Next week, gangster game Mafia II goes on sale. You might be looking for a primer — something to get you into the mood. You might want to revisit some old favorites. Here are ten classic gangster flicks.

These are not the ten best gangster flicks, but they are ten great ones.

(Note: The list does not contain heist flicks like Rififi or Reservoir Dogs as heist movies deserve a top ten list of their own. Also, Pulp Fiction wasn't mentioned because like early Godard movies, it may have hoods or gangsters, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a gangster movie.)

The Godfather I
Interesting to note that the word "mafia" does not appear in the film.

GoodFellas
Based on the book Wiseguy, the title was changed to GoodFellas because Brian DePalma had made a movie (a bad movie) called Wise Guys in 1986. The real Henry Hill was arrested in last December for disorderly conduct.

King Of New York Christopher Walken at his best.

Little Caesar
This picture made Edward G. Robinson a superstar. In the early 1970s, Paramount Pictures wanted Robinson to star in The Godfather, but Coppola ultimately gave the role to Marlon Brando.

Le Samourai
Jean Pierre Melville was the king of French crime films. Le Samourai shows why.

Miller's Crossing
Is the Coen brothers' best film? Perhaps.

Once Upon A Time In America
Sergio Leone's final film, Once Upon A Time In America follows Jewish-American gangsters over the course of several decades. For the original American release, the movie was butchered in the editing room. Restored versions are now available.

Scarface: The Shame of a Nation
Produced by Howard Hughes and directed by Howard Hawks, Scarface was one of the most violent films of its day. It later served the basis for the 1983 remake, starring Al Pacino.

White Heat
James Cagney, star of The Public Enemy, turns in a stellar (and bat-shit insane) performance in White Heat. "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" is one of the most famous movie lines ever.

The Untouchables
Sporting an all-star cast, The Untouchables was directed by Brian DePalma, written by David Mamet and scored by Ennio Morricone.

There are video games that track the calories you burn while playing them. There are games that count the number of virtual miles you race in them. Mafia II tallies how long you "read" its in-game Playboy centerfolds.

I played a press demo of Mafia II several weeks ago and poked around in the game's menus. Like many other games, it has a statistics screen that shows how the player's in-game actions are being tracked. Adjacent to a standard line about how many hours and minutes the player has experienced in Mafia II is the Playboy timer. That timer tracks the number of hours (!) and minutes the player spends looking at Hugh Hefner's magazine.

Fifty centerfolds originally printed in the magazine in the 1950s (and maybe 1960s; I'm not sure) are included in the game as collectible items. They can be viewed full-screen, surely to provide a sense of historical authenticity to the game's vintage mobster milieu.

The downloadable demo for Mafia II currently available for home consoles doesn't include the stats display, though it does include five centerfolds. We'll know if the feature made it into the final game when it ships next week.

If the future of video games may involve counting even the real toothbrush strokes you make, who is ready for their Playboy consumption to be tabulated too?

UNICO National, a group that represents Italian Americans, has lodged a protest with publishers Take-Two over the portrayal of the Mafia in upcoming game Mafia II. Because, you know. The mafia are portrayed as Italian Americans.

Andre' DiMino, president of the group, says the game is "racist nonsense".

"Why would Take Two foist a game on their targeted audience of young people wherein they will indoctrinate a new generation into directly associating Italians and Italian-Americans with violent, murderous organized crime, to the exclusion of all of the other 'mafias' run by other ethnic and racial groups?" he says.

"Take Two is directly, blatantly and unfairly discriminating and demeaning one group to the exclusion of all others. We are demanding they halt release of the game and cleanse it of all references to Italians and Italian-Americans".

Of course, DiMino hasn't played the game. Nor does he seem to be aware the game's name is "Mafia II", not "Yakuza II" or "Triads II". He also seems to be unaware that the mafia are a bunch of Italian Americans, which is surprising considering his role as head of a group of Italian Americans.

Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick really didn't even need to respond, but he did, issuing a statement that read:

Mafia II tells a compelling story about organized crime in America — a subject that for decades has been featured in movies, television shows and novels. Neither UNICO nor any other organization purporting to represent Italian-Americans has seen or played Mafia II.

At Take-Two, we balance our right to free expression with what we believe is a thoughtful and responsible approach to creating and marketing our products," he continued. "Mafia II is M-rated in accordance with our industry's strict standards. It is specifically not targeted toward young people.

We will only release a title that meets our standards: as art, as entertainment and as a socially responsible product," Zelnick concluded. "We aim to distinguish creative and compelling story telling that advances artistic expression from subject matter that gratuitously exploits or glorifies violence or stereotypes. I fully and completely stand behind our creative teams and products, including Mafia II.

Italian-American Group UNICO Takes Issue With Mafia II, Take-Two Responds [Gamasutra]

Nolan North, the real world voice of Uncharted's Nathan Drake, Shadow Complex's Jason Fleming and Assassin's Creed's Desmond Miles is in a lot of video games. But it may be Mafia II that has the most North you've ever heard.

North, whose credits include Call of Duty: World at War, White Knight Chronicles, Gears of War 2, Alpha Protocol and dozens of other video games, cartoons and TV shows, also has a role (or two) in the new Mafia game, as spotted by YouTube user "chriskent101."

Try the recently released Mafia II demo for yourself and see how many Nolan Norths you can spot!

Mafia 2 - Nolan North Talks to Nolan North [YouTube via Christian Nutt]