"So You Think You Can Drive, Mel?"It has Mel Gibson! Booze! State troopers! "Hava Nagila"! And a Hasidic projectile-shooting rabbi! Beyond surreal, this little gem of a Flash-based game from GSN has players using the up and down arrow keys to maneuver Mel (who leers drunkenly from the window of a subcompact with the license plate "WTFWJD?") around a nighttime highway. You tag bottles of hooch for points while simultaneously dodging flying Stars of David thrown by bearded men wearing hats, shawls, and dark suits. Hit five state troopers, and the game ends. Play this game too much, and so might the world as we know it.
For: PC; Developer: Unknown; Publisher: GSN
--Matt Peckham

"Manhunt 2""Grand Theft Auto" developer Rockstar doesn't deserve the publicity this mediocre sequel garnered, but publicity it nonetheless received in spades, mostly after sales of the game were banned in Great Britain and it was initially given an AO (Adults Only) rating in the United States. Players have to perform visually detailed executions (styled as "hasty," "violent," or "gruesome") using objects at hand, e.g. shards of glass to slit throats, toilet seats to bludgeon, and hypodermic needles to jab enemies in the neck. What's most offensive about "Manhunt 2" isn't its violence but its cruddy gameplay: Poor AI, boring environments, and blurry execution animations make "Manhunt 2" a shoo-in for the year's "Sound and Fury" award.
For: Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable; Developer: Rockstar Games; Publisher: Rockstar Games

V-Tech Rampage""Attention angry people, I will take this game down from [casual games site] Newgrounds if the donation amount reaches $1,000 U.S.," designer Ryan Lambourn wrote to visitors who found his simulation of the shooting at Virginia Tech this spring offensive. Emerging shortly after Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people in a campus shooting spree, Lambourn's Flash-based game, which allows you to plug dozens of pixelated students, just feels like a shallow cry for attention. As a shooter, it's on a par with a crude 1970s game. As social commentary, it's numbly sociopathic and vacuous. Can games address national tragedies? Absolutely. Is "V-Tech Rampage" trying to? Absolutely not.
For: PC; Developer: Ryan Lambourn; Publisher: Newgrounds

"Kane & Lynch: Dead Men""Kane & Lynch: Dead Men" is pretty much your average bloody buddy movie: A mercenary and a medicated psychopath go on a violent and chaotic spree of redemption and revenge. But what really upset people was the marketing campaign. "We're hunting for a dangerously sexy vixen with the goods to make us moan," reads an ad for a contest sponsored by IGN, MySpace, and Playboy. The ad was illustrated with a topless model coquettishly clutching her naughty bits. Unfortunately, the quest for a pinup girl had nothing whatsoever to do with the game. Said respected game site WomenGamers.com: "The next time people say, 'The industry does not objectify women,' we will point to that picture and this contest."
For: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC; Developer: IO Interactive; Publisher: Eidos Interactive

"Mario Party 8"A Nintendo game makes the list of the year's most offensive? Made you look! But so did Nintendo this summer when it voluntarily pulled its minigame compilation from U.K. shelves over the oopsy-inclusion of a single word: "spastic." Call me uncultured, but I had no idea this playground term for someone acting like Chris Farley in, well, pretty much any skit was actually a dictionary term for "a person affected with cerebral palsy," and was offensive overseas. Nintendo quickly changed "spastic" to "erratic" and rereleased the game.
For: Wii; Developer: Nintendo; Publisher: Nintendo.

"Resistance: Fall of Man"Insomniac's critically acclaimed post-apocalyptic sci-fi shooter was actually a late 2006 PlayStation 3 launch title, but it wasn't until this summer that the offensiveness hit the fan. That's when representatives of the Church of England got publicly huffy over a certain gun battle that takes place inside a realistic rendition of the Manchester Cathedral. Their argument? "The use of [the cathedral] as a backdrop for a violent computer game is an affront to all those whose lives have been affected by guns." You could argue that the church leaders are being a little touchy--after all, it's not actually a church, it's an unblessed, unconsecrated digital replication. Maybe they'll take comfort in this: At least in Resistance you're shooting aliens to save humanity, and not targeting churchgoers for sport.
For: PlayStation 3; Developer: Insomniac Games; Publisher: Sony

"Scrabble 2007"You might think that offending someone with a game based primarily on one's ability to spell would be tough, but, hey, words hurt, people. In the year's second quirky semantic controversy, in September publisher Ubisoft found itself defending the game's inclusion of the word "lesbo," a derisive abbreviation for "lesbian." Ubisoft's defense? "The game uses a word list [from over 277,000] based on the Chambers Official Scrabble Dictionary and all approved words contained in this dictionary are playable in the game."
For: Nintendo DS; Developer: Wizarbox; Publisher: Ubisoft

