This sponsored post is produced by Dealzon.

Another Tuesday, another day full of new game releases. While they aren’t exactly highly anticipated releases, fans of Dead Island will appreciate more zombie slaying action with Dead Island: Riptide. PC owners can enjoy a 20% off coupon, making the digital version of the game only $32.

If you’re a Trekkie, you’re either happy about today’s release of Star Trek or you’re nervous like us, given all the bad memories of subpar Trek games we’ve had to deal with through the years. Previews of Star Trek were so-so, but thus far initial user reviews on Metacritic look to be surprisingly decent – a surprise for the gamers reviewing them too!

Note: We update our GamesBeat weekly deal post every Tuesday with the latest deals. For last week’s deals, check below the “Last Thursday” headline.

Tuesday New Deals

Today’s release: Dead Island Riptide (PC Download) — $32 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. Reviews are all in, and if you enjoy Dead Island, you’ll be getting more here. New island, more zombies.
 

Today’s release: Star Trek (PC Download) — $40 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. Somehow initial user reviews are excellent. Subtle marketing or is this the real deal?
 

Tomb Raider (Xbox 360, PS3) — $39.99 at Groupon. Great price drop considering console titles are rarely on sale so soon after release.
 

GamersGate Spring Sale (PC Download) — New deals everyday, with lots of excellent titles on sale. Our pick: The Cave for $5.10 and Alpha Protocol for $3.74.
 

Last Thursday

Dishonored‘s latest DLC The Knife of Dunwall just came out this past Tuesday and thus far has been well received by reviewers. The DLC puts you into the boots of Daud, who is attempting a bit of a redemption after feeling guilt over killing the Empress.

To quickly sum things up, if you enjoyed Dishonored and felt Dunwall City Trials could’ve been better, then this is the DLC you want. Adding icing on the cake, the Steam-activated The Knife of Dunwall can be had for only $8 after a 20% off coupon.

If you don’t already have Dishonored in your collection, the base game is down to $24.99 thanks to an instant discount at GMG. Elsewhere you’ll pay full price for the DLC and at least $5 more for the base game.

Say what you want about GameStop, but their download service can have competitive pricing. This week they launched a Spring PC download sale, which for the most part has respectable discounts. The most standout deals are the best ever pricing on Skyrim DLC. Released last month, the Dragonborn DLC is down to a new low of $10. The popular Dawnguard DLC is also at a $10 new low. As with the base Skyrim game, all the DLC activates on Steam.

Beyond the big Dovahkiin deals, fans of the Assassin’s Creed series should check out the franchise sale this weekend at GamersGate. The best deal is Assassin’s Creed 3 for $24.98 – a new low by $5 and $25 off the usual $50 price tag. The more recent Assassin’s Creed games and DLC are getting 50% discounts while the older ones are as high as 83% off. The offer runs through Sunday, April 21st.

If you think today’s post is all PC gaming, owners of PS Vita should check out Amazon’s $30 deal on Persona 4 Golden, an enhanced port of Persona 4 for the PS Vita. Suffice it to say, the port adds more features and content to probably one of the best JRPGs on the PS2 (mmm… nostalgia).

Hot deals

Last Tuesday’s release: Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwall (PC DLC) — $8 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. List is $10. Green Man Gaming also has a great price on the Dishonored base game for only $24.99 (normally $59.99).
 

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim DLC Packs — 50% off at GameStop. All the DLC titles are at half price, with most usually around $15 since their respective release dates. Last month’s release of Dragonborn can be had for only $10.

Assassin’s Creed Weekend Sale: Games and DLC — 50 to 83% off at GamersGate. Top choices include AC3 for $25 and the Season Pass for only $15.

Upcoming Releases

Oct. 25: Batman: Arkham Origins (PS3) — $49.99 at NewEgg. The October 25th release date is quite a ways off, but this is the first significant discount we’ve seen thus far. Another offer worth noting is the Xbox 360 version for $59.99 with a bonus $10 credit at Amazon.
 

PC download deals

SimCity with $10 Credit or $7 Cash Back — $40 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. Elsewhere $60. Everyone loves to hate the online only aspect, but truth is they’re still selling SimCity like hotcakes. In addition to the $20 instant discount at GMG, there’s a credit/cash back incentive, making it a $30-$33 value post bonus.
 

