It's that time of the year again, the season when video game marketing departments ask the art staff to whip up a naked version — as if someone on staff didn't have one squirreled away — of the heroine or sidekick appearing in their latest non-triple A game and send it to Playboy magazine. The men's mag has shipped its December issue with the fifth annual "Girls of Gaming" pictorial, full of nekkid video game starlets in sexy, sometimes Sapphic situations.

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Back when we told you the story of how Grace Kim became Playboy's Miss November, and how she was secretly getting super freaky with Rock Band while she was doing PR for Guitar Hero, word trickled back to me that her former boss at Activision was not the happiest person in the solar system. I'm thinking that disappointment will only deepen after this video, in which Grace plays Guitar Hero: World Tour on G4TV, is asked for her opinion of it, and calls it "a little bit of a ripoff of Rock Band." She disses the drum kit, too. She did have a kind word for the Guitar Hero franchise, however; she said GH III was more aesthetically pleasing than World Tour.

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It's easy to empathise, because we've all been there, or close. You have your 9 to 5 job, it's a good gig, the work's interesting. Then an amazing once-in-a-lifetime opportunity comes along and you have to sneak out to chase it. Grace Kim, as Activision's PR lead for Guitar Hero, was in that spot a year ago in October 2007.

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No, not in THAT WAY. Pwn or Die (the Funny or Die network's venture into gaming) talked to everybody's favourite Cybergirl Gamer. She's insistent that Madden 09 widows/girlfriends will be able to play the game with their significant others and have just as much fun. In fact, Jo's gonna grab it, and she never thought she'd enjoy a sports title. But the training mode and the dual-difficulty levels for cooperative play sold her.

And for you pervs, there's nothing provocative in this, unless you count the glimpses of the covers of Playboy in the background. Oh yeah, you know you're looking. I call that the 7-Eleven Eyeball, the scanning "Where is that thing I need" look on your face while you check out the covers of the girlie magazines. Actually, I use that when I'm at the grocery store and looking at Glamour. And Cosmo. And Woman's World. Dude, the cake on last month's cover was unreal. Where was I anyway ...

Jo Garcia Talks Madden 09 [Pwn or Die]

Some people really hated on E3 2008. Said it was boring or there weren't big announcements or whatever. Scott Alexander from Playboy has a nice look back at this year's E3 and what it all means in the big picture. He writes:

The old E3 was all the worst parts of nerd culture mashed up with all the worst parts of frat culture. When these two natural enemies join forces it can only presage the eldritch touch of Satan. Imagine a giant steaming helping of brain-dead rah-rah awesome bro 'tude combined with sweaty, hygenically challenged man-children futilely chasing their ever-receding childhoods. The old E3 was a three-day migraine with a side order of Asberger's Syndrome, which turns out is neither pretty nor pleasant. Plus, some of us were trying to get work done. Seriously, no one likes a good party more than me, but a good party has to ebb and flow or people get exhausted. The old E3 was like a four-day bender with your friend who just discovered how awesome crystal meth is. It's entertaining at first, then it gets tiring, then annoying, then scary, then you wake up in jail without your pants.

Sounds like Revenge of the Nerds, but better. Way better.

How To Sound Smart About E3 [Playboy]

This is only fair, we guess. Wii Fit Girl and Playboy's Jo Garcia showed just how saucy playing Wii Fit is. Playgirl model Nicholas Ryan tosses his hula hoop in the ring with a YouTube video showing the male retort — among other things. The video quality isn't as high as in the Jo Garcia clip, but Ryan attempts to make up for that with a variety of underpants, a riding whip and nunchakus.

Hit the jump for the clip. It's NSFW and there is man arse. You've been warned.

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Girly mags in Metal Gear Solid? Nothing new! So in an effort to keep with traditional and not disappoint, Playboy magazine pops up in Metal Gear Solid 4. As in past games, this girly magazine can be used to divert enemy troops' attention by leaving it on the ground, but having Snake read it boosts Snake's psyche. To "read" the mag, switch to FPS mode. Clever in-game joke: The cover says "Hideo Kojima Interviewed". Hit the jump for more images.

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When Wii Fit Girl did her 3 million hits thang, somehow I knew this was coming down the pike. Because Playboy is the home of Jo Garcia, the Cyber Girl of the Year for 2008 and an enthusiastic and knowledgeable gamer herself. And not only does she have noooo problem wearing much less than naughty librarian glasses and panties, Playboy also has muuuuuch better video equipment and editing.

The link is to a version that, while probably NSFW, is non-nude and won't get you arrested. I can vouch for the fact there is a topless version out there too, and let's just say she sticks the landing in the ski jump. I'm sure the intrepid amongst you can find that, I won't be providing it here, aside from the screen shot above.

The Perfect Fit [Playboy, non-nude but NSFW]

Do Playboy models love video games? On a first meeting with Jo Garcia, it'd be easy to levy scepticism. She's Playboy's "Cyber Girl Of The Year," beating out 52 weeks of rival models in an online-only competition. It just happens, Garcia said, that she's "really big into games."

We've seen many beautiful faces representing themselves as gamers, of course; booth babes, models and even amateur cam girls using photos of themselves posed suggestively with game paraphernalia to sell products or drive web hits. Because of this phenomenon, every time you see a so-called "hot gamer chick," the temptation is to assume she can't possibly be an actual gamer.

So is Jo Garcia the real deal? Full interview - and slightly NSFW pics - follow the jump.

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THQ is teaming up with Playboy for a series of new mobile games, and their first en devour will be Playboy Games: Pool Party. While many would think that a system like the Nintendo DS could better capture both of a Playmates' best features, hardcore cellphone gamers across the world will get to play non-nude "pool party sports"—hosted by Love Connection alum Chuck Woolery—including water balloon fights, waterslide slaloms and aquatic mechanical bull riding.

Yes, you read that correctly—aquatic mechanical bull riding. Doesn't anyone just swim naked anymore? What a grey, humdrum life is lived beyond the blessed walls of Hugh Hefner mobile entertainment. If you're looking for more details, here's the full, anatomically accurate version:

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