Some games simply must have cooperative play. Gears of War, for example, was clearly designed with a co-op experience in mind – there are two main characters on the same mission with the same abilities with a strong personal bond. Blasting through the story with a friend lets you partake in that bond, which is a much more powerful experience than plain ol’ deathmatch or CTF. ...

Some games just never stand a chance, do they? Hated on from the moment they’re announced for a variety of reasons, they’re critically stoned by journos and gamers long before anyone lays finger on pad. The following titles all fall into this category of pre-release hatred. Whether they betrayed their series’ heritage, alienated PC gamers or their developer simply shouted his big fat mouth off too much; these games loved ...

Christmas '09 is cancelled, but early next year looks amazing. ...

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 ...

TalkRadar 6 - 100% more Scottish than last week's edition ...

At any games show there are always a handful of titles that are so impressive they fuel an excitable word-of-mouth buzz that rises above the raucous din of the showfloor. And things at Gamescom are no different. We've seen an absolute ass-load of games since we arrived, but we're only talking obsessively about a select few of them. And after chatting with other show-goers, it's pretty obvious which games have had the most impact and left a ...

The whole point of us being at Gamescom is to play games. So that's what we're doing. We're playing games so we can tell you about them. And this is where you'll be able to read our reactions, impressions and opinions of the games that are being played. We'll be updating this page as more games are sampled and experienced. ...

Film/TV shows

Rule 1: Over exuberant button bashing: it’s the law – As portrayed by Adam Sandler in Reign Over Me

If you want to really convince your audience you’re a hardcore gamer raised on the likes on Pong and…erm, that one with the aliens, you’ve got to hammer those buttons. Hard. Watch below as America’s least comedic comedy actor displays the technique admirably during Shadow of the ...

There’s no denying it, Microsoft had a strong press conference on the opening day of E3. With the two surviving Beatles in attendance promoting their new Rock Band game, innovative 1:1 motion-sensing technology in Project Natal, a strong line-up of games and exciting new multimedia and social networking possibilities, Sony has to up its game if it’s to keep up with Bill and his boys. Below, we team up with our colleagues at OPM ...