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Ladies and gentleman, this crap needs to stop.

An alarming number of massively multiplayer-game fans actually believe (and defend by pointing to Terms of Use documents) that it is "cheating" to do something in-game without the assistance of anything outside the scope of the game (like hacks and whatnot) that MMO developers consider an "exploit."

 This mindset is as anti-gaming as it comes -- right behind the travesty known as Super Smash Bros. Brawl -- and it has to be squashed before it really gets out of hand (though it's already far too widespread).

 The latest example of this buffoonery is ArenaNet, the company behind the otherwise really cool MMO Guild Wars 2, which has been banning players for -- get this -- walking up to an in-game vendor and purchasing an item.

 That's it.

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Nintendo's flagship intellectual property has seen more than its fair share of amateur recreations using other games' modding engines, usually with predictably creepy results. But Skyrim modder Clintmich's Super Skyrim Bros. has to be one of the most simultaneously polished and jarring efforts to date.

Using Bethesda's Creation tools, he's fashioned a warped and violent image of the Italian plumber's antics in five worlds, ending with the player tracking down the kidnapped princess and taking on a more humanized and therefore terrifying incarnation of Bowser -- suspiciously modeled on a low-level fire mage from the game proper.

Instead of gently bonking goombas on the head as you land on them, players are thrown a giant lumber hammer to cave in enemy carapaces and a staff to cast fireballs, instead of a hat. Something has to be said for the effort made to make it look like the Mushroom Kingdom, even if it plays exactly like Skyrim. The daisies have wide-eyed little faces, there are coins hanging impossibly in mid-air, and the koopa troopers look chubby and plush -- in short, adorable until they try to kill you.

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I like to imagine that I would completely freak out if I was living in the '80s and saw this poster hanging at my local cinema. Of course, I had to settle for just playing Half-Life 2: Episode 2 the game way back in 2007 (holy crap, it's been that long?).

This art, found by us on Reddit, is the work of agentscarlet, who has some other stunning pieces on DeviantArt.

Also, Hollywood, please don't take this as a sign that you should actually make a Half-Life movie. I'm sure you'd just ruin it.

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Most modern military shooters have so few different colors that I can count all of it with one hand. That isn't a good thing as it just makes the game look like a brand-new coloring book for military-Hollywood fans.

Battlefield 3 is such a game without a vibrant color palette; however, modders might be able to help with the PC version. A video of the modders' work definitely makes Battlefield 3 more beautiful, but using this mod could lead to a permanent ban.

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A nagging problem kept bothering me while playing Battlefield 3. It had nothing to do with the server speed or my overheating Xbox 360.

I just couldn't think of a great rock-music playlist to listen to during my sessions.

I really wanted to capture that ruthless environment of Battlefield 3 in a playlist. The game has an edgy visual atmosphere that always crawls under my skin whenever I boot it up. The colors are dark and rusty. Every ricocheted gunshot causes some sort of explosion.

I thought that 2000s post-punk would work pretty well. That decade, however, also coincided with the happy-indie-rock movement. I certainly couldn't play Modest Mouse's "Float On" while mowing down hordes of soldiers.

Then I came up with the sound. I had to add in my favorite Generation X music from my childhood.

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It's a damn shame that Resident Evil 6 isn't any fun. I guess it is, if you like perpetual quick-time events and gimpy shotguns, but I don't think many people do. The survival-horror genre as we knew it in the '90s and early 2000s is pretty much dead, and it's time to come up with something new. 

In true Resident Evil tradition, I think developers need to reexamine horror movies for their inspiration. Not zombie movies or slasher films but truly bizarre cinematic gems like Sweet Home.

Sweet Home (and the Nintendo Famicom role-playing game based on it) helped inspire Resident Evil. The series has certainly moved beyond its creepy haunted house roots, but it took a weird horror movie to kick off a beloved franchise. 

So, let's do that again. While going through my sizable collection full of terrible and downright absurd movies from the '60s and '70s, I found a few that I really want to see someone try to turn into playable games. If people can make a Slender Man adventure, I know someone, somewhere can create experiences around these cult classics.

1) Death Bed: The Bed that Eats (1977)

If you've heard of Death Bed, it's probably because of comedian Patton Oswalt's jokes about it. The title reveals most of the plot: A demonic bed that consumes people who lie on it. 

What it doesn't tell you is that the movie is actually narrated by Victorian artist Aubrey Beardsley who ended up trapped inside one of his drawings because of the bed's wicked ways. Through his gloomy descriptions, we find out that a demon created the bed so he could woo a human woman that he loved. When she died, his tears turned a harmless piece of furniture into an acid-filled nightmare.

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The Community Spotlight features some of the best unedited articles that didn't quite make the front page. This week, we explore whether the survival-horror genre is dying (or just undead), examine what the Wii U will offer gamers, and explain why video games are good for you. (Told you so, Mom.)

