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Good news, PC gamers: today's the day to score some solid deals on three popular titles, all of them available via download for (near) instant delivery. Here's the rundown:

• Direct2Drive has Ghostbusters: The Video Game for $9.95. It lacks the multiplayer modes of its console counterparts, but the single-player stuff is a blast. It's a must-have for any fans of the franchise.
• Today only, EA is offering The Sims 3 for $29.95--a savings of $20 off the list price. If you don't mind taking a drive or waiting on delivery, Best Buy has it for $19.99--with an exclusive game guide.
• This weekend only, Steam is offering Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Game of the Year Edition for $23.99. It's one of the top-rated first-person shooters of all time, and it normally sells for $40.

Every three months we corral Seth Rosenblatt to forage through the latest downloadable software and come up with a list of the worst. Why? Because Seth loves a challenge. And you people love "Top Worst" lists. It's all about the schadenfreude, isn't it?

Anyway, this Top 5 still has a lame prize, so get to watching, and then return here and post your guess in the comments. We'll draw one winner from the first 10 people to get the answer right.

Here's a little Friday fun for all you game fans: From now until Oct. 25, the insanely popular puzzle game World of Goo is on sale--and you get to name the price.

It normally sells for $20, but in honor of its first birthday, developer 2D Boy decided to run a little experiment. (Check out the results on the company's blog. Very interesting stuff.)

Basically, when you click the Get It button, you're whisked to a PayPal page where you specify your "donation" amount. (No PayPal account? Click the "continue" link on the left side to use a credit card.)

So, what'll it be? A penny? A five-spot? A sawbuck? If you're honestly not sure what the game is worth, download the demo before you pick a number. World of Goo is available for Windows, Mac, and even Linux systems.

I'll admit I wasn't familiar with the game when I heard about this promotion, but it's without a doubt one of the cutest, weirdest, and most inventive puzzles I've ever played. You don't have to take my word: GameSpot awarded it a 9.0, as did several thousand readers.

I'm not going to reveal what I paid for it, as I don't want to influence anyone one way or the other. But I did pay for it--and definitely more than a penny.

How about you? Are you going to get your Goo on? If so, what's a fair price? (And how much did you actually pay?) Let's hear from you in the comments.

Games that once sold for $40-50 are now available for just $5 apiece.

(Credit: Direct2Drive)

A few weeks back I told you about Direct2Drive's 5-year-anniversary sale, which was offering games like BioShock (a personal favorite) for $5 apiece.

I hope you've been checking the site every week since then, because the cheap hits just keep on coming. This week it's wargames, starting with the beloved, award-winning Company of Heroes Gold--yours for just five smackers.

Other $5 gems include Supreme Commander Gold, World in Conflict Gold Edition, and Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 (which, incidentally, scored a rare 9.0 on GameSpot). Good, good stuff.

In case the name of the service doesn't give it away, Direct2Drive provides game downloads--meaning no shipping charges.

And if you happened to miss my first post, good news: BioShock is still available.

There's one week left in this anniversary promotion, so be sure to check back next Monday to see if Direct2Drive has saved the best for last. In the meantime, here's your chance to stock up on some great games for about the cost of a grande frappuccino.

Update: My mistake: This is, in fact, the last week of the promotion. So you've got until Oct. 11 to grab these bargains.

The availability of instant digital downloads from services like iTunes, Amazon, or Netflix has made it convenient for me watch TV shows on my time, without the commercials. Isn't it obvious? I choose when to watch a show and I save about 15 minutes worth of useless advertising.

(Credit: TV.com)

Similarly, one might use a DVR to record shows and watch them at a later time, with the liberty of fast-forwarding through ads. Although there are those who don't mind commercials, most would probably skip them. So it's not surprising that TiVo reported "nearly all of the television shows that won 2009 Emmys showed higher levels of ad-skipping than the averages for their respective genres." The one exception: "30 Rock."

NBC broadcasts commercials during "30 Rock" that have tactfully cast its very own Tina Fey, resulting in a fluid show-to-commercial transition. I've seen Bravo use a similar strategy, placing a micro clip of the show in between commercials, forcing me to sit through ads while I wait to see NeNe and Kim in another wig-pulling, stiletto chucking cat fight ("The Real Housewives" is my guilty pleasure).

This report seems silly--would anyone sit through commercials if they didn't have to? Some ads are just nonsense (one more Ped-Egg commercial and I might throw up). Even when I watch live TV, I switch to mute, or load Facebook and Twitter to kill time. Nielsen has confirmed that others share my habit, as it found that a fair amount of people are watching TV and surfing the Net simultaneously.

TiVo's report isn't a shock to me, and perhaps networks and advertisers will take it as a hint: it's time to consider new marketing techniques. Better yet, get rid of commercials altogether!

Until then, those of you who watch live television and would like to skip through commercials might want to check out GeekSugar's "How to: Skip ads with a standard remote control."

Gran Turismo PSP: worth the hype?

