GamesRadar - PlayStation 2

The secret shops of Akihabara (Feature)

Nov 19, 2009

Whether you’re looking for electronics, hardware, anime, games, or anything remotely geeky, you’ll find it in Akihabara, a bustling shopping district in Tokyo, Japan. Located just north of Tokyo Station, Akihabara is really three towns in one. It’s a haven for tech hobbyists, a paradise for anime fans and gamers, and a popular tourist destination. ...

Fanboys: 8 reasons why they deserve some respect (Feature)

Nov 17, 2009

To be called a 'fanboy' is one of the worst insults in gaming. It suggests a misguided person characterised by an irrational devotion to a piece of software or soulless mega-corporation. A person incapable of intelligent thought. A person that is a despised twat.

But wait. Let's cut them some slack for a moment and think what purpose fanboys actually serve (beyond being a dumping ground for derision). We fancied a bit of a challenge, ...

50 iPhone games you need to play (Feature)

Nov 6, 2009

Is there anything better than a bag of popcorn, a cushy sofa on which to recline and an iPhone or iPod Touch loaded with games? Well yeah, there is, especially considering what popcorn fingers can do to a touchscreen. But when you’re on a bus on your way to work, being able to punch up a bloody gorefest like Alive 4-ever or kick it through the uprights in a football sim does help while away the commute time. ...

100 A buttons (Feature)

Nov 6, 2009

How many times in your life have you pressed “A” on a NES controller? Though we may not specifically remember every single occurrence of A-button pressage, we are left with a lingering sense of what that little red dynamo could do. Jumping, mostly, and sometimes shooting or punching or maybe some other stuff if it was one of those weird games. ...

100 A buttons on NES (Video)

Nov 6, 2009

While it's showing its age, Sony's black box is still the gold standard in gaming.

50 3D milestones in gaming (Feature)

Oct 30, 2009

All this week our friends at 3D World have been looking at the landmark 3D titles in gaming, starting in the arcades and charting the most cutting-edge advances in 3D technology all the way to the games that we play on home consoles today.

Night Driver (Atari, 1976)

Generally held to be the very first 3D video game, Atari’s Night Driver managed to conjure a 3D experience out of very little computing horsepower by ...

Buy your way into the Golden Joysticks Awards (News)

Oct 28, 2009

Would you like to attend this Friday's Golden Joystick Awards? Of course you would. And there's a chance that you could be there, if you've got some spare cash. The very last pair of tickets are being auctioned to raise money for GamesAid. If you're interested, get yourself to the charity auction page on eBay and place a bid. Starting bid is set at £200 and the auction closes at 9.30am Thursday 29 October. Which is ...

The Top 7... Scariest games you've never played (Feature)

Oct 26, 2009

We fear the unknown. Psychologists have proven that nothing troubles the human mind more, in fact, than that which cannot be predicted. Our phobias of death, darkness and strangers all stem from this single, simple truth. Apparently, so does our predictable taste in horror games. ...

The top videogame controller buttons - Part 1 (Feature)

Oct 20, 2009

Back before you were a gamer, we didn’t have the multi-button, clickable-thumbstick, solar-powered controller gizmos you have today. We used to have to invite friends over and work together to push down the A-button because it was too stiff to move on our own. If we were lucky, we’d get two, maybe three good presses in before it got stuck and Mario just had to hope the rest of the level was flat. ...

Scandal! 10 true scare stories about videogames (Feature)

Oct 15, 2009

Let’s pretend, for a second, that everything bad anyone ever said about videogames was true. Why, we’d all be suicidal pixel-junkies, protected from our desperate self-hatred only by our own slovenliness! The world would be safe from our sociopathic, car-jacking, handgun-happy death wishes merely because we were too busy installing an IV drip to provide us with the powdered-cheese sustenance necessary to gain another level in World of Warcraft! ...

10 amazing 'one-button' iPod Touch and iPhone games (Feature)

Oct 13, 2009

Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch have no tactile buttons at all for gaming. But it doesn't matter. The ‘prod mechanic’ is ideal for a platform sometimes problematic when it comes to precision controls and the simplistic, single finger approach has given us a whole bunch of addictive, immediate, accessible games. Here are 10 of the best.

Canabalt

Buy it from the App Store

The Flash sensation makes a ...

6 things about games that aren't true (Feature)

Oct 6, 2009

Anything new and relatively untested will be subject to more misconceptions than facts. Ridiculous and sensational news reports about the seedy underbelly of Animal Crossing and batshit-insane lawyers like Jack Thompson have diluted the truth about gaming. Combine their ignorance with our own misconceptions as gamers, and there’s a lot of nonsense to sort out. We can’t sort it all out, but we can at least hit some of the bigger points of confusion with our hammer of truth and brief internet research ...

