But what could explain the good games in February? Let's think it through. In January consumers are paying off those painful credit card bills from Christmas. And it's a fact that March is one of the bigger months of the year for number of game releases, probably as a result of publishers getting games out before the end of the quarter. That just leaves February to drop a decent game.

August is an easy one: few people want to go head-to-head with Madden NFL in August, so fewer games are released and those games that are released are of higher quality.

Of course, in the summer most people spend time outdoors, therefore publishers don't even try to put good games out then. No one's going to play them!

And then there's December. Why drop a really good game in amongst the rabble during that rush up to Christmas? It's just going to get missed in the scramble to pick up those last-minute Christmas gifts, so better to keep good games for a later time...like February the following year!

Best Month Ever: April 2003

Looking over the table, April 2003 is special for having the highest review score average, 75.4%. The funny thing is, we bet you can't name any game published in that month! We had to look it up, and once you see the list, it becomes clear why the average is so high. Here are the highest scoring games that month:

• NBA Street Vol. 2 for GameCube, Xbox, and PS2 (88-90%)
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell for PS2 and GameCube (89%)
• Burnout 2: Point of Impact for Xbox and GameCube (88-89%)
• Midnight Club II for PS2 (85%)

These eight games are mostly just below the 90% barrier, but they span several platforms and do well on every one of them. On the other hand, there were only seven games below 70% (and a minimum of 55%) which means the high-scoring games more than balanced out the low-scoring ones.

The runner-up for best month is August 2002, with an average of 75.2%. That month three console versions of Madden NFL 2003 averaged over 90% in the reviews, as did three versions of NFL 2K3. Nintendo also released Super Mario Sunshine (92% average). Having only ten games below 70%, the month did well by deftly balancing the superior football games with dreck like NCAA GameBreaker 2003.

While we're here, we might as well note the worst month ever: December 2007. That's right, you just lived through the industry's lowest point since 2001. Here's the bottom of the barrel: The Golden Compass for PS2, PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360 (34-46%), Alvin and the Chipmunks for PS2 and Wii (30-34%), and everyone's favorite...Jenga: World Tour for the Wii (a breathtaking 24%). Top games for the month were the PS3 versions of The Orange Box and Unreal Tournament III, whose high-80s scores can hardly put up a fight against the licensed muck.