Survival horror is dead
By Jason Rose

While he acknowledges that different things scare different people, Jason identifies two key components of successful horror games: danger and difficulty. The problem? Today's titles, like Resident Evil 6, have abandoned these principles.

What does the Wii U stand to offer?
By Chandler Tate

Chandler wants to like the Wii U, he writes, "but at the same time, my mind is telling me no." He's not sold on the controllers and doesn't see much new in the gameplay, either. Do you agree?

Video games are good for you: The positive effects of video games
By Jesse Meixsell

Jesse gives us a collection of arguments in favor of playing games, including a number of sourced citations. What benefits have you seen from your time on the sticks?

The curse of graphic adventure games
By Alexander Kraus

Remember the old PC adventure games where the only method of movement was pointing and clicking? Alexander says the influence of that antiquated control scheme still affects games today, for better and worse. Interesting observations. 

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I recently completed the mobile game Final Fantasy Dimensions, which brought back the series’ tradition of using an evil empire as the villain. This motif is one that is present throughout most of the Final Fantasy series, and it is easy to see why. Unlike the Dragon Quest series -- which usually focuses on an intangible, mystical or demonic villain as the bad guy (like Rhapthorne from DQVIII or Demon Lord Nimzo from DQV) -- an evil empire strikes an instantly recognizable chord with the gamer. It represents tyranny, oppression, subjugation, and the loss of the individual against a mass uniform force. The very word empire evokes so many sharp images in our minds due to our own background and history.

From a gameplay standpoint, the empire makes sense as an antagonistic force since it not only provides an overt villain, but also offers a large, overarching and layered game mechanic that can provide many colorful villains or characters under one umbrella (e.g. in Dimensions there are eight generals of the Empire's armies, and oh boy do you get to fight all eight of them eventually). At the same time, it also provides a counterpoint for your party: You are the individuals fighting against the masses that wish to conform you and crush you to a pulp. This provides not only high stakes for your plight but also consistently pushes the game toward an eventual showdown between your "individuals" and the empire.

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Welcome, Vault Hunters! Here you will find the results of our latest Bitmob Wants You community writing prompt. And the articles you've written are worth their weight in bullymong hides.

(Wait, do those have value? Would they have more value if I called them Bonerfart hides? Huh. No matter.)

Anyway, the point is, these articles are great, and it's all thanks to our stalwart Bitmob community. Check 'em out below.

I'm not here to save the planet
By Ansis Fãrts

Ansis likes the simplicity of Borderlands 2's setup. Yes, there's a story, and yes, you're nominally a "good guy," but as Ansis writes, "At the end of the day, what really makes the world of Borderlands special is that you're just someone with a lot of guns and a lot of desire to put those bullet hoses to use."

I don't think I have the time any more to enjoy Borderlands 2
By Leigh Harrison

It's not that Leigh doesn't like Borderlands. On the contrary: "I was truly hooked by Borderlands. I played it solo and exhausted every quest before the finale, fully aware that I would inevitably begin a new game plus upon its completion." That didn't end up happening, though. Read on to find out why.

Click through for more of your articles.

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I can hear their pleas at night. More like cries for help, really. They speak through the walls, calling for release. These lost souls came to this vile place with the best of intentions, and now they can only wait. And wait. And wait.

I am, of course, talking about my shamefully unplayed collection of fighting games. What did you think I was talking about? Because I'm not just a player. Oh no, it's far, far worse than that. I'm a collector.

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If you have never played a game in the Final Fantasy series, somehow managing to avoid exposure to Square Enix's behemoth for its long existence, where would you begin if you were interested in checking out the franchise?

This question has been on my mind for the past several weeks as I've put many hours into a game that I like more than I should, Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. 

Dissidia 012 isn't a game for everybody. It's a game for people who like Final Fantasy. As a devoted fan of the series, I like a lot of things in this little handheld brawler. I like the subtle differences in the way that the different characters play. And I like how the title asks you to play as each of the fighters, forcing you to learn their different styles.

But I also feel alone in my appreciation for Dissidia 012. Most of my friends don't know about Final Fantasy’s fine details. And so, as I have played, I have been mulling over the question of how one might introduce others to this beloved saga.

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I recently read through many of the Resident Evil 6 reviews, so I feel qualified to give you my critique of this blockbuster title. Let me start off by saying that I haven't played the game or the demo. I believe playing it before reviewing it will give me an unfair bias toward the game.

Let's start with Gamespot. They gave the game a 45/100. WOW. These guys are garbage. These guys obviously didn't play the game, either. I mean Game Informer gave RE6 an 88/100. Gamespot said that while the narrative is good, everything else sucks. I honestly don't get why people still go to this publication.

I mean c'mon; the reviewer says that the quick-time events are too long. How is that a bad thing? Quick-time events are soooo much fun. They also said that the game's set pieces are mediocre. I doubt that is true. But let's move on to a much more qualified publication.

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