GameTap Thursday: Pirates get the best booty

Ah coincidence, life would be so unmystical without it. We were just saying yesterday that we'd prefer people played Sid Meier's Pirates! over the Pirates of the Caribbean MMO and here comes GameTap announcing the title for the service. If you haven't played Pirates!, the game is a bright and fun romp through the Caribbean with simple pick-up-and-play mechanics that should keep anybody entertained for hours. It's an epic casual title if such a thing exists.

The new subscriber games this week are:

• 688 (I) Hunter/Killer (PC) - Adventure under the seas in this submarine sim game. If you've ever played a submarine sim game then you know these games are usually best if you have a decade of Navy training under your belt first.
  
• Shellshock: Nam 67 (PC) - A third-person shooter set during the Vietnam War that didn't hit the mark.
• Sid Meier's Pirates! (PC) - Colorful, fun, simple, and possibly addictive. Pirates! takes basic old-school gameplay and updates it for the new generation with success. Absolutely worth playing as it stands tall and proud as a game that knows it's meant to be entertaining with great replay value.

After the break we have GameTap's list of free games. The new games this week are Second Sight and Cannon Fodder, both of which have been bolded for easy "new games" reference. Next week GameTap will usher in the new season of Sam and Max with Ice Station Santa.

1. Sam and Max Season One Episode 4, "Abe Lincoln Must Die!"
2. Hitman: Codename 47
3. Street Fighter 2 Championship Edition
4. Tomb Raider: Legend
5. King of Fighters 95
6. Metal Slug
7. Second Sight
8. Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2
9. Jaws Unleashed
10. Elevator Action
11. The New Zealand Story
12. Zoo Keeper
13. Rainbow Islands
14. Twinkle Star Sprites
15. Ghouls 'N Ghosts
16. Ikari Warriors
17. Shock Troopers
18. Cannon Fodder
19. Buku Sudoku
20. Sensible Soccer 2006
21. Neo Turf Masters
22. Baseball Stars 2
23. Mega Man: The Power Battle
24. Vampire Savior
25. Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors
26. Zoo Empire
27. Restaurant Empire
28. Samurai Shodown
29. King of the Monsters
30. The Last Blade
31. Bubble Bobble
32. Rampage
33. Final Fight
34. Ghosts 'N Goblins
35. Captain Commando
36. Mercs
37. Fast Lanes Bowling
38. 1941
39. Disciples II: Rise of the Elves
40. Bloodrayne
41. Colin McRae Rally 2005
42. Myst Online: Uru Live
43. realMYST 3D
44. Bust a Move