When Ubisoft released Rayman Origins for consoles last year, it brought back one of its longest running franchises in a fresh new mold, one that all gamers could appreciate, from its classic platforming set-up to its gorgeous presentation, which makes it resemble a Saturday morning cartoon brought to life.  Somehow, Ubisoft has managed to cram almost every bit of goodness from the original game into on-the-go play for the PlayStation Vita – and that’s the primary reason why it’s a must-own.

Who doesn’t want to be a ninja?  Don’t sit there and tell me you’ve never dreamed of the day of being insane enough to throw stars at objects with utmost accuracy, or get the sneak-up on someone from behind to subdue them.  Well, very few games these days make you truly feel like a ninja, since the Tenchu series has fallen by the wayside.  To make up for this, Namco Bandai has brought in Acquire, Tenchu's development team, to produce Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen to the PlayStation Vita, giving gamers the opportunity to go all ninja-like with a vengeful assassin named, well, Zen.

Am I the only one who truly appreciated the maniacal genius that David Jaffe and his team brought to Twisted Metal Black like a decade ago?  Sure, the storyline was much more twisted, and the darker M-rated approach was quite the jolt for those who expected something along the lines of the original PS One games, but I thought it was a change for the better, with a lot more at stake and concentrated car combat like only Jaffe can provide.  I’m sure there are fans out there who appreciate it as much as I do, and they’re the probably the ones who will get a kick out of the reboot that just arrived on PlayStation 3.

Last year at E3, Ubisoft surprised us with a vacation gone awry in a little game called Far Cry 3. The trailer depicts an island being ruled over by a psychopathic regime, and your only means of escape are by taking the fight back to them and let the guns do the talking. Now a new gameplay trailer has emerged, displaying how big a fight it is to escape the island and how explosive some of the moments can be.

Finally.  We played it at several events for the past few months now, and sent Vblank Entertainment countless emails regarding its release.  We’ve spent hours dreaming of running over folks in 8-bit looking cars and creating all kinds of chaos with superheroes and other strange characters.  And now, it looks like Retro City Rampage, the independent darling that’s been making waves for the past couple of years, is finally coming home.  The team has announced that it’s finally arriving this May, just in time for summer – and it’s coming to more than just one console.

If you’re a fan of Valve games, then you’re probably pretty loyal to their brand.  However, it never hurts to stray out there and find something equally inspired by their lunacy.  In this case, Warp, a game made by Trapdoor Interactive and published by Electronic Arts, the first of Microsoft’s four-game House Party group.  It definitely has its moments of lunacy, though some of them may be too much for amateur players to bear.

Razer is a manufacturer that’s never shied away from making quality technology, and it certainly knows how to work with game companies in partnerships, like LucasArts with Star Wars: The Old Republic and Electronic Arts with Battlefield 3 and Dragon Age: Origins.  But this latest deal with not only EA but also Bioware could pay off, as they’re working with the companies on exclusive goods featuring the Mass Effect 3 brand.  If you ever wanted to feel like you’re controlling Commander Shepard, these are must-haves.