Professor Fizzwizzle was busy working on another brilliant scientific experiment when his robotic assistants went haywire and threw him out of his own lab. In this side-scroller platform game, you have to make your way past a series of obstacles to get back into the lab and return the robots to normal.

SketchFighter 4000 Alpha's hook is, of course, the graphics. It doesn't look like any video game you've played before, it looks like a sketch; a home room doodle come to life inside your Trapper Keeper. The visuals are basically nothing more than crude line drawings on top of graph paper. The only texture you'll see here are the cross-hatches of the border walls. The only motion comes from that which can be destroyed. The only color comes from the weapons and such. SketchFighter remains true to its doodle inspirations right down to the explosions of enemies; after they're destroyed, eraser marks remain. It's actually quite funny.

Age of Empires III is the sequel to the second biggest selling game in MacSoft's history. I'm going to guess the biggest was Halo. Or maybe Survivor: The Interactive Game. I'm not sure. But like those two, Age of Empires III is pretty much just about people killing people, only with a bit of actual history and advanced strategy behind it. AoE3 isn't about finding the biggest gun and blowing people away, it's about researching the biggest gun, building it, training people to use it and then blowing entire armies away. It's the civilized depiction of killing. The rated T for Teen depiction.

You have to respect the people at Firaxis: they create Civilization IV, one of the most complex world-building games ever seen, balance real-world problems with engrossing gameplay, try to figure out how to represent trade, diplomacy, and science, but then come out with an expansion that says, "Yeah, we know you just want to kill each other."

The earphones included with Apple's iPod are barely good enough for the iPod, for example. I have a pair of Altec Lansing headphones that are decent for music, but not so much for movies and games (unless I press them against my ears). I recently reviewed the Griffin EarThumps, and found the lower ranges a bit muddy, but the highs and mids were quite clear. That's pretty much how it is with the Icemat Siberia In:Ear Headset, but there's more here to consider.

At its heart, The Sims has always been a game of Beat the Clock. You have to make a nutritious meal, eat, go to the bathroom, and seduce your neighbors before your Sim collapses, or before they have to take that inevitable trip into work. Whereupon the game essentially stops. No more! With the arrival of The Sims 2: Open for Business, one of the most important aspects of your Sims' lives—their jobs—is taken out of the kludgy skill-based system used before (you get promotions based on how you act at home), and instead turned into an aspect of gameplay.

Pangea Arcade brings us updates of Centipede (Firefall, in this incarnation), Missile Command (Warheads) and Asteroids (Nucleus). Certainly popular games, all, in their day, and yet two of the three were covered by MacSoft back when MacSoft released more than two games a year. So, what separates Pangea's versions from other updates of similar games? First, you get three games here for the price of one. Second, those wild Pangea visual effects we've all come to know and love. And third, in at least one instance, superior gameplay.

To this day, Time Pilot is one of my favorite arcade games. Perhaps this is why I'm such a fan of Freeverse's Wingnuts. I absolutely love Wingnuts 2, which I continue to play with frequency. And now that the original Wingnuts: Temporal Navigator has been released for free to the Mac community, it looks like I'll be getting back into that.

Built with the Unity engine and developed by Graveck Interactive, Big Bang Brain Games is a collection of six puzzle games: Sudoku (yet another craze from Japan), Remembrance (Concentration), Echo (Simon), Novasweeper (Minesweeper), Reaction (I've got nothing to compare this to) and Fallacy (the most bizarre logic quiz since the loss of YDKJ). All of the games are presented in the traditional Freeverse/Big Bang Board Games format; a wonderfully animated and colored screen surrounds your game board, complete with characters who challenge, chastise, coax and complement you as you play.

This is a good game that's worth at least a demo download. Experienced gamers will probably find the $20 price tag a bit steep considering the game's simplicity and, therefore, short shelf life. But those who like their action in manageable doses, and especially those with child gamers in the house, should get more than their money's worth. And besides, what else are you going to spend $20 on? Pizza?

SteelSeries is making it quite clear to shoppers that the SteelSound 5H v2 headset is an "...optimized version of the original SteelSound 5H headset," featuring "...improved microphone quality, a longer microphone cord, bigger (and more comfortable) ear cushions, additional frame pressure and numerous other technical design improvements." Fair enough, I suppose. I never tried the previous version, but if it took SteelSeries the mistakes of v1 to get here, then it was worth it. For gaming purposes, this is one of the best headsets I've ever used.

The concept of Weird Worlds is very simple. You're given a ship and have to go out into the unknown and uncharted galaxy to discover new life forms, get loot, upgrade your ship's weapons and shields, gain allies, and return home before your time is up to get the highest score.