Nick Bouton's website doesn't just let readers decide what happens next in the Choose Your Own Adventure series of books; they write 'addventures', which can branch out from the plt at any point.

Sarcastic and tricky Penny Arcade Adventures sends players after a giant, marauding robot with the comic strip's stars.

There’s a lot riding on Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One. for the fledgling Vancouver studio. Not only is it its first video-game release, it must stand up to the scrutiny of devoted fans of the comic strip Penny Arcade.

Sharon Calahan, photography director of Pixar's Oscar-winning Ratatouille, explains how she used the power of darkness to capture the cobblestones and ratty places and bring to life a vision of Paris not often seen in animation.

A video-game adaptation of Napoleon Dynamite, a mature-rated title being released for the Nintendo DS, and God of War and Silent Hill—two venerable franchises—making their debut on handheld gaming systems? The DS and the PlayStation Portable are growing up, and the games being released for them mean they’re not just for commuting anymore. Play them anywhere.

From UV monitors that stop you sizzling in the sun to USB beverage chillers that you can plug into your laptop at the beach, technology shouldn't just be kept in your basement anymore.

Fight your family, smash your friends

The Nintendo Wii continues to be the world’s best-selling video-game console. As game developers and publishers rush to get in on the action, a host of concepts have been adapted for the innovative Wii remote.

The crowds cheer louder, the commentators are going crazy, and the players are shouting amongst themselves, trying to outsmart the other team. At first glance, you might swear you were at a Canucks game. “A great start for Team Classic: they have control of the two sniper rifles and they’re just no-scoping people in the middle of the map,” one of the commentators says.

Hundreds of rabid fans, some travelling for hours, made the pilgrimage to Apple Store number 212, which is now open for techno-gorging in Vancouver's Pacific Centre.

Senator Larry Campbell kicked off the second annual Vancouver International Game Summit by defending video games against critics who claim they can lead to real-world violence. “Equating violence with computer games is comparable to me watching Silence of the Lambs and deciding to become a serial killer,” the former Vancouver mayor said on May 21. “It makes no sense.”

Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios, believes his company is well positioned to end up on top of the next-generation video-game-console business.

Hewlett-Packard’s slick, customizable Blackbird 002 offers serious video-game players premium performance at a premium price, and will make you the envy of your friends.

Alternate-reality games will be one of the hot topics for discussion at this year's Vancouver International Digital Festival, running May 21-24.

Grand Theft Auto IV is a choice.