Tomb Raider — $26.79 at GameFly after coupon. Update: was $33.49, today-only coupon makes it stupid low price for a month old, well reviewed Triple-A title.
 

The Sims 3 University Life — $16 at Green Man Gaming after coupon. Next best is $40 at Amazon. It’s the lowest price yet on the 9th – yes, 9th! – Sims 3 expansion pack.
 

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning — $5.99 at GameStop. Ties the previous low. Savings brought to you by the state of Rhode Island.
 

360, PS3, and PC Vita deals

Buy 2 Pre-Owned Video Games, Get a 3rd FREE at Best Buy. Over 7,000 games to choose from, with savings shown in your cart after all items have been added. Deal expires Saturday.
 

Persona Golden (PS Vita) — $29.96 at Amazon. Elsewhere the game is still selling for at least $39. Excellent title to pick up if you never played the PS2 version.
 

Halo 4 (Xbox 360) — $23.99 at NewEgg. Next best is $37 at Amazon. This is the cheapest we’ve seen by $6. If you’ve somehow managed to avoid Halo 4 since its release date, this is a solid price.
 

Hardware

Lenovo IdeaPad Y500 59371960 Gaming Laptop — $799 at Lenovo after coupon. $120 less than this configuration sold for a week earlier. Specs: Ivy Bridge Core i7-3630QM, 1080p Full HD display, and the new Kepler-based GeForce GT 750M 2GB.
 

HP ENVY Phoenix h9-1420t Gaming Desktop — $862.49 at HP after coupon. $10 shipping. Specs: Ivy Bridge Quad Core i7-3770, Liquid Cooled, Radeon HD 7670, 10GB RAM, and Blu-ray drive. GPU is a bit weak but you can obviously upgrade.
 

Sennheiser X320 Xbox 360 Gaming Headset — $69.99 at Rakuten. Next best is $100. This is the lowest price we’ve seen on the headset by $13.
 

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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It’s my shelf.

When I got my first job out of college and realized that I could afford to buy any game I wanted to play, I filled up all the empty space on my shelf with titles and even a PlayStation Vita. However, that newfound fortune came with a catch: spending time at work instead of with a controller. This resulted in a backlog of fantastic games that goes as far back as August. I’ve been making steady progress, but the video game industry discovered it could sell me games every month of the year and not just during the holidays. Because of this, my backlog has continued to grow at a near-unmanageable rate despite my efforts to stop it. Even from here, I can tell that March’s buffet of gaming goodness is going to be a bloodbath at retail and for my shelves.

Most casual players are probably pickier with their selection and don’t buy nearly everything that costs less than $10 during a Steam sale. Those players usually don’t run into this issue. I’m not those players. To make matters worse, I’m one of those people that has to finish every game I start. This means I’ve wasted countless hours playing bad games just because I didn’t have the foresight to avoid pressing the Start button, which takes time away from the good games in my backlog.

I want to play Sleeping Dogs. I want to play Persona 4: Golden. Before my brain will let me, though, I need to finish Resident Evil 6 — a game with a ridiculous logo that I think is kinda bad. I’ve started watching Netflix on my laptop while playing just so I can mindlessly shoot my way through. It’s actively boring, but I can’t fight the system. My backlog is my burden to bear.

I have a problem, but I’m looking for a solution. I’m going to try going back to my old ways of waiting for reviews and making tough decisions about what games I want to play. Just because I can buy any game that I want to does not mean that I should. With time more precious than it’s ever been before, maybe I can’t really afford every game I want to play after all.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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If you follow VentureBeat but don’t regularly check our GamesBeat site, here’s a list of the best video game stories we ran over the last seven days that you may have missed.

This week, GamesBeat celebrates the biggest games and news of 2012 with several retrospective features. Even though the year is almost over, that doesn’t mean we’re completely out of news yet, however. You’ll also find stories on Nintendo patenting a specific use for the Wii U’s dual-screen functionality, Microsoft releasing an iPhone and iPad game with Xbox Live Achievements, and where to buy the documentary Minecraft: The Story of Mojang without digital rights management.

