[Note: This top ten feature is also mirrored at the MTV Games site.]

This year is looking like it is going to be another amazing year of games.

In 2008, we’ll have some of the biggest sequels ever coming out, like “GTA IV,” “Super Smash Bros. Brawl,” “Metal Gear Solid 4” — the list goes on.

However, every year there are a handful of games that fly under the radar. For one reason or another, the majority of the public misses out on a great game, just because they didn’t know about it… but not this year! The list below should help keep you in the know… and maybe, just maybe, these games won’t be overlooked this year.

1. N+ (DS, PSP, XBLA)
It’s a ninja puzzle game. What more needs to be said about “N+”? What started out as a Flash game has evolved into an oncoming multiplatform sneak attack that should take the gaming world by storm. In “N+” your ninja can collect coins through hundreds of levels, and by the end, gamers around the globe will learn to love ninjas way more than pirates.

2. Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS)
“Professor Layton and the Curious Village” is only one of two party titles to make this list, but with good reason: Much like last year’s “Hotel Dusk,” “Professor Layton” isn’t quite your average Nintendo game; testing your brain more than your thumbs, you’ll use the stylus to solve all kinds of puzzles that might be more suited for a professor than your average gamer. While it was a huge hit in Japan, it might not quite tickle the pickle of the U.S. audiences, but if Japan has taught us anything, this is one game that should not be overlooked.

3. Super Dodgeball Brawlers (DS)
The successor to one of the best sports games on the NES, “Super Dodge Ball Brawlers” is a complete throwback to the style and gameplay of the original. Almost twenty years after “Super Dodge Ball” was released, “Brawlers” will be coming out on the DS and comes complete with updated graphics and Wi-Fi play to keep balls flying across the court wherever you are.

Read more…

Who says that you need a disk to have some fun playing video games? Sometimes all you need is a little bit of hard drive space. Ranging from updated classics to brave new takes on tried-and-true genres, here is my list of the top-ten downloadable games for your consoles.

1. Pac-Man: Championship Edition (Xbox 360)
The original “Pac-Man” was one of the games that changed the world, but the Championship Edition goes to a whole new pellet-munching level. Timed levels, crazy effects, and intense challenges make “Pac-Man C.E.” a worthy successor to the Pac-Man crown. Hopefully 2008 will bring us “Ms. Pac-Man C.E.” (I really do love her bow).

2. Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (Wii)
A classic finally made its way across the Pacific in its original form. The true sequel to the greatest game of all time, “Super Mario Bros. 2″ (as it is known in Japan) picks up right where the first game left off, and keeps true to the game’s 8-bit visual and audio style. Although it was released on the SNES “Super Mario All-Stars” compilation, true hardcore fans know it just wasn’t the same.

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Super Smash Brothers Brawl easily ranks as one of the most anticipated titles of the year, right up there with Halo 3, Metroid Prime 3, GTA IV… (oh wait, nevermind that last one). But what makes SSBB stand out about the rest: you can take your favorite Nintendo characters and use them to beat the crap out of other Nintendo characters (like Jigglypuff). The last Smash Bros. title offered players one of the most robust character line-ups ever to appear in a fighting game, and SSBB is headed that way with the addition of characters from third-party publishers, like the already-announced Snake from the Metal Gear series. As for who else is in store, we decided to help out the game developers out and make a wishlist of new characters we would like to see!

Sonic
Little Mac
Ryu
Wolverine
Scorpion
Wart
Pac-Man
Simon Belmont
Shigeru Miyamoto
Mii

For more info check out The Dime.

Not every game gets a grandiose demonstration by the developer during Microsoft, Nintendo or Sony’s press conferences. There are always the little nuggets of E3 that manage to fall through the cracks as the big games dominate the attention of the press. You already know about Metal Gear Solid 4, Rock Band and Wii Fit, but what about the others? We present to you the top ten overlooked games at E3.

The List:

Echochrome
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2
de Blob
Star Wars Force Unleashed
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am
Mushroom Men
NiGHTS: Journey Into Dreams
Everyday Shooter
Patapon
The Simpsons’ DS Game

For more on each game head here.

In our previous Dime post, we gathered the top 10 most anticipated games at E3 this year. However, the list was obviously devoid of any handheld games. For that, we offer The Nickel (our Dime supplemental) which lists the top five most anticipated handheld games at E3 ‘07.

God of War: Chains of Olympus – Kratos? In portable form? You betcha, and it’s going to kick some serious ass. (Besides, it’ll have to do until we get GOW on a next-gen console).

Picross DS – Sharpen your minds with numbers. And squares. And boxes. And fruits. The puzzle game makes its long awaited return.

Contra 4 – A return to form. Contra finally goes back to side-scrolling, and it looks amazing. (Thank you. Konami.)

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass – Link gets tiny again and goes sailing. This has the potential to be the biggest little epic ever.
Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice – If you missed the first one, you ‘d better take a look at the sequel. Get to fighting crime and flying from car-to-car on your PSP.

With E3 just around the corner, and tons of announcements to be made, we’ve put together our list of the games we’d want to see the most. The 10 biggest, baddest, most important, (and in most cases, the bloodiest) of E3 all here in one handy list for you to follow throughout the show. Strap yourselves in, it’s going to be one crazy week of games.

The list:
Halo 3
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Assassin’s Creed
The Simpsons Game
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Blue Dragon
Super Mario Galaxy
Grand Theft Auto IV
LittleBigPlanet
Killzone 2

For more on each game head here, and we’ve also got trailers just for you. Think we missed something? Let us know.

No one can deny that blogs are the place to be for up-to-the-minute gaming news. With the re-launch of our own blog, we wanted to pay homage to some of our blogger brethren, and let you know some of the best places to find your of the daily video game news fix around the web.

The rundown:
Kotaku
Joystiq
Destructoid
GayGamer
Multiplayer
MaxConsole
GoNintendo
Matt Casamassina’s on IGN
Major Nelson
PlayStation.Blog

Did we miss your favorite? Let us know.

Head to The Dime’s page for more info on each of the blogs