When half your comic team disappears overseas for the holidays, it\'s hard to keep things running smoothly at a game comic. That doesn\'t explain all of TP Comics recent venture into the bizarrely inconsistent, but it explains a good portion of it. Now that the Xbox 360 is resting next to piles of used wrapping paper and a Christmas tree suffering from dehydration, it\'s easier to find the time to make fun of things. Hopefully that means we\'ll get back into a pattern again here after the new year. Take a look at this week\'s TwoPlayer comic, FingerBang, the \"banned\" ad commercial.

Twoplayer game comics are published kinda, sorta weekly at http://comics.gamesfirst.com.

On behalf of the staff of GamesFirst!, we would like to take this space to wish all of our staff, readers and colleagues a happy, happy holiday season. We wouldn\'t be here without you, and we know that. On our 10th holiday season, we are thankful for all the people who have helped make GamesFirst! what it is today. Our staff is among the best online, and we value your efforts. To our fellow websites (especially the ones who kick down the kind links), we thank you. You know who you are, and you inspire us to do better. To all of the game developers, PR reps, and publishers who work with us on a daily basis, we want to extend our most sincere gratitude. We couldn\'t do what we do without your continued support, and life wouldn\'t be as much fun without you.

And, of course, we want to wish Happy Holidays to our readers. We are proud to be able to serve you for the past 10 years, and we look forward to number 11. Without you, we\'d just be posting up articles for our mothers to read, and although they never complain about our reviews or call us idiots, GF! would feel pretty empty without you. Thanks.

Quake 4 arrives on the Xbox 360 and all of its next-gen processing glory and gore. Built on the Doom 3 engine for super-hot graphical prowess, this time out ye olde Quake features both a single-player Strogg hunting single-player story and the intense arena action we\'ve come to expect from the series. But can a few Halo-like improvements rocket-jump Quake 4 to the top of your holiday wishlist? Check Jeremy\'s review to find out.

Last week\'s launch of the Sony PSP enjoyed unparalleled success, selling more units in the first week than any other system in the history of the United Kingdom. Roughly 185,000 PSPs sold in the days following the system\'s release, compared to the 87,000 Nintendo DS units that moved from shelves during the launch of Nintendo\'s handheld. The Nintendo DS, sold since March, still claims a greater total combined systems sold, and it remains to be seen how Sony\'s numbers hold up against the onslaught of highly anticipated Nintendo games expected this Holiday season. Nintendogs, for example, expects an October 7th release.

EB Games is the first major retailer to post their Xbox 360 preorder page and reveal that they will be selling the console in two bundles (corresponding to the two flavors Microsoft is releasing) which increase the price of each system by $300. This move does not bode well for gamers this holiday season, who are used to being forced into bad bundles in order to purchase scarce new hardware.

Trauma Center: Under the Knife really impressed many on the GamesFirst! crew at E3, and we\'re happy to have the chance to share 20 new screenshots with you. Check out the tense surgical action of the first medical simulation for Nintendo DS to make it to the states, and then click over to our E3 preview of Trauma Center: Under the Knife to find out why this is one title that should be on your Nintendo DS radar this holiday season.

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!

With no major SquareEnix releases this holiday season for PS2, RPG gamers are free to open their arms and embrace the rest of the genre. Midway's Shadow Hearts: Covenant fills the void between Final Fantasies quite nicely and might make you forget all about spikey haired heroes or heroines in short shorts. Read all about it here.

Chances are pretty good that you are shopping for a gamer or two, or ten, this holiday season. It doesn't matter if those gamers plan on being naught or nice because Monica always knows what's up on the gift giving scene. So whether you're looking for gifts for the young gamers, older gamers, guy gamers, or girl gamers, Monica breaks down the genre's with style to offer you advice on scoring the perfect find. Click here now and life will be more fun.

Chances are good that you're a little tired of the sci-fi warrior waxes alien/demon/mutant FPS routine (but you've saved a space for Halo 2 of course). Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi looks to add a little fear into your gaming environment, via creepy visuals, haunting soundtrack, and a goodly dose of the undead. What's more, you can sport a musket loader, cup of holy water, a trusty wooden stake, and more. If your holiday season needs more undead, click right here.

Forget Fourth of July holiday picnics and fireworks display. Give us a fast LAN, a dozen of our closest friends and family, and Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, and we\'ll be just fine. Blizzards latest triumph is another unqualified hit. If you can stand to wait another minute before you run out and buy it, click here for the review.

Today is the day. They are calling it "the biggest day in entertainment history." Why? The release of Sega's Dreamcast and Final Fantasy VIII. These momentous events, coupled with MTV's Video Music Awards, whose viewers will be barraged with Dreamcast advertisements, make it a pretty good day. With perhaps the largest cult following of any current series, Final Fantasy VIII is already blowing the minds of faithful denizens. The success of the latest FF installment was never in doubt. Sales will rise exponentially as the holiday season approaches. In fact, schoolyard gossip could spark a remarkable rise in sales this weekend. But what about Sega?