Ever had “one of those days” at the office? You know the ones. Those days when you feel like doing something antisocial to your co-workers or boss or anyone at all who pokes his head into your cubicle? Those are the nights to come home, pick up the Wii controller and punch it out in Nintendo’s new Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Unlike many other games on the Wii, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is not family friendly. It’s rated T (Teen) because it contains cartoon violence and crude humor. Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a fighting action game for one to four players and Nintendo’s promotional line for the title reads: “Welcome to a brawl for the ages, where anything can happen, anyone can show up and all bets are off.”

The Wii game features numerous characters that have appeared on earlier Nintendo platforms including Mario, Samus, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Solid Snake, Meta Knight, Kirby, Pikachu, Zero Suit Samus, Link, Zelda, Pit, Wario and Sonic the Hedgehog — to name just a few. Anyone and anything from a Nintendo universe could pop up in this game in one form or another.

In multiplayer games of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, characters from all Nintendo universes meet up in Nintendo locales to duke it out. In the solo mode called “The Subspace Emissary,” the world of Smash Bros. is invaded by an entity called the Ancient Minister and his army of creatures, called “The Primid.” Normally, characters come alive in the world of Smash Bros. to do battle, then turn back into trophies when defeated. However, the Ancient Minister starts turning characters into trophies to harness their power, then detonates bombs that suck pieces of the world back into his realm of Subspace. Eventually, all the characters must work together to defeat the invading creatures from Subspace — this is accomplished by playing through side-scrolling levels. Yes, this game has loads of virtual violence, so play it after the kids are in bed for a truly stress relieving experience.

As a special feature Super Smash Bros. Brawl has gone Wi-Fi, which allows up to four players to brawl, no matter where they may be. Not only can you brawl with friends or strangers, but you can also send custom-made stages or screenshots to pals.

If you’re more of a PlayStation (PS) fan than a Wii addict, then get ready for Logitech’s Driving Force GT racing wheel, the official wheel of Gran Turismo. Featuring force feedback and a 24-position real time adjustment dial for on-the-fly control of brake bias, traction and damper settings, the Logitech Driving Force GT gives gamers an accurate and authentic PS3 racing experience.

Logitech’s latest racing wheel was designed in cooperation with Polyphony Digital, the developer of the Gran Turismo series. The racing wheel aims to allow Gran Turismo drivers to have precise control over the car’s setup to achieve maximum performance. The force feedback wheel simulates understeer, oversteer and traction loss accurately. Full-size gas and brake pedals deliver precise throttle and brake response, plus racers can use either the sequential stick shift or the wheel-mounted paddles to race through gears. This high tech gaming accessory was designed with a large 11-inch wheel augmented by a rubber-overmold rim, providing comfort and control.

The Logitech Driving Force GT turns 900 degrees lock-to-lock allowing drivers to navigate hairpin turns with greater accuracy. And with anti-backlash gearing, there is no slack in the steering response, making any race a realistic experience. In the center of the wheel, the Driving Force GT has an illuminated horn button. Using the authentic sounds of the car being driven, racers can quickly alert other cars when they are approaching fast. Or when playing online, drivers can simply use the horn to taunt other players as they speed by.

The Logitech Driving Force GT wheel is engineered for use with Gran Turismo 5 Prologue on PS3, which will be available on Blu-ray Disc and as a download on the PLAYSTATION Network in Europe on March 28. The Logitech Driving Force GT wheel is also compatible with Gran Turismo 3 and Gran Turismo 4 on the PS2. The Logitech Driving Force GT wheel will be available beginning in May priced at $149.99.

The Wii and PS3 are a lot of fun, but not everyone has a console. If you’re one of those gamers on the go, then perhaps a new site launched by SanDisk and Big Fish Games will be of interest. The site (www.bigfishgames.com/sandisk)offers a large library of casual games that run on USB flash drives enabled with U3 smart technology.

There are currently 56 game titles available and it is expected that 100 will be listed by summer. Visitors can download and play games free for one hour. Full versions of the games can be purchased for $19.99 or $6.99 with a Game Club subscription from Big Fish Games. Full versions of four popular games can be downloaded completely free including: “Atlantis,” an action-puzzle game; “Magic Vines,” a puzzle board game; “Mystery Case Files: Detective Training,” a hidden object game; and “Sudoku,” the number-placement puzzle game. — MYBI