GameTap does a little better than last week with the addition of Outpost Kaloki to the subscription lineup. With Kaloki's addition, this is a good time to mention GameTap's indies section, where subscribers can peruse all the games which don't come from big evil publishers keeping the little man down. Yeah, like, la vie boheme, man.

• Five Card Deluxe (Windows) - Poker-themed solitaire. Sure, it sounds lonely, but isn't it supposed to be?
  
• Outpost Kaloki (Windows) - A "tycoon" game where players create a space station to stand the test of time and keep aliens happy.

GameTap's list of free games can be found after the break. The Battle of Europe flight-sim joins the free lineup this week for your Luftwaffe-destroying pleasure.

Um, so, this week GameTap doesn't necessarily scrape the bottom of the barrel, but sort of skims the goo that's formed atop the stagnant water over the weeks. Really nothing to see here, but if we want to get optimistic, the good news is Deus Ex will be added to the service next week.

• Alpha Prime (Windows) - A first-person shooter we've never heard of, but reviewers didn't like it much.
  
• Chameleon Games (Windows) - A Zuma clone.
• Flip Words 2 (Windows) A casual game where you make words.

GameTap's list of free games can be found after the break. This week adds Morning's Wrath ... a Diablo clone. This week is just painful all around.

Update: It's true, Deus Ex has been on the service for a while. That link he have in the first paragraph definitely went to an announcement that the game was being added next week (you can even tell by the pull-quote used on the GameTap page). Ninjas have swooped in and made changes.

Happy NFL Draft weekend, everyone! With one day of exciting athlete trafficking under our belts, we thought it would be appropriate to point out a recent GameTap interview with Madden NFL 09 designer Phil Frazier, which reveals a number of features in the next installment of the never-ending, pigskin-chuckin' franchise. With buzzwords like "Favre", "player weapons" and "holographic training center", could this be the year where we find our way back into EA Sports' monopolized fold?

Some of the features highlighted include the Real Football Intelligence system, which tracks your skill as a player and provides helpful (and aggravating, we imagine) feedback, the induction of Tom Hammond and Cris Collinsworth as the new play-by-play and color commentators, and online, 32-man leagues (complete with trading, drafting, and flexible scheduling). We can only hope they'll include even more lunatic outbursts from the series ham-hearted, titular announcer.

GameTap goes on an intergalactic mission this week with space-smuggler sim Darkstar One. The service also adds another title which, at first glance, may confuse a few people into thinking it's a completely different game.

• Darkstar One (Windows) - A semi-precious gem from a couple years ago that's inspired by the great space-sim shooters of the '90s and doesn't take itself too seriously in the commerce department.
  
• Great Journey (Windows) - No, it's not The Longest Journey ... not by the longest shot. It's actually an E-rated game about stopping polluters in Antarctica.
  

Get ready to hadouken as GameTap's free games adds Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers this week. Find the full free games list, presented in Chun-Li Thunder-Thigh-O-Vision, after the break (Thunder-Thigh-O-Vision may not be available on some browsers).

• Alien Shooter Vengeance (Windows) - Shoot everything that moves.
  
• Dark Matter (Windows) - Shoot everything that moves some more.
  
• Dracula Twins (Windows) - Shoot everything that moves ... sorry, was getting into a rhythm. Play as Drac's kids and save the old man from some obnoxious vampire hunters.

Added to the list of GameTap's free games this week is X2: The Threat, a space trading and combat sim which has absolutely nothing to do with the X-Men whatsoever. The full list of free games can be found after the break.

"Holy rollerblading geriatrics on a steeply inclined lido deck, Max! The deadline for our Season 2 giveaway is set to pounce tomorrow at 5PM EST!"

"Dead lion, Sam? I thought we adopted a strictly enforced ban on ferocious, undead felines in the office."

"You crack me up, little buddy. Who did you name as your favorite adventure game character in the giveaway post, anyway? Was it ... me?"

"None of your damn business, Sam."

• Ice Land 2 (Windows) - Mortimer the penguin must collect floating fish while not falling in the water because apparently penguins -- or, at least this one -- can't swim.
  