Best of 2012:

The DeanBeat: Game industry predictions for 2013
Here’s the scorecard on our 2012 predictions for the game industry
The biggest gaming trends of 2012
The news that shook the game world in 2012
Kickstarter game projects raised $79M in 2012
GamesBeat’s 2012 Game of the Year: The Walking Dead
The best games of 2012 (GamesBeat staff picks)
The worst gaming trends of 2012
The best MMOs of 2012
12 of the best games for your new mobile device
The best video game trailers of 2012
The biggest gaming disappointments of 2012
The best video game soundtracks of 2012
The biggest gaming surprises of 2012
Top 15 mobile games of 2012
2012′s most innovative game ideas
Top gaming technologies of 2012
5 of the best original games of 2012
The best indie games of 2012
The video game industry’s 2012 holiday cards

News:
Blizzard: ‘We are going back to the drawing board’ for team deathmatch in Diablo III
International Game Developers Association appoints new executive director
This week in The Nintendo Download: Wii U discounts, Lost Levels, and Mega Man
Nintendo uploads tip videos for New Super Mario Bros. U to YouTube
Nintendo secures the patent for a specific use of the Wii U’s dual-screen functionality
How to gain early access to the Dead Space 3 demo
Microsoft launches first game for iPhone, iPad with Xbox Achievements
Where to buy Minecraft: The Story of Mojang documentary without DRM

Previews:
The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct is an ambitious shooter that’s faithful to the show (preview)

Pieces of flair:
How Canada has become America’s mobile app guinea pig
A tale of two zombie games: The Walking Dead vs. The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct
5 worse BioShock Infinite covers
How major MMOs are celebrating Christmas in-game (gallery)
The many major missteps of Far Cry 3
Outlandish factoids from Street Fighter’s expanded universe (gallery)

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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We thought we were so smart back in January with our release lists and RSS feeds. We really believed we knew what was going to happen this year. “I can’t wait to play BioShock Infinite when it releases in 2012!” we said. We were so naïve back then. It doesn’t matter how closely you follow the news or how often you refresh your browser; some companies can still manage to catch the gaming public completely unaware.

Here are some of our picks for the biggest surprises of 2012.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Contributor Rus McLaughlin

I hated the first Black Ops. Hated. It. I even went back and replayed parts of it just to refresh every design misstep and weak idea in my mind before its sequel arrived. You’d better believe that I’d sharpened all my knives in anticipation of carving up Black Ops II like a particularly ugly turkey who killed my dog. And then it turned out good … like, really good.

It’s as if developer Treyarch, a company that consistently churned out the worst entries in the franchise for years, suddenly ditched their old playbook and started fresh. The flow and encounters hit a sweet spot that I haven’t felt from the series since the first Modern Warfare, which came out in 2007. The branching storylines — often based on your in-game performance rather than flat yes/no answers — lock in unless you replay the entire mission … and every mission after it.

Very nice. Sure, the real-time strategy chapters don’t hold up as RTS games, and it’s still the bro-tastic Michael Bay of video games, but I can’t deny that I’m actually excited about Call of Duty again right when COD fatigue had fully set in. Can Activision deliver at this level every year? I’m still skeptical, but at least now I know that the possibility exists.

Rediscovering adventure games

Contributing editor Stephanie Carmichael

This was a momentous year for point-and-click adventure games, and Kickstarter played a huge role in that. Fans donated more than $3.3 million to Double Fine Adventure, making it one of the most successful video game campaigns on the crowdfunding service, let alone one of the greatest outpourings for the genre to date. Luminary Jane Jensen raised enough money for her Pinkerton Road Studio and the upcoming adventure game Moebius. And Telltale Games launched one of the hottest titles of 2012 with The Walking Dead. Those are only a few of the promising or excellent titles that found an audience in the past dozen months. Who said adventure games were dead?

Street Fighter X Mega Man

Contributor Samir Torres

Street Fighter and Mega Man turned 25 years old in 2012, and that calls for a celebration. Street Fighter X Mega Man is a free, PC-only, old-fashioned Mega Man adventure game in which you battle Street Fighter characters instead of Robot Masters. When you beat them, you acquire their abilities. It came out on December 17.

The most interesting part is that Capcom is working with die-hard Mega Man fans to make the title — fans whom the developer has neglected in recent years with the cancellation of Mega Man Legends 3 and Mega Man Universe and the Blue Bomber’s omission in Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

The PlayStation Vita

Intern Giancarlo Valdes

Though I only bought the Vita a few weeks ago, I honestly think it’s the best handheld I’ve ever owned — with its gorgeous screen and sleek hardware design, it’s also the prettiest. Games such as Gravity Rush, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, and Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack are great — even when I’m not commuting and just playing on the couch at home. The proprietary memory cards are still ridiculously expensive, and game-wise, the lineup doesn’t look too bright in 2013, but for now, I’m happy with just catching up with all the gems that came out this year.

