Best New Games: Week Of 9/8/08

Ask yourself: if you were a publisher planning the launch date of your biggest fall blockbuster, would you a) do it a day or two after Spore -- the most anticipated game of the year -- comes out, or b) hold off and do it a week or two later? We're guessing you went for b), and as you'll see if you cast your eyes down this week's release schedule, you're not alone in your conclusion. In fact, barring the debut of Midway's new wrestling series, it's really only Spore publisher EA that has the DNA to go up against Will Wright's expansive behemoth.

Top Three:

Spore

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What's that? Are there other games coming out this week? Not as far as we're concerned -- we're still hooked on this Will Wright spectacular, which actually came out on Sunday. This week also sees the release of the DS version, and at some imminent point we're expecting to spot the Spore iPhone game turning up on the App Store. As if we needed more reasons to play this delightful evolution sim.

NHL 09

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It's almost fall -- so it's time for a new EA hockey game. NHL 08 introduces the usual round of tweaks and upgrades: revised controls, improved graphics, and a new Be A Pro mode that lets players follow one player from small-time player to big-shot superstar -- just like you can in Madden. NHL 08 is already picking up great scores in the early reviews, so check it out this week.

Poker for Dummies

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Poker is an intimidating game. Unless you can find a friend with the patience to talk you through when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em, you're going to lose a lot of money picking it up by trial and error. What better way, then, than to try out this poker game with a difference: it's an interactive tutorial, written in the style of the best-selling "...For Dummies" books, which will give you hand-by-hand advice and tutoring. You'll be a poker pro in no time.

Best of the Rest

• TNA Impact:
  Wrestle your way to the top in the debut game appearance of this wrestling series.
• First Class Flurry:
  The airline industry is in crisis, but can you manage one carrier from bankruptcy back to success?
• Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise:
  Microsoft's addictive Pinata series comes to the Nintendo DS.
• Cathy's Caribbean Club:
  Serve smoothies all round the Caribbean in this time-management hit.
• Hell's Kitchen:
  Get called a "****ing donkey" by Gordon Ramsay, in the comfort of your own home. Surely a chance that's too good to miss.
• Finders Keepers:
  Fish out lost treasures while avoiding baddies in this undersea hunt.