• Uru: Ages Beyond Myst (Windows) - Bend and twist the mind in this return to Myst.
  
• Tank Battalion (Arcade) - And somewhere in this blogger's mind he recalls playing this game at a dingy bar in Dorchester, Mass. during the early '80s while his uncle played pool... darn flashbacks.
  
• Sam & Max Season Two Episode 5: What's New, Beelzebub? (Windows) - It's time to go to Hell LLC in the last episode of the season. (Psst, cheapskates, we're also giving away some copies of the whole season too)
  

After the break we've posted GameTap's list of free games, which adds Fastlane Pinball and King of Monsters 2 into the mix of 117 free titles.

GameTap has finally gotten a chance to share the previously embargoed details of its recent hands-on time with Grand Theft Auto IV. The preview discusses four of the game's fifteen online modes: Team Deathmatch, GTA Race, Cops 'N Crooks (a Counter-Strike style team match) and Hangman's Noose (a co-operative escort mission).

Among the interesting details discussed (some of which have also been revealed elsewhere):

• Previously rumored 16-player online play is confirmed.
• The online maps aren't changed in any way from single-player -- you can still drive vehicles from one end of the city to the other, if you want.
• There's no co-op option for the single-player missions, but many online modes allow for cooperation.
• Ranked online matches earn players in-game cash for character customization. Higher difficulty means more cash.
• Race mode can be played with or without weapons.
  
• The volume of other characters voices will vary depending on their distance from you. "So if you hear an enemy's voice, he's probably right behind you and it's too late."

The most telling quote in the preview is Vice President of Game Development Geronimo Barrera's suggestion that "after players earn the cell phone in the single-player game (which takes about five minutes), if they want they can jump online and never even play the single-player again." With the extremely varied multiplayer options, we might just be taking him up on that.

Note: GameTap's servers are getting hit pretty hard, so the Read link may not load for a while.

Update: They're all live! GTA4.net has posted links to numerous multiplayer previews. (Thanks Cal!)

GameTap pulls one of its random Tuesday updates this week immediately causing us to become suspicious. There must be some dastardly trick in here somewhere for this April Fool's update to make sense?! Typically the Tuesday updates are only reserved for exclusive releases or holidays. We're pretty sure it's got nothing to do with this week's three new games.

• DiRT (Windows) - An exceptional racer that broke one of our writers. Hours of gameplay to be had for those looking for something between simulation and arcade style racing.
  
• Pop-A-Tronic (Windows) - It's a color matching casual game. As with all match-three color games it's best enjoyed with some pharmacological enhancement. Not that we condone such actions.
  
• Warlords (DOS) - A strategy game from many moons ago which eventually transformed into the Warlords Battlecry series.
  

Well, there was nothing nefarious in that update. After the break we've posted GameTap's list of free games, which adds the enjoyable Mr. Robot and Captain McGrandpa -- Memory of the Forgotten. Qu'est-ce que c'est? What's Captain McGrandpa? Hmm, we may have to check out the GameTap forums later to see what this mélange of trick and treat might be.

GameTap adds one of the stranger Tycoon-esque games this week with Hot Dog King. It's not hard to guess the game is a hot dog store business sim, but the hook is that players hire big-breasted women to work the counter. The ladies are quite high maintenance, but they're also the main attraction of the store. It's so very strange.

• Baseball Mogul (Windows) - You play as a baseball team's manager. Yes, it's exactly as complicated as it sounds. Think of it as one of those hardcore submarine sims, only with baseball.
  
• Daemonica (Windows) - The town of Cavorn has some deep dark secrets in this adventure game.
  
• Hot Dog King (Windows) - Busty women serving hot dogs ... hmm, why do we suddenly miss Chuck?
  

After the break we've posted GameTap's list of free games, with Rastan joining the ranks this week. Note: Next week's Gametap Thursday will actually be on Tuesday and will see the addition of various titles including DiRT. There's allegedly no reason for the early update.

