On behalf of the ECA and GamePolitics, I wish our readers a happy and joyous new year! May 2012 turn out to be everything you imagine it to be, and may the forces that continually seek to take away our rights to play what we want and to express ourselves in the name of the almighty dollar be utterly humiliated and defeated.

GamePolitics is going dark today in observance of Thanksgiving and boy howdy do gamers like us have oodles to be thankful for this year.  Fall 2011 is jam-packed with more awesome video games than most will ever have the time (or money) to play.  See the bottom of Leland Yee’s recent “Don’t buy these video games” press release to parents for a few good suggestions.

Happy Independence Day, everyone. We are taking a day off to enjoy the weather, good food, excellent company, and our freedom. We'll be back to our regular schedule tomorrow. This July 4 is made all the more important in light of the recent decision in Brown v. EMA. While a great victory was won on behalf of free speech. The door is still open and the wolf is lying in wait.

Our liberties and our freedoms mean everything. We should never forget the sacrifices made on behalf of those freedoms and we should always be vigilant, never be complacent, and always ready to stand up for what is right and just.

Happy Independence Day.

The staff at GamePolitics would like to wish all of our loyal readers a safe and Happy New Year.

I hope that 2011 will be the year when..

..the highest court in the land rules that video games are protected under the first amendment and that only parents have the right to control what their children play.

..that the FCC protects consumers from usage-based schemes and content services (Netflix, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, Steam, etc.) from broadband service providers.

..that DRM becomes less popular with developers and publishers.

..that the governments of the world realize that there must be some sort of balance when it comes to protecting intellectual property rights.

..that rights holders or their lawyers decide that there is no money in suing thousands of file-sharers.

According to Game, Set, Watch, this weekend Giant Robot Los Angeles will host its fourth Game Night get-together and it will offer some special Christmas fun. Giant Robot's Game Nights are free bi-monthly parties that celebrate indie titles and invite people to play games in a casual, friendly environment.

With the help of Attract Mode and Meat Bun, this Saturday's event will feature the following:

- An X-mas edition of Vlambeer's hit indie game Super Crate Box made exclusively for Game Night

- Arthur Lee's Merry Gear Solid games

- A custom "holiday pack" edition of 8-BITar Hero, which mixes the Rock Band experience with old-school Nintendo games

Just in time for the July 4th celebration, Crispy Gamer has posted a terrific compilation of fireworks scenes from video games.

Check out the video here.

So you'd like to put on a July 4th fireworks show for your crew but lack the...

1. money
2. permits
3. pyrotechnic expertise
4. all of the above

No problem. As Oh Gizmo reports:

Sega’s got a new projector coming out... it will project a pre-programmed fireworks show on the ceiling or walls of your home, and that you’ll be able to design your own show from a library of 55 different virtual pyrotechnic displays. It will be powered by 3xAAA batteries so the projector is most definitely portable, and it will retail for about $160.

Unfortunately, the device won't launch until August, so this idea will have to wait for your Independence Day, 2010 bash.

Via: Gizmodo

Via fidgit we've been clued into Sackboy, done up in patriotic style as the Sacktue of Liberty...

...which reminds us that Hillary Clinton's face appeared on the Statue of Happiness in Grand Theft Auto IV.

So, are there other Statue of Liberty appearances in gaming? Gotta be...

Here are a few more lists of allegedly patriotic games for your July 4th weekend perusal. Some choices seem spot-on, others a bit of a stretch.

1up (2008): Top 5 Insanely Patriotic Video Games

• Fugitive Hunter
• The Sims 2: IKEA Expansion
• Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
• Operation Secret Storm
• Metal Wolf Chaos

RipTen (2008): Top Five Patriotic Games of All Time

• Independence Day
• America's Army
• Grand Theft Auto IV
• Oregon Trail
• Bad Dudes

GamesRadar (2008): 20 Most Rabidly Patriotic Video Games

• America's Army
• 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand
• Patriotic Pinball
• Frontlines: Fuel of War
• Christian Founders 3D Computer Game
• 18 Wheels of Steel: American Long Haul
• America: The Game
• Freedom Fighters
• Desert Strike/Jungle Strike/Urban Strike
• Metal Wolf Chaos
• Tycoon games
• Terrorist Takedown
• GRAW 2
• Political Machine 2008
• Oregon Trail
• NARC
• American Gladiators
• Fugitive Hunter
• Halo
• FDNY: American Hero - Fire Fighter

GP: If we spot new lists, we'll update.

With the Independence Day weekend upon us here in the United States, we note that News4U has posted its list of 5 Patriotic Video Game Moments.

The list is interesting and contains some games that will surprise you. The five patriotic scenes named come from:

• Freedom Fighters
• Animal Crossing
• Fallout 3
• Super Off-Road
• Bad Dudes

From the Bad Dudes (NES) description:

After rescuing the prez [GP: Bush #1], he says the most American thing the developers could think of: “Hey dudes, thanks for rescuing me. Let’s go for a burger…Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!” You’re then treated to a scene with the president eating a burger in front of the White House. Apparently it was decided to beef up security after the ninja incident, since there is a wall of Secret Service agents behind both of you as well. Oh, and of course Old Glory is showing her colors the whole time the credits roll.

Check out the video clip at left to see the Bad Dudes ending.