Guild Wars 2

Contributor Rob LeFebvre

I quit playing World of Warcraft a few years ago because, meh, I thought the third-person fantasy massively multiplayer online genre was over, and I was tired of it. After messing about with Star Wars: The Old Republic and Eve Online, I figured that Guild Wars 2 would just be another WOW clone. Instead, it’s much more interesting and compelling to play, has many different ways to progress in the game, and made me an MMO player yet again. Not having a monthly subscription is a big factor as well.

Warlock: Master of the Arcane

Copy editor Jason Wilson

I hadn’t realized how much I had missed Master of Magic, the fantasy equivalent of Civilization from the 1990s. I didn’t realize that I had been yearning for a game like this until I encountered Warlock: Master of the Arcane. It isn’t as deep as Civilization — the focus is more on combat than in Sid Meier’s legendary turn-based strategy series — but in some ways, it’s more fun. The factions each have their own personality (I love the voices of the goblin units or the flying galleons of the Undead), and Warlock’s A.I. actually knows how to play its game. If you enjoy turn-based strategy that focuses more on combat than on expansion and empire-building — and dig fantasy — check it out.

Guild Wars 2

Intern Mike Minotti

I’m one of those MMO players. You know, the kind who plays World of Warcraft casually, sometimes tries something new, but always returns to the welcoming arms of Azeroth. I never thought I would find an MMO that I would genuinely like better than WOW, but Guild Wars 2 hooked me with its beautiful world and innovative quest systems.

The Phantom Pain/Metal Gear Solid connection

Editor-in-chief Dan “Shoe” Hsu

Every year, the best part of Spike’s Video Game Awards — meaning the good part of Spike’s Video Game Awards — is all the world-premiere trailers for upcoming titles. 2012′s show was no different, and the announcement trailer for developer Moby Dick Studios’ The Phantom Pain was the highlight of the evening.

Even more interesting is the fan-driven speculation that the title is secretly the next installment in Konami’s Metal Gear franchise. The evidence is circumstantial at best, but if you think back on it, this is exactly the sort of thing that we’d expect from the stealth action series.

Dragon’s Dogma

Contributing editor Rob Savillo

Capcom’s underrated action-adventure caught me completely by surprise. I’d heard nothing about it until a few weeks before release when then-Bitmob staff writer (now at PC Gamer) Omri Petitte published his “A Series of Epic Events” preview. Instantly, I saw Monster Hunter- and Dark Souls-style gameplay dancing in my head, and I wasn’t too far off once I got my hands on the disc.

Here’s a game that makes nighttime feel dangerous and isolating, not merely a moonlight-blue hued palette swap. Here’s a game with a detailed, skill-based combat model that encourages creative solutions. Here’s a game that makes exploration feel grand and of consequence such that smart preparation becomes a necessity. Here’s a game that blends asynchronous multiplayer into an experience that’s not turn-based or on a phone. Here’s a game that doesn’t waste your time with bland, boring, and ultimately useless dialogue from cardboard non-player characters. Here’s a game that’s not afraid to challenge modern design conventions and show them to be a poor way forward for the medium.

The PlayStation Vita

Intern Jasmine Rea

I was all prepared to dislike the Vita based on how woefully under-supported it was at launch and Sony’s silly choice to make a 3G-enabled model. Since I really wanted to review Persona 4 Golden, I knew I’d buy one at some point, and boy was I shocked by how much I loved it. The screen is mesmerizing, and the increased size and heft fixed all the problems that I had with the PlayStation Portable’s shape. Most of all, I didn’t mind forking over money for digital versions of PSP games that I already own. They just look so much better on that pretty screen. The Vita deserves more support, and if you like Japanese role-playing games, you’re sure to adore this flashy little handheld. Just don’t buy into the touch panel gimmicks, and I think you’ll love it, too.

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare

Intern Evan Killham

Alan Wake, developer Remedy Entertainment’s Stephen King/Twin Peaks-fusion thriller with a dash of Lovecraft, was one of my favorite games of 2010. I was a little disappointed that the follow-up, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, was a bite-sized Xbox Live Arcade downloadable title, but I checked it out anyway because, hey, more Alan Wake. And you know what? It is glorious.