Five Tokyo Game Show titles you may never see (Feature)

Oct 6, 2009

The Tokyo Game Show used to be filled with eccentric Japanese titles, destined to be locked away from all but the most hardcore collectors. Those days are over. Almost every major upcoming title on show this year was confirmed for release outside of Japan. ...

10 game ads that are horribly up their own ass (Feature)

Oct 1, 2009

Most game ads are usually a bit rubbish. But we can forgive them, because whether pushing Z listers ‘enjoying’ entertaining interactive products or offending our ears with a cheesy, booming voiceover, most of them are just charmingly clueless. The following ads are guilty of a much worse crime, though. They all utterly adore themselves. Self-indulgent, self-loving bullshit, below you’ll find cynical commercials that have ...

10 game ads that are horribly up their own ass - PS2 David Lynch ad (Video)

Oct 1, 2009

While it's showing its age, Sony's black box is still the gold standard in gaming.

13 iPhone RPGs with some bite (Feature)

Sep 30, 2009

Waiting sucks. Period. Fortunately, there is a cure. While many iPhone games lean towards the short, cute, and casual end of the spectrum, we’ve consulted the dark tome of Baphomet to summon forth a demonically delicious sampling of portable RPG gems capable of consuming voluminous amounts of time and possibly a few souls.

Not afraid to geek out in public? We’ve got your back ...

Absolutely terrifying 'sexy' images of 8-bit 'babes' (Feature)

Sep 30, 2009

Women in games are, generally speaking, made to be pleasing to the eye. They're perfectly formed pretty-faced beauties. But game makers haven't always had the necessary tools to create such impossible visions of lovely. Back in the day, coders and artists tried their hardest to make sexy using nothing but a cripplingly limited colour palette and a bunch of hard-edged pixels. Some did an admirable job, others made images that were nothing ...

TGS 09: Cosplayers and booth babes (Feature)

Sep 29, 2009

The booths are closed, the fans have gone home, and now there’s nothing to do but sit and wait for the inevitable blitz of games to arrive this holiday. This was a transitional year for the Tokyo Game Show. Major companies, like EA, were missing, new game announcements were far and few, and show attendance was lower than previous years. Some developers openly talked about the death of the Japanese game industry. Others simply viewed ...

9 Facebook games worth playing (Feature)

Sep 29, 2009

Question: what gaming platform has a userbase that rivals the entire current generation of consoles? If you answered Facebook, well, you're partly right. It may not have been originally designed for games, but the social networking platform has steadily built up a library of titles that are sure to distract you when you should really be getting some work done. The problem is, the games section is filled with so much crap that it can be tough to find a good game ...

QOTW: What's the first game you bought on your own? (Feature)

Sep 17, 2009

It could be the first game you bought after escaping the bonds of your parents with your very own driver's license, or the first game you bought with money you earned from your first job. In other words, what was the first game you acquired without having to beg for a Christmahanaquanzika present? ...

Fanboy wars throughout the ages - Settled at last! (Feature)

Sep 17, 2009

We decide the winners of 27 years of system rage, so you don't have to. ...

Keyboard Cat plays off videogames (Feature)

Sep 15, 2009

Keyboard Cat makes his videogame debut this week in Scribblenauts on DS. To celebrate, we’ve pitted the feisty feline against clips from some of our favorite games. Play them off, Keyboard Cat! ...

12 hot facts about the Golden Joystick Awards (Feature)

Sep 14, 2009

This year marks the 27th Golden Joystick Awards which will be held in London, England on 30 October 2009. For the maths-challenged that means the first GJAs was held way back in 1983.

...

22 brilliant Dreamcast games doomed to die (Feature)

Sep 11, 2009

All week we’ve been wallowing in Sega-soaked self pity, lamenting the Dreamcast’s tragically short lifespan. From 1999 to 2001 it managed to go from “Sega’s big comeback” to “whoops, out of business” despite a strong, diverse lineup of first and third party titles. ...

QOTW: What's your fondest Sega memory? (Feature)

Sep 10, 2009

Hey everyone - this week is the 10th anniversary of the Dreamcast! Oh, you noticed? Well, it's almost over, so you won't have to deal with our blubbering nostalgia for much longer, but if you're also the type for reminiscin', then tell us what Sega console or game makes you feel all bubbly inside just to think about. We won't judge. ...

