Another crumby week of 9-to-5ing is nearing its end and the shiny abyss of weekendom is upon us. With 48 hours of freedom—well, unless your football fan, then it's more like six hours—you can finally return to making headway on reaching sloth nirvana. We're here to help.

We're spotlighting games that are sure to facilitate some much needed down time with your couch. On tap is the ninja every girl wants to do and every guy wants to be, the debut of PlayStation's car series to a handheld console, and s'more aliens attacking humans in space. Oh, and some crap your girlfriend might like.

Ryu Hayabusa makes his return in this remixed PS3-exclusive title of Ninja Gaiden II (an Xbox 360-exclusive). There's not much difference from the original in terms of story: Commit blade-on-blade crimes and slice your way through 17 stages of intense action. The hook here for this game is the online co-op missions and the ability to play as three other characters in the series, Rachel, Ayane, and Momiji. (Yes, that means a lot more boob physics-induced head bobbing.) $60

With their flagship title, Gran Turismo 5, still in release date limbo, the team at Polyphony Digital have been hard at work pumping out fill-in game to appease fans. First there was the free demo for PS3 first-responders. Then, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, essentially a demo of the full product, arrived at retail. This week, the series makes its arrival on handheld consoles for the first time. Jam-packed into this tiny package are more than 800 available vehicle models,  more than 30 unique tracks, and the ability to transfer upgrades to GT5 when it's unleashed upon the masses next year. $40
One of EA's surprise hits of 2008, Dead Space has quickly become one of the top-notch scare-you-shitless franchises in video games. Don't be fooled by this game's arrival on the kid-friendly Wii: This ain't no alien cuddle party. A prequel to the original, Dead Space Extraction puts you in the shoes of a group of space colonists attempting to escape a virus outbreak on their space station. Expect decent first-person motion controls (think Metroid Prime), the return of the limb-obliterating line gun, and a sexy new female to protect from slobbering enemies. $50