If you want to videogame the 2008 Summer Olympics, don't fall for some cheap official game with a Metacritic rating of 60%. Instead, here are 15 games that can help you capture the experience the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Get your Olympics on after the jump.

Event: Weightlifting
Game: Crackdown
Max out your strength skill so you can easily heft cars overhead. Barbells are for sissies!

Event: Sailing
Game: Sid Meier's Pirates!
If there's one way to learn that going upwind is a drag, it's sailing the length of the Caribbean.

Event: Cycling
Game: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Until someone does a Paper Boy update, the bicycle in San Andreas is all we've got.

Event: Diving
Game: Assassin's Creed
Just because Altair lands in a bale of hay instead of an Olympic sized pool doesn't make his form any less impressive.

Event: Fencing
Game: Soulcalibur IV
Using Amy, of course. Or Raphael in a bind.

Event: Shooting
Games: Your pick
If there's one Olympic event videogames do, it's shooting.

Event: Boxing
Game: Your pick
If there are two Olympic events videogames do, punching is the other one.

Event: Rowing
Game: Call of Duty 3 for the Nintendo Wii
Because there's always time for a Wii gimmick, even if Nazis are shooting at you

Event: Volleyball
Game: Beach Spikers: Virtual Beach Volleyball
(Okay, I'm kidding for most of these other games, but this is seriously an awesome game with an Olympic international vibe. It's actually better than Virtua Tennis! If you see this one in a bargain bin, give it a good home.)

Event: Equestrian riding
Game: Elder Scrolls: Oblivion
Because your other alternative is to get to level 40 in World of Warcraft.

Event: Wrestling
Game: Any Electronic Arts game
Install your EA game to recreate the sensation of clumsily grappling with a sweaty overbearing guy. Try to register it online for extra immersiveness.

Event: Swimming
Game: BioShock
Okay, it's not technically swimming, but it's the best game you'll ever play about a wet character.

Event: Breakaway republic grab
Game: Europa Universalis III
After a contrived casus belli and a brief bout of mismatched fighting, sue for peace while the conditions are in your favor.

Event: Chinese anthem
Game: Rock Band
Fake sing to someone else's vocal track.

Event: Opening ceremony
Game: Photoshop
Take a picture of the sky, edit out the pollution, and then 'shop in some fireworks!