With Thanksgiving over, everyone can turn their full attention to Christmas. While there are still a ton of new games coming out before year’s end, here are some that might look good with a bow on top.

“Need for Speed: Most Wanted,” by Electronic Arts, Rated Teen, $49.99, for Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube — The “Need for Speed” series has taken two paths: One a purely adrenaline-filled racing experience using exotic cars most of us will never be able to afford, the other a look into the tuner culture, upgrading import cars and breaking into the underground scene.

I prefer the first path, and I still insist that “Hot Pursuit 2” is the best of the series. But “Most Wanted” combines the best of both worlds — it’s “Underground” with heavy “Hot Pursuit” influences.

Lamborghinis and Porsches make their return, along with the police and daytime racing. And car customization is integral to the gameplay, as changing your car’s looks helps keep the police off your tail.

You play as a racer who has just arrived in town, only to lose your car to the bad guy who tampered with it before the race. In order to get back at said bad guy, you must make your way to the top of the blacklist (the top 15 racers) by winning races and building up a rap sheet with the police.

Some players might be turned off by the visual style — off-colored live-action scenes and a gritty, urban world. But I had no problem with it and actually thought it made a nice change. And the cars are just gorgeous.

Racing fans would do well to pick it up.

Grade: A-

“The Movies,” by Activision, Rated Teen, $49.99, for PC — I’ve been waiting anxiously for “The Movies” to be released since I first heard about it six months ago, and it doesn’t disappoint.

“The Movies” is about, well, exactly what it sounds like it’s about. You are the head of a movie studio in the ’20s, and you must build it up through the decades by making quality movies and recruiting star actors and directors.

“The Movies” is a tycoon game in the vein of “Roller Coaster Tycoon” and “Sim City.”

You control everything about the business, hiring everyone from the actors to the screenwriters and janitors. While you want to push out Oscar-caliber movies, you also need to keep an eye on your expenses and keeping your actors happy and away from the alcohol. Every five years, there’s an awards show that, if you win, gives you extra bonuses.

While it was a little more difficult to master than I expected and a little heavy on micromanagement, I found myself absorbed for hours (though a little tired after it was suddenly 5 a.m.).

With a little more time and effort, you also can create your own movies using the in-game tools, then share them with friends or the online community. While the movie-making has its limitations, this feature certainly is fun, although I wouldn’t buy the game just for that.

If you want to rule Hollywood, this one is a wrap.

Grade: B+

“The Matrix: Path of Neo,” by Atari, Rated Teen, $49.99,  for Xbox, PlayStation 2 — I’ve often wondered why there was never a Matrix game in which you could play as Neo himself. I mean, he was the main character; wouldn’t it make sense for him to come first?

Not so. “Enter the Matrix” used secondary characters, such as Niobe. “The Matrix Online” was full of user-created characters.

Finally, with “Path of Neo,” gamers can play as Neo and follow the storyline through all three movies. The game switches up the story a bit to provide for more game-inclined levels and skips ahead a lot, using pieced-together clips from the films as transitions. But none of this feels like a betrayal to the movies.

“Path of Neo” starts a bit slow, with a solid 20 minutes to a half hour of not-so-exciting training. But once you get past that, you’ll be thoroughly engrossed in the land of the Matrix. Even after playing for hours, I still geeked out every time I pulled off the slow-motion moves Neo uses in the movie.

It’s not the game to end all Matrix games, but it’s solid, fun and something any Matrix fan should enjoy.

Grade: B

“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” by Electronic Arts, Rated Everyone, $39.99,  for Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube — It’ll be  a while yet before the newest Harry Potter movie hits DVD, but until then, there’s a game version.

Gamers can play as Harry, Hermione and Ron across multiple levels that span the movie. Each level is full of puzzles to solve and enemies to overcome. Collected jelly beans can be spent on cards with pictures from the movie.

Although you can’t roam around Hogwarts as you like, you can return to each level as often as you want until everything has been discovered. A second player can also jump in for some cooperative action.

I enjoyed the game just because I love the Harry Potter series, but it was a bit easy and oversimplified, and a lack of camera freedom hurt. It would be a great choice for younger fans of the series, but older fans might find themselves bored.

If you’ve never read the books or watched the movies, don’t even look twice at this.

Grade: B-

Reach Aimee Hatfield at 473-7326 or Aimee.Hatfield@lee.net.