For quite some time now I have read countless blog posts, Twitter updates and Facebook posts about how beloved “Angry Birds” has become with, well, pretty much everyone. Since its initial release for Apple’s iOS, the game has been played by over 12 million users and just two days ago, it was introduced to a whole new, even wider audience when Google Chrome released the game free for their browser.

I hadn’t played “Angry Birds” before it was made available by Google Chrome, but as soon as I heard the news of it now being browser-supported, I decided to give it a whirl. Millions of people have been really into the game for years now, so I went into it, admittedly, expecting to see what all the fuss was about and get out.

Two days later, I am still addicted to this game which entails using birds, each type with their own unique destruction power, used to make intricate buildings come crashing down in order to destroy little green pigs who have stolen the birds’ eggs. With over 70 different levels, “Angry Birds” provides an amazing amount of playing time, especially if you’re a little obsessive compulsive, like myself, and absolutely need to get three stars on every level. Yes, I am one of those people.

“Angry Birds” for Google Chrome is still in beta, but they are diligently working on fixing some minor bugs you’ll probably run into throughout the game at one point or another. Luckily, you won’t experience them for long.

If you’ve never played this game, but have been told by several people just how fun and, yes, addicting it is, and want to experience it for yourself, or if you just want to another platform to experience the structure demolition using several different varieties of ridiculously cute birds who make equally cute sounds, download Google Chrome (if you don’t have it installed already) and download this app.

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While full details have not been released, we do know that in Oregon Trail you have the ability to form a “wagon party” with your friends and in Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, players are sent on a global search for criminals with the ability to enlist help from friends along the way.

Take a look at the trailers for the new games inside.

Oregon Trail Trailer

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego Trailer

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Quite a few highly-anticipated video games will be released throughout 2011. Here are a few that gamers have been excited about for some time now.

Little Big Planet 2

Join Sackboy in a completely new platforming adventure spread across 50 levels.

Some time has passed since the events of the original game and its PSP sequel and Craftworld is in trouble. An evil device, force, thingy known as “The Negativitron” is threatening to suck up everyone and everything, including Sackboy, into the void. Only an intervention by a rebel organization known as “The Alliance” saves our hero. And with that Sackboy decides to lend his creative platforming powers to the cause. Along the way he’ll discover new abilities, gadgets, gameplay rules and innovative tools to get the job done.

Little Big Planet 2 is a puzzle-platforming game for PlayStation 3 with a new built-in functionality allowing players to create advanced content, including full-fledged games of all sorts, which can be shared with others within the Little Big Planet online network. The third game in the Little Big Planet franchise, the tool set within Little Big Planet 2 provides players with the ability to easily change the mapping of objects in-game, add abilities and non-player AI characters, create cut scenes, link levels and more. Additional features include backwards compatibility with content created with the original Little Big Planet game, a 50 level deep Story Mode and all new platforming gadgets.

Little Big Planet 2 will be released January 18, 2011
Available for the PlayStation 3 in standard edition ($57.99) and collector’s edition ($79.99)

Dead Space 2

Engineer Isaac Clarke returns for another bloodcurdling adventure in the sequel to the critically acclaimed Dead Space. After waking from a coma on a massive space city known as “The Sprawl,” the lone survivor of a horrific alien infestation finds himself confronting a catastrophic new nightmare. Battling dementia, hunted by the government, and haunted by visions of his dead girlfriend, Isaac will do whatever it takes to save himself and dominate the gruesome onslaught. With an arsenal of tools to dismember Necromorphs and new determination, an engineer will bring the terror to space.

Dead Space 2 is a third-person horror survival game in which players must battle an alien infestation straight out of a nightmare. The follow-up game to 2008′s original Dead Space, in this new release, players explore a whole new terrifying game environment and battle the Necromorph abominations utilizing new weapons and tools such as the powerful javelin gun and a new space suit with built-in booster rockets. Additional game features include improved telekinesis powers and online multiplayer functionality.

Dead Space 2 will be released January 25, 2011
Available for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 ($57.99)

Portal 2

Portal 2 draws from the award-winning formula of innovative gameplay, story, and music that earned the original Portal over 70 industry accolades and created a cult following. The single-player portion of Portal 2 introduces a cast of dynamic new characters, a host of fresh puzzle elements, and a much larger set of devious test chambers. Players will explore never-before-seen areas of the Aperture Science Labs and be reunited with GLaDOS, the occasionally murderous computer companion who guided them through the original game. The game’s two-player cooperative mode features its own entirely separate campaign with a unique story, test chambers, and two new player characters. This new mode forces players to reconsider everything they thought they knew about portals. Success will require them to not just act cooperatively, but to think cooperatively.

