Using the UCK for a Personalized Ubuntu Distro
If you are not happy with the applications bundled with the Ubuntu distribution, then welcome to the club. I prefer to have a lean, mean computing machine, i.e., without those games but with the multi-media tools. Anyway, here is how you can customize it using the Ubuntu Customization Kit.
UCK allows you to create a LiveCD ISO based on the latest Ubuntu version with all your personal tweaks. This is recommended specially if you prefer to giveaway CDs to people who do not need applications that come bundled with the original distribution.
I will try this and create my own distribution for my students. 
[Image from UCK.sourceforge.net]