Imagine this scenario: you plop down your hard-earned money for a video game. What you don't know is that there is a second-party piece of software that comes with your game: "SecuROM," which is DRM technology, which some people consider malware.

Gamer. For most people that conjures up an image of a geeky teenage boy sitting in his room in his parents' house talking on a headset to other geek friends who have no lives. I am here to tell you: That is so 1990! Today gamers are teenagers, men and, yes, women. In fact, women who game are quickly becoming more mainstream. We have slammed open the doors to the gaming world and we are storming the gates. (Or in gamer speak: When you get pwned, there is a good chance it was a woman who pwned you.)

As the token gaming mom here at BlogHer, I would be remiss if I did not list for you some of the top games of 2007. (The list is not nearly complete and will vary depending on who you talk to, but this is my top ten mix and match games of 2007 for your gaming pleasure.) Gamers. Gaming families. We can be quite a picky lot. We tell friends and family that we love receiving all things gaming but when we open that box and see something somewhat akin to Pong circa 1972, we grumble. I want you people to be in the know. Besides, many of you may have received gift cards or cash and what better way to spend those than on games? (None for this gaming mom!) So before we ring in 2008, let's see the games you want to have. *Note: These games range in ratings from Everyone to Mature. You must be the judge of what games you and your family can and should have in your home. (See my guide to ESRB ratings here.)

Being a gamer mom, I have to stay on top of not only the current games, but what type of content they contain. With everything from a Wii to a DS (Blessings to Nintendo) to a PlayStation and X-Box 360 as well as computer games, I see just about every new game that rolls out. Being a mom of kids ranging in ages from 6-14 not to mention the fact that I enjoy playing these games as well, I have to stay up on the ratings of each new game. That is where the ESRB ratings come into play. Do you have any idea what I am talking about when I say ESRB ratings? If you plan on buying any video games for your family-- especially your children-- you need to know what this means. In short, ESRB stands for: Entertainment Software Rating Board. ESRB is a non-profit, self-regulatory body established in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). They are the ones who assign video games and computer games their ratings based on their content. What does that mean to you?