shrink ray, an armor system and several multiplayer modes. Previous "Ratchet" games rewarded players with new content for playing through the game a second time. She said this one is designed to give players new material if they come back twice.

But, really, the question is, did High Impact's designs pass the test?

More from the world of video games:

A few days after New Year's, Matt Casamassina, the influential Nintendo beat reporter at gaming site IGN.com, reported on his blog that he had played "Halo" on the Nintendo DS. While games from Microsoft's development studio Rare — formerly owned by Nintendo — have appeared on the DS, the idea of the Xbox's premiere first-person shooter appearing on Nintendo's handheld seemed like fantasy. Casamassina swore it was true, the result ofalways going to push the boundaries of where that intellectual property should show up." Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said he hadn't ever played a "Halo" DS build. "Never say never," he said. "I wouldn't expect to see any Sony games on our platform. Never say never." ...

With an announced lineup of Xbox 360 games that includes original games such as "Crackdown," "Mass Effect," "Blue Dragon" and "Too Human," Microsoft appears to be a less sequel-happy game publisher than some of the other major companies in video games. Nevertheless, some original Xbox games have their followings. Asked at the DICE gaming convention if a sequel to the Microsoft-published "Crimson Skies" flight games would appear on the Xbox 360, Microsoft's Spencer was doubtful. The Xbox version was a