Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep

Taking place 10 years before the original Kingdom Hearts game, Birth of Sleep takes place in another smattering of Disney locations from the animated movies over the past 90 years. Players will see locations like Peter Pan’s Neverland, Cinderella’s Castle, Fantasia’s Mysterious Tower, the forest from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and the Olympus Coliseum from Hercules. The game was released in Japan in January of this year and will be out in North America in the first week of September for Sony's Playstation Portable.

Spider-man: Shattered Dimensions

Peter Parker is in for a heck of ride this year with the release of Spider-man: Shattered Dimensions. When Spidey takes on Mysterio and accidentally breaks the “Tablet of Order and Chaos”, multiple Marvel universes are thrown into disarray. Four versions of Spider-Man team up to put things back into place. They include Ultimate Spider-Man who has melded with the Symbiote, a Spider-Man from the 30s, A Spider-Man from 2099 and the original. The versions of Spidey are voiced by actors such as Neil Patrick Harris and C.D. Barnes (the voice of the 1994 FOX Spider-Man show). The game will be released in the first week of September for the Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS.

NHL 11

Another version of Electronic Arts NHL Franchise is hitting stores in the first week of September. According to sources at EA, NHL 11 will include a new game engine that was built off physics rather than animation for more realistic player reactions and puck movement. Other changes include the ability to control players have broken their sticks, a location feature to specifically target a section of the body on a hit, firing off passes on the release of the controller trigger rather than tapping it and a revamped speed button that’s more advantageous to breakaways. NHL 11 will be released on the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360.

Batman: The Brave and The Bold

In the first video game designed from the new Batman: The Brave and The Bold animated television series, players are put into the role of Batman and have to take on a variety of villains from the DC universe. In the Wii version, a second player can drop into the game and help control another hero such as Robin, Aquaman, Green Arrow and Plastic Man. The DS version requires switching between the heroes to play through the levels. Batman: The Brave and The Bold; The Videogame will be released in the first week of September for the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo DS.

Tom Clancy's HAWX 2

As a follow-up to the original HAWX game, Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. 2 continues the story at the team is being sent to the Middle East to investigate a brewing situation as well as missing nuclear arms. This time around, you will be in control of U.S., British and Russian forces. Just like the last game, this is an arcade flight combat game that puts the player into missions from dog fighting to stealth bombing runs. It includes a 4 player co-op mode as well at multiplayer combat up to 8 players. It will be available for the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 in early September. (Wii version to follow later in the year)

Halo Reach

Developed in Bungie Studios, there’s a new chapter in the Halo series and it’s not all about Master Chief this time. The game takes place before the first game in the series, Halo: Combat Evolved. Humans are in the middle of the conflict with the Covenant and are losing badly. Reach is the name of a colony that is used at the main hub for the interstellar conflict as well as a home to 700 million non-military personnel. The player is put into the role of a new addition to a UNSC special ops team and is tasked with taking down the alien scum. The game is currently exclusive to the Xbox 360 and will be available in the middle of September.

PS3 Move

Previewed in person at E3 2010, the Playstation Move controller is a motion sensing controller for the Playstation 3; Sony’s response to the Nintendo Wii motion controller. In addition to the release of the new controller, Sony is also releasing a charging station. Games releasing in 2010 that support the Playstation Move controller include Little Big Planet 2, SingStar Dance, The Fight: Lights Out and Tron: Evolution. The Playstation Move will be out in the middle of September.

Civilization V

Part of Sid Meier’s Civilization series, PC gamers who love turn-based strategy games have been highly anticipating the release of Civilization V. Players evolve entire civilizations from the time of cavemen all the way into the vast future, complete with spaceships. Compared to previous versions of the series, the combat system has gotten a massive overhaul and there’s new A.I. controlled civilizations that require interaction for peacetime or war. Civilization is a very detailed oriented game and experience with previous versions of the game is recommended. Civilization V will be available on the PC in late September. (A Mac version is also in the works.)

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock

This game is the last version of Guitar Hero to come out of Neversoft’s development team after Activision took apart the team. Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock takes a slightly different path and introduces a more detailed story mode into the game. Narrated by Gene Simmons, players are tasked with attempting to release the Demigod of Rock and help him defeat a mythical create known only as The Beast. There are similarities to Jack Black’s Brutal Legend, but the game is likely more similar to a standard Guitar Hero game. The game features music from Rush, Linkin Park, Soundgarden, Queen, Blue Oyster Cult, Aerosmith, Metallica and many other rock bands. It will be available at the end of September on the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii consoles.

Dead Rising 2

Following up on the wildly popular and versatile zombie horror game Dead Rising, Capcom’s Dead Rising 2 takes place 2 years after the first game in Fortune City, a version of Las Vegas. Chuck Greene, the player controlled hero, is running around the city trying to earn enough money to keep his infected daughter from becoming a roaming undead with a medication called Zombrex. In addition, the military blames Chuck Greene for the outbreak for some reason and is inbound to Chuck’s location in 72 hours. Similar to the last game, you have 72 hours of game time to resolve the situation. The game will be released at the end of the month for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.