Well I'm glad I mentioned my frustrations with WinQUAKE, as it lead to recommendations of alternatives, including Fitzquake (thanks nin), ProQuake 4 and Quake Injector (thanks King Ghidorah), and Tenebrae (thanks |RaptoR|). The one I checked out was the one SirKnight recommended first, LordHavoc's DarkPlaces Quake Modification, which offered everything I could ask for, including beautiful 1920x1200 graphics, smooth character animations, upgrades for the sprite effects, and more. The result was incredible, and I had a great time playing through episode one, and plan on finishing the single-player game (which as I recall got to be a bit of a tedious ordeal by the end, but we'll see).

Links:	Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez and Acleacius.
Play:	Azriel. Thanks Daniel. Ultimate Assassin 3. Patapon 3.
Links:	8 Greatest Heroes-Turned-Villains in Videogame History.
Science:	Hypersonic airliner promises zippy, spacecraft-like flight.
Images:	How Cave Johnson Returns Junk Mail. Thanks Cave Johnson. Nyan nyan nyah! The Things We Do For Caffeine.
Media:	Stop Forwarding that Crap to Me - Al Yankovic. HANG ON WOODY! Cosplay Fight Video of the Day. How to avoid getting hit by a train.
The Funnies:	Spot the Differences Cartoon - Savage Chickens.