Shippin' Out May 15-19: New Super Mario Bros., X-Men

Last week's Electronic Entertainment Expo may have dropped bomb after bomb after bomb on gamers, but this week is an entirely different story. As the industry picks up the pieces from what was a very newsworthy expo, only a few top-tier games will be released to retail in the current week.

The biggest name on this week's release list is one of the biggest in gaming. New Super Mario Bros. continues the princess-saving exploits of the plumber who has repeatedly saved the Mushroom Kingdom, and it will be released exclusively on the DS. The game features several aspects of the Super Mario World universe, including a two-button control scheme that hearkens back to the original game, magic mushrooms and fiery flowers, and plenty of running and jumping. New Super Mario Bros. is now available and rated E for Everyone.

Those who prefer their running and jumping with a dash of mutant powers can pick up X-Men: The Official Game from Activision. Gamers can take the role of Wolverine, Nightcrawler, or Iceman as they defend their fellow mutants against the Brotherhood villains. The game serves as a prelude to X-Men: The Last Stand (which hits theaters May 26) and is now available for the Xbox 360, Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube, PC, DS, and Game Boy Advance. The handheld versions are rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older, and the other versions are rated T for Teen.

2K Games' The Da Vinci Code hopes to ride the success of the book it's based on and should get some extra juice this weekend when The Da Vinci Code, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Ron Howard, is released. Gamers will have to bring their code-breaking skills to the table, because the action adventure game promises plenty of secret messages to decipher. The Da Vinci Code, rated T for Teen, is out now for the PlayStation 2, PC, and Xbox.

MAY 15, 2006
New Super Mario Bros. (DS)

MAY 16, 2006
X-Men: The Official Game (X360, Xbox, PS2, GC, PC, DS, GBA)
The Da Vinci Code (PS2, Xbox, PC)
PureSim Baseball 2007 (PC)
Zoo Tycoon 2: African Adventure (PC)
Fuel (Xbox, PC)
Ultra Sudoku & Ultra Kakuro (PC)
Tringo (GBA)