Why the Dreamcast was different (Feature)

Sep 9, 2009

Ten years ago today, the Dreamcast stormed onto US shelves in one of the most explosive console launches of all time… and then suffered a premature death less than two years later. Now, however, the internets are buzzing with retrospectives, histories, love letters and lamentations as every major game site lines up to pay its respects to gaming’s most brilliant failed system. ...

How to make a game that’ll sell a million copies (Feature)

Sep 9, 2009

Any old Tom, Dick or Harry with a comprehensive grip of computer programming and loads of money-men friendly ideas can spew forth a game that’ll sell a shit-load of copies. With that in mind, and a science stick gripped in one hand, we’ve come up with full-proof calculations on how to make the perfect moolah-making game for most of the major genres. Below you’ll find the perfect titles that’ll make any suit sully his ...

A tribute to the Dreamcast VMU (Feature)

Sep 8, 2009

More than just a memory card, but not quite a TI-89 - the Dreamcast Visual Memory Unit is an icon of Sega’s marvelous creative peak. Sure they’re a little bulkier than your average memory device, and they devour batteries like starving robotic beggars, but damn if they aren’t cool - being able to see your saved games right on your memory device in 1999, well, that was like, the future and stuff. ...

The Top 7… Best Dreamcast games of all time (Feature)

Sep 7, 2009

This week marks the 10-year anniversary of the launch of Sega’s Dreamcast, possibly the most beloved failed console of all time. Following a thunderous, record-breaking launch on Sept. 9, 1999, the Dreamcast died a quiet death less than two years later, when Sega opted to pull the plug rather than compete head-on with Sony’s PlayStation 2 juggernaut. In that time, however, it built up an impressive library that included some of ...

The 13 most hateful video game mascot characters of the '90s (Feature)

Sep 7, 2009

The risible zeros who tried to be heroes. ...

QOTW: What peripheral let you down the most? (Feature)

Sep 3, 2009

We've all drooled over one peripheral or another in the past, and when we finally acquired the things that would change gaming forever and held them in our trembling hands, we expected our TVs to explode with rainbow-colored debris of purified fun. That didn't happen. The gray, plastic reality of our purchases silently glared at us through cheap red buttons and glossy light sensors, and our anticipation metamorphosed into disappointment and bitterness. Which peripheral made you bitter? ...

The evolution of Japanese game commercials (Feature)

Sep 3, 2009

Japan has a well-earned reputation for daft, brilliant and disturbingly odd TV game commercials, but it took a long (sometimes painful) evolution along a course signposted by geeky TV celebs in bad jumpers during the 1980s and PlayStation-sophistication in the 1990s, for that rep to be won and maintained.

Back at the end of the 1970s, Japanese gamecorps started trying to convince their public that games were not something to be afraid ...

GR's guide to the new age of 3D (Feature)

Sep 1, 2009

Remember a year or so ago, when everyone was arguing over whether the LCD TV or the plasma TV was the next big thing? And then after that, when everyone was arguing over whether HD DVD or Blu-ray was the future of home entertainment? Remember how dumb you felt when you sat down with your HD DVD player in front of your DLP TV and realized you’d backed the wrong horse both times? Well, guess what? ...

The 10 most hardcore iPhone and iPod Touch games (Feature)

Sep 1, 2009

In this feature, we’re opening your eyes to the real iPod touch and iPhone hardcore gaming list. Forget Wolfenstein 3D Classic, Metal Gear Solid Touch and Myst. Our list provides a selection of games that force your brain to scream and your reactions to sharpen. If you can master and beat these ten titles, then you can lay claim to being a truly hardcore gamer. ...

Trailer Trash 16 (Feature)

Aug 27, 2009

With the conclusion of GamesCom 2009, a lot of trailers were sent our way. Of course, not all of them were panty-wetting-worthy. Some just left a bad taste in our mouths.Check out these videos below for some of the worst music game trailers of the week. ...

QOTW: Have you beaten every game in a series? Which one? (Feature)

Aug 27, 2009

Alright, technically that's two questions. That aside: what series hooked you so thoroughly that you attacked every new game with the utmost vigor? If you've never completed an entire series, you've at least probably gotten close, or have plans to. Start typing! ...

iPhone apps for anime fans (Feature)

Aug 20, 2009

Welcome to GamesRadar’s tentacle-free guide to iPhone applications for anime fans. In it, you’ll find the most entertaining and useful iPhone apps for anyone interested in Japanese culture. That’s a nice way of saying that upskirt shots, nosebleeds, and other embarrassing moments are on the way. ...

