DS Features

Last month, we selected the seven best games of the year (so far) and, although only halfway through 2011, the competition was already intense. Many outstanding titles had to be cut and many editors’ feelings had to be hurt.

But that was the easy part. Now comes the true torture – the week in which I reluctantly delve into the dank, dark sewer that is the bottom of Metacritic’s review rankings to bring you the extreme opposite end of the spectrum. For every Portal, there’s a Party Megamix. For every Zelda, a Thor. These are their shameful stories...

The inauguration of President Barack Obama has made this a historic week in America, but TalkRadar is happy to ignore all that in favor of what really matters: talking about videogames. This week’s podcast is devoted to chatting about games we wish would be announced for US release this year, long-forgotten skateboarding games and Chris’ uncanny ability to mimic voice samples from Genesis/Mega Drive games.

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…

E3 may have been light on Pokemon news, but we dig up all the stories you may have missed in the shuffle. From Pokemon happy meal toys to bootleg fighting games and Japan's latest Pokemon 3DS announcement, this is what the Pokemon fans in the office have been talking about this week. Download link inside!

Abnormally sized limbs that are sort of funny to look at: a premise that only minutes of arduous brainstorming could have birthed. Can we actually fashion a coherent article with a subject weaker than the plot of a Family Matters episode? Carl Winslow would believe in us, and it isn’t as if it hasn’t worked for us in the past. Enjoy, and be sure to come back next week for “100 slices of bacon that look like Mario.”

Scope dis: Videogames and hip hop “came up” together. Both art forms hail from the late 70’s. Both struggled for mainstream acceptance throughout the 80’s. Both achieved success in the 90’s, to finally become the staple of pop culture we now enjoy every day. Given their synchronistic upbringing it’s no surprise that we’ve seen more than a little overlap.

Some lie, dusty and forgotten, at the bottom of a bargain bin. Others are hard to find outside of an eBay auction. Some received rave reviews, but sold next to nothing. Others sold well, but received almost no attention or love from the hardcore audience. Some you’ve heard about. Others you probably haven’t.

To celebrate Independence Day (the holiday, not the movie), we’ve scoured our encyclopedic minds for the most patriotic games to be developed. But that wasn’t funny enough. So, we dug deeper to find the most rabidly patriotic games every developed. Ya know - the ones with so much love for Old Glory that it starts to get a little ridiculous. Behold - our results!

America's ArmyUS Army | 2002Any game can add the word

Question: Does anyone really care about the real musicians signed to appear in Guitar Hero: World Tour? Don’t respond out loud - use our handy comment feature below. Shouldn’t the focus of games like Rock Band and GH be on you pretending to play an instrument? Case and Point: In Guitar Hero III, any moment given to taking in the mannerisms of Tom Morello, or the expressionless rock face of Slash is time spent not playing.