Mike Schramm: I'm sure at some point in this writeup, we'll probably talk about how Avengers: Battle for Earth is a Kinect game, and that means, like most Kinect games, it works much better in theory ("A fighting game where you control Marvel characters by making moves on Kinect") than it does in actual practice.

But I don't want to get to that point yet, because here's the thing: I had a lot of fun playing it. There's something awesome about sticking your hand up in the air and then pushing it forward to make Thor fling electricity from his hammer, or crouching down and then bringing your arms up high to make the Hulk chuck some ground at his opponent. These are iconic characters from my childhood all the way up to the popular movie, and this game portrays them in a really colorful and fun way. Jess Conditt: Let it be known that Mike Schramm makes an impressive (nay, an incredible) Hulk. I wasn't so bad either, I think. Especially for rippling-muscle-challenged people like myself it's wonderful to embody the larger-than-life heroes in Marvel's repetoire, as Mike suggested. I played our multiplayer battle as Venom and Iron Man, two of my personal favorite characters, and they didn't disappoint.

Most motions are shared by each character - punch, knee up, arms out and clapped together, etc. - but the resulting moves are different. With the same punching move, Iron Man shoots a beam of light from his palm and Hulk rushes the player, fists-first. It's a powerful feeling to throw a punch "at" your friend and watch his hero respond on-screen.