Remedy drops the first game’s moody tension in favor of a more action-based, grindhouse dynamic, and while such a drastic shift in tone might be the worst thing that could happen to a franchise, somehow it just works for Alan Wake. It could be because this is a series explicitly about storytelling and creativity, and as such, it can include any genre Remedy feels like throwing in there. And seemingly as a test of this hypothesis, American Nightmare is a time-travel story.

The game has three levels, and you play through them three times. You could assume that this is a clever way to reuse assets and keep the game XBLA-sized, and you would be right, but on each time through, the characters around Alan remember bits of information about their experiences in the previous loop. For example, one time through, Alan has to go out to a character’s car to retrieve an item; the next time around, she remembers that someone will need that object and has it with her when you first (second?) meet, saving you the dangerous trip outside.

It’s really clever storytelling that keeps the repetition from feeling, well, repetitive, and it also serves as a fascinating commentary on game mechanics in general. What are checkpoint restarts, after all, but a form of time travel?

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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If 2012 has shown us one thing, it’s that video game development is truly in the “crossover era.” GamesBeat’s 2012 Game of the Year, The Walking Dead, was first available as a downloadable title, not a retail release. Other downloadables, such as indie-developed darlings Journey and Faster Than Light, garnered plenty of votes as well. And in our staff’s and contributor’s top games of the year lists, we even see mobile releases — like Fieldrunners 2.

Gaming has changed, and it’s nice to see that it’s more than just big-budget console and PC titles that have earned Game of the Year attention. Here are the top games as chosen by GamesBeat staffers and contributors. Let us know what you think about our picks in the comments — especially if you feel we’ve left something off our lists!

Editor-in-chief Dan “Shoe” Hsu

XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Firaxis Games

Little green men — yesteryear’s poster boys for mysterious invaders from outer space — are about as menacing as Oompa Loompas armed with toy guns. XCOM’s little gray men, however, are scary as hell. It’s not the ashen skin, bulbous eyes, or creepy-crawly walk. It’s what these Sectoids represent: a greater threat that we are simply not equipped to handle.

In the strategy game XCOM: Enemy Unknown, we mere humans bring dull knives to plasma gunfights. And just when we start to catch up in weapon technology, the bug-eyed bastards bring bigger guns and meaner friends. These jerks even cheat with mysterious mind-control powers. Meanwhile, we’re barely keeping the checkbook balanced between research, manufacturing, facility construction, aircraft, and an ever-decreasing budget due to world nations pulling out of the program if you can’t keep them safe (and you can never keep them all safe).

It all adds up to an incredibly exciting and stressful experience. Each decision — whether it’s which tree to hide your assault trooper behind or which whiny country gets your last airspace-monitoring satellite — feels monumental and permanent. Humanity’s existence is at stake, and we just want to make it to the next month, when a few more pennies come rolling in and a few more traumatized soldiers get out of sick bay.

It’s a desperate fight. And boy will we celebrate when those little gray men are dead.

Shoe’s other picks for best games of 2012: Fieldrunners 2, Dishonored, Journey, Fez

Lead writer Dean Takahasi

The Unfinished Swan
Platform: PlayStation 3 (PlayStation Network)
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
Developer: Giant Sparrow

The Unfinished Swan is one of the most creative titles yet for the PlayStation Network. It’s an interactive fairy tale where you lob blobs of black paint at a white screen. As you do so, you uncover part of a 3D space hidden within the white scene. Uncovering each scene is a mind-bending task, as you have to navigate perplexing puzzles. You explore the unknown, and as you do so, you uncover a new segment in a fairy tale about a boy who loses his mother. It is a touching story that will remind of you of the zany Alice in Wonderland. Ian Dallas, the game creator, feels that a child who is abandoned is like an unfinished work of art. But just when you think that the game has become predictable, it changes. In some ways, the story seems unfinished. But the title is a wonderful first effort for Giant Sparrow, a new studio bankrolled by Sony.

