make it equally easy to stealth you way through a level, climb up and over enemies or just seek cover and blow everyone away.

Multiplayer: Featuring both cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes, what really sets the online play in Uncharted 2 apart is that much of the single-player mechanics have made their way into the game. That means free climbing, scrambling up to cover and hanging from a wall or railing and plunking enemies.

I've only played online with developers on a private network, so I can't address how stable a loaded and public server will be. But the experience, lag-free, is an amazing multiplayer adaptation of Uncharted 2.

Hated
Twitter: The ability to have Uncharted 2 automatically send out updates about your gameplay to your Twitter account is a neat idea, on paper. But, as Naughty Dog quickly realized, being the recipient of a tidal wave of updates sent from a friend can become old quite quickly. And dread the thought of having several friends play the game.

Naughty Dog realized it was a bad idea and officially disabled it even before the game was released, promising a patch that would limit progress updates when it comes back. While the ability to notify friends of online sessions and awards earned remains, it's apparent that this wasn't the best concept for any otherwise nearly flawless title.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves succeeds in as many ways as possible: It had me telling myself "just one more chapter" from the first to the 26th. It made me laugh at jokes and mutter in annoyance at characters. And for a moment at the end, touched me.

I'm not one to say something is the best ever or to dole out perfect scores, and Uncharted 2 does have its share of trivial issues, but to date, Naughty Dog's second adventure with Nathan Drake appears to be the best experience hitting a console this fall.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the Playstation 3 on Oct. 13. Retails for $59.99 USD. Played entire campaign mode on normal difficulty. Tested hard difficulty. Played several sessions of multiplayer with the game's developers on a private network.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

The Uncharted 2 multiplayer demo goes live today at 11AM Pacific, with just under 1.3GB of multiplayer goodness for all PS3 owners to love. It includes not one but four different maps, four competitive modes, and two co-operative modes, meaning it's a great deal more than the dinky multiplayer beta had to offer. The demo also includes Cinema, allowing players to view and share their multiplayer match replays, along with a Stage map that's perfect for creating your own machinima videos.

That's an amazing amount of content, and the price is definitely right. If you don't download this there might be something wrong with you. Just saying.

Uncharted 2 Multiplayer Demo open to all today [PlayStation Blog]

In an update on the Sony Playstation Blog, Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells wrote that the decision to pull the plug on the feature was driven by "some concern about the frequency of updates."

Some reviewers have had early access to the game and selected the option to update their Twitter accounts as they completed each chapter of the game. This has resulted in some Twitter feeds being updated multiple times an hour. We obviously want to provide the best experience for everybody, so for the time being we've disabled Twitter updates on chapter completions.

An update down the line will also remove the option from the menu.

Earlier today I turned the option for the auto-updates on my Twitter account for chapter completion. While a few other bloggers complained about the auto updates, quite a few of the responses in my Twitter feed was about the speed in which I was completing chapters, not the regularity of updates.

Twitter Update: #UNCHARTED 2