The festival offers a chance to explore new styles of games and play. Last year the festival featured games from the creators of I love bees, PacManhattan, The Go Game, Conqwest, Big Urban Game and more. From massive multi-player scavenger hunts to public play performances, the festival gives players and the public the chance to take part in a variety of different games. Come rediscover the city around you through play. Why street games? Why a street games festival, you ask? Fair questions. Well, we like innovative use of public space. We like games which make people interact in new ways. We like games that alter your perception of your surroundings. But most importantly, we think games are great way to have fun.

Usually, I'm not really into stuff like this, but Amsterdam is already Disneyland for adults, from the Red Light to the coffee shops to drunken sailing in the canals (and that's Monday, folks). What's one more bit of chaos thrown into the mix? Kim Phu

Come Out & Play Festival 2007 [Come Out and Play]

Mrs. Pac-Man is doing what any famous entity does as they are entering retirement, using her celebrity status to sell product. I spotted her in all her edible hard-candied glory at Papabubble in Amsterdam accessorized with some pac dots and super-cute, but doomed ghosts. Many people have wandered into the store after smelling the sweet fruity scents wafting out the door and tried to buy the vintage Atari in the display out from under them, but had to settle for a couple of bags of hand-made candy.

The best part? They make custom-designed candies to your liking. So if you want a giant Mrs. Pac-Man lolly for yourself, or a bag of little ghosts, all you have to do is email them with your specs (lulu at papabubble.nl) and they will inform you in one of my two favorite Dutch to English phrases: "It is possible", or "It is not possible". Kim Phu

"We knew about drugs like crack, but we couldn't find a program anywhere for kids like this, and we saw enormous parallels between problems with gaming and alcohol and gambling," said Bakker. Though the clinic already treats game addicts on an outpatient basis, the new Smith & Jones program will consist of an in-patient stay of four to eight weeks to help patients cope with game withdrawal. "There can be anxiety, panic attacks, sleep problems, dreaming about games, nightmares, shaking," said Bakker.

Ain't that the truth... I still wake up in cold sweats sometimes, screaming Governer Marley's name into my darkened bedroom. I dearly wish they had had this program when I needed it. Remember how you used to have to blow out the vents on those NES carts when they got buggy? I once huffed into Duck Hunt for fifteen solid minutes before passing out in a puddle of my own sprayed saliva.

The intervention happened not long after they found and revived me, but I had to bust my habit the hard way. None of this sissy rehab. I'll never forget Jebediah's kindness, or all the valuable lessons I learned from him and the rest of the Amish. Eliza Gauger

Game-addict clinic opening in Amsterdam [Gamespot]