sponsorship

Every Thursday, we present the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the gaming universe. This week:

Winners--GameSpot, Brain Age, and PeaceMaker Losers--Immigration, Movies, and Floridians

Like you, we browse scores of gaming-related stories every day. Some of them get our head nodding. Others get our blood boiling. Consequently, we decided to share those experiences with you, given that the Games.net mission of bringing you the very best and worst the gaming universe has to offer. Starting today and subsequently every Thursday, our hackneyed crew of web monkeys will mete out the sordid stories that made us laugh, cry, and blow snot bubbles in agony.

Our criteria for a winner: lasting effects of intellectual engagement, profound thoughtfulness, and funky humor. Everyone else: a loser. And then there's the pwned, which is another story entirely.

Finally, did any stories elicit strong reactions from you this week? Tell us about it. If you make Thursday's Winners & Losers, you'll win a prize from the Games.net grab bag. We'll let you decide if that's a good thing or not.

And now on with the W&L!

THE WINNERS

Passport to Imports

GameSpot's guide to import games is refreshing gaming journalism. Not only does it list a host of intriguing games from Europe and Japan, but the feature is also a primer for beginners new to the scene. Figure out the difference between PAL and NTSC; understand the legalities of modding your systems; and read up on helpful translations to onscreen foreign languages. Also: great interjections from UK GameSpot scattered about. Blimey, GameSpot's finally won something.

Brain Games

Dr. Kawashima is a genius. Despite recent stories to the contrary, the good doctor's Brain Age for the Nintendo DS heals the mind with brain-teasing puzzles and reflexive mini-games. The BBC highlights its findings including a look to future virtual mental teasers. Old fogies aren't the only winners with this new genre of gaming. Now open wide and say, "AaaaHa."

War and Peace

War is never a winning proposition. But living a war through rarely unseen eyes is as intriguing as it is innovative--especially in a virtual world. Such is the premise for PeaceMaker, a strategy game about present-day issues in the Middle East. You take the role as either an Israeli prime minister or Palestinian Authority president, and make policy decisions that affect the region. Consequently your actions could result in protests, suicide bombings, and other violent uprisings. CNN reports on the seriousness of such "serious" games.

THE LOSERS

In Protest of Immigration

The expression of hate--in any form--is truly reflective of the person who exhibits it. In this case, whoever made the game Border Patrol has some serious issues of spite and abhorrence. In this flash game, the objective is simple: kill as many Mexicans crossing the border as possible. Obviously the moral issue isn't as straightforward, yet Border Patrol attempts to simplify the matter with nothing more than a quick fix of hateful expression for overly paranoid and insensitive Americans. Freedom of expression. Yes. Freedom to hate. No.

Video Games Turned Movies

Mark Kermode of the Observer explains why video games turned movies are...well, such losers. Sure, the special effects usually rock, the actors are well respected, and even the music is in tune. Alas, says Kermode, it's the lack of an engaging story, which kills movies that are based on video games. Uwe Boll, take note.

Floridian Men

Three men stand trial for killing six people over an Xbox system in 2004. Apparently, the baseball-bat brawl was organized to retrieve the gaming console. No surprise, but attorneys close to the case say finding an impartial jury will be difficult due to the amount of media coverage the case has garnered. Hmmm...you think the defense will blame GTA for this outbreak of violence?

THE PWNED

A Wii Bit Out of the Ordinary

Nintendo finally unveils the name of its new gaming system. Wii (pronounced we) replaces the more fan-favorite code name, Revolution. Nintendo's choice in name and spelling is causing stir among fan boys, but casual gamers are shrugging it off and moving on. The fan boys have been PWNED.

Computer Dies of Gunshot Wound

A Florida man shoots (accidentally, he claims) his son's computer. Apparently Joseph Langenderfer felt his son was spending too much time on the computer playing games, and instead, should have done the laundry. Father Dearest threatens son by aiming gun at the computer and, well, the poor computer is just another innocent victim of violent crime. Langenderfer's PC, you've just been PWNED!

Games.net's Countdown to...