For the sake of those who read this blog and not Variety.com, and also just for the sake of provoking discussion, I plan to link to and discuss a lot of the reviews and news about videogames from the "actual" paper on here.

So I'm starting with our review of "No More Heroes," by yours truly. I'll be blunt: I think this is the best game yet for the Wii. Period. And I know I'm provoking the fanboys who viciously assaulted me for merely really liking "Super Mario Galaxy" and not loving it. And "No More Heroes" certainly isn't as deep or as slick as that game.

But it's eons more original than anything that has been made for the Wii. A great sense of style, great controls, funky characters. As I wrote in my review, it's "the first great hipster videogame." It's also the first non-shooter to figure out the Wii controls. Swinging the Wii-mote every time you hit an enemy would quickly get annoying and tedious. But saving the motion sensing for kick-ass finishing moves and wrestling throws? That's a sense of satisfaction you can't get on a a 360 or PS3.

The only caveats in noted in the review are the weak soundtrack and the lack of a good physics engine, which makes the fighting imprecise. But there's one other thing too detailed to go into in the review that I wanted to add here. If anyone reading this got to ranking number four in the game, they'll know what I'm talking about: What the hell is up with the magician guy? The basic battle is fine. He has a few good moves and I love how sometimes the camera turns upside down (or are we just on the ceiling).

But towards the end of the fight, "No More Heroes" starts triggering these bizarre little mini-games where Harvey traps Travis in a box and the player has to shake the controller in order to get out. Then it happens again. And again. And again. The last time I fought Harvey, I counted eight times I got stuck in that damn box. I got out every time, but to no purpose. It didn't cause any damage to the boss. And when it's over, you're thrown right back into the fight where you started, which can be very disconcerting.

Whatever it was Grasshopper was trying to do with that particular feature, it totally didn't work.

But still, the game is great. The only question left for me is: Will "No More Heroes" be another under-selling critical darling? Ubisoft's decision to release it in January makes me think that's their appraisal.