Must List 2009: Gadgets, Games, & More

Must Beach Gear

Palm Pre
$199 | Somewhere between an iPhone's style and a BlackBerry's toughness is the newly launched Pre, an affordable (and worthy) alternative.

Canon Powershot D10
$329 | Don't worry about throwing this robust 12.1 megapixel camera around in your beach bag: The sporty point-and-shoot is waterproof (and shockproof, and freezeproof...).

Asus EEE PC Seashell
$429 | Packing a sleek, deceptively powerful netbook sure beats lugging a laptop around. (The almost full-size keyboard helps too.)

Klipsch Image S4 Headphones
$79.99 | Who knew in-ear headphones could sound fantastic and actually feel good?

Flip UltraHD
$199.99 | A tiny, stunningly simple mini camcorder that can record up to two hours of HD footage.

Cool-er
$249 | Cheaper than a Kindle, with a look more like an iPod, this new e-reader comes in eight colors — and downloads books from a library of over 750,000 titles.

Must Games of Summer
Beach? What beach? Five more videogames guaranteed to keep you indoors for the next few months.

Fight Night Round 4
(PS3, Xbox 360)
A triumph of ultrarealism, from in-close body blows to on-the-nose reaction shots, all in blood-spurting detail. (June 25)

Wii Sports Resort
(Wii)
The sequel to Wii Sports comes with the new MotionPlus controller. Enjoy basketball, water sports, and swordplay. (July 26)

Batman: Arkham Asylum
(PS3, Xbox 360, PC)
The Dark Knight heads into Gotham City's loony bin in this new benchmark for superhero videogames. (Aug. 25)

Yoostar
(PC, Mac)
Think Rock Band for movie fans. Insert yourself in famous movies, then share with friends online. (Mid-August)

Dark Void
(PS3, Xbox 360, PC)
It's Lost meets 1940s cliff-hanger serials, a mash-up of retro-cool geek and cutting-edge nerd. (September)