Even if you haven't been personally affected by the economic downturn, it's pretty impossible not to be bummed out by all of the wretched news over the past six months. The steady stream of stories about increasing layoffs, budget shortfalls, and businesses folding are depressing at best, and at worst could send the most well-adjusted person into a serious downward spiral. While my family has remained unscathed for the moment (knock on wood), several good friends have been victims of layoffs.

I've been putting off getting back into regular workouts by telling myself that once EA Sports Active comes out on Wii that I'll use it to get in shape. The game looks really promising, and it seems like you'll be able to get an actual workout, which is more than can be said of a lot of the fitness games currently on the market. (I will admit that using EA Sports Active's near release as an excuse is a copout on my part, as I can pretty much guarantee you I wouldn't be running regularly right now even if the game wasn't coming out in a month.)

Games don't need to be contain adult content to be relevant and enjoyable for grown-ups -- many of Nintendo's own franchises handily prove that -- but for all the talk of how the Nintendo DS has made inroads with older gamers, it's surprising just how few Mature-rated games have been released on the platform. Leave it to the boundary-pushing developers at Rockstar Games to fill that major gap with a single, defining release.

These days there seems to be hardly a game franchise which has not received the dubious honor of at least one Hollywood version, although films about games are generally badly received by both critics and fans alike. But how about movies that are actually about gaming? Here are a selection of 10 movies, taken from the '80s to the present day. (Note that this this focuses only on movies of fictional events, not documentaries.)

While I was on the phone with my parents a few weekends ago, my mom asked a surprising question: "Do you think your dad and I should buy a Wii to play Wii Fit?" I pondered for a moment, and while my first thought was that my dad would hate it and my mom would rarely use it, I didn't want to speak too quickly. After all, my parents were considering buying a video game console (which I thought I'd never see!) and I hate to discourage anyone from trying out a new workout method. I left them with an answer that I'd get back with them.

Just as last year's Guitar Hero: Aerosmith took its cues from predecessor Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Guitar Hero: Metallica mostly feels like a metal-focused, fan service-packed take on the recent Guitar Hero: World Tour. But the source material is much stronger this time around, and where Aerosmith's game came off as flimsy and slightly dated, Guitar Hero: Metallica puts on a good show with a highly polished experience that's not just for the 'tallica faithful.

Residing deep beneath the waves for an eternity in a black void of watery nothingness, little could have prepared you for the marvelous world of light and color on the surface. An entire world you never knew even existed reveals itself when you venture out from the murky depths. Did I mention you’re a gargantuan, horrific, tentacle-adorned sea monster? (I Fell In Love With The) Majesty of Colors is a game like none other, if you can even call it a game. It’s weird, heartfelt, and a little creepy, depending on how you choose to play. But that’s ultimately a good thing.

If you've spent any amount of time on the Internet, you've probably noticed that one of the distinctive features of the online community is rampant stupidity. There are a lot of offensive and unintelligent people in the wide world out there, and those people seem especially forceful about using the world wide web as an outlet for unleashing their narrow beliefs and not-so-brilliant ideas. And many of them play video games. With more than 11.5 million subscribers, World of Warcraft has more than its fair share of idiots.

Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure definitely begs comparisons with last year's Professor Layton and the Curious Village, and it's perfectly understandable. Both of the game names have a similar structure, both feature behatted British gentlemen in the lead role, and both gentlemen have young apprentices. However, while Henry Hatsworth includes "puzzling" in the title, it's nothing like Professor Layton. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but if you've geared yourself up for a bunch of brainteasers, you're going to be sorely disappointed.

Nearly 300 classic titles are now available to download from the Wii Virtual Console, offering a who's who of some of the most notable games from a variety of beloved older consoles. If you're a relatively new gamer, this bulk of retro awesomeness may seem rather daunting, but we're here to help.