Kevin Ciok

I’m not one to attend a gaming midnight launch—even as a self-professed nerd I feel outclassed by the typical attendee. But I couldn’t resist Metal Gear Solid 4’s midnight release once I heard that the game’s creator, Hideo Kojima, would be there signing copies of the game with his entourage in tow.

In celebration of this week’s release of Grand Theft Auto IV, why not go back and check out one of the first GTA-style games ever released?

All right, loyal gamers, it’s time to have some extra fun for no extra cost.

As the saying goes, April 17 was a good time for all gamers to start their digital engines with the release of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue on the PlayStation Network.

In all of video games, there is not a fan base more devoted than that of Final Fantasy VII.

If you’re looking for an old-school challenge, look no further than Treasure’s popular vertical shooter Ikaruga, which is being released on Xbox LIVE Arcade this week for a mere 800 Microsoft Points ($10).

Back before arcades were filled with Dance Dance Revolution machines, the arcade scene was known for having a bevy of ridiculously hard shooters.

On a purely conceptual level, Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Wii is something that everybody should hate. Ten years ago, somewhere in a high-rise office building wallpapered with money in Kyoto, Nintendo executives came up with the absolutely diabolical idea of putting every single franchise mascot character they had come up with into one big pot and stirring. This resulted in the party favorite platformer-fighter hybrid we have today.

Long-running franchise Mr. Driller has got to be the most criminally underappreciated puzzle series out there.

Survival horror fans know that there are only two types of scares in gaming—the “boo” scare and the “edge” scare.

At first thought, God of War: Chains of Olympus—the new PlayStation Portable entry in the bestselling God of War action series birthed on the PlayStation 2—should not exist. The series, like the Greek mythology it is playfully based on, should absolutely defy being on a handheld console—known for its impressive scale and incredibly visceral combat, the series just doesn’t make any sense on a 4-inch screen you can play on the bus. Impressively, game developer Ready at Dawn Studios has somehow managed to tame this Pegasus, and God of War has somehow made the transition to the handheld with most of its epic qualities intact.

Feeling morbid? Check out Monolith Software’s Condemned 2: Bloodshot demo, available now on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live.

Feeling morbid? Check out Monolith Software’s Condemned 2: Bloodshot demo, available now on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live.

Winner of the 2007 Independent Games Festival grand prize, Audiosurf is a bite-sized music-puzzle hybrid game available through Valve’s Steam platform on the PC.

God’s day is becoming considerably fuller every year. First, he’s got to wake up early in the morning and make sure a family of Sims remembers to use the toilet.

For most gamers, the title Ninja Gaiden conjures up memories of the 2004 Tecmo Xbox classic with fast-paced ninja action, amazing graphics, and a difficulty curve equivalent to slamming face-first into a brick wall.

Late last August, I paid a visit to my 84-year-old great aunts, Eleanor and Rosalie, as I do every year to bid my farewell before leaving for school—and to reset the clock on their VCR, which of course is inevitably blinking year after year.

Somewhere in the back corner of the Pantheon of Great Games lies the criminally under-appreciated Super Nintendo classic Actraiser.

Conventional wisdom might tell you not to mess with a winning formula—“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” is the adage. For the most part, video game developers follow this sage advice, usually trotting out six or seven mailed-in sequels before declining sales force them to spice up the formula by making it “extreme” or adding scantily clad women.

For game developers, Tom Brokaw’s labeling of the World War II generation as the “Greatest Generation” has had quite the impact. The soldiers who fought abroad and the volunteers who worked at home are justifiably revered and celebrated as national heroes, and as such, images of the “Greatest Generation” have made for a number of successful artistic endeavors, including multiple films and songs.

Like Rock Band? Then you’ll love Rez HD.

Calling all devil hunters! Devil May Cry 4, the sequel to 2004’s hard-as-nails Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening, hits stores next week, but you can get a taste of this incredibly fast-paced—and stylish—action game right now on Xbox LIVE and the PlayStation Network.

The parade of developers looking to capitalize on your nostalgic longing for the days of the Nintendo 64 continues this week with Propaganda Games’ Turok demo.

Most gamers are probably still suffering from a gaming hangover after the barrage of awesome titles in 2007—and 2008 brings no rest for the weary. It looks to deliver even more gaming goodness than the record-breaking year that preceded it. Here are the 10 biggest games coming in 2008:

Gaming’s newest tradition is indeed a sad one—every year, all the top game publishers in the industry trip over themselves in a mad rush to acquire the biggest blockbuster TV and movie licenses with which they hope to produce the next game industry sales blockbuster.

Over the past four years, keeping track of Assassin’s Creed has been a bit like keeping track of Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan—the game has been all over the place.

For those who had a fetish for Japanese games in the ’90s, gaming can best be described as a series of tragedies.

Though it has been billed as a “social experiment,” the long-running Big Brother reality series on CBS is truly nothing more than an excuse to watch 16 aspiring actors and actresses glam it up in the national spotlight and create more fake drama than one can possibly handle.

The average college student’s monthly income is somewhere around $0, which makes being a gamer rather difficult.

Filled with scandal, betrayal, and political intrigue, game director Yasumi Matsuno’s fictional world of Ivalice is rather busy these days.

For years, skating games have been synonymous with one name: Tony Hawk. The famous trickster’s massively popular skating series hits its ninth iteration this year, with each version more and more focused on outrageous stunts, killer combos, and other over-the-top antics—harassing seniors and ticking off the police, for example.

Perhaps like the Columbians that sit down to watch it Thursday night, ABC’s new male-oriented drama Big Shots is raunchy yet refined, and mostly entertaining.

Picture this: you’re in a mysterious, ethereal world fighting with the weapon of a god. In the newly released PlayStation 3 game Heavenly Sword, described by its developer as an “epic martial arts action” adventure, this scenario is your reality.