Contributor: Adam R. Holz

After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.

Victorious

Skillet has tattooed themes of perseverance and determination across nearly every song on the aptly named Victorious.

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Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Few video games have incited the firestorm of controversy that the GTA franchise has. This latest addition only adds fuel.

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25 to Life

“The life of man,” wrote English philosopher Thomas Hobbes in 1651, “[is] solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” Oddly enough, that Renaissance-era quote from The Leviathan is a perfect picture of how Hollywood, hip-hop and (more recently) video ga …

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Spider-Man 2

Spider-Man 2 (the game) follows the general plot of the movie, but adds some new twists and characters.

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Indigo Prophecy

Investigative adventure game ‘Indigo Prophecy’ mashes up ‘CSI’ and ‘The X-Files.’ And in so doing breaks new narrative ground.

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Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry believes Guitar Hero has helped steer his kids away from violence. Or at least video game violence. “I think it has a lot more going for it than all that first-person-shooter stuff,” he says. “You can only do so much of th …

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The Sims 2

Most games are about winning. This one’s about experiencing sim-life.

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You Need to Calm Down

Taylor Swift’s latest offers a synth-fueled embrace of LGBTQ culture and scathing patronization of anyone who disagrees.

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Rock Band Unplugged

First things first: The latest entry in the enormously popular Rock Band franchise isn’t what you might think it is. That is to say, it’s not an acoustic version of the rhythm game, as fans of MTV’s Unplugged series might have expected. Instead, the Un …

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Dark Phoenix

The second big-screen iteration of Jean Gray’s tragic transformation into the Phoenix is a predictably violent, occasionally profane affair.

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Need for Speed Underground 2

For many teens (especially boys), nothing captures the imagination like a hot sports car. But what about illegal street racing?

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Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter

For players who’ve shouldered machine guns in other military adventure contests, the gameplay will seem familiar. But there is one big change…

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Fable

What kinds of questions should you be asking yourself before venturing into Albion’s video game wilds?

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Too Human

Growing up, I played a lot of games. Chess and backgammon came first, believe it or not. Then card games and epic Risk battles. And when my best friend and I weren’t cramming plastic numerals onto a map, we were playing video games. I’m talking old-sch …

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Sonic Unleashed

Sonic Unleashed is the 658th Sonic title from SEGA since the franchise’s inception way back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth (c. 1991). OK—I exaggerate. It’s only the hundredth-and-something entry in the franchise in the last 17 years. (Wikipedia’ …

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