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Looking for categories like Best PSP Driving Game? Greatest Achievement in Control Layout, Artistic? Eastern European Developer Most Worth Watching in 2011? Then our end-of-year awards might not be for you.

GamesRadar's Platinum Chalices are different. We're not interested in checking off a massively tedious list of genres, platforms and technical subdivisions… we'd much rather focus on the stuff that makes this hobby, you know, fun. And reward whichever games delivered the most of that stuff.

So if you're looking for the best fan service, most satisfying gore or greatest achievement in old-school kickassery in 2010, you've definitely come to the right celebration. Let's get it started…

We love Game of Thrones, and think that some elements of the show (and, by proxy, the book) would help making games better...

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Isaac Clarke, Raiden, Rayman, and The Prophet are just a few stars lining up for February's new release schedule. See why consoles, handhelds, and PCs will be feeling the love this month in our jam-packed peak at the games of February 2013...

Thanks to platforms like Xbox Live Arcade and the App Store, it’s easier than ever for developers to put out small, awesome games ready to be gobbled up by plenty of hungry gamers. This has led to a rise in independent game studios: teams of developers sometimes made up of just a handful of people. But because of their limited resources, it’s very common for these developers to fly under the radar, especially when they’re competing against the likes of Blizzard and Ubisoft. Thankfully GR is here to help, with a list of 26 of the best and brightest developers the indie scene has to offer...

Once a videogame hero has more than one or two adventures under his or her belt, it simply isn’t enough to just have an archenemy anymore. To keep things interesting, they need a foil, a rival, or some other angry opposite number obsessed with matching wits with them. Sometimes, those characters stick around long enough to make themselves an indelible part of the series, even going so far as to make friends with the protagonist – although more often than not, their friendships tend to be shaky at best, and even those involved might never fully admit to them. Relationships like that tend to make for gaming’s most enduring and interesting rivalries, and what follows are some of the most notable...

The world might have not liked it when it was announced, but now that it's here, is the Circle Pad Pro worth your time and (more importantly) money? We have the answer inside...

This month's Breaking Bad cliffhanger has us all hungry for illicit thrills. Sure, that's not a videogame (though it's inspired a couple), but with narcotics subplots in titles like Sleeping Dogs and Borderlands 2, controlled substances are all over contemporary games. Then again, you've probably been gettin' that yellowtop in-game for years without even realizing it, thanks to the well-hidden drug metaphors we're about to expose...

Thanks a bunch, Christopher Nolan. Ever since Batman Begins took the universally-reviled cinematic bastardization of a cool character and redrew it in the drab colors and long shadows of The Dark Knight Returns, the “gritty reboot” has been back in fashion. In Hollywood-speak, the term's a nice way of saying “we've screwed this up, can we have a do-over?” Of course, games being a forward-looking sort of medium, players have been wise to this trick for years now – and we're still suckers for it.

Whether it's a deeper-'n-darker sequel or restarting from scratch, rejigging your series with a darker palette and more distorted guitars is a great way to draw attention to what might otherwise be just more sequel-abuse. But how well does it work? From a player's perspective, a gray coat of paint is hardly going to turn gameplay upside down... but from a “cataloguing the tricks they'll pull to sell a new installment” standpoint, dark reboots are just gravy...

Now that the world hasn't ended after all, let's pretend we got caught in the apocalypse anyway, as we pick our the top wastelands we'd like to inhabit...