Jan 14, 2008 Videogames are weird. Weird. Rules that apply to books, television and movies don't work at all here. Take blobs, for example; so far, Hollywood has produced only one major blob protagonist, and it was a pink monster that devoured everything in its wake. Conventional wisdom holds that nothing that horrible could ever be made cute or marketable, let alone heroic, and yet videogame history is filled with cute blobs who've touched the hearts of millions and become more memorable and ... » Read More

11 Jan 2008

Why the hell did you license that?

Xbox News | Xbox

11th Jan, 2008 Games based on licensed IPs are the unpleasant body odour of gaming. No-one really likes them, but they're inexorably tied to the medium and just keep coming back no matter what we do to get rid of them. As crap as most of these games are though, the licenses they're based on usually make sense. Big movies, popular, action-packed TV shows and successful sports stars are all perfect subjects to stick on a box in order to persuade the unsuspecting buyer to pick it up. It's a ... » Read More

11 Jan 2008

You'll never be this fast at games

Xbox News | Xbox

Jan 11, 2007 Sure you can finish Resident Evil without saving, complete Halo 3 without dying and fight your way to the end of the Iron Fist tournament with all your continues intact. But can you do it in the time it takes to boil a kettle? Didnt think so. But there are gamers out who play so fast it makes our eyes bleed. Lucky for us - and you - they also like filming themselves doing it. So here are 10 of the best. All of which will make you feel like a ... » Read More

10 Jan 2008

The Biggest Flakes of 2007

Xbox News | Xbox

Jan 10, 2008 Release dates - like hearts, promises and Xbox 360s - are made to be broken. Games scheduled for next week invariably slide into next month, next month into next year, next year into next decade... and next decade into, well, never. We must resign ourselves to this rule or live in perpetual disappointment. But indulge and imagine for a moment. What if those dates were always hit? What if developer and publisher promises were always kept? What if forum predictions were always ... » Read More

9 Jan 2008

What game names really mean

Xbox News | Xbox

Jan 9, 2008 If you want to sell your product, you need a catchy name, something that immediately resonates with your intended audience. This is incredibly true in video games, an industry that began with no-nonsense names like "Combat" and "Pong." Today, with a global marketplace and niches to fill on a daily basis, game names have become increasingly cryptic, nonsensical or double-meaning in-jokes that about five people get. That's where this list comes in. By compiling information from ... » Read More

7 Jan 2008

The Top 7... Franchise Embarrassments

Xbox News | Xbox

Jan 7, 2008 Every family's got one. The drunken brother-in-law. The cousin with a criminal record. The perverted uncle who hasn't been invited to reunions or holidays since his incident with the goat. Whatever the name and whatever the shame, we all know that one relative we're just not supposed to talk about. Every videogame franchise has one of these regrettable members as well. Fans and developers may try to ignore, forget or even erase its existence, but the stain will always remain. Here ... » Read More

3 Jan 2008

GamesRadar's Anti-Awards 2007

Xbox News | Xbox

Jan 3, 2008 A few weeks ago we crafted a best-of-the-year list, obeying internet trends and expectations like a good little website. Now it's time for awards that you actually want to read. We're calling out all the crap that pissed us (and you) off in 2007 and, just like last time, we're handing out high quality, gold-plated awards. This year, unlucky winners shamefully walk away with the soon-to-be-coveted, slightly oxymoronic "Golden Red Rings Award." Other, slightly less sucky losers get ... » Read More

31 Dec 2007

The Top 7... Gamers' New Year's resolutions

Xbox News | Xbox

Dec 31, 2007 Congratulations, you survived 2007. Know what that means? Its time to invent a bunch of uninspired goals and ambitions for the coming year so that next year you can hate yourself for not accomplishing any of them. Its an awful tradition that probably shouldnt exist in any form, but this year were changing things. We set down the potent cocktails that we resolved to stop drinking last year and took some time to pen some realistic goals, ones we can really stick to. No, really. Our ... » Read More

27 Dec 2007

Are games more violent today?

Xbox News | Xbox

Dec 27, 2007 "No longer are games simply about shooting aliens and destroying asteroids, but instead the top selling games reward players for killing police officers, maiming elderly persons, running over pedestrians and committing despicable acts of murder and torture upon women and racial minorities," says California State Senator, Leland Yee in an opinion piece on his website. It's still a popular stance for politicians and strangers to videogames to take - this idea that gory games like ... » Read More

26 Dec 2007

10 features we want in online shooters

Xbox News | Xbox

Dec 26, 2007 Multiplayer shooters have advanced stupendously since the likes of Doom and Quake. Contextual actions, unlockable weapons, team and objective based combat, physics, sprawling maps, class systems and a slew of other complexities have been crammed into modern frag-fests. Nevertheless, there are still a few features and concepts wed like to see perfected before the inevitable next step involving wires poking out of our brain stems. Potentialities like Call of Duty 5, Halo 4, Rainbow ... » Read More