GameTap brings us into conflict and then denies our operations this week with Conflict: Denied Ops. Yup, still one of the most foolish game titles in the past year. Beyond that there's a puzzle game involving flowers and a hardcore naval strategy game. This week's odd offerings are diminished by last week's new Sam & Max adventure.

• Conflict: Denied Ops (Windows) - Playing as a "deniable operative" you ... ohhh, now we finally get it.
  
• Fire Flower (Windows) - The only way out of the magical labyrinth in this puzzle game is to move flowers around.
  
• Fleet Command (Windows) - A hardcore naval strategy simulator.

After the break we've posted GameTap's list of free games. New additions this week are Ball 7 and Qix. Still waiting to read some academic paper about Qix being a metaphor for claustrophobia and a person's struggle to break free.

GameTap brings an all new episode of Sam & Max this week to give gamers their adventure genre fix. In the latest episode, Chariot of the Dogs, the dog detective and his rabbity-thing compadre search for the missing Bosko. Don't know who Bosco is? Then you're obviously not playing these games! Shameful!

• Sam & Max Season 2: Episode 4 Chariot of the Dogs (Windows) - Help find Bosco!
  
• Iron Warriors (Windows) - A game where you play as a tank commander in the former Yugoslavia during the Bosnian-Serbian-Croatian War. Seriously, that's what it's about.

After the break we've posted GameTap's list of free games. New additions this week are Fatal Fury and Vulgus. There's also very little time left to check out Myst Online: Uru Live before it disperses into the void of the intertubes.

Augmenting their usual Internet-based strategy of giving people free games to lure them into a subscription service, GameTap treated SXSW attendees to a party at Austin's Parkside restaurant Saturday night. Along with the laptops set up for free play of a selection of classics, partygoers were treated to fancy hors d'oeuvres (ceviche, croquettes, uh, tiny hamburgers), drinks, and excellent DJ-provided music. Also, projected logos that only shone directly into my eyes a couple of times.

It should be noted that these pictures were taken soon after the beginning of the party. It was already picking up as I left. There were still plenty of people in Parkside enjoying the crowd, the food, the beer, and the Metal Slug. If more parties had Metal Slug stations, well, I'd go to parties.

Port Royale 2 joins the GameTap buffet this week for those looking to channel their inner accountant during the era of pirates on the high seas. It's hard to be an accessible economics simulator, but Port Royale 2 does it with ease (especially compared to its predecessor). GameTap also goes back to 1992 and brings us the Batman and one of the great flight combat simulators of the time.

• Aces of the Pacific (DOS) - It's like Wing Commander, just without space, lasers and evil space kitties.
  
• Batman Returns (Genesis) - Sorry, just keep flashing back to renting this game from the local video store as a kid. Local video stores without the words Blockbuster or Hollywood in the title, remember those?
  
• Port Royale 2 (Windows) - Arrrrrrrr, dominate your enemies by shoving doubloons down their throats!
  

After the break please find GameTap's list of free games with new additions bolded for easy reference. Neo-Geo title Football Frenzy joins the cash-friendly line-up if anybody is looking for something a little more Tecmo Bowl and a little less Madden.

GameTap posted a preview of Grimm, its upcoming 24-part episodic adventure taking the cheery Disney-fied fairy tales we all know and bringing them back closer to the source material. Each episode will release weekly and have approximately 30 minutes of gameplay focusing on one fairy tale. The episode will start with the "contemporary perspective" of the fairy tale told in puppet show form, narrated by the main character Grimm (seen above). After Grimm goes out into the world and does his thing, the end of each episode will have another puppet show telling the story a little closer to the original version with a little bit of McGee's touch.

The gameplay involves Grimm running around and turning the bright cheery landscape into a macabre world, basically the opposite of De Blob. After a majority of the level is transformed Grimm can move on to other challenges, which include platform gameplay, secret areas, hidden items and more. What we still don't know is if the difficulty will curve up in each weekly episode or if it will get progressively harder as it goes along (meaning by episode 20 it could take hours to finish due to restarts instead of 30 minutes). Grimm begins telling tales in July on GameTap.