Dean’s other picks for the best games of 2012: Halo 4, Far Cry 3, Journey, Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Culture editor Sebastian Haley

Hotline Miami
Platform: PC
Publisher: Developer Digital
Developer: Dennaton Games

Indie sensation Hotline Miami is best described as the film Drive, but in a retro, pixelated and somehow even more violent form, with subtle hints of Rockstar’s Manhunt sprinkled on top. The short-but-sickeningly sweet levels allow you to carefully orchestrate your symphony of murder and mayhem, filling the floors with maimed corpses and spraying the walls with crimson, all while its surreal, Miami Vice-inspired soundtrack beats in the back of your mind. Basically, if you own a Wii or like looking at livestreams of kittens, this is not your kind of game.

Sebastian’s other picks for best games of 2012: Trials Evolution, Far Cry 3, The Darkness II, Final Fantasy XIII-2

Staff writer Jeff Grubb

Mark of the Ninja
Platform: Xbox 360 (Xbox Live Arcade), PC
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Developer: Klei Entertainment

For these Game of the Year summaries, we’re supposed to look above and beyond the individual parts of a game. We’re supposed to write about why it is important, but in the case of Mark of the Ninja, it’s those parts that make it so special. Developer Klei’s 2D stealth action game for Xbox Live Arcade and PC is a master class in well-executed gameplay mechanics. Whether it’s a soundwave that ripples off your ninja’s feet to indicate how much noise he’s making or a vision cone that indicates where an enemy is looking, Mark of the Ninja is constantly communicating with the player. It then provides the player with a great controlling character to poke and prod the world with.

It’s not rare that a game makes you feel like a badass, but with Klei’s game it’s not about how powerful you are — it’s about how in tune with the environment your character is. You have so much visual and aural information that every moment is an opportunity for experimentation. You can spend 10 minutes laying out a detailed plan that involves deadly traps, or you can play the entire game without a sword.

In video games, we don’t usually get a lot of new ideas, we just get different takes on old ideas. Stealth is an old idea at this point, but Mark of the Ninja distinguishes itself by executing the concept better than any other game before it.

Jeff’s other picks for best games of 2012: The Walking Dead, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Trials Evolution, FTL: Faster Than Light

Copy editor Jason Wilson

FTL: Faster Than Light
Platform: PC, Mac, Linux
Publisher: Subset Games
Developer: Subset Games

I’m low on fuel. My crew raced around my starship like a colony of ants, hastily putting out fires as doors opened to the cold vacuum of space. The Rebels are closing in on me. Do I take a chance and see if I can gain more fuel in the next nebular cloud, or do I make a mad dash for the next sector and hope to find friendly forces instead of angry adversaries? These are just some of the choices the player faces in FTL: Faster Than Light, the indie roguelike that’s swept upon a number of Game of the Year lists in 2012 (including ours!). What makes FTL so compelling to players is that a take on Civilization’s “one more turn” addictive nature — but instead of furthering your game, you’re driven to see if your next attempt takes you closer to escaping the pursuing Rebel forces. And it’s this that makes FTL one of the most interesting, fascinating, and, yes, best games of 2012.

Jason’s other picks for best games of 2012: The Walking Dead, Crusader Kings II, Torchlight II, Dragon’s Dogma

Contributor Rus McLaughlin

Far Cry 3
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Something visceral. Something primal. Most shooters don’t have these. They settle you into a safe, comfortable role. Veteran soldier. Seasoned cop. Career criminal. A hero … or an antihero. But Far Cry 3 makes you run blind through the jungle while murderous pirates hunt you like a piece of prey. You’re just a terrified kid. Never held a gun before. Never seen anyone die before. Now you’re covered in your own brother’s blood and getting high off the giddy thrill of mere survival. Then you’re turned lose to roam two amazingly rich, open-world islands where you can really start enjoying yourself, slowly and cautiously picking your tormentors apart. Before you know it, the elation you get from destroying a criminal empire hardens into a different kind of drug: revenge.

That’s when Far Cry 3 surpasses the standard shooter fare. An aimless twentysomething becomes a killer of killers, as feared as the insane warlords he wants dead. Between coolly tense stealth play and straight-up gunfights, you become the predator, stalking intruders in your jungle and murdering them at will. It all culminates in a moment where you must decide just how much you enjoy that particular power fantasy. Enough to abandon your humanity? Maybe.

Far Cry 3 goes there. Solid gameplay — minus a weak-tea multiplayer — and incredibly detailed environments lift it far enough, but its secret weapon lies in how it takes you into that dark, primal place. And then it dares you to ignore your basic animal instincts.

