Innovative games hitting stores

And now from the Department of Yuck, here comes a game -- and no, you're not even ready to deal with this news -- starring a simulated human baby, where you grow a tot from scratch, feed it, and change it, and waaahh.

"My Baby Girl" and "My Baby Boy" are Nintendo DS "life simulators," similar to pet-simulation games where you feed animals and teach them tricks. Blessedly, unlike pet games, the babies won't starve to death if you ignore the game for a few days.

I'm writing about "My Baby" titles now without reviewing them, because they are among big, small and weird "coming soon" holiday titles I came in contact with at a game convention in Las Vegas, where I played unreleased games for a few levels.

Some other week, I will give you a head's up on the horde of sequels heading for holiday sales, especially "Call of Duty: World at War," "Guitar Hero: World Tour" and "Gears of War 2." But this week, let's look at three innovative nonsequels.

• "Mirror's Edge" puts you in the role of playing an innocent, female parkour athlete on the run from police. If you saw the beginning of the most recent James Bond movie, "Casino Royale," you saw Bond chasing a parkour guy who jumped across buildings, ran up walls like Jackie Chan, and climbed his way up unfathomable obstacles. It's like that.

So, you make spectacular leaps and climbs, hurdle fences, scale walls and walk tightropes. If you get to the end of the exciting game without killing anyone, you win a trophy. Tell me that isn't unique in a cop game.

This isn't just a good idea. Execution is fantastic. The feel is intuitive. And it looks beautiful, with illustrated visuals that will remind older gamers of "Jet Set Radio Future." It's coming out Nov. 11 for Xbox 360 and PS 3.

• "Dead Space" is a horror game set in a future outer space where you play as a systems engineer who must turn mining tools into weapons.

One gun is made from an ore cutter. Another launches mines. A third gun shoots saw blades. People at EA told me they can't play the game without getting scared, though in my half-hour preview-playing, I was too focused on the concepts and smooth movements through spaceship hulls to get scared. It's coming out Oct. 14 for Xbox 360 and PS 3.

• "LittleBigPlanet" is the most buzzed about nonsequel of the holiday season. You play as "Sackboy" or "Sackgirl," tiny burlap-looking doll-type creatures that are small enough to stand on a golf ball.

You can change your cute body, clothes and face. Incredible-looking background and foreground settings look like "Pee Wee's Playhouse" meets "The Nightmare Before Christmas," featuring elements such as two-dimensional windmills and wooden-but-alive tigers that roll on wheels.

As for the gaming, you push, pull, grab and otherwise manipulate these environments to forge a path through a very long adventure and solve puzzles. You can be crushed, frozen, burned and drowned. But you also press a button to show if you're sad, happy, angry or anxious.

There's so much buzz about "LittleBigPlanet," if it sells as well as seems possible, it could replace "Guitar Hero" as the pop-culture icon of gaming. That would be a feat. It's coming out Oct. 21 only for the PS 3, so if you're an Xbox'er, sorry.

(Review details are not available, as reviews of new games return next week, while this week's column takes a look at innovative games set for release in the upcoming holiday shopping season.)

Contact Doug Elfman at 702-383-0391 or e-mail him at delfman@reviewjournal. com. He also blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.