You've read about some of our favorite games of the year. Now it's time for the disappointments.

The games below, chosen by the usual panel of Wired.com contributors, is in no way supposed to be a list of the worst games of 2008. Those are all for the Wii, cost $10, are about dogs and/or babies, and we wouldn't be caught dead playing them. No, these are the games that let us down the most this year. Most of them are actually good games. But they failed to live up to the hype, or didn't deliver on their promises. Perhaps we were just left wanting more. Either way, here are our Most Disappointing Games of the year.

Watch new footage that broadens the Versus mystery.

The Japanese and sexual innuendo in games:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/288112.html

Thanks Bassism and Shinko, whoever you are.

Senor.

It appears the next TES release has been scheduled for 2010. Read the gamesindustry.biz article if you are interested.

Senor.

This counter zeros in on the US release, which means us European lot get to wait a few days longer (until October 31^st).

Imagery available through bethblog.com and tons of other places. :)

Senor.

Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet has driven us to do something we haven't done in years — read the manual. No, really read the manual, from cover to cover, not just glancing at the control scheme, hoping that we'd yank out some new nuggets of info on the PlayStation 3 DIY platformer.

While we haven't seen anything mind-blowing yet, the LBP manual gives us an early primer on the game's final button layout, some of the game-specific language and how the Good Grief! option will let us report offensive content. There's a lot packed in to the manual, so there may be something new to you within.

Read the manual here: http://fp.scea.com/Content/games/BCUS-98148/manual/manual.pdf (PDF)

How, exactly, did Microsoft wind up shipping a notoriously defective Xbox 360, resulting in thousands upon thousands of gamers burning through temporarily working consoles and over a billion dollars in warranty expenses? That's largely answered in Venture Beat's massive feature on the birthing pains of the console, one designed under the gun and hastily revised with a software "ship and patch" philosophy.

Venture Beat's Dean Takahashi talks to numerous on- and off-the-record sources close to the manufacturing of the Xbox 360, providing insight into how ill-conceived certain aspects of the first-to-launch console were. For example, VB writes that in August of 2005, just prior to launch, some 68% of consoles coming off the assembly line just didn't work.

It's a fascinating read, from the console's early engineering gaffes and compromises, to Microsoft's reluctant admission of defective hardware. Some of it may be familiar territory, but it's a comprehensive look at the console's history, if nothing else.

Read the article here: http://venturebeat.com/2008/09/05/xbox-360-defects-an-inside-history-of-...

You remember those Tom Cruise Scientology interviews? Creepy stuff. They've been remade countless times by comedians, we know, but this is the first time we've seen them remade in the Half-Life 2 universe. Which makes it just as creepy, if not more so, because it's not too big a stretch imagining the Thetans being a part of the Combine. Which would make Tom Cruise, big-name Hollywood star, the harbinger of our ultimate destruction. Food for thought, no?

Those who have finished Metal Gear Solid 4 know: Complete the game and you get access to a screen where you can enter passwords. We've shown you some of these before (here and here). Enter skynytktjp and get Mk.II scanning plug. Enter mgo2play and get SUBSISTENCE ACTION for the in-game iPod. So there you go.

The strange, mysterious real-time PS3 demoscene Linger in Shadows will be available for download this week ... at least, according to the official PlayStation website. This interactive demo is yet another artistic experiment for the PSN -- you can get a small taste by watching this video released by the artists themselves. We can't wait to see how the PS3 community responds to quite possibly the strangest addition to the PSN yet.

Two new passwords have been revealed for Metal Gear Solid 4. Inputting the access codes in the 'Extras' menu gives players two new weapons:

* Thor .45-70 large-caliber hand rifle,
* The Boss' Patriot from Metal Gear Solid 3.

Here are the two codes, respectively: tshsniammr and pkhhnwhsjt.

In addition to the new codes, there's also new music for the in-game iPod titled "Battle." It's a track from the Plant Chapter in MGS2. It seems Konami is really cranking up the fan service...

For HD version go here: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/38635.html