Love him or despise him, head Jackass Johnny Knoxville has made millions from getting kicked in the yambag. Had YouTube arrived before Jackass, Knoxville, Steve-O, and the show’s other gutterpunk masochists might still be slinging French fries, getting burned by hot grease in a strictly nonrecreational way. But with a…

Billiards is one of the few sports that’s as taxing on a computer screen as it is in real life. It’s played in pubs, after all, and its legendary star was named “Fats.” Unfortunately most virtual billiard games are behind the eight ball in terms of quality, with poor physics…

In space, no one can hear you scream Jumpin’ Jesus, this is one of the greatest games ever! But that doesn’t mean you won’t try during Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Hardcore gamers know Metroid’s star, bounty-hunter babe Samus Aran, has been kicking ass since 1986 — back when Lara Croft…

Funny how gaming’s most epic genre — the role-playing game — often feels the most limited in scope. After all, how many ways can we traverse a medieval land, defeat the orcs, rescue the girl, save the world, and level up along the way? Never enough times would be the…

The first worthwhile online-compatible game for the Wii has finally arrived. And in at least one way, Mario Strikers Charged is just like real soccer: Sometimes it scores, and sometimes it’s just a kick in the balls. The sequel to Super Mario Strikers, Mario Strikers Charged continues the Nintendo tradition…

Stupid videogame logic rule number 154: When thousands of fugly, bloodthirsty aliens take over a spaceship, it’s best to send in a lone woman with a flamethrower. That’s the entire plot of Alien Syndrome, a pseudo sequel to Sega’s 1987 run ‘n’ gun arcade game of the same name. And…

Examining the roots of Transformers: The Game is deep stuff: It’s a videogame based on a movie based on a cartoon based on a toy. But unlike most laughably forced movie tie-in games (DaVinci Code for the PS2, anyone?), there’s good sense in creating one devoted to giant robots beating…

Everyone’s got a different sense of what makes a killer party. For kids, maybe it’s whacking a piñata and overdosing on cake. For adults, it could be sticking a beer bong down your gullet and declaring yourself Mayor of Schlitz City. But since 1999, the Mario Party series has served…

Dating games have come a long way since the days when Chuck Woolery invited mullet-sporting contestants to bump uglies on Love Connection. In Japan, the “dating simulator” video game craze has raged stronger than a schoolboy’s hormones since the early ’90s. But here in America — where our gaming interests…

If you’re looking for a laugh, find a kid raised on Grand Theft Auto and introduce him to Pac-Man for the first time. As he stares at you blankly, explain the addictive joy of eating dots and the simplistic genius of the neon-blue maze. When he sneers, “That’s it? It’s…

After starring in 20 years’ worth of video games, the Super Mario Brothers have been spread mighty thin. The mustachioed heroes’ latest outing, however, takes this concept to a literal extreme. Paradoxically, Super Paper Mario is like every Mario game you’ve ever played — and like nothing you’ve seen before…

We’ve all seen Super Mario eat copious amounts of mushrooms, but have you ever considered the care that goes into preparing such delicacies? In Cooking Mama: Cook Off for the Wii, Wolfgang Puck wannabes are thrust into the kitchen — alongside “Mama,” the game’s titular chef — where they’ll chop,…

A video game about birds flying biplanes makes as much sense as a game about fish captaining submarines, but there are far bigger gripes to be found in Wing Island for the Wii. “In a world ruled by birds,” explains the manual’s grim version of the future, Sparrow Wing Jr…

There’s one similarity between Ghost Rider and most videogame movie tie-ins: Get too close to either, and your ass will probably get burnt. Though it stars goofy Nic Cage and Sam Elliott sound-alikes, Ghost Rider claims only to be an offshoot of this year’s soul-sucking blockbuster — not a direct…

From the newest iPod to the Olsen twins’ collective waistline, the world loves all things mini. The Nintendo Wii embraces this digestible format once again for Wii Play, a collection of nine easy-to-play minigames that comes bundled with a free Wii controller. However, the result is like a Happy Meal:…

Explaining the appeal of the WarioWare series is like trying to describe a fever dream: It doesn’t make sense unless experienced. Nevertheless, here goes: Mario’s bizarro-universe twin, the greedy Wario, has invented over 200 absurd micro-games in a scheme to get rich and corner the videogame market. Quantity is job…

For most of us, the closest we get to practicing medicine is telling a depressed co-worker, “Somebody’s got a case of the Mondays.” But that doesn’t stop us from living vicariously through TV doctors. Now, with Trauma Center: Second Opinion, you can take your surgical dreams one step further. Thanks…

Despite Link’s green tunic and Peter Pan hat, he remains Nintendo’s most respected bad-ass. In the long-awaited The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Wii, the elf hero begins yet another quest to save the world with his trademark bombs and boomerangs. Minor déjà vu aside, Twilight Princess becomes…

Nintendo has achieved the impossible: My 50-year-old, nongaming father wants a Wii for Christmas. Either I’ve been whisked to Bizarro World, or The House That Mario Built is on to something big. With the release of its oddly monikered next-gen system, Nintendo may just have revolutionized the way America will…

Guitar Hero gave party games a much-needed kick in the ass. No one expected this rhythm game — sold with a miniature plastic guitar — to play to sellout crowds. But it became the most addictive game of the year and one of the most attractive to nongamers. The reason…

You’ve seen Bob Ross — the late Afro-sporting TV artist who painted “happy trees”? Well, if he had redesigned Legend of Zelda, it would look a lot like Okami. That might sound like an unlikely premise, but this is no ordinary game. In Okami, to save the world from an…

What could be more fun than monkeys trapped in plastic hamster balls? That’s the strange philosophy of Super Monkey Ball, a puzzle series that debuted in 2001. Much as with Marble Madness, the goal here is to cross the finish line without falling off a floating platform. Except that this…