Gamecock Media Group are the crazy guys responsible for publishing a number of console and handheld games, ranging from the frightening and political to the frustrating and psychedelic.

While many of these games can be considered a mixed bag—often a good idea followed up with a flawed execution—you can judge Gamecock’s new games Legendary and Velvet Assassin for yourself on day one, as digital downloads through Gametap.

The nice thing about Gametap is that it’s a subscription based service with a free trial period, so you can always give it a shot and cancel before having to pay anything. Think of it as a free game rental—plus they’ve got some vintage classics (like Fallout!) that you’re not going to find on store shelves anymore.

As demonstrated during Microsoft’s Press Conference at E3, Bethesda is nearing completion on the third iteration in the Fallout series, due out October 7th. Of course, with the changes that have been made to the series in Bethesda’s hands, Interplay is giving gamers a reality check by releasing the first game in the Fallout series on GameTap – for free.

Starting this Thursday, you can head over to GameTap’s website and pick up a free download of Interplay’s critically acclaimed Fallout for Windows. I recently picked this game up along with Fallout 2 for the Mac, and I most definitely do not regret it. Interplay’s Fallout titles are classic RPGs, and I recommend getting your hands dirty with the originals before venturing into Fallout 3- especially since you can now do it for free.

Gametap has added Dues Ex to their list of free games, which now stands at 125 titles. If you happened to miss it the first time around in 2001, then this is the perfect opportunity for you to check it out now.

The download comes in at a very slim 151MB and is rated M (for Mature) so it’s not one for the kids.

If you don’t know already, Deus Ex is a sci-fi shooter in which you play the role of anti-terrorist operative JC Denton. Set far in the future, the world is on the brink of total meltdown, and it’s your job to uncover the conspiracy behind the chaos and attempt to put a stop to it.

Graphically it’s obviously not going to compete with Call of Duty 4 or Halo 3, but what the hell, it’s totally free (and the story and setting are better than both those games combined). Plus, Deus Ex 3 is on the way!

Gametap’s editorial team, which previewed and reviewed some of the very games that were sold through its online distribution service, has been shut down by Turner Broadcasting.

This move seems to settle the debate over whether or not the editorial team at Gametap could offer unbiased coverage of games that their company also sold. Even with a wall between the sales and editorial teams, the appearance of impropriety could not have helped Gametap’s journalistic credibility.

Gametap also made an aggressive effort to recruit talent from a variety of gaming news outlets. From Wired’s Game|Life Blog:

In late 2007, the company staffed up, plucking up top talent from nearly every competing publication: Veteran IGN editor Doug Perry, former Official PlayStation Magazine editor Dana Jongewaard, former GamePro editor Wes Nihei, and former GameSpot news editor Curt Feldman, to name just a few.

Best of luck to these veteran writers and editors in finding new employment.

Source: Wired Game|Life Blog

Gametap has reached a new era in gaming history by adding its 1,000th title to its classics collection, Sid Meier’s Civilization IV.

Like the mighty Roman Coliseum or the pyramids of Egypt, Gametap’s mighty collection now stands as one of the historical wonders of the world. If you haven’t had a chance to play the latest Spock-narrated, globe-conquering entry in the classic Civ series, this is a good chance to jump on board for cheap.

With an exclusive Tomb Raider animated series and day-early access to the new Sam and Max adventure games, Gametap is turning into one giant gaming library. For Civ 4 and 999 other games, some of which are actually worth playing, turn on the tap at Gametap.com.