QOTW: What band do you now love because of music games? (Feature)

Aug 20, 2009

Guitar Hero, Rock Band and other rhythm games have introduced a lot of bands to gamers who otherwise may have never heard of them. Have any bands stuck themselves onto your musical taste buds because you played their song in a game? ...

GC 09: Official PlayStation Magazine UK Gamescom podcast (Feature)

Aug 19, 2009

Men from the UK's Official PlayStation Magazine are in Cologne checking out all the Sony-related stuff that Gamescom has to offer. And they've taken some time out to do a podcast. It's only around 10 minutes long, but it's filled with essential PlayStation discussion. The agenda focuses on yesterday's Sony conference, taking in PS3 Slim, the reduced PS3 price, Heavy Rain, PSPgo and more besides. Oh, and GamesRadar's Nathan Irvine gets in on ...

GC 09: Sony gamescom conference (Feature)

Aug 18, 2009

The Sony press conference got things underway at gamescom in Germany earlier today. Rumours of a PS3 price drop and an all-new skinny version of the console had been building momentum in the build up to this week's event. So did the PlayStation people deliver? Find out below with our bullet-point rundown of all the Sony conference highlights. ...

GC 09: Gamescom Hub (Feature)

Aug 17, 2009

This week marks the start of a new and uber-exciting games convention. It's gamescom and it's happening in Cologne, Germany. All the major movers and shakers will be in attendance, showing off the games that are stoking our hype fires into a furnace of white-hot anticipation. GamesRadar will be there, checking out what's on offer, soaking up the vibes and - hopefully - pointing our camera at as many thematically costumed/professionally ...

Neuromancer: 25 years later (Feature)

Aug 14, 2009

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the publication of William Gibson’s first novel, Neuromancer, which became the manifesto for the nascent cyberpunk movement. In the years since, cyberpunk has grown from a niche sci-fi genre to a startlingly accurate description of modern times. Cyberpunk’s cultural influence has become so powerful as to be practically invisible; it’s the default setting of our daily reality ...

Trailer Trash 15 (Feature)

Aug 13, 2009

Breasts, nudity, and wacky antics? Oh that's right, it's another week of Trailer Trash. Watch the videos below for this week's batch of bad videogame trailers. Your eyes will hate you, and in turn, you will hate us. ...

QOTW: What's your favorite N64 game of all time? (Feature)

Aug 13, 2009

Stop. Hammer time. That is, the hammer that'll come down on you if you say Super Mario 64 or Ocarina of Time. We know you loved those - but you must have a personal anecdote about some oooooooooother N64 game that touched your heart in all the right ways. Like those Scion commercials say, become one of us by becoming none of us. ...

The best TI-83 RPGs ever (Feature)

Aug 13, 2009

For some, nothing was more exhilarating in high school than playing a cool calculator game right in front of the teacher’s face while she thinks you’re graphing some crazy parabolic curve. Every kid who’s privy to the beat on the street knows that the first thing to do after persuading your parents to buy you a $100 Texas Instruments graphing calculator is to grab a link cable and get some Space Invaders and Final Fantasy ...

A celebration of C64 loading screens (Feature)

Aug 12, 2009

Loading. In the context of modern gaming it's a bit of a dirty word. No matter how cunningly it's disguised, nobody enjoys doing nothing while waiting for the next chunk of game to sort itself out. It's kind of strange, then, that so many gamers weaned from the 8-bit bosom remember the ceremonial act of loading with such genuine affection. But there's a damned good reason for that. The Commodore 64 loading screen.

Commodore 64 loading ...

Disabled but deadly: Gaming’s physically challenged killers (Feature)

Aug 11, 2009

In a medium full of perfect teeth, washboard stomachs and breasts that have their own gravitational pull, it’s rare to see characters with disabilities. But they do exist… and they’ve done some badass things. Be it killing gods, eating hardened soldiers or even creating the Nintendo universe; being physically challenged never got in the way of this bunch’s fun.

The End

Disabled and deadly in: Metal Gear Solid 3: ...

The Top 7... sexy text adventures (Feature)

Aug 10, 2009

Kids today! With your colored pixels, your moving objects, your talking characters and your fancy multi-button controllers… you don’t know how spoiled you are, do you? You’ve never had to play on a machine with less technology than a fast food drive-thru. You’ve never had to switch floppy disks to continue a 200 kilobyte adventure. You’ve never had to navigate an entire world using only a keyboard – no mouse! – or type out “look” and “examine” just to get a vague idea of what the hell is happening around you. ...

