Gamers! Love your video games? Want them to get the recognition they deserve? Then it's time to vote for them in this year's Annual Golden Joystick Awards! Which game would get the Ultimate Game award this year? So many choices... Halo 3... Grand Theft Auto IV... Guitar Hero III... Super Mario Galaxy... BioShock... Metal Gear Solid 4... Check out the full list in the full article.

Big news coming in for Europe, as we announce that preparations are underway for this year's London Games Festival. Wondering exactly when 2008's celebrations begin? Visit the full article for the rest of the details!

Tired of seeing ordinary looking, dirt-smudged heroes steal the limelight in your favorite video games? This short list of fashionable video game characters shows that it's possible to look snazzy while saving the day, and the girl too. Check out the full article!

What's the Big Deal with GameStop's deals this week? It's the Simpsons Game which will be available by the end of the month. The price cut for the Sony PlayStation 3's 80 GB console is also spotlighted this week, plus a couple of discounted games for the Xbox 360, the PS3, and the PC.

This week's promo is a free Homerball when you reserve the Simpsons Game (PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP, DS). The Homerball is a little toy doll of Homer. If you recall, getting as fat and round as a watermelon is one of Homer's powers in the game. Also this week is MotorStorm, bundled with the 80 GB console.

Discounts this week are WarTech: Senko No Ronde (US$ 9.99), Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom (US$ 19.99) and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes (US$ 49.99). The 20% trade-in credit for reserving Super Mario Galaxy is still in effect, and probably will be until the game is finally released next month on November 12.

The list of the top 20 games was revealed in a recent press release by Chart Track. Certain games such as Spider-man 3 (1), Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (2), and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (4) are there but you might be surprised at some of the newer additions.

Need for Speed Carbon, The Sims 2: Pets and World Championship Snooker 2007 debuted at the 15th, 16th, and 17th slots respectively while Medal of Honor: Vanguard moved up one slot from its previous position at number 20.

Noticeably absent from the list is Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, which must have been edged out since the last survey was taken. Anyway, here's the complete list of the top 20 best selling games across all formats in the UK.

Top 20 best selling games in UK:

1. Spider-man 3
2. Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
3. Final Fantasy III
4. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
5. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07
6. God of War II
7. BUZZ! The Mega Quiz
8. UEFA Champions League 2006-2007
9. Virtua Tennis 3
10. Harvest Moon DS
11. Crackdown
12. New Super Mario Bros.
13. TMNT: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
14. Pokemon Ranger
15. Need For Speed: Carbon
16. The Sims 2: Pets
17. World Snooker Championship 2007
18. Sonic and the Secret Rings
19. Medal of Honor: Vanguard
20. Football Manager 2007

We don't know how this was made exactly, but we do like how they used World of Warcraft to great effect. Losos' Records made a Blizzard-Nintendo mash up of sorts, combining World of Warcraft's game engine to create a machinima that recreates some levels from the Super Mario Bros. series.

Right from the start, you'll see how WoW-inspired this is. You'll notice portions of The Barrens, Uldaman, and Blackrock Mountain on Mario's quest to free the Princess from the less than awe-inspiring Koopa. Best of all is the animation they use when Mario wants to dodge a bullet bill. /sit for the win!

So, who says Mario doesn't get the girl in the end, eh?

Since the new year is here (or has come and gone for you), it's time to have a bit of fun. Instead of talking about Saddam Hussein's hanging or the impending zombie apocalypse, I've decided to come up with a short list of my favorite game-related vids.

I've always had a penchant for picking up videos. For the most part, I find videos of games here and there, and sometimes, some of those videos just stick in your head long after you've seen them.

Here are my top five game-related bits of weirdness, which anyone with a degree in googling can hunt down and download for themselves. In no particular order...

Street Fighter Salsa

I do some ballroom dancing myself, so this was funny to watch. As you can see, this is a Korean salsa competition where the contestants are playing Ryu and Chun Li. Definitely weird, but you can see some of the obvious Street Fighter references in their routine, giving this a definite spot in my top 5.

Less ballroom, more weirdness if you click on "Full Article".

Funcom World Designer, Thomas Wolbekk, who is currently dabbling on the MMORPG, Age of Conan, got up close and personal with MMORPG.com as he gamely talked about his childhood, his first video game, and his influences. Wolbekk admitted that he never really liked school and he spends most of his free time playing games, pretending to do his homework. He also said that his father was his biggest influence in his life.

So on to the gaming-related tidbits. He mentioned that the first video game he played was Bubble Bobble, but he cites Super Mario World, Zelda (A Link to the Past), Rise of the Triad as his big influences among many others. His first video-game related job is making simple games and working on a couple of modifications for Half-Life and Unreal. He says that AoC is the first real game he has worked on. Good start for him!

When asked on what a typical day at Funcom was like, this is what he had to say:

I work as a 3D Environment Artist World Designer. I usually do a lot of polish work and put the final pieces together in Age of Conan’s environments.

I usually arrive at 10 am and go through my task list. I have a small chat with Dag, one of our talented gameplay world designers and we plan out what to work on. After a couple of hours with tweaking the lighting, cleaning up textures, planting trees, placing objects, painting and modeling the ground it’s time for Chris...Then it’s back to work where I usually spend a couple of hours in meetings and continue to brush up on our outdoor areas until I go home at 6 pm. Except when our Game Director Gaute Godager comes running and shouts I have to remove the two people having intercourse with a barrel or something like that before I go home.

The full interview could be read via the Read link below.

December 11 will go down the history of Amazon.com as its best day ever in terms of sales. The company was able to sell more than 4 million different items, a good number of which had a lot to with video games. And who's the king of this particular videogame hill, you ask? Nintendo's handheld, of course.

The company didn't furnish exact figures for the DS Lite but mentioned that it was indeed the top seller on that day. They also highlighted the record-breaking 1,000 units sold in 29 seconds for Microsoft's Xbox 360 in their Amazon Customers Vote promotion. Mentioned too was the PlayStation 3's predecessor, the PS2, as a big seller.

In software sales, Amazon revealed that their top selling games for a single platform were New Super Mario Bros. and Brain Age, both for the DS. Sports title Madden Football ruled the multiplatform division. The MMO expansion title The Burning Crusade was the major top seller for all pre-orders. The Sims 2: Pets and art package Adobe Photoshop Elements 5 were both given recognition as well.

Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezoz couldn't help but show his appreciation to customers because of this success. "Video games were a customer favorite again this year. We are truly grateful to our customers. Happy holidays and happy new year to all from Amazon.com employees around the globe."

GameSide Network's free online magazine, The Art of Gaming, has now released its second issue, which focuses on the the art of video game graphics, gameplay, and features artwork from the gaming community. The second issue features the widely known MMORPG, World of Warcraft.

This time, they have teamed up with a British fashion label called Joystick Junkie; a group that takes the inspiration for their designs from iconic video games art. Do not be surprised if upon opening the magazine you are greeted with literally tons of ads from them, they compensate by offering readers a 10% off in their apparel anyway. As well as a chance to win exclusive merchandise by sending in a letter to the magazine, like artwork, suggestions and questions.

Just as in the first issue, this latest release will also contain reviews on classic games, interviews, general video game information and gamer profiles. "The Art of Gaming will continue to grow with each issue and we appreciate our comments and suggestions that we receive from readers" says GameSide Network's CEO, Lachelle Talbot-Thomas.

The next issue will feature everybody's favorite Italian, pasta monster, plumber - Mario.

Download: [The Art of Gaming Issue #2]