Moms of Computer/xbox Gaming Boys

I second Castle Crashers, my 10 yo and all his friends love that game. I love it because it's pretty creative, they spend most of their time building their own cities. Also Skylanders, he has several friends he plays with. Minecraft just came out on xbox; ds plays it on the computer and will be buying it for xbox as well.

Been seeing commercials for Starwars Kinnect!!!

Totally excited about that one, but our xBox is broken.

I'm on my phone or I'd link the YouTube commercial. Just search Starwars Kinnect Trailer to find several ads.
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For Potions.... Minecraft JUST came out on xBox (yay!!!) It's not a kinnect game, though.

my son is a little older 11 going on 12 but we found he likes fable 1,2,3 all the halo games, fallout, these are games that we have found that say mature or older but really arent bad my son wont play any games that have any sexual content or anything like that these games are first person shooter and he can play some of them online (xbox360) with other kids, i would suggest going to amazon typing in xbox or online games for children, young adults or boys and then read the reviews they help..

My 9 year old likes the flying aircraft/WW II games--Like Blazing Angels, etc.

I am not aware of any games involving potions, but my 9 year old enjoys the Lego games (Lego Star Wars, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Batman). He also likes Halo Wars- it is more of a strategy game and not like the regular Halo (which is too violent in my opinion). If you have Kinect, there is also a new Star Wars game that is fun, you get to train as a "padawan" and pretend to use a light saber. It is very active. Maybe go talk to the salesperson at GameStop or Best Buy to get some more ideas.

My son loves Castle Crashers...you are on a quest to save the kidnapped damsels...it has potions, puzzles, aliens, wizards, crazy sock puppets, a sword arsenal that makes me laugh, animal side kicks you collect to help you along the way...and it is just gory enough in a very cartoon like manner to appeal to a boy but not realistic at all. My son has played it through three or four times.

He also likes Costume Quest...it is Halloween night and you are trying to save your sister who was kidnapped by evil trolls who want all the candy for themselves. You collect things, find things, fight trolls, solve puzzles and save your sister. Once again very animated and has enough violence to appeal to boys but not be too graphic.

Also he likes Mini Ninjas, the Lego series games (we have not done Harry Potter).

Any of the Lego games are a lot of fun I'm told. My son, who will be 13 this summer, has really enjoyed playing Fable which came with the Xbox & I believe is version 2 or 3.

You might want to think about signing up for Gamefly which is very similar to Netflix only for video games. That way, you can pay a relatively small monthly fee to let him try some games out & if it's something he really likes, you can buy it at a deeply reduced price. My husband & son love it & have tried a bunch of baseball games & some of the more expensive games like Batman, which normally is $60, we got I believe for $23 as it had been rented before us.

Skylanders - hands down. If you don't have it, check it out. It is quest based, has potions and "levels" you can add to the game, etc.
Your son MAY think it is baby because of the figures, but it can be really cool, too.
Wizards 101 isn't bad. I just watch my 8 yo like a hawk since it is a group/social game, ya know?

My 10 yo loves all of the sport games-NHL, MLB, Madden I swear that he could play those all day if I let him. He used to love all of the lego ones but not so much anymore. If you stop in at Gamestop you can ask the kids there...they know a ton about the different games and are more than happy to share.