Tokyo's underground game bars (Feature)

Aug 10, 2009

Shikoku, one of the four major Japanese islands, is renowned for its Buddhist temples. With a history stretching back for over a thousand years, tourists and followers of Shingon Buddhism regularly come to visit 88 of these holy shrines as part of a traditional pilgrimage.

But today, many visitors see Japan as a Mecca for the modern and geeky. ...

Trailer Trash 14 (Feature)

Aug 6, 2009

Once again, Trailer Trash saves you from the boredom of slick, glossy, overproduced game trailers with a fine selection of craptacular awfulness guaranteed to make you give up your favorite hobby. To wit: we have an entire page dedicated to Daisy Fuentes and her immovable boobs (that's page 2 if you want to click ahead.) ...

QOTW: What once-beloved game do you now hate? (Feature)

Aug 6, 2009

Seasons change and so do our feelings about our favorite games. Have you ever gone back to a cherished title only to realize that nostalgia goggles tricked you into thinking some garbage game was the best thing ever? ...

The worst things a gamer can say to their girlfriend (Feature)

Aug 6, 2009

Unless you're one of those few lucky men with a girlfriend that shares your passion for gaming, you'll no doubt appreciate that spending hours sat in front of the TV playing with pretend wizards and space marines can be the cause of many domestic disputes.

It may not trigger a 'bastard-you-slept-with-my-best-friend' sized tsunami of relationship-ending heartbreak, but gaming can undoubtedly cause its fair share of problems. To help ...

Welcome to the Week of Geek (Feature)

Aug 6, 2009

Join us for a gleeful celebration of all things uber-nerdy ...

How to use your GameShark for good - not evil (Feature)

Aug 5, 2009

Shark Week on GR is about sharks and games (and not at all about riding on the caudal fin of the Discovery Channel’s popularity). So what the hell could be a better way to celebrate sharks and games than by featuring the GAMESHARK. Just look at it, it has both words right there. ...

8 most annoying things NPC teammates do (Feature)

Aug 5, 2009

Not everyone can play online with GamesRadar editors. For starters, there’s just no way to get our gamertags out to everyone. For another reason, we don’t want to play with most of you. It’s because of this (and arguably other necessitating reasons) that the non-player character, or NPC, was created. The goal of these characters is to create, as closely as possible, real people, when there aren’t real people ...

Opposing opinion: Shark Week sucks (Feature)

Aug 5, 2009

When I decided to join the editorial staff at GamesRadar, I knew there would be challenges. As a diabetic horse who loves sugar cubes and games, I’ve grown accustomed to the slings and arrows my kind must suffer through. Simple tasks, like catching the train to work, are a daily struggle. Why just the other day, I was questioned by a police officer who wanted to take me in for disturbing the peace and horsing around. ...

Fake ass Shark games (Feature)

Aug 4, 2009

Admittedly, “SHARK!” certainly makes for a compelling headline (see above). For the most part, humanity recognizes the authority these bloodthirsty badasses hold over 2/3rds of the globe, and uses their name sparingly and only when necessary. ...

Sexy ladies of X-Games 15 (Feature)

Aug 3, 2009

We were in Los Angeles over the weekend to play DiRT 2 multiplayer and watch rally car racing at the X-Games. See, told you this article was connected to videogames! We’re not allowed to make any qualitative statements regarding DiRT 2 until Friday, but we figured you’d want to see these photos right away. Were we right? ...

Shark Week Contest (Feature)

Aug 3, 2009

Shark Week: You’re soaking in it! And we’re taking the experience a step further by allowing you to WIN a bounty of loosely related swag just for checking out this week’s Shark-gasm (which is in no way affiliated with Discovery Channel nor its seven days of fine programming)! ...

What is Shark Week? (Feature)

Jul 31, 2009

Before man invented fire and before dinosaurs roamed the land, sharks ruled our oceans. With no remorse and no mercy, these cold blooded killers have been commanding their aquatic kingdom with an iron dorsal fin, feeding on the weak, and growing stronger in preparation for their inevitable assault against all bi-pedal land-based mammals. ...

A brief history of cheats (Feature)

Jul 31, 2009

Game cheats have spawned an entire industry of their own. It began in the back pages of magazines, then in full cheat books, and finally settled on the internet, where sharing cheats is as established as sharing ultra-niche Bolivian porn. Just ask our tireless CheatPlanet editor, Paul Ryan, and he’ll probably tell you, “Yeah, cheats. People like those.” ...

