Welcome to The Game Room, and thanks for coming. If you're like most computer users, you probably play a game or two. Or ten. If you enjoy reading about the latest and greatest in the ever-widening world of PC and console gaming, then stick around.

Every month I'll introduce you to new game releases, letting you know what to look for (and, occasionally, what to avoid). I'll also review gaming accessories for PC and console gamers, handheld game playing devices, networking gear designed with gamers in mind, and a lot more.

In honor of the holiday season, I'm dedicating this column to the many wonders that have hit store shelves in the past few months. It's been a season chock full of game-related gadgets, including a few entirely new devices--enough to make even the most jaded gamer drool.

Take Control With New Controllers

Nyko's two new Air Flo accessories may compel some PC gamers to exclaim "this blows!" with pride. Both the Air Flo USB mouse ($30) and Air Flo PC gamepad (there are also models for Xbox and PlayStation 2) deliver a microbreeze that cools and dries the palm of your hand while you play, courtesy of the tiniest little fans you've ever seen. When the adrenaline starts pumping, you won't have to worry about perspiration shorting out your controller. Those of you who need this--you know who you are--are going to praise Deus Ex when you get your hands on one of these gadgets.

Purists shouldn't fret about a reticle moving off target: The fans impart no annoying vibration; and they're so quiet that you might not even know they're running. The optical Air Flo mouse takes over 600 samples per second for precision mouse movement; it also features a fan speed switch, rubber grips, and a rubberized scroll wheel.

Nyko has yet another specialized controller that PS2 players can fight over. The IType2 has a small integrated USB keyboard built right into the top of the controller. No, there aren't a slew of text adventures about to be released for the PlayStation: It lets online gamers send one another text messages without needing to plug in a separate USB keyboard. (Nyko says it's good for Evercrack and the new online RPG Final Fantasy XI.)

While it's not overly heavy, the IType2 is chunkier than a typical aftermarket PS2 controller, and a lot bigger than Sony's standard PS2 gamepad. It's not hard to tap out a message, though the keyboard layout is a bit awkward. Programmable macro buttons let you preset four stock phrases to call upon in the heat of battle. My recommendations: "I'll handle this," "I'll watch your back," "Run away," and "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." Well, maybe the last one is just a gratuitous Princess Bride reference--but it still makes me laugh.

Goin' Retro

It's Saturday night. You've got no date, a pocket full of quarters, a 2-liter bottle of Shasta, and your all-Rush mix tape. What's missing? Classic arcade games, that's what.

Take that pocket full of quarters to your local Best Buy, Fry's, or even the neighborhood drugstore, and pick up one of the hottest games of the moment: Jakks TV Games. These $25 self-contained consoles consist of just a joystick, a fire button, a power switch, and a cable that plugs into the video and audio input jacks on a TV. Drop in four AA batteries, and you're playing games--not just any games, mind you, but classic games from the golden age of the 1970s and 80s.

Jakks offers two models at the moment: Atari 10-in-1n TV Games and Namco 5-in-1 TV Games. The Namco model, in bright yellow with red highlights and an arcade-like stick and button, features five original arcade games: Dig Dug, Galaxian, Pac-Mac, Rally-X, and a little-known space shooter named Bosconian. The Atari device, in black-and-orange, ergo-hostile classic Atari styling, plays ten games from the most popular game console of the 1970s.

The Atari 2600's biggest competitor, Intellivision, also has a game-built-into-a-controller. The $25 Intellivision 25 plays, you guessed it, 25 of the disco-era games that made the Atari's graphics look like big chunky blocks. Well, they were big chunky blocks. Intellivision had slightly smaller-chunky-block graphics, but it broke new gaming ground with speech synthesis and a wacky controller that gave me my first game-related repetitive strain injury. The Intellivision 25 more closely resembles a standard gamepad, which makes it more comfortable--but it's ultimately not as true to the original as I'd like.

Four Games Worth a Look

I'm playing a hefty number of games right now, since the holiday season is prime new-release time. Here are the four biggest time-sucks I've become hopelessly addicted to in the last month.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox, $50). Four thousand years before the movie era, these knights wander the galaxy fighting the evil Sith lords (or not, because you can choose to lean either to the dark or light side of the Force). Back in that day, when they weren't plucking the whiskers off kittens, dark Jedi apparently mugged people and beat up drunks. This game also raises the following intriguing question: In 4000 years of development, why couldn't a culture that routinely engages in interstellar travel improve the personality of the ubiquitous Protocol Droids (the obnoxious bots that inexorably evolved into C3PO)?

The Simpsons: Hit and Run (Xbox and PS2, $40). Is there any greater joy in life than laying the smackdown on Mr. Smithers? In this game, you are Evil Homer (and Muu-Muu-Wearing Homer, Stonecutters' Chosen One Homer, and multiple flavors of other members of the Simpson clan, including, curiously, convenience-store stereotype Apu), driving around Springfield on nonlinear missions to help yourself--and others, occasionally. Add liberal amounts of Grand Theft Auto to one cup of Crazy Taxi, sprinkle in Comic Book Store Guy Simpsons-trivia fanaticism, and you've got the basics of the game.

PlanetSide (PC, $10 per month, online only). What happens when you take the small scale (say 40 or 50 players, maximum) of a team-based first person shooter, then invite hundreds and hundreds of people to play--all in the same game, and at the same time? With the recent release of a new expansion pack, Sony Online's massively multiplayer team shooter is enjoying a renaissance. Simply put, it's a futuristic first-person shooter game that rewards those who commit long hours of play while teamed up with others to accomplish a goal.

EyeToy (PS2 only, $50). How much fun can you have if you put yourself into a game with a low-end USB camera, a software engine that detects movement on camera, and a disc full of cartoon-y mini-games? Tons of fun, that's how much. EyeToy: Play positions you right in the middle of game action: Most gameplay involves you waving your arms around like a madman, in hilarious kung-fu fighting, window washing, and a few dozen other games. Five minutes of watching someone else play is all it takes to get hooked.

Have a question or comment? Drop a line to Andrew Brandt.