1. Grand Theft Auto IV
Click center arrow to play
It's ironic that GTA became a football in the debate over sex and violence in video games, because where it belongs is in the debate over whether video games count as art. No game developers are more radical and more passionate about the storytelling power of their medium than folks at Rockstar North, and GTA IV is the company's most ambitious work ever. It's the story of Niko Bellic, an Eastern European soldier-for-hire fighting his way up the organized crime ladder in an archly satirical version of New Yo— I mean, Liberty City. It's a grade-A shoot-'em-up that doubles as an interactive novel and triples as a sly critique of American consumer culture.
Photos: Hamas Recruitment Day
Going Bald for the Box Office
A Brief History of First Ladies and Their Causes
Patti Smith and Mapplethorpe: Bohemian Rhapsody
How They Train: Speed Skater Apolo Ohno
Asian Carp in the Great Lakes? This Means War!
Gift Giving on Facebook Gets Real
The Boy Scouts of America Turns 100
Robert Gates in Afghanistan
10 Questions for Grammy Winner Maxwell