Sure, you know the questions game designers want you to ask.  Do Mario and Peach end up together?  What is that planet Master Chief is drifting toward?  But what about the more obscure questions that break the very logic of the games?  Beware, spoilers lurk ahead.

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Interested in helping children?  How altruistic of you!  Now, what if you could help children and have fun at the same time?  Fantastic!  What if on top of all that, you could also make yourself smarter by doing so?  Sound too good to be true?  Joining the quickly crowded field of helping web games, Aid to Children is another vocabulary builder where correct answers get money donated to charity, or in this case World Vision.  Now where else on the web are you going to kill three birds with one stone?

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What goes better with playing video games than poisoning the environment for future generations?  Perhaps melting the polar icecaps?  Clubbing baby seals?  Okay, that last one went a bit far.

Still, the point is that video games can be very bad for the environment.  Take the following five games for instance.  Each is addictive to the point of chugging electricity where other games only sip.  Ban these five games, and the environment will thank you.

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Too often the big names of video games get all the attention.  You see plenty of art created honoring Mario, Master Chief, Sonic, etc., but what about the unsung heroes?  But some dedicated fans, such as Shuji Suzuki will not let the past fade away.  His clay models have been featured as part of the I Am 8-Bit art exhibition, and the above is one of the more colorful ones based on Bubble Bobble.  If you’re asking, "What is that?"  You’re obviously too young to have played one of the iconic games of the NES generation, which somehow got forgotten.

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Ever since EGM ran their infamous Simon Belmont in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles gag, the gaming world has been obsessed with April Fool’s Day.  This has, sadly, led to many groan inducing jokes over the years, some of which can be credited to EGM (you can’t win them all).  Still, each year brings the promise of some actually good jokes and this year has delivered.

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What do you get when you cross Age of Empires with Halo and Lemmings?  Why, Age of War of course!  This little hybrid title is quite fun, if a wee bit on the difficult side.  The best winning strategy seems to be to mostly play defense until the last age, and then let loose on the opposing side.  Can you figure out a better strategy?  Be sure to post it in the comments section below.

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If you’ve ever ventured into the deep, dark abyss that is most video game forums (not all, mind you) then you know there’s some pretty crazy posters.  More so than that, however, there’s some incredibly annoying tendencies that repeatedly rear their ugly little heads.  Collected here, for your edification, are five of the most annoying.

Anything you can list, I can list better
Ever read one of those threads about which game has the best music?  Most posters will serve up one or two select cuts.  Perhaps it’s Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy VI?  Whatever the case, most seem to kind of follow the unwritten rules of the thread.

Not so with the annoying poster.  They’ll list thirty games, at the least, with each suggestion being more obscure than the list.  You listed a Final Fantasy title?  Ha!  They know at least ten RPGs with better soundtracks–some never released outside of Japan!

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Cosplay, if you don’t know, is the act of dressing up like your favorite video game character. Why would you do this? For conventions and Halloween, and just general fun one would guess. Anyway, London was recently the sight of “The Largest Gathering of Games Characters,” an attempt to set a Guinness world record. A lot of Marios showed up, but also some Final Fantasy characters and Mario’s former rival Sonic. Click on the image for a full sized version.

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There aren’t many games that can wow you simply by seeing them play, and having little to do with the sharpness of their graphics. Valkyria Chronicles, much like Okami before it, is simply poetry in motion. It’s a game that’s just beautiful to watch, regardless of how it plays. Now, let’s hope the gaemplay is there to back up the visuals.

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If you’re going to design a cartoon racing game, it should be required by law that one level takes place on a roller coaster track. Really, is there anywhere you’d rather race? Perhaps the bottom of the ocean. This image of Mario Kart Wii showcases what appears to be a roller coaster inspired mine cart level for Nintendo’s new flagship racer. Is it the spark of originality that Mario Kart needs to keep from getting stale? Click on the image for a full sized version.

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