Scribblenauts

It's a sad truth indeed that some terrible games in the past have actually had seriously solid ideas. A good idea does not automatically mean a good game, as demonstrated countless times by an industry that, more often than not, produces the very best products when creativity is all but bankrupt. A real shame, but that's the truth of the matter.

Budget constraints, technological problems, or a simple case of being too ambitious for one's own good can all have an effect on a title, meaning that no matter how deep your narrative, unique your gimmicks, or breathtaking your vision, concept alone cannot save a game. With that wretched fact in mind, let's take a look at some examples of absolutely killer concepts that went wrong somewhere along the line and ended up as bad videogames...

Ah, Easter time. When rabbits run around leaving little chocolate presents for us to find and we get two of our bank holidays all at once (don't worry about spreading them out or anything... grumble).

But wait! Easter eggs are not only of the lovely chocolate variety - the term also applies to cool secrets found in videogames. So here are some of our more recent favourites along with links to more Easter Egg articles - just remember to brush your teeth afterwards!

Wow, has it been a year already? Yes, just 12 months ago we compiled a list of the most impressive DS games of 2008, to celebrate the games that pushed the envelope on the aging console. And 2009's been another big year for the two-screened behemoth: two new iterations of the hardware, DSi and DSi LL, were launched, so people could pick up their third version of the system.

The end of summer means the beginning of the game season, and today is the last Friday before the game industry’s big holiday push. Publishers jam the fall with games to challenge the true worth of your credit card – a double dog dare in the uncertain economy of 2009.

Contributors: Chris Antista, Charlie Barratt, Brett Elston, Matthew Keast, Shane Patterson, Mikel Reparaz

Hundreds of games are released every year, then played and forgotten by the next. Only a dozen or so will be remembered a decade from now, and only a few of those will have any lasting impact on the medium as a whole.

Which upcoming titles stand the best chance of leaving that meaningful mark?

Summer’s right around the corner (starting tomorrow in fact) and despite the glorious weather that comes with it, this time of year is usually thought of as the unsufferable months until the real games come out this winter. Seriously, we’re getting tired of a hundred games flooding stores between October and December. Spread the love throughout the year, dummies!

Every game looks great in screenshots and trailers. Do you really want to wait four months before finding out the game you’ve been lusting after actually sucks and just got its face rocked off by some other game? Of course not. That’s why we’re here. We’ve played everything at E3, and this is what we’re rating each game in its current state, right here and now. Let’s get it on