QOTW: What are your top 5 games of all time? (Feature)

Jul 30, 2009

Not just the games you liked the most, but the games you played the most. Give us your absolute fondest memories - the ones that make you feel all warm and tingly inside when you reminisce about them, or are even still playing today. Nostalgic stories are always a plus! ...

8 games with disastrously botched rescue missions (Feature)

Jul 30, 2009

Generally, the first rule when it comes to rescuing hostages is ‘don’t let everybody get horribly done in.’ But sadly, this proves too much of a stumbling block for many game heroes. Be it accidentally killing geriatrics with a killer virus or letting the damsel in distress get crushed by a cow, the following rescue missions all get botched. Spectacularly.

&# ...

Games invade gifs (Feature)

Jul 29, 2009

Animated gifs, popular among forum trolls and AOL moms alike, pack a massive punch into a few short frames. Sometimes enterprising net dweebs painstakingly add videogame sprites for bonus lulz, and after seeing a few of these in the wild we decided to try our hand at it. ...

The 15 worst-reviewed games of the past 15 years (Feature)

Jul 28, 2009

Everyone remembers the names of the great… the games that sold, inspired or won over millions. We still recall them with nostalgia and discuss them with reverence. But what about the opposite extreme? What about the worst of the very worst? Shouldn’t their names be equally famous, if only so that we may study their sins and promise never to repeat them? ...

Comic-Con 2009: Photo diary (Feature)

Jul 24, 2009

In recent years Comic-Con has become one of the biggest events in the US for anyone who enjoys videogames/comics/movies/anime/science fiction. But actually being there is totally overrated - the crowds, the overpriced hotels, the aromas of the unwashed masses - especially when you can follow all the spectacle and excitement from the comfort of your preferred computer workstation. ...

QOTW: What superhero game disappointed you the most? (Feature)

Jul 23, 2009

There have been a few really good, and a lot of really, really crappy comic-based games. Given that Comic-con is currently burning up San Diego, we decided to open the floor for some superhero related venting - dig in! ...

Thanks for the music? (Feature)

Jul 21, 2009

John Lennon once said that The Beatles were more popular than Jesus. Take a look at the current gaming charts and you could draw the conclusion that music games are now more popular than The Beatles. Obviously, music games themselves aren’t a new phenomenon, but their current popularity, and specifically that of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, certainly is. ...

New York City: As seen in videogames! (Feature)

Jul 14, 2009

New York City is one of the most recognizable and revered cities in the world. It’s no surprise then that it’s been portrayed in videogames ever since programmers realized that electronic computation boxes could transmit graphicals on their cathode readouts. We hope you’ll enjoy this comprehensive collection of digital New Yorks, cultivated with the utmost love and respect for The City that Never Sleeps. ...

Trailer Trash 11 (Feature)

Jul 9, 2009

Welcome to another edition of Trailer Trash! Is it 11 already? We’re here every week, slap-chopping our way through the week’s worst trailers for your amusement. Got your own gut-busting take on what you’ve seen here? Tell the world with a Comment*.

*See “Comments” field at bottom of page. User account required for posting. No, you can’t use mine.

Artist ColonyHave a gander at Artist ...

QOTW: What is your all-time favorite console? (Feature)

Jul 8, 2009

Which console grabbed you and gave you the biggest, warmest electrical hug of them all? (PC is also acceptable, but tell us about the specific machine!) Why is it your favorite? How did you get it? Did you have to mow lawns, beg your parents? What games or features did you obsess over? ...

Retro consoles spawn modern music (Feature)

Jul 2, 2009

With every new generation of über-sexy, high-powered gaming consoles, another wave of outdated machines are inducted into the videogame hardware hall of fame – a graveyard of wires and small cartridges destined to gather dust on the top shelf of countless closets. It’s a grim fate for these once-beloved devices. ...

What to say to the guy who comments "First!!!!" (Feature)

Jul 2, 2009

Comment etiquette dictates that the first commenter must tack the word “first” to the beginning or the end of any comment they make. ...

QOTW: What dead company or franchise do you miss the most? (Feature)

Jul 1, 2009

What defunct game company or franchise are you most sorry to see go? The company may not even be out of business - it may have just strayed so far from its original vision that you consider it dead (likewise with franchises). ...

What are the favourite 'types' of people used on video game box-art? (Feature)

Jul 1, 2009

How this works: We randomly collected together 100 recent examples of video game box-art all completely unrelated with the exception of one common factor: they all featured a person or people as part of the design. We then looked long and hard at all the examples to find out what types of people are most commonly used on video game box-art. And by extension, we guess, in video games. This is what we discovered. Prepare to be partially amazed ...

