You may love 'em or hate 'em but let's face it, the contributions of bosses to gaming are almost as important as those of the good guys themselves. In this edition of the QuickList, we're honoring the cream of the crop among the bad guys. The criteria? We scrutinized each based on what he had to offer and what he does best. Whether it's style, toughness or infamy, we took them by what they had to offer and we found 10 left standing. Again, this is all subjective and your opinions are as good as ours. Here they are:

10. The Polar Bear (Ice Climber)- After hours of grueling debates on the subject of whether he's even a boss or not, the Ice Climber Polar Bear has eked his way to a cliff-hanging tenth spot on this list. There's not a lot to say about him in terms of difficulty, but gamers from the past know what time it is when they see the hot, red briefs over the off-white fur. It means you're taking too long to climb and he'll force-advance the level with a jumping fart.

Usually, there's no problem getting to his face and pounding his toes with a mallet, but when playing with a friend or sibling, it sparks an unfriendly war of who gets to nail him. The only way to make sure that you do the honors is to sabotage your partner with guerrilla tactics like unorthodox body checks and busting the floors where they stand. We won't be surprised to hear about domestic violence resulting from this scenario.

The rest of the bad-ass bosses await after the jump!

Back when video games were still starting out, controversies would revolve around cowboys saving a native American girl or female protagonists with big packages raiding tombs. Mothers who found their kids ripping guts out and eating eyeballs shouted their concerns. ESRB was formed to tag games with warnings and moderate sales to certain age brackets, but the noise never winded down.

Recently, lawyers bashing violence in video games have been the trend. Thanks to some ace-attorney all gamers know, law suits became common against companies like Rockstar. Today, another institution is rising up against a branch of the video gaming industry.

As most of us know, the Church of England is not happy about an English church being depicted in Sony's Resistance: Fall of Man. Instead of simply requesting the game to be pulled out like what Jack Thompson does, the church officials also ask for substantial donations and for Sony to support anti-gun crime groups.

More on this after the jump!

Most of you out there probably already have one or more next-generation game consoles, and that's fantastic because we hear your insights all the time and we're getting a good feel regarding the pros and cons of each console.

However, it's a fact that the greater majority of gamers worldwide still haven't made up their minds on which of the three boxes of wonder they'll spend their precious savings on, and we believe there's a good reason for that.

It's always an option to get more than one console, but with today's prices, the average office employee will think twice about doing so. That goes double for kids who'll be using all their negotiation skills to beg their folks to get them a game system. Let's not even get into the brave souls who save their lunch money to get one for themselves.

That leads us to this question: If you were to pick just one game system, what would it be and why? Let's analyze what each machine has to offer right now to help us decide:

The Microsoft Xbox 360- In terms of quality and quantity of content, we can safely say that there's nothing like the Xbox 360 out there today. It has the biggest collection of titles in its library and it's going to get even bigger and better this year. If you're a shooting game fan, it's the platform to be in, not only because the titles here are great, but because the online play experience provided by Xbox Live is like no other. The classics in the Xbox Live Arcade are also bringing in a lot of nostalgic joy. Adding a few titles for the younger crowd could be nice, but we're not sure if Microsoft would want it that way.

Also, Microsoft seems intent on taking away former exclusive powerhouses from Sony. We've seen Rockstar and Capcom go multiplatform with Grand Theft Auto IV and Devil May Cry 4, which is sure to make switching brands that much sweeter a deal for fans who jumped ship. Resident Evil 5, Too Human, Halo 3 and others are on the way, and that can only mean you'll always be busy with hits that are in good number and whose releases are close between.

See the reasons why and why not to buy the other consoles after the jump!

Game developers come up with cool and innovative ideas all the time. However, it's a fact that right around the time that everyone starts thinking that the idea is fresh and cool, some other developer rips it off and feeds it to us again with a different flavor. The strange thing is that we all embrace cliches like they were avant garden.

So what do we do? Put together some crusade to fight game cliches? Nah, if we do that, people would rip it off and we'll be part of yet another cliche that we ourselves started. Heck, even lists are cliches. So what isn't? We don't know, but we better start the list before we all lose our minds.

The "Ten weariest game cliches ever" list awaits after the jump!

Welcome to the first edition of the Quick Jump Quick List! If you haven't heard yet, it's our new column which appears twice a month to give the readers a list of anything under the gaming sun. It could be anything from a prototypical top ten list or a laundry list like this one. Remember, this is the first edition of the QuickList and it would rock if you guys can be a part of it by posting your thoughts. Enjoy!

Okay, so Hideo Kojima disappointed us all in the recent GDC when he didn't say or show anything new about the upcoming biggie - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for the Sony PlayStation 3. That doesn't mean we can't have fun, though. One of the selling points of the respected franchise is its riveting storyline, so we decided to dwell on that.

The MGS story is tough to predict and even if you analyze the information given, Kojima and company still find ways to keep you dumbfounded. Throwing logic out of the window, here now is our completely shallow and totally un-analyzed seven MGS4 plot twists that we see coming:

7. Vamp is still out there- It's a no-brainer. He's still alive. Everyone knows it and the bisexual vampire will be in the PS3. He's just too cool to have in only one game.

6. Meryl will give us trouble again- We smell another escort mission like what we did with Emma in MGS2 and EVA in MGS3. Those are never fun, except for the sniping part at the Big Shell.

More crazy ways to drive Snake bonkers after the jump!

We have here for you three identical videos for Ubisoft's cool surfing game, Surf's Up. Why bother putting up videos if they're all identical, you ask? Well that's because we'd like to show you how the game will look like in all three next-gen consoles.

