We’ve all had moments playing games when we’re deeply engrossed in a mission, quest, or achievement hunt... and then something completely unexpected comes our way. Tributes to other games (Mario references in Legend of Zelda games), intentionally unfitting dialogue (or surprise voice-overs), and creepy-beyond-creepy additions are some of the ways we remember how games surprise us and succeed with something that doesn’t belong.

A cave in Borderlands features Minecraft-style Creepers, loot, and terrain elements.

With that, we give you GamersNexus’ Favorite Video Games Easter Eggs. This brief list compiles some of the industry's best gaming easter eggs and their locations, including Duke Nukem, Gears of War, The Witcher, and more.

SSD benchmarks generally include two fundamental file I/O tests: Sequential and 4K random R/W. At a very top-level, sequential tests consist of large, individual files transfers (think: media files), which is more indicative of media consumption and large file rendering / compilation. 4K random tests employ thousands of files approximating 4KB in size each, generally producing results that are more indicative of what a user might experience in a Windows or application-heavy environment.

Theoretically, this would also be the test to which gamers should pay the most attention. A "pure gaming" environment (not using professional work applications) will be almost entirely exposed to small, random I/O requests generated within the host OS, games, and core applications. A particularly piratical gamer -- or just someone consuming large movie and audio files with great regularity -- would also find use in monitoring sequential I/O in benchmarks.

This article looks at a few things: What types of I/O requests do games spawn most heavily and what will make for the best gaming SSDs with this in mind? There are a few caveats here that we'll go through in a moment -- namely exactly how "noticeable" various SSDs will be in games when it comes to performance. We used tracing software to analyze input / output operations while playing five recent AAA titles and ended up with surprisingly varying results.

UPDATE: Clarified several instances of "file" vs. "I/O" usage.

Raptr has just posted its Most Played PC Games for July 2014, and from the looks of it, things only get better for the best of the best. Playtime for the top four games has increased 30 percent overall.

League of Legends got a boost from its Doom Bots of Doom enhancement that increased the AI difficulty to an uncomfortably high level.

DOTA 2’s The International Tournament brought up attention and participation, particularly in mid-July.

The video games industry has regularly taken steps toward virtual reality and motion-controlled gameplay. Virtuix, developers of the Omni multidirectional treadmill, have furthered gameplay without the press of a button by uniting player-controlled motions and camera controls with the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.

Video after the jump.

Some of our readers out there have likely seen games like The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim and Battlefield 4 being demoed on the Omni. This time, Virtuix has taken a Nintendo Wii Remote peripheral designed as a sword and shield, and they have mapped them to the Omni to enjoy a player-vs-player (PVP) experience with Chivalry: Medieval Warfare.

Bethesda recently announced their first free-to-play game, Battlecry, showcased at Quakecon 2014 in a flurry of open tournaments. This was the first public glimpse of Battlecry, and it certainly didn’t disappoint in the slightest.

Doom is a prime example of an FPS; the series created many mechanics used today in modern games, and a community has risen around Doom that exists even to this day. This year at Quakecon, one of the most-anticipated events was the preview of the newest Doom game -- simply named “Doom.” The unveil did not disappoint in the slightest.

Id software talked for a bit about it, showed a short trailer, some screenshots, and then two real time gameplay demos. Unfortunately, recordings and photography were prohibited for the gameplay demo, and of the screenshots they showed, but we wrote down everything we saw -- ranging from the definite to the speculative.

Cars have always been a beacon for visual FX presentations. This is evidenced by nVidia's obsession with real-time ray-tracing in every demonstration the company has ever fronted; and AMD isn't much better off -- their multi-GPU solutions almost always have some vehicle showcase. Cars are somewhat easy to grasp as a visual marvel for just about any onlooker, especially investors and non-gamers, so it makes sense.

Raptr has just posted its Most Played PC Games for June 2014, and from the looks of it, EA’s first Origin “On the House” deal with Battlefield 3 was a huge success. The 2011 FPS jumped 30 spots on the list, resting now at #12. Raptr's latest research into the most-played PC titles of 2014 comes in the aftermath of the Steam Summer Sale, giving us unique insights as to how heavily sales impact gaming performance.

Aside from Battlefield 3, the other deal-influenced title was Payday 2. Payday 2 piqued newcomers’ interests during last month’s Steam Summer Sale and earned its fan base’s time with the release of the Big Bank Heist DLC. It climbed 28 spots to #14.

Nine months after releasing its first episode, Telltale Games’ The Wolf Among Us has concluded its edgy 5-episode canon with Episode 5, Cry Wolf. Bigby Wolf finishes his pursuit of Fabletown’s seediest gangster and pieces together the remaining mysteries surrounding a series of murders and shady characters. Telltale Games’ final episode does a great job of tying up the loose ends while keeping players engaged with well-devised action scenes. The end result seems predictable, but there’s enough freedom for the player to decide how his ending plays out.

This The Wolf Among Us: Episode 5 - Cry Wolf review picks up from where we last left off. You can find our reviews of the previous four episodes here:

The ability to mod games like Fallout 3 and Skyrim is one of the biggest advantages toward longevity when compared to other, less modifiable RPGs. Fallout: New Vegas -- Bethesda’s most recent post-apocalyptic RPG -- is not an exception to this. With a multitude of mods available on NexusMods, it’s certainly not difficult to find oneself with 60+ mods adding anything from high-resolution textures to overhauls for major factions to new weapons. Today, we’re going to be showing how to completely overhaul Fallout: New Vegas into a harsh, unforgiving, immersive wasteland by using a compilation of graphics mods, content / quest mods, mechanics overhaul, and more. Welcome to "Fallout: New Vegas - 2014."

Luckily, Fallout: New Vegas is fairly easy to mod, but due to the large number of mods, this article will be split into six different sections: required mods, graphics, quests/content & mechanics, other mods, how to install Fallout: New Vegas mods, and tips/conclusion.

Note: This mod overhaul requires all the DLC for Fallout: NV along with the most recent update from Bethesda.