25 Dec 2007

Every Christmas Top 10 from the last 20 years

Xbox News | Xbox

25 Dec, 2007 The Christmas gaming charts are a special thing. Not only are they a celebration of the festive season's out-of-control consumerism, but they also show us which of the titles released during the intense pre-Chrimbo gaming avalanche have most successfully grabbed the attention of the masses. After all, it's the one time of the year when financial frivolity is king, when partners, friends and gene-pool sharing associates rush out to purchase the software-based gift that their ... » Read More

24 Dec 2007

The Top 7... Christmas moments

Xbox News | Xbox

Dec 24, 2007 Christmas is tomorrow, and that means those of you who celebrate the holiday are just hours away from opening the free stuff you've been looking forward to all year. In the spirit of the season, we extend our warmest wishes that you find at least one of the games we've recommended under the tree, and that you don't get stuck with any well-intentioned but misguided crap. And to keep you occupied for a few minutes while you wait for the hours to tick away, we've gone through years ... » Read More

21 Dec 2007

Trailer Trash Best of 2007

Xbox News | Xbox

Dec 21, 2007 As we come to the end of one of the hottest years on record, join us for a look back at the game trailers that teased, prodded, and provoked us into a frenzy. Here, at year's end, let us look back at the many ways that trailers enrich our lives and be thankful for these precious moments we've shared. Amidst all the hype and hustle of an industry gone mad with profits, these are the trailers that truly stood out from the crowd. They're all here, the dizzying walkthroughs, the ... » Read More

20 Dec 2007

GamesRadar's seemingly annual Platinum Chalice...

Xbox News | Xbox

Dec 20, 2007 Another year, another collection of meaningless awards for games you already knew were good. So, instead of desperately waiting for other people to re-affirm opinions you already had, why not read a whole choking list of awards that celebrate 2007 in a slightly different way? Last year's Potentially Annual Platinum Chalice awards were met with such deafening acclaim (you saw the parade, right?) that we simply had to follow through and make them a grand, yearly tradition like ... » Read More

19 Dec 2007

Hollywood heavyweight goes game developer

Xbox News | Xbox

Dec 19, 2007 Heavyweight movie producer Jerry Bruckheimer is teaming up with MTV Games to produce new entertainment properties that will begin life as games. "Video games represent a new and innovative medium for what we've always tried to do, which is to tell great stories. But this medium is unique in that it gives the player control over how those stories unfold," Bruckheimer (reportedly) says. "I look forward to working with MTV Games to create new original game stories, always looking ... » Read More

18 Dec 2007

E3 back from the dead?

Xbox News | Xbox

Dec 18, 2007 The Entertainment Software Association has confirmed that the E3 Media & Business Summit will be returning back to its historic digs at the Los Angeles Convention Center next year. Is the 'old' super-sized E3 back from the dead? Not quite. “We are very much not going back to the old E3,” Rich Taylor, senior vice president of communications and research for the ESA, told Kotaku. “I think we are all on the same page for the industry on what we want those days in ... » Read More

17 Dec 2007

The Top 7... Most Evil Games

Xbox News | Xbox

Dec 17, 2007 The funny thing about the freedom of speech is that everyones for it until they see something that rubs them the wrong way. Take these Top 7 Most Evil Games for instance. We wish these games didnt exist. But if we want developers to have the freedom to make the games we actually want to play without having to worry about censorship fettering creativity, there needs to be a place for the ones we wouldnt touch with a ten foot pole too. What you're about to see are the most vile, ... » Read More

17 Dec 2007

Another site's games of the year

Xbox News | Xbox

Dec 17, 2007 Assuming you're not already mid-yawn at the prospect of another end of year awards feature (and yes, GR's alternative Platinum Chalice awards are coming this Thursday, Dec 20th) you could do worse than point your browser here and check out this extremely serious and very sensible indeed Best 30 Games of 2007 courtesy of our sister site Next Generation. All your favorite lines from 'Best Of…' features are present and correct including such classics as "[insert year here] ... » Read More

14 Dec 2007

Trailer Trash

Xbox News | Xbox

Dec 14, 2007 Halo 3 Screens Our custom videos of Halo 3s new maps will help you decide whether its worth forking over the cash now, or waiting a few months and getting them for free. Whats that you say, Bungies not trying hard enough? Were all waiting for that Battle of Gettysburg recreation youve been promising to build in ... » Read More

14 Dec 2007

Game babes: A history

Xbox News | Xbox

Dec 14, 2007 It's fair to say that we direct all our technology into two things: boobs and bombs. Video games have exploited the latter from the moment they first appeared, so it comes as no surprise that violence has become more and more intense as gaming tech improves. So, if the bombs have gotten bigger, what about the boobs? Join us as we dive into the dreadful beginnings of women in games, then stroll through their gradual evolution from sex trophies to sex trophies with giant guns and ... » Read More