Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

Here we are at the halfway point of the year, and let’s make no mistake it has been a crazy year for game releases.  It seems that there has yet to be a month that has allowed gamers to stop and take a breath for a moment, but June might be that month.  There are a fair amount of Xbox 360 titles coming out in June, but only a handful really look like they may be instant purchases.  But we do have a great looking football game, eshewing the NFL license, giant robots and even some lovable characters returning from a hiatus. 

As for this month’s case mod, we have an Xbox 360 that boasts a translucent case with a Master Chief etched on the side.  The internal blue light helps illuminate the drawing and the internal parts of the Xbox 360.  To see more of this case mod and how to get one for your Xbox, head over to Modinfinity.com.

Make sure to check our other Ones to Watch articles for the Nintendo Wii/DS, Sony PS3/PSP and PC platforms.

Backbreaker (505 Games) – Normally, non-NFL licensed games do not do all that well as the cash register.  For most, they want to have their favorite players and teams in their football games.  Backbreaker will have to overcome this problem, but it has many features that might help it gain some footing in the gaming biosphere.  Backbreaker offers an enormous amount of customization, from uniforms, to stadium endzone, the in-game creation system will allow creative artists to most likely, create NFL representations in the game.  The same goes for the character editor which again, will most likely end up allowing complete NFL rosters.  Mix in an easy to use control scheme, and a great presentation style for the game of football and Backbreaker could be a promising contender to the Madden series.  Backbreaker is on shelves as of June 1st.

Toy Story 3 (Disney Interactive Studios) – Toy Story has attempted to come to computers and consoles several times since the first movie back in 1996, but none have ever captured the magic of the movies.  Toy Story 3 looks to capture the essence of the toys from the film by putting them into a sandbox mode style of play.  The Toybox allows you to take set pieces and characters and create your own little adventures and stories in the game.  These can be uploaded to share with friends, and should give the game endless replay value.  There is a traditional story mode in Toy Story 3, but the hype for this game surrounds the Toybox mode, and it does have me intrigued.  Toy Story 3 hits shelves on June 15th.

Transformers: War for Cybertron (Activision) – You would think that making a game about robots that turn into vehicles, supported with a huge fanbase would make for an easy video game transition.  However, the Transformer licensed games have been absolutely terrible.  The last two iterations, based on the movies, were atrocious.  War for Cybertron looks to go back to the beginning with the First Generation Transformers, and put them in a new environment that we have seen little of, Cybertron.  The Autobots and Decepticons will do battle in co-op or single player modes and from all accounts, combat is really well done.  The biggest hurdle will be that the Transformers are pre-Earthbound, so they will not turn into the familiar cars and planes that you remember from the show.  Transformers: War for Cybertron will hit on June 22nd.

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (Warner Brothers Interactive) – Ah, the LEGO games are full of fun and humor that are a great fit for players of all ages.  Travellers Tales has set their sites on a Warner Brothers property, Harry Potter, to build into LEGO form and take players on a whimsical journey.  LEGO Harry Potter will focus its gameplay on the first four books/movies in the Harry Potter series, and will contain all the trappings we know from the LEGO games.  Each section of the game will focus on one movie/book and each of those will be broken into several chapters.  Yes, it follows the same formula as the rest of the LEGO games, but they still remain a ton of fun, and a great game for families to play together.  Look for LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 on June 29th.

And with that you have all the games that should be on your short list for the month of June 2010, per the Aeropause staff.  Note that these are recommendations, based on information we have seen, and where possible, from hands on time.  Check back next month for another episode of ONES TO WATCH!