Rus’s other picks for best games of 2012: The Walking Dead, Fez, Halo 4, Journey

Contributing editor Rob Savillo

Contributor Rob LeFebvre

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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If you follow VentureBeat but don’t regularly check our GamesBeat site, here’s a list of the best video game stories we ran over the last seven days that you may have missed.

This week, THQ is in talks with a mystery sponsor about “financial alternatives” after its chief financial officer resigned, Treyarch removes the Nuketown map from public matches in Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and Fable creator Peter Molyneux turns to Kickstarter to fund a new “god game” project for his studio 22Cans.

You’ll also find reviews for Hitman: Absolution, Persona 4: Golden, Epic Mickey 2, Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed,  and the Wii U.

Pieces of Flair

• The GamesBeat ‘Naughty and Nice’ alternative holiday gift guide for your geek
• A soldier’s perspective on Call of Duty (interview)
• Christmas for ‘u’ and ‘i’: Kids want iPads, iPods, iPhones … and a Wii U
• Black Friday 2012 video game deals — updated regularly
• PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale unlock guide
• Wii games that never happened
• Snatched: 20 classic video game kidnappings (gallery)
• If Final Fantasy VII’s Aerith had a dating site profile

News

• The DeanBeat: How Gamesys is pioneering real-money gambling on Facebook in the U.K.
• Educational outreach program Pixel Academy looking for a place to call home
• Black Ops II gets an update on 360
• The future of mainstream machinima films: A panel discussion inside Second Life
• How yearning for arcade games like Ghost ‘N Golbins birthed Maldita Castilla
• Microsoft may be working on a ‘Xbox TV’ set-top box
• Molyneux and Curiosity developer return to the ‘god game’ with a new Kickstarter project
• 2K president: I have no doubt ‘that the Wii U will be successful’
• The Revert returns to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD in December
• Hulu Plus comes to the Wii U’s second screen
• THQ talking with mystery sponsor about ‘potential financing alternatives’ as CFO resigns
• GamesGrabr is a Pinterest-like social network for gamers
• Bayonetta locked down as GameStop preorder exclusive for Anarchy Reigns
• GamrRank engages gamers with fun challenges and deep social-networking hooks
• 5 things game developers need to know about mobile advertising in China
• PlayStation Mobile is now open to all developers; Sony wants to work with indies on Vita and more
• Graphics comparison: Grand Theft Auto V’s trailer re-created in GTA IV’s engine (video)
• Call of Duty: Black Ops II ‘Nuketown 2025′ preorder map removed from public matches [update]
• Video game e-commerce: It’s about serving the fans
• A fiery debate on the regulation of social casino games
• Sony announces new Uncharted game for Vita — and it probably isn’t what you wanted
• Google Hangouts provider Vidyo powers video chat for Wii U (and sees a $1B opportunity in Nintendo)

Reviews

• Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two promises too much and ultimately disappoints (review)
• Threeview: Assassin’s Creed III reviewed by a critic, an analyst, and an academic
• PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale successfully brings the fight to Smash Bros. (review)
• Persona 4: Golden is secretly multiplayer, and you’ll love it (review)
• Hitman: Absolution aims high but misses the mark (review)
• Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed challenges Mario Kart for the gold (review)
• Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion is the mouse’s greatest gaming adventure in years (review)

Wii U

• Gadget lovers and gamers: Here’s a look inside the Nintendo Wii U
• 7 Wii U games too insane to exist (we hope)
• The Wii U gets a YouTube app to bolster Nintendo’s living room ambitions
• Bricked Wii U owners will have to send their consoles to Nintendo for repair
• Your Wii U won’t connect to the Internet? Here’s the fix
• Nintendo Wii U reviews: It’s an intriguing Wii successor that will get better
• The Wii U launch title review roundup
• Wii U debug menu reveals something called ‘Yoshi’s Land Wii U’
• Why you should wait on a Wii U (review)

Previews

• Ace of Spades is much more than just ‘Minecraft with guns’ (hands-on preview)

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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Turning a completely single-player game into a multiplayer experience doesn’t have to suck, but most of the time developers choose the quickest and most jarring and disruptive options. Persona 4: Golden proves that you can introduce an online community into an offline world without shoving in unnecessary options like competitive battles.

