gaming

For some people online flash games are a passing distraction to fill the hours between lunch and home time. For others online flash games are a passionate hobby that keeps them up until the early hours while they try and beat their last score.

Whatever your reason for playing them, we love them so much, we've put together a list of the top 10 best flash games ever, in no particular order. From very simple puzzles to complex plaformers, these should keep you entertained all day long. Click here and prepare to be distracted.

(Source: Crave UK)

"You have been attacked by a cyan ghost! You pass out and awake minutes later back where you began."

You might not remember it this way, but you--and probably everyone you know--has almost certainly had this experience, though in a different manifestation.

It's Pac-Man. Except instead of controlling your little yellow iconic character around a maze of dots and colored ghosts, this is Pac-Txt, a text version of the famous video game that recalls the old glory days of Infocom games like Zork and Leather Goddesses of Phobos.

I found the site after stopping in on one … Read more

We thought the "HomePub" was the ultimate domestic appliance for entertaining guests, but it's been blown away by something we'd never dreamed possible: a combination arcade machine and beer dispenser.

The "Gamerator" is a functioning game cabinet loaded with 187 arcade classics and--right where the coin slot would have been--a tap dispensing liquid gold from a refrigerated keg hidden in the back. Technabob says it has a 24-inch LCD to go with authentic joysticks, buttons, trackball and other details.

The machine might even fit well in with industrial-style furniture, as it foregoes the garish … Read more

Imagine that you're strapped down in a full-scale Toyota Trueno, Subaru Impreza WRX or Mazda RX7, sweaty palms glued to the steering wheel. Your eyes are fixated on what's beyond the windshield, desperately trying to "drift" your way through the narrow Japanese countryside roads. Yes, we are referring to the Japanese cult anime Initial D. Now Sega is redefining the arcade gaming experience with its life-sized Initial D Arcade Stage 4 Limited system.

This giant motion simulator has all three of the aforementioned vehicles lined up in front of a movie projection screen and installed with … Read more

Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of Ferrari's latest marketing creation is that it actually involves cars, albeit virtual ones. Until the racing legend came out recently with a co-branded Segway, many of the products bearing its storied stallion logo--from binoculars to boomboxes--had nothing to do with transportation at all.

Appearing first on the U.K. market is the "Thrustmaster Ferrari GT Experience, which can work with the PlayStation 3, PS2 and PCs. In addition to various features that are sure to open up gamers' throttles the world over, Shiny Shiny says it has realistic gear shift levers … Read more

Facebook is quickly becoming a way for established software publishers and services to gain new market share. Today Skype (for Windows and Mac) slipped an app launcher for 18 games into Facebook's app directory. I might mention that the games already exist as Skype Extras. Not only will the new app advertise this content to a fresh audience, the third party developers who provide Skype their games can also win new followers.

The single- and multiplayer games include bowling, Sudoku, Russian checkers, and backgammon. I launched the bowling game from Facebook, which opened the Extras Manager on Skype's app (which must be running in order to use the service) and it instructed me to choose an opponent from my buddy list.

The match proceeded as it would have had I plucked it from Skype's interface, which is to say it was a fun, engaging experience that took full advantage of Skype's all-in-one services to chat while "rolling," speak over VoIP, interact with a friend, and send screen shots via file transferring. But did I really need the Facebook app?… Read more

If you're one of the millions of people who have shed your dignity to rock out to Guitar Hero and you've been waiting to find out what songs would be included in Harmonix Music System's forthcoming Rock Band, wait no more. I've got you covered.

We're talking dozens of hit songs here, and mostly not the sound-alike covers included in many of these kinds of games.

The track list starts with the Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter, continues on with David Bowie's Suffragette City, the Clash's Should I Stay or Should I Go, Metallica'… Read more

Cell phones weren't the only items giving off heat on the CTIA conference showroom floor this week. There was also the sizzling of a virtual mobile world, a preview of Guitar Hero Mobile, and really neat motion-sensor games.

Take a look at what was new and interesting in the latest video.

The guitar wars just got kicked up a notch. The craze fueled by Guitar Hero and Rock Band has led some big bands to lend their names to custom controllers made by ArtGuitar.

KISS, Ozzy Osbourne, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Pantera will have their images and logos emblazoned on the "AG RiffMaster Guitar Controller," which Slippery Brick describes as a full-size Peavy guitar that's been turned into a game controller. The limited editions are going for $399, so these aren't for the kids. For them, there are other, less dangerous alternatives.