"The Darkness""The Darkness" is a game about a mafia hit man who ends up possessed by a bunch of snakes that pop out of his jacket like the love children of Medusa, Dracula, and a jack-in-the-box. Singapore banned the game for "excessive violence," and Germany delayed its release by a month. Personally I liked the game, but I can see how the relentless heart-masticating (your eely entourage gulps down hearts from fallen foes to bolster your supernatural powers) might unsettle some gamers, especially since there isn't really a moral corrective for the protagonist, who feeds, penalty-free, on bad and good guys alike.
For: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360; Developer: Starbreeze Studios; Publisher: 2K Games

"Lair""Lair" is offensive not for its violent M-rated content, but for foisting on gamers one of the worst control ideas this side of Nintendo's hideous "Virtual Boy." You're supposed to fly a dragon using the PlayStation 3's motion-sensitive SixAxis controls. Cool, right? Well, yeah, except for the parts were you have to twist and swivel, and shake-shake-shake, and hold some button while lining your soaring flame-throwing lizard up with some other dude's, and then stab your entire PlayStation 3 controller left or right, and pray that the invisible timer clocking the little screaming fire-bombed guys you're trying to protect down below doesn't expire and jerk you out of the moment with a hey and a "whoops!" and a "try again." Sony's misbegotten dragon-riding simulation is my most offensive-to-play video game of the year.
For: PlayStation 3; Developer: Factor 5; Publisher: Sony

Make music: Listening to your child play the trombone isn't always a pleasurable experience, but music lessons can be a fun way to engage in right-brain learning. According to a study by University of Toronto researchers, organized music lessons appear to benefit children's IQ and academic performance—and the more years the student takes lessons, the greater the effect. The study found that taking music lessons in childhood was a clear predictor of better grades in high school and a higher IQ in adulthood. So help your children release their inner Mozart, sign them up for the school band or private lessons.

Breast feed: Mother's milk is elemental brain food. Research consistently has shown that breast-feeding has multiple benefits for growing infants. It prevents dangerous infections and provides essential nourishment. Danish researchers have discovered that breast-feeding can make babies both healthier and smarter. The study found that infants who breast-fed for nine months grew up to be significantly more intelligent than those who breast-fed for one month or less. The bottom line: If breast-feeding works for you make an early investment in your child's health. Breast-feeding your infant can deliver long-term dividends.

Foster fitness: Studies by University of Illinois researchers have shown a strong relationship between fitness scores and academic achievement among primary school children. Participation in organized sports fosters confidence, teamwork and leadership, according to research by the Oppenheimer Funds. This study also found that 81 percent of women business executives played team sports as girls. So instead of retiring to the TV after dinner, consider throwing a ball around or going for a walk. Even better: Encourage your child to get involved in an organized physical activity or school sport.

Surprise! Play video games: Video games get a bad rap. Yes, many are violent, solitary and mindless, but stick to the ones that develop children's strategic thinking and planning skills and the ones that promote teamwork or creativity. Educational toy companies like Leapfrog are now creating motor- skill and memory enhancing games for small children—even toddlers. A recent study conducted at the University of Rochester found that participants who played video games recognized and learned visual cues much faster than their non-video-game-playing counterparts. British teachers have begun using some video games in the classroom.

Junk the junk food: Cutting out sugar, trans fats and other junk food from your child's diet and replacing them with high-nutrient alternatives can do wonders for early childhood mental and motor development—especially in the first two years of life. For example, kids need iron for healthy brain tissue development, as nerve impulses move more slowly when children are iron-deficient. And studies show that poorly nourished children have trouble fighting infections, which causes them to miss school and fall behind their peers. Pay attention to what your kids are eating, and the grades may follow.

Nurture curiosity: Experts say parents who show curiosity and encourage their children to explore new ideas teach them a valuable lesson: Seeking knowledge is important. Support your kids’ hobbies and interests by asking them questions, teaching them new skills and taking them on educational outings to develop intellectual curiosity.

Read!: This tried-and-true method sometimes gets overlooked in the rush to adopt the latest IQ-boosting technology, but reading is a sure-fire, low-tech way to improve learning and cognitive developing in children of all ages. Read to your children from an early age, sign your child up for a library card and keep the house stocked with books.

Breakfast breeds champions: A strong body of research dating back to the 1970s shows that eating breakfast improves memory, concentration and learning. And children who don't eat breakfast tend to tire easier, be more irritable and react less quickly than those who begin the day with a solid meal. With today's hectic schedules, a full sit-down breakfast isn't always possible. But even an energy bar and a glass of milk can go a long way towards helping your kids stay focused and engaged during school hours.

Play mind games: Chess, crosswords, cryptograms, riddles—they all train the brain to perform mental gymnastics. Games like Sudoku can be fun while promoting strategic thinking, problem-solving and complex decision-making. Keep brainteasers around the house and challenge your children to help you solve the trickier problems.