But Persona 4: Golden is much more than online connectivity. With all-new characters, items, and locations, the Yasogami investigation team has a lot of work cut out for them as they look into a chain of grisly supernatural murders taking place in the sleepy rural town of Inaba.

What you’ll like

Smart online components
Persona 4: Golden is all about subtle yet brilliant online flourishes. As you guide the main character through the murder mystery in his new high school, you can occasionally tap on a little bubble in the top-left corner of the Vita screen. Doing so pops up tons of messages revealing what other players did with their after-school hours. Since both versions of Persona 4 follow a fairly strict calendar schedule, succeeding at the game means carefully budgeting time day-by-day. Seeing what other players did might reveal new strategies or overlooked side quests.

But the online functionality isn’t limited to thought bubbles. Once you enter a dungeon in the TV world, you have the option of sending out an SOS message, similar to the notes you could leave in Demons’ Souls and Dark Souls. If you find yourself trapped in a dungeon with little to no healing capability or escape items, other players can find your SOS and heal your party.

This is that multiplayer component I mentioned before. Even though you are playing through the game on your own, the fact that you can fall back on other players when you’re in a tight spot is a very endearing and helpful mechanic. The developers didn’t have to work social and online components into Persona 4, but how they did it is completely unobtrusive, optional, and ultimately very useful if you take advantage of it.

Other developers should learn from Atlus’s example here. Gamers don’t need multiplayer shooting matches to interact, and sometimes anonymous companionship is preferable to building up friends lists.

New content
If you’re concerned that Persona 4: Golden is just a port of a PlayStation 2 game, you worry too much. Atlus knows its fans and knows that new characters, scenarios, and explorable locations mean the world to players returning to their favorite games. So Persona 4: Golden is simply bursting with new content.

The one most notable changes, besides the online connectivity, is the inclusion of a new side-story character named Marie. She’s a grumpy yet intriguing girl who doesn’t seem to like the protagonist much when you first meet her, but eventually she softens. Marie’s story is integral to many new components in Persona 4: Golden, so hanging out with her is an absolute must if you’ve played the game previously.

Players also have the option of exploring a new neighboring town called Okina after they learn how to ride motorized scooters. This gives you access to more shops and unlockable goodies. You can even buy new outfits to wear when you’re exploring dungeons in the TV world, some of which are very silly.

More forgiving dungeon mechanics
When you die in the original Persona 4, you start from your last save. This is a frustrating role-playing game holdover from the dark days before autosaving. Every gamer probably has a horror story about finally making it through a tough dungeon only to die in a boss fight before saving their progress.

Well, Persona 4: Golden breaks the save-reload tradition by letting players start from the beginning of the floor or stage of the dungeon they died on. So, if you perish in a boss fight, you’ll pop up just outside the doors leading to the fight in the same condition you were in before the battle started. This is a lifesaver, especially when you realize how unprepared you were for the boss in the first place.

The developers also tweaked Persona’s card-based battle reward system. After some battles, players get the chance to pull a tarot card from a spinning deck that gives them a new creature to summon in battle or various stat boosts. Originally, you would look at the cards and try to keep an eye on the one you wanted as they shuffled in front of you.

In Persona 4: Golden, the cards shuffle before you see them and now have various secondary effects. Some cards diminish how much money or experience you earn in a fight, but choosing that card might grant you the chance to pull two more from the deck. Since new Personas are often found in the shuffle, sometimes taking a debuff can lead to a greater reward.

What you won’t like

Chie’s new voice
When Chie Satonaka’s voice changed for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 fighting game Persona 4 Arena, I feared that the new version would make its way into the Vita rerelease. With all the added content in Persona 4: Golden, the localization team opted to rerecord all of Chie’s lines with the same voice actress from Arena, and in so doing irreversibly changed how players will think about the character.

I’ll be honest. I wasn’t crazy about Chie’s original voice. She was sometimes a little too hammy, but when she needed to sound terse or extremely emotional, all her lines fell into place. The new sound is very jarring and cloyingly bubbly compared to the tough, Kung Fu movie-loving girl in the PS2′s Persona 4.

This change probably won’t bother people playing through Persona 4 for the first time on Vita, but returning fans will likely wrestle with the difference. Rather than sounding very commanding about her meat infatuation, new Chie is whiny and overtly girly despite her interests. The new voice simply doesn’t fit when compared to the old one.

But Atlus’s only alternative was to just add new dialogue to the