Since we'd like to give you as much holistic reporting as we can, then it's just right for you to be able to check out how the movie-based game Surf's Up will be riding up the waves in your own chosen console, right? So be it the PlayStation 3 (PS3), the Xbox 360, or the Wii, there surely is one for everybody. Anyway, we're sure you might want to check out the gameplay as well as the game's set to paddle your way come May.

So what are you waiting for? Get those boards waxed and surf your way to your happy place with these videos. Enjoy!

PS3

The Xbox 360 and Wii videos for Surf's Up are over at Full Article!

10. Metal Gear and Metal Gear: Solid Snake (NES)- We can't deny that these two were unpopular back then because the graphics weren't good even at that day and age, and the gameplay was so tricky that it scared everyone away. However, things have changed a lot in Konami and there's undeniably a gargantuan MGS fan base now. We'll be seeing MGS4 soon, but don't we all want to see how it all began in HD glory? It would take a real hater to not want to see Solid Snake and Gray Fox fighting in a minefield in Zanzibar.

9. Circus Charlie (NES)- This was THE party game almost two decades ago! The premise is simple: Your name is apparently Charlie and you work in a circus. For some reason, your boss found a way to get around the labor code and has decided to have you perform all the acts.

That's just two of the list, eight more tear-inducing, goosebump-producing, and memory-triggering old-school games await after the jump!

This year, RTS fans have two major games coming their way. The first is the successor to the original Command & Conquer universe - Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars by Electronic Arts. And the second is the spiritual successor to the underdog sandbox RTS Total Annihilation, rechristened by THQ as Supreme Commander.

The difference between the two games is huge. Their fan base is even more humongous. And their opinions? Well, lately, there's been a flurry of RTS fan huffs and puffs, and not surprisingly, they revolve around these two particular games. There should be a third contender, but right now it's just rumored. The ish? Which game takes the cake and which one kicks the bucket?

Being a fan of both games, I don't see why people have to choose between the two. Both games are RTS titans by right because of their rich history in the game industry and their RTS feature ensemble. Still believe you have to choose? Then dive into a multi-part, detailed look into the two games, from a fan's point of view.

Click on Full Article to view the first part of the comparison between the two stellar RTS icons.

We came across a very interesting list compiled by Gamefaqs recently and they featured the top ten weapons in video game history. For the most part, they were right but we made some tweaks and came up with our own. Did your favorite sword or gun make the cut? Read on to find out.

10. Masamune (Final Fantasy VII)- Always chic in black, with that flowing, silver hair and that piercing stare, Sephiroth is probably the coolest villain in all of the Final Fantasy games, but he wouldn't be the same if he didn't have his Masamune. Much like its owner, the sword is mysterious, powerful and stylish. The long blade's charm is made even more enticing due to the fact that you can acquire it in the Gold Saucer but you can never equip it. Still, it's a hell of a collectible and it looks so good, it makes watching Sephiroth slash monsters that much more entertaining.

9. The Hurly Gloves (Super Mario RPG)- Admit it- all of us, secretly or openly, have wished that Bowser one day gets a chance to knock Mario all over the place. The gloves aren't even close to being the most powerful weapon in the game, but just seeing the reptilian fiend in mid-battle pick Mario up, pull a switcharoo with a Mario doll and whack enemies with the red plumber is the highlight of the game.

8. Cerebral Bore (Turok 2: Seeds of Evil)- Warning: You might want to steer clear of spaghetti sauce and salsa after you get to use this baby. The cerebral bore is THE weapon to have in any FPS. No top weapon list would ever be complete without it. Here's how it works: Find a poor sucker whose day you really want ruined. Equip the bore. If the brain in the head of your sorry victim is large enough, a red light flashes, meaning that you've locked on and the poor mutant/dino's fate is sealed. Let loose the bore! It flies, pierces the skull, sucks out all the cranium's contents and blows up. It's just plain sick.

The rest of the kick-ass weapons await after the jump!

We've recently been watching "Samurai Jack" and "Avatar: The Last Airbender" episodes, so we're telling you the key to victory is to know your enemy and know yourself.

You know people who say they are willing to die for their consoles - that they're willing to die for a hunk of plastic and metal parts. That's console loyalty, but that's also the attitude that starts flame wars, and these die-hard fanboys really do flame without self-control, without restraint...

...and worse, without making sense.

You could make a new year's resolution to not join those flame wars. But there's an alternative: "flame wisely" and know yourself. Check out our list of three kinds of gamer loyalty and find out where you stand.

1. You have the strongest kind of gamer loyalty.

If you keep thinking about all the Halo-esque good gaming experiences you will get from your console, then you have a close emotional bond to your console - an emotional loyalty or experiential loyalty.

According to marketing and business people, this is the strongest kind of loyalty there is because it's the hardest to break. Just look at how Microsoft has to work really hard to convince the Japanese to buy the Xbox 360, and just look at how the Sony PS2 fanbase spills over to the PS3.

2. You're loyal to the concept of "gaming" in general.

If you're loyal to your console because you think it's an expression of the kind of person your are, then you have identity loyalty. It's like how people buy clothes that express who they are: "coolness" or "athleticism" or "rebellion" or "goth"... Well, in this case people buy a console because that console represents "gaming."

3. You're loyal to the "better" console.

This is the loyalty that causes flame wars. If gamers "know" or "have been fooled into thinking" that their consoles are superior because they have features that other consoles don't have, then we say that these gamers have differentiation loyalty.

The crazy thing is that this kind of loyalty is the easiest to break. For example...

This is just a sneak peek. The full article can be found by clicking on the "Full Article" link below.