The Bitbag editor picks the winners for:

¿ Best 3D Action Game
¿ Best Racing Game
¿ Best RPG
¿ Best Fighter
¿ Best FPS
¿ Best Strategy Game
¿ Best Sports Game
¿ Best War Game
¿ Best Mecha Game
¿ Achievement In Excellence
¿ Best Handheld Game
¿ Best Graphics
¿ Best Sound
¿ Best Online Multiplayer
¿ Developer Of The Year
¿ Game Of The Year
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What makes a good video game? Strong visuals are important. Good controls are essential. A well-crafted concept helps too. These days, most games can boast at least two-thirds of that criteria.

So, then what makes a game great? Feeling. Emotion. Surprise. Interaction. Even addiction. It's a magical feeling when a game offers all these elements.

Here are the titles L.A. Times deemed the best experiences of 2007. Admittedly, they didn't play everything (because that would probably be impossible), but of the titles that did cross their paths, these are the ones that resonated most. Their favorites in order:

Best of the Year:
¿ BioShock
¿ Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
¿ Assassin's Creed
¿ Super Mario Galaxy
¿ The Orange Box

Honorable Mention:
¿ Halo 3
¿ Rock Band
¿ Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation
¿ Cooking Mama: Cook Off
¿ Lost Planet

Worst of the Year:
¿ Lair

Dishonorable Mention:
¿ Fusion Frenzy 2
¿ 300: March to Glory
¿ Tenchu Z

[ By Pete Metzger, December 21, 2007 ]
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The Simpsons Game for PlayStation 2 has finally managed to take out the top spot in the Australian game charts -- seven weeks after its initial release -- according to data trackers GfK Australia. The DS version of the game also made it into the top 10, taking out the seventh spot.

Super Mario Galaxy for the Nintendo Wii -- last week's number one -- fell down to number two during the week of December 10-December 16. Drawn to Life for the Nintendo DS has reappeared in the overall charts at number three after a brief hiatus. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for the Xbox 360 climbed up from the previous week to number five, while Activision's other chart topper -- Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock -- is nowhere to be seen. Halo 3 for the 360 has reappeared at number nine, while Nintendo's Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree bundle ended the week at number 10.
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20th Dec, 2007 Gaming is an up and down experience. Some years cram top quality titles into our every orifice until were bursting with videogame joy and have excess polygons dripping messily out of our ears, while some other years… Well, some other years are 1983. In 2007 though, weve had a very good year indeed. A scarily good year in fact. One which has provided us so much brilliance on every format that its a genuine worry that the laws of karmic balance will soon bring us a plague ... » Read More

These lists are based on global unique users connected to Xbox Live or in the case of Arcade, full versions purchased this week. Here are the top 3 for each charts, see the source for the complete top 10 list.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles
1. Halo 3
2. Call of Duty 4
3. Gears of War

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions)
1. Arkadian Warriors
2. Sonic The Hedgehog 2
3. GripShift

Original Xbox Top Live Games
1. Halo 2
2. Fable
3. Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
» Read More 

The decision is in and the staff of G4 X-Play has named its Game of the Year!
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Assasins Creed, GTA IV, Maps, November Sales, Wii Voice chat and more, all located in this weeks MyArcadePlanet Game Report. Covering Monday December 10th - Friday December 14th, 2007.
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Here are some observations issued by NPD analyst Anita Frazier, on total industry sales and the performances of Call of Duty 4, Assassin's Creed, Guitar Hero III, Rock Band, the 360 HD-DVD add-on, and Wii accessories.
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Ubisoft announced some remarkable results today.

Assassin's Creed is now officially the fastest-selling new video game IP in the US, ever. Ubisoft have already shifted over 2.5 million units worldwide on both the PS3 and the Xbox 360.

More facts and figures after the jump, including what the results mean to Ubisoft's financial projections...
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Assassin's Creed grabs the top spot on the Gamefly Top Ten 'Most Queued' list while Super Mario Galaxy and Uncharted Drake's Fortune queued up at the top of the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3 Lists!

The Xbox 360 continues to be the console with the most rented games as 8 out of the top 10 are on that platform.
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These lists are based on global unique users connected to Xbox Live or in the case of Arcade, full versions purchased this week. Here are the top 3 for each charts, see the source for the complete top 10 list.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles
1. Halo 3
2. Call of Duty 4
3. Gears of War

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions)
1. Marble Blast Ultra
2. Sonic The Hedgehog 2
3. Asteroids & Deluxe

Original Xbox Top Live Games
1. Halo 2
2. Fable
3. Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
» Read More 

The simExchange has released their monthly industry report.

Key Topics:
- Video games to break record sales
- PC Games continue to cannibalize each other
- Assassin's Creed - the woes of new intellectual property
- Rock Band - Too many hands in the cookie jar
- Wii - Can it handle M-rated titles

Analyst Jesse Divnich comments on sales:

"The prediction market expects November's software sales to be $1.15 billion which is a 42% increase over sales last year... [Software Sales] will be the highest ever seen in the month of November and the first time November sales will break $1 billion... Combining The NPD Group's estimates in October, retailers will net over $4.04 billion in software sales this holiday quarter, a 39% increase year-over-year-a record as well. "
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Xbox 360 Only has just posted the reviews and rumors from the latest edition of the US Official Xbox Magazine. This months' reviews include Assassin's Creed, Beowulf, Scene It?, Soldier of Fortune, Blacksite and Gripshift.

Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360, Ubisoft): 8.5/10
Scene it? (Xbox 360, Microsoft): 8/10
Soldier of Fortune Payback (Xbox 360, Activision): 4.5/10
Golden Compass (Xbox 360, Sega): 6/10
MX vs. ATV Untamed (Xbox 360, THQ): 5/10
Beowulf (Xbox 360, Ubisoft): 6/10
GripShift (Xbox 360, Microsoft): 5.5/10
N+ (Xbox 360, Metanet/Slick): 7/10
Screwjumper! (Xbox 360, THQ): 7/10
NCAA 08 March Madness (Xbox 360, EA): 7/10
College Hoops 2K8 (Xbox 360, 2K Sports): 8.5/10
Blacksite Area 51 (Xbox 360, Midway): 6/10

The US OXM also features a rumor section, this month with three very interesting rumors.

- Bethesda's (Elder Scrolls: Oblivion) online debut will be a launch title for the next Xbox.
- The new Ghost Recon game is still a few years away. The game will not go further on in the Advanced Warfighter part, and the game also doesn't take place in cities anymore.
- Ubisoft is planning some radical changes for the new Sam Fischer game.
» Read More 

bit-tech.net reports:

"As can be seen in this video by YouTube user, themikepotter, the bug appears to cause Altair's animation to literally freeze ¿ even if he's in the middle of the air or galloping along the ground. Mike isn't alone, either. This problem has resulted in plenty of PS3 owners whipping out their cameras and uploading the footage to sites like YouTube, but so far nothing from Xbox 360 gamers."
» Read More 

Media Create Sales 11/26 - 12/2:
01. [NDS] Prof. Layton and Pandora's Box (Level 5) - 294,000 / NEW
02. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 261,000 / NEW
03. [PS2] SD Gundam G Generation Spirits (Bandai-Namco) - 252,000 / NEW
04. [NDS] Dragon Quest IV (Square-Enix) - 135,000 / 732,000
05. [PS2] Sengoku Basara 2: Heroes (Capcom) - 95,000 / NEW
06. [NDS] Mario Party DS (Nintendo) - 80,000 / 539,000
07. [PS2] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2008 (Konami) - 74,000 / 368,000
08. [360] Assassin's Creed (Ubi Soft) - 41,000 / NEW
09. [WII] Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo) - 41,000 / 103,000
10. [NDS] Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters World Championship 2008 (Konami) - 35,000 / NEW

11. [WII] Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo)
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Everybody's favourite Italian plumber Mario has blasted his way to number one in the overall Australian game chart, according to data trackers GfK Australia.

Top 10 Full-Priced Games
1. Super Mario Galaxy, Wii
2. Need for Speed ProStreet, PlayStation 2
3. WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008, PlayStation 2
4. The Simpsons Game, PlayStation 2
5. Assassin's Creed, Xbox 360
6. Need for Speed ProStreet, Xbox 360
7. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Wii
8. More Brain Training from Dr Kawashima: How Old Is Your Brain?, Nintendo DS
9. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock bundle, PlayStation 2
10. Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree bundle
» Read More 

Latest American sales from VGcharts.

1 Wii Sports - Nintendo 325,483
2 Forza Motorsport 2 - Microsoft 208,037
3 Marvel: Ultimate Alliance - Activision 201,476
4 Super Mario Galaxy - Nintendo 188,325
5 Mass Effect - Microsoft 113,856
6 Wii Play - Nintendo 112,724
7 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Activision 106,583
8 Assassins Creed - Ubisoft 102,501
9 Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - Activision 92,441
10 Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - Activision 81,408

DS 458,050
Wii 325,483
360 250,648
PS2 161,513
PSP 160,848
PS3 155,515
GBA 32,268
GC 2,545
» Read More 

From Official Bethesda Blog:
"Week after week, folks at the office were picking up the latest "AAA" titles to play, and as a result, I'm guessing most everyone now has a pile of games to play. Luckily, most of the big releases are now out, so we can put away our wallets and focus on the games we've got.

Here's what you'll see our team playing over the weekend."
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These lists are based on global unique users connected to Xbox Live or in the case of Arcade, full versions purchased this week. Here are the top 3 for each charts, see the source for the complete top 10 list.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles
1. Halo 3
2. Call of Duty 4
3. Assassin's Creed

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions)
1. Asteroids & Deluxe
2. Sonic The Hedgehog 2
3. UNO

Original Xbox Top Live Games
1. Halo 2
2. Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
3. Star Wars: Battlefront 2
» Read More 

Dec 4, 2007 Are you kept up at night wondering whether Assassins Creed looks better on 360 or PS3? If so, youre about to get a good nights sleep. Weve captured footage from the early stages of the game, running in 720p on both consoles. While mild tearing is evident in both versions, the PS3 appears to have the edge with richer colors and deeper blacks. The 360 footage looks a bit washed out by comparison, though its nearly impossible to tell the difference without viewing the clips ... » Read More