(Credit: SCEA)

In case you haven't noticed, the PSP is getting its game on--or trying to, at least. With a solid software push this year and a revamped PSP Go, Sony's solidly performing yet still second-place handheld is trying to reinvigorate its flagging game library as of late. And, sensibly, the focus is remaining on successful PS2 and PS3 ports. Gran Turismo and, more recently, the MotorStorm franchise have been great examples of first-party Sony success. They're A-level titles, and at last both are making their debut in PSP form in just a few weeks, costing $39.99 and being made available in both UMD and downloadable formats. We received download codes for both titles and gave them a thorough go here at the office, but the results may surprise you.

Scott:
I had heard tons of hype for years (since the original PSP launch in 2005, in fact) about Gran Turismo going mobile. This long-expected virtual vaporware became incredibly tangible for us this week, and will be available to everyone else October 1. I was excited, even though I'm not utterly wild about the hard-core tuning that lies at the heart of GT's automotive fetishism. I do like racing games, and the PSP hasn't had a really good one in quite some time.

Gran Turismo (PSP)

As a result, it surprised me to find that Gran Turismo was pretty boring. That's not a knock on the car models or the race tracks or the graphics in general: they're all crisp and smooth and well above average. The problem is that the game itself, in trying for realism, moves at a pace that on a small screen feels like a crawl. Watching your Audi slowly accelerate to 60 mph and take gradual turns with proper braking is the anti-Mario Kart, and not in a good way. It can be soporific, even hypnotic. While the casual nature of the races could amount to a nice mobile break from a busy day, the intensity of Gran Turismo feels like it's moved completely off the map.

That's not to say the game isn't without some great features. ... Read more

Score some awesome action games for just $5 apiece.

(Credit: Direct2Drive)

Game-download service Direct2Drive is celebrating its 5-year anniversary by offering a large selection of games (all for PC) for $5 each. My top pick: BioShock, one of my all-time favorites.

It's primarily a first-person sci-fi shooter, but with pivotal role-playing elements that fit perfectly into the story. I won't spoil one bit of that story, but I will say it's compelling enough to keep you playing all the way until the surprising, unpredictable, utterly satisfying end.

It's also genuinely scary in places. I actually yelped a couple times while playing.

Granted, BioShock is a couple years old, as are most of the $5 titles--but there's still plenty of great gaming to be had. Other choices include The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, Max Payne 2, and MLB 2K9.

I haven't tried Direct2Drive myself (yet), but I'm definitely planning to pick up a couple of these gems. If you've had any experience with the service, or you have some opinions to share on any of the games, hit the comments!

Every time Microsoft delivers a new OS it's possible to get many of the features of a Windows upgrade in the previous version of Windows. Windows 7 is no exception. Here's a roundup of a few things you can do to make Windows Vista as Windows 7-like as possible, without shelling out for the new OS.

We'll start out with a couple tweaks, then tell you about four free apps you can download. And a tip of the hat to the amazing Gina Trapani at Lifehacker, from whom I picked up several of these tricks.

First the taskbar. Windows 7 lets you "pin" apps to the taskbar and we can approximate that in Vista. Here's how.

Right-click on your taskbar.

Select toolbars.

And choose Quick Launch.

Now drag the icons you wish to "pin" into the left side of the taskbar.

Right click on the taskbar again and uncheck "lock taskbar."

Now click on the three rows of dots, hold down the mouse, and drag the bar over until you see all your icons.

Now, they look a little small like that, so let's make them bigger. Make sure the taskbar is unlocked.

Now right click on the taskbar again.

Select the view menu and choose large icons.

That's OK. But if you want a real Mac-like dock, forget all that and install RocketDock. It gives you a whole new Macish dock that you can put down at the bottom of the window instead of the taskbar.

But your Windows still looks all Vista-y. One more interface tweak before we move on. Download VistaGlazz 1.3. It's a utility that changes some system files to allow you to implement third-party themes on Vista. Launch VistaGlazz and, if you're sure, agree to allow it to modify your system files. I did it, and had no issues. But I make no guarantee.

CNET editors Jeff Bakalar and Scott Stein take a look at the highly anticipated Xbox Live Arcade side-scrolling action platformer from Chair Entertainment and Epic Games, Shadow Complex.

Jeff:
Shadow Complex may look like your typical side-scrolling action game, but it does a lot of things that separates it from most platform exploration titles. The unique "2.5D" style takes a bit of getting used to, but you'll soon realize the genius behind the design.

Shadow Complex takes you through an intricate underground military facility where you must rescue your girlfriend who's been kidnapped during a camping trip. With a grid map as your only companion, you must explore the complex all while finding secret items and passageways. You'll also gradually unlock new weapons and ammo and upgrade your character's health in order to fight the mysterious regime.

We fully embrace the developer's choice to build Shadow Complex in such a way. Not only is it a tip of the hat to classic 2D games like the Metroid and Castlevania franchises, but introduces the genre to an entire generation of gamers who may not have been fortunate to play such titles.

With this 3D twist on a classic 2D genre, you're able to shoot at enemies in the background and foreground even though you cannot physically go there. The 360-degree aiming mechanic will automatically target your enemies who aren't necessarily in the same plane that your character is only able to navigate through.

Shadow Complex is truly a unique take on an older genre that will appeal to gamers young and old. It's available now for 1,200 MS Points (or $15) exclusively on Xbox Live Arcade.

Scott:
One of the best trends in all of gaming has to be the rise of low-cost original downloadables, and Shadow Complex is a great example of why it works. ... Read more