DS Features

At the end of every year we get a new year – one that is numerically superior to its predecessor and brimming with new stuff to buy. But how do you know what to buy if all the shiny “best of” awards are given at the end of the year? You could spend your precious 365.24 days reading game reviews, but what are they compared to shiny metallic awards?

Gamescom is unquestionably more low profile than E3’s explosive LA shindig. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of reasons to get pumped up for the upcoming event in Cologne. Hell, we can think of, oh, at least 23 examples why you should give a damn about the ‘European E3.’ And they all take the form of potentially amazing games. Below you’ll find a line-up of some of the most exciting titles due to

With E3 2010 barely 24 hours behind us, it’s hard to clear our minds and think about the biggest and best things we saw and played. In fact, the past four days are such a blur it was hard to nail down just four pages worth of all the awesome stuff on display. But, rather than sit around all weekend and wait for Monday, we dragged our tired asses in for one more meeting, figured out the most memorable stuff and got this thing ready to go.

The best part is, the result is so different from even our usual E3 awards lists. It’s full of a wide variety of games instead of shooters, shooters, and more shooters. So while we know Black Ops, Bulletstorm, Medal of Honor and Killzone 3 will be great games, the abundance of creativity from other sources stole the show. So, here’s what we loved...

We didn’t need to play UK Truck Simulator (totally real) or whatever before declaring our picks for the best games of 2010. We have common sense and expectations. We’re not robots. Well, maybe we are, but if we are then we’re really advanced robots - like Data’s brother in TNG.

This human (or evil android) common sense also gives us the power to make educated guesses as to which games of 2011 will get award-giving gamz jarnlists like ourselves all riled up...

Your wallet and your social life may be hurting from the year-end buffet of AAA games, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore some of the more noteworthy games from earlier in the year. To that end, we recommend making the time and scraping together the coin to experience these games, even if just for a weekend...

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…

It's not easy being a horse, especially a horse during these tough economic times. Despite the huge federal deficit, massive layoffs, and two wars, American humans will find the time and money to waste on useless gifts for friends and family members this holiday season.

Like sheep lined up for the slaughter, they gather in droves to attend Black Friday sales. There, the humans will procure unsightly sweaters for the nephew they never see, dresses for the niece too fat to wear them, home appliances for mother's domestic prison, gift cards for unappreciative sons, and books about the civil war for the father who stopped loving them years ago. But I digress...

Your wallet and your social life may be hurting from the year-end buffet of AAA games, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore some of the more noteworthy games from earlier in the year. To that end, we recommend making the time and scraping together the coin to experience these games, even if just for a weekend...

Pac-Man and Mario owned the 1980s. Sonic, Lara and Snake took over for the 1990s. Their games are considered classics. Their names are timeless and iconic. Their images are burned into the memory of every gamer, even those who were born after the characters themselves.

Now we have another ten years worth of heroes, villains, sidekicks and love interests to occupy our imagination. Which, however, will remain there?