Mafia opens in 1938, as gangster Thomas Angelo arrives at a little diner to meet with an Irish cop named Detective Norman. Tommy's come to Norman to ask for police protection for himself and his family, but Norman - abrasive and impatient - scoffs at the idea. Tommy insists that he doesn't expect something for nothing, and that what he knows can help bring down a notorious mob boss named Salieri. Norman, still skeptical, demands to hear the ...

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

We've all seen dozens of lists over the years that recount all the things old-school game designers loved to include in their games for bizarre and unknown reasons, like exploding barrels and wolves that carry gold and chainmail for you to loot upon their death. Yes, these things were weird, and yes, they were ubiquitous in 8-,16-, and even 32-bit games. ...

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. ...

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 ...

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? ...

This week's topics:

Top 7… E3 announcements you missed – the stories and games that slipped right past us.

Nintendo’s E3 press conference – was a lot like last year’s, and we’ve got the audio evidence.

Prototype Super Review – Mikel finally admits he accepts bribes from Microsoft. And Activision. Oh and Sony. Probably Nintendo too.

And more! ...

Last week we weren’t entirely sure what games to expect from the big three console pushers. Oh, we knew a couple of certainties, but overall the slate was wide open, ready to be filled in during their respective press conferences. Today, post-E3, we know exactly what’s in store and what their battle plans are. ...

E3’s gone dark for another year, and as we bid farewell to the rip-roarin’-est show in years we find ourselves buzzing with anticipation. The FPS field is crowded, as usual, with several massive sequels (and a handful of promising but unproven new titles).  Since you need to know which of these are worth your time and money, we’ve selected a few top-shelf shooters for comparison. Let the merciless scrutiny begin! ...

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 ...