Gaming words and phrases you never hear any more (Feature)

Jun 26, 2009

Mandatory install. Red ring of death. Motion control. All terms that mean something in the current generation of gaming. But five years ago they meant a whole lot of nothing in the video game vernacular. Yes, things move at lightning-speed in gaming, and that includes the buzz-word obsessed language of gamer speak. The following collection are all forgotten words and phrases that have long-since slipped off the lips of gamers.

Arcade ...

Trailer Trash 9 (Feature)

Jun 25, 2009

Ever since Wii launched we’ve been cringing at trailers of families swinging their arms around in front of the TV like a bunch of primates.

So first up, here are this week’s embarrassingly awkward trailers from the world of Nintendo. ...

QOTW: What overused gameplay element are you terribly sick of? (Feature)

Jun 24, 2009

Every week the hosts of TalkRadar present and answer a new "Question of the Week" - a personal inquiry which unearths some of our deepest, and sometimes most sinister, gaming memories. Everyone is encouraged to answer each week's question, so go ahead, tell us your most glorious, nostalgic, or shameful story! ...

These consoles are fake! (Feature)

Jun 24, 2009

Over the next three pages you're going to find some of the best and worst fake consoles to ever grace the ‘nets. Some have been rendered quite professionally by respectable publications. Others look like they've been knocked up by some kid in his room using Photoshop. While the most dedicated have gone that extra mental mile and physically built crude contraptions in an effort to fool folk.

Above: We’re gutted the BS ...

The Top 7... best games of 2009 (so far) (Feature)

Jun 22, 2009

Much like the Oscars tend to ignore movies released between January and September, end-of-year game awards usually forget the top-notch software released in the first six months. It’s true that the holiday shopping season is stacked with surefire hits, but let’s not forget the games that kept boredom at bay when 2009 was still the New Year. ...

Trailer Trash 8 (Feature)

Jun 18, 2009

This week in Trailer Trash, we’ve received a couple of videogame trailers geared toward girls. Not that there’s anything really wrong with it, but when will developers ever come out with a good girl game? Oh, that’s right - never. Because guns will always be way cooler and more badass than pots and pans, smashing glass is more awesome than raising kids, and splattering blood everywhere is cooler than washing your ...

Stupid game terminology (Feature)

Jun 18, 2009

Why can’t some people just call a spade a spade? Or, in the case of video games, call a health pack a health pack, instead of a multi-purpose, cosmic healitron 3000. We’re sick of developers trying to give their games extra context or dimension by pasting unnecessary and sometimes baffling terminology onto simple, every day game actions or objects. It’s convoluted, embarrassing and totally comically. Below are some of the ...

QOTW: What's the most you've geeked out over a game? (Feature)

Jun 17, 2009

What was your absolute nerdiest videogame moment? Have you ever obsessed over a game so much that even your nerdiest friends got tired of hearing about it? ...

Facts about... the ice world (Feature)

Jun 17, 2009

The Earth has gone through at least four major ice ages in its past. The first is hypothesized to have been around 2.7 to 2.3 billion years ago, but who can really remember? The earliest well-documented ice age occurred between 850 and 630 million years ago and may have covered the entire surface of our planet with a permanent ice. ...

The Top 7… videogame legends we never want to hear again (Feature)

Jun 15, 2009

The videogame industry has gotten a lot done in its short life. In the years since Pong and Spacewar!, game culture has evolved at an unprecedented clip to become an inescapable part of 21st century life. But it hasn’t had time to build up a huge back story.

What happens when you have a legion of fans desperate to revisit the history of an industry that’s barely been alive longer than them? ...

Before and after: the games that changed during development (Feature)

Jun 15, 2009

Splinter Cell Conviction

Sam Fisher’s gone through some midlife crisis-sized changes over the past couple of years. One minute he’s a tortured emo agent on the run, with as little respect for the law as he does for kept facial hair. The next he’s a malicious murderer, who makes Jack Bauer look like Jack Osborne.

Above: From badly groomed to just plain bad

The Conviction of 2007 has heavy influences from ...

Which publisher had the best E3? (Feature)

Jun 12, 2009

Gaming’s biggest week has come, gone and left us all with many, many more games to dream about. But which publisher provided the most excitement? Which generated the most buzz and anticipation? Which deserves the most credit for transforming E3 into something worthwhile again… and which will probably be winning the biggest share of our money over the next few years? Here’s who we’ve picked as the top 20. ...

