Five Fun Party Video Games

It can be difficult to rally yourself out the front door on a cold, dreary Friday night in midwinter. But that's okay. If you don't have the juice to go out and party, why not bring the party to your pad? Whether you're having an intimate gathering or an all-out rager, these new video games can help you keep the mood of the gathering festive.

1. Harmonix Rock Band 

Who cares if the kegerator is borked? Rock Band provides more than enough entertainment for your party, even if the beer is tepid. In Rock Band, you create your own band--drummer, guitarist, bassist, and lead singer. The game comes with a guitar, mic, and drum kit, but you'll have to purchase a second guitar if you want to handle the bass-playing chores. (For a first-hand look at gameplay, check out the video from PC World's in-house band.)

Rock Band arrives with 58 thumpin' tunes, including the Foo Fighters' "Learn to Fly," Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive," and the Stones' "Gimme Shelter"; and Harmonix makes new downloadable content available regularly. Saddled with someone who struggles with things like playing different notes and counting to four? Don't worry: Players can pick their own difficulty level, so a rhythm-challenged drummer or a bassist who "mostly plays C" won't hinder the band. Plus, if a bandmate fails out, top-performing players can use their star power to bring that person back from the brink.

($170 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions; $160 for PlayStation 2 version)

2. Microsoft Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action 

At every party there lurks a film nerd, a guy who has watched every Kurosawa film since Sugata Sanshiro and who can quote the entire Star Wars script--including Greedo's lines in Huttese. Want to see how much he really knows? Challenge him to a game of Scene It?--a movie trivia contest based on the DVD board games of the same name. Scene It? accommodates up to four players, each armed with his or her own Big Button Pad, a special wireless buzzer that makes it easy to ring in and answer questions.

The game features an array of question types. In 'Child's Play', participants must scan a kid's doodle and guess the name of the film that's being depicted. 'Quotables' tests your knowledge of famous movie lines. Other challenges ask you to put films into chronological order, or play a brief movie clip and then ask a series of follow-up questions. Though the commentary sometimes tends toward hokeyness, the game is still pretty fun, even if you're doomed to lose to annoying film guy.

($60, available for Xbox 360)