Portal will be released April 19, 2011
Available for the PC, Mac, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 ($54.99)

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

A search for the fabled “Atlantis of the Sands” propels fortune hunter Nathan Drake on a trek into the heart of the Arabian Desert. When the terrible secrets of this lost city are unearthed, Drake’s quest descends into a desperate bid for survival that strains the limits of his endurance and forces him to confront his deepest fears.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception features an interactive cinematic experience that blurs the lines between games and Hollywood films and an epic single player campaign with evolved signature Uncharted gameplay. In addition to a single player campaign, it also features a new breed of Action Adventure Multiplayer that brings the exciting cinematic elements of the single-player campaign into multiplayer. The game also supports stereoscopic 3D gameplay.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception will be released November 1, 2011
Available for the PlayStation 3 ($59.99)

Gears of War 3

Gears of War 3 is the spectacular conclusion to one of the most memorable and celebrated sagas in videogames. Developed by Epic Games exclusively for Xbox 360, Gears of War 3 plunges players into a harrowing tale of hope, survival and brotherhood. In Gears of War 3, players fight on as Marcus Fenix, the grizzled war hero and leader of Delta Squad. Eighteen months after the fall of the last human city, the war against the Locust rages on. Meanwhile, deep beneath the surface, a fearsome new threat is infecting the planet from within. With survivors scattered and civilizations in ruins, time is running out for Marcus and his comrades as they fight to save the human race. The Gears of War series is one of the most popular franchises in Xbox history, with more than 12 million games sold worldwide, an upcoming film, New York Times best-selling novels and more.

Gears of War 3 will be released during Q4 of 2011.
Available for Xbox 360 ($59.99)

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In most cases, once someone completes a game and has solved all the puzzles and has been named victorious in the game they’ve been playing, it takes a long time for people to get the interest in that game back again, but online games have an appeal (and can also be very, very addicting) that they will actually hold the attention of your game-player for many months to come. I know I personally have a Playstation 3 and have played it maybe a handful of times in the year I’ve had it. However, I play online games a few times a day and with games like Burger Shop, Bejeweled 2 which every member of my family plays every free moment they have, and the beloved Diner Dash and every variation of that game that has come out in the past few years, they really end up having more of an appeal to game players of all ages.

So this holiday season, when your children are asking for those hot ticket games, you can also keep in mind that there are numerous online games (we’re talking like hundreds and maybe even thousands of different online games here) that they will also love and you can have them ready on your computer for Christmas morning without even leaving the house–or your computer, for that matter! How’s that for some hassle-free holiday shopping?

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The reason why Facebook applications have done so well and are continuing to pick up the pace is because frankly, they are addicting and one game that has been the source of a great entertainment and procrastination for all is Farmville–an application that lets you be a farmer and grow crops and raise animals living on your own, virtual farm.

Farmville lets you grow numerous crops like strawberries, eggplant, soybeans, peppers, and numerous others and lets you raise animals like cows, pigs, horses, and ducks. It is incredibly cute and very, very addicting, especially when you get into the awards you can get from achieving small milestones like harvesting a certain number of trees or the amount of times you visit and help out on your friend’s farm and start purchasing decorations like whitewash fences (to keep your animals all fenced in while they are getting ready for their feathers, wool, milk, and eggs to be collected!) and haybales, carts, outhouses, and garden gnomes. And of course, a farm is not complete without a barn, tool shed, and of course a farm house for your farmer to live in.

Over 7 million people are playing Farmville daily, but if you’re one of the few people to actually have never heard of this game, it’s time to start your own farm and get in on Farmville. However, you may want to clear your schedule for the next week or so because that’s how long you’ll be staring at your farm, waiting for crops to go, and decorate your space.

And if that sounds a little like what your life has looked like over the past few weeks, be sure to follow Farmville on Twitter @zfarmville where they announce all of the new crops, decorations, buildings, and more that are put into the game and announce all the cool stuff going on within the Farmville community, like one person who made an entire farm that looks like Super Mario.

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