Trailer Trash Retro Edition (Feature)

Jun 11, 2009

The best way to predict the future is to look at the past, or so someone smarter than us once said. For this week’s Trailer Trash, we’re doing just that with a look back at some of our favorite retro game videos. Pages are arranged roughly by era, so feel free to skip around. ...

The unspoken truths of E3 2009 (Feature)

Jun 11, 2009

E3 is an explosion of information, and if you’re at its epicenter you’re likely to be momentarily blinded by the brilliant flash of gaming dynamite. But as the smoke clears and the debris falls back to Earth, the smoggy LA landscape becomes littered with questions. Now that we’ve had some time to pick through the remains of E3’s decadence, here’s what we’ve deduced.

Exclusive announcement deals are ...

The best and worst credits (Feature)

Jun 10, 2009

Nobody watches the credits. We’d rather spam the start button than devote even a few minutes to the people who made it all possible. Some developers get this; some don’t. Join us as we berate and praise in roughly equal measures ...

Dating according to videogames (Feature)

Jun 9, 2009

We’ve scrutinized and analyzed some of our favorite seminal game relationships to create this guide to actual dating. You’ll get advice on meeting singles, maintaining a successful relationship and taking your friendships to the next level, all straight from the mouths of the most emotionally stable and satisfied game characters (through us) and right to you. ...

The Top 7... E3 announcements you missed (Feature)

Jun 8, 2009

Ah, another E3 over. And what an E3 it was. It was a veritable clusterf*ck of news. Megatons were going off so often a casual reader couldn't possibly keep up. Hell, we here at GamesRadar barely could and it's our freaking jobs. So it can be forgiven with all the Natals, Metroids and Final Fantasy XIVs that some news that would have been a big deal any other week got missed. But GR has you covered with the 7 most important news items you probably weren't aware of ...

E3 09: Top 10 things you need to know about today - Thursday edition (Feature)

Jun 4, 2009

1) A Lego game will finally let you build your own levels, Lego-styleLego Indiana Jones 2 will feature new levels based on Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, along with “re-imaginings” of scenes from the first three films that appear differently than they did in the original Lego Indy. Horrified yet? Well, here’s a piece of news that might lift your spirits ...

E3 09: Trailers - The best, the worst and the bizarre (Feature)

Jun 4, 2009

E3 is winding down and it’s time for the press to head home, lick our wounds and thoroughly analyze and re-watch the billions of exciting trailers we’ve received. We’re sure you’re still reeling from the games shown and re-shown. Or maybe you were buried under tons of award-winning coverage and weren’t sure where to start? Or maybe you decided to pick this week to live under a rock? ...

E3 09: Why wait? E3's hottest games reviewed NOW! (Feature)

Jun 4, 2009

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 ...

E3 09: Top 10 things you need to know about today - Wednesday edition (Feature)

Jun 3, 2009

Maybe you’re overwhelmed by our constant barrage of tweets and extensive E3 coverage. Maybe you’re drowning in the sea of E3 info that’s flooding the web. Or maybe you’ve got a life and don’t have time to waste reading previews and staring at screenshots for games you’ll never care about. That’s why we’ve filtered out all the bull to bring you the exciting news that matters the most ...

QOTW: What was your favorite E3 2009 moment? (Feature)

Jun 3, 2009

The biggest gaming show of the year isn't over quite yet, but the three biggest conferences have already come and gone. So what was your favorite moment? Best announcement? Most awkward presenter? Did your favorite company meet your expectations? Tell us what you thought! ...

The sexy sexy booth babes of E3 09 (Feature)

Jun 2, 2009

We won't bore you with too much talk (we aren't Ubisoft, after all). You've been tweeting and commenting and writing notes on bathroom walls, and the message is clear: you want booth babes. So booth babes you get! Yeah, we're shameless and incorrigible - but so what? Check back often for new pics! ...

E3 09: GR's Absurd Photo Diary (Feature)

Jun 2, 2009

We're attacking the hell out of E3 with a snarl of cellphones, laptops, cameras, coffee, hard alcohol, knoted cables, and eyeballs. Want to see what our screen-burned eyes are seeing? Of course you do! Check here often for updates - new photos will appear at the top! ...

E3 09: It's closed! But also slightly not (Feature)

Jun 1, 2009

It’s the first day of E3. It’s open for business. But also actually not. Press types can register. Giant shaven headed men pull heavy cartons about the place. Doormen pace about guarding nothing from nobody. No music. No lightshows. No games. Yeah actually it’s closed. But ever vigilant to the possibility of something within the absence of anything, Team GR presents this visual tapestry of an E3 asleep. ...