Strangely enough, the big music franchises are a bit light on releases this week. It's as though the publishers thought people might have better things to do in the week between Christmas and New Year's than play video games. The nerve!

I’ll be the first to admit it -- I have a split personality. On the outside I’ve got most of the typical type A characteristics: I’m highly goal-driven, very competitive, and somewhat anal-retentive. Basically, I’m mind-melded to my to-do list. But inside there’s a free and easygoing type B personality who sees nothing wrong with playing video games for hours on end while my to-do list gathers dust. Luckily, I’ve figured out a way to pacify my need to overachieve and still satisfy my inclination to procrastinate -- by playing games that last five minutes or less.

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia is the seventh portable game in the Castlevania series over the last eight years, and I'm not proud to tell you their usual cruel trick worked once more: The creators released practically the same exact game, and I loved it all over again.

I am on a mission. After sulking about the unsavory reflection in the mirror for the past few months, I’ve decided to do something about it. That’s right, I’m talking about the dreaded “E” word.

Phill Spiess loves his girlfriend Annie Flansburg so much he spent weeks rewriting the game she was playing to include a surprise marriage proposal.

From its first appearance last spring, Sonic Unleashed was pegged as the one -- the game that would return the titular blue hedgehog to his 16-bit halcyon days of platform-action supremacy. But the images of Sonic speeding through loop-de-loops set against European villas and African deserts are only a small piece of the Unleashed experience, which falls incredibly flat due to the use of gimmicks and game mechanics that promote only confusion and monotony.

Some games don't age as well as Sean Connery and they end up looking a little too retro, even in the eyes of the most hardcore fans. A revolutionary concept twenty years ago may not be that great today, and unfortunately for fans of god simulation games, the DS remake of Populous falls into the category games that haven't been able to stand the test of time. This newer version is only slightly different from the 1989 PC original that, if played today, would reveal repetitive strategy action and some not-so-charming visuals.

Nothing good can come from teaching young children how to be necromancers. Well, almost nothing. Corpse Craft is a gleefully demented action-puzzler with an undead twist. Things have gone awry at Weardd Academy’s School for Responsible Animation, and a few uncouth students have taken to creating rampaging zombie hordes. To put the necromantic brats in their place, you must reanimate your own wicked army of the walking dead and school your opponents in the black arts.

You can keep your Deal or No Deal, The Weakest Link, Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader? and all that dross. My favorite quiz shows are the classics -- Blockbuster, Blankety Blank, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and my very favorite, Family Feud.

Boasting open-ended gameplay and multiple endings, Chrono Trigger was a unique title that captured the hearts of gamers everywhere and was quickly considered one of the greatest RPGs of the '90s, if not all time. Originally released on the Super NES in 1995, and later reprinted for the PlayStation as part of a compilation, Chrono Trigger is no stranger to the gaming world. It was only a matter of time before this timeless classic resurfaced again.