Consoles and PC's have had a slow month interms of new AAA quality games arriving for your respected platform. While January got off to a slow start, it quickly recovered to bring us high quality tittles through digital distribution. Plenty of great downloadable arcade tittles were made available through XBLA, PSN and Steam, giving us many hidden gems on the digital marketplace. Let's look back at the games we reviewed over the past month.  

When SoulCalibur IV came out a few years ago for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, some players were disappointed by the series' jump to next-gen, even with the addition of nifty Star Wars characters.  (C'mon, Darth Vader versus Mitsurugi was pretty damn epic.)  But luckily, Namco realizes that some better balancing was needed, and SoulCalibur V brings it in spades, between some great new characters and the kind of multiplayer that will keep you addicted for some time.  It's just a shame that the single player content couldn't really keep up...

The growing number of MMA fans out there can explore a fantasy UFC matchup between current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in the new Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 UFC Undisputed 3 demo. In addition, they will relive a classic PRIDE Mode rivalry between renowned UFC fighters and former champions Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Wanderlei Silva. The playable demo will also offer mirror matches, enabling consumers to play against friends or opponent AI as the same fighter, in the ultimate test of skill. UFC Undisputed 3 hits retail on Valentine’s Day.

When SoulCalibur came out for the Dreamcast just over ten years ago, it defined a new direction for the team at Namco Bandai, one of promise and dedication.  Despite the software that followed over the years, nothing could knock the weapons-based fighter off its perch as the best game to come out for the system.  Fast forward eleven years later, as the company tries to repeat its success by launching the same game on Apple's mobile devices.  Is it just as successful this time around?  Not exactly...and that's probably due to the changes in the market itself.

Believe it or not, play-by-play commentary can have some vital importance in a sports game.  Have it running too long and it becomes irrelevant to what's happening in the game.  Make it too silly and it can take away from the seriousness of your contest.  Make it disjointed and it sounds like a hideous mess.  There's a proper tone you have to nail when it comes to doing running commentary, but THQ recognizes this, as the development team has worked very closely to making UFC Undisputed 3's commentary better than ever.

There's no question that 2011 was a big year for the Mortal Kombat franchise, as Netherrealm Games effectively relaunched the franchise and made fighting relevant again, complete with over-the-top fatalities and bonus characters that piqued our interest.  (Freddy Krueger?)  But it looks like 2012 will be just as eventful for the series, as the team has not only announced a new Komplete Edition that's coming to consoles later this spring, but also its debut on the PlayStation Vita.

LAS VEGAS – When it comes to big fights, there wasn’t anything quite as large as UFC 141, which pitted Brock Lesnar against Alistair “The Reem” Overeem. After sending Lesnar into retirement, Overeem spent three days at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2012) with Qualcomm. The fighter took on all challengers in mobile games like Fight Game Heroes and signed autographs. He talks about his love of games in this exclusive video interview.