Gamers praise developers for the increasing visual authenticity found in video games. What happens when troubled individuals find too much authenticity in the games they play and take it to an extreme? How much responsibility should the gaming industry shoulder? Should it even be held to any amount of culpability?

Using many of the same storytelling conventions as the movie industry, it's not surprising that game plots have been turning up on film pretty consistently these days; few, as of yet, are really any good. What makes it so hard to turn a good game into a good movie? Is one medium really incompatible with the other? Chris doesn't think so, and he explains his views in this excellent and informed perspective of game-to-movie adaptations. If you don't want to lose faith in the movie industry's ability to make competent movies out of what should be excellent source material, this is an article you need to read before catching films like Alone in the Dark.

Since P2P has become ubiquitous on the Internet, it has mostly been associated with game, movie and music piracy, which has somewhat prevented P2P technologies from being used to their full potential to enhance your gaming experience. Our own Wayne Chang, who is also CEO of AceGain and ByteSwarm, which provide download functionality for GF!, takes a look at the promise of P2P technologies, focusing on ByteSwarm, the technology he knows best, as an example of potential benefits we could see from safe, secure P2P networks.

After nearly a decade squaring off in the home console arena, Nintendo and Sony prepare to wage battle in the increasingly lucrative handheld market. Will Sony's sleek PSP do the unthinkable and slay Nintendo's two-headed DS? It's too early to tell, but it's never too early to speculate.

We welcome back Monica, who returns valorous with a great contemplation of what it means to lose. All gamers, hardcore or casual, are well familiar with the feeling of getting stomped, splattered, shot, stymied, shut out, and stood up. Whether it's getting trashed in online multiplayer matches, or getting repeatedly busted up against that third boss, we've all come to some understanding of defeat. Click the details link below for Monica's treatment, The Art of Losing.

Congratulations to Damon Shaw, the winner of our Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines contest. And for those of you who are not Damon Shaw, you might want to get over to the contest page to see the latest offerings. We're going to give away over 20 prize packages next month, and you know you can't miss that.

How important can great storytelling in a game be? Characters we care about? Plots we actually want to know the ending to? Sounds like a book or something. Take a moment to find out why Aaron connects Advent Rising with art in video games, free speech, and apparently an issue he has with remembering things.

With less than three days until Christmas, it's crunch time for Santa and his helpers. We're all gearing up for big feasts, big trees, and for big game marathons with friends and family on an upcoming winter day. Still kids deep down inside, we're also gearing up for the Christmas morning tree rush, in which the grown men and women (or at least me) here at GF! give up adulthood for a moment and act like children again. What's the number one item we're hoping to find under the tree? Be sure to read Part I and II, posted over the last week or so, and then find out what's really got us hungry here in Part III. After you get done with that, relax, kick off your shoes, and have yourself a wonderful holiday, and a very merry Christmas!

With Christmas getting closer (only 6 days now), it's time to look at what else people here at GF! are wanting for Christmas. Part I held some surprises “ Halo 2 only third on the list? “ as well as the heads up on games some of us hadn't even heard of. After reading Part I, posted three days ago, be sure to read Part II right here.

There's no time better in the gaming industry than Christmas, partly because there's always an excess of quality holiday titles hitting the shelves, but also partly because it's the one time of year when someone else might join in the feeding of our gaming habits. It's a time of possibility; a time when not only is it possible to maybe get free games, but if classics like Miracle on 34th Street are to be believed, also, maybe, things like houses and stuff. So when we here at GF! asked a number of our crew what they really wanted for Christmas, we didn't let them be limited by anything like reality. Be sure to read Part I of our GamesFirst! Christmas Wishlist, where we reveal the true depth of our gaming addictions (a few of the responses may lead to psychiatric evaluations, and probably at least one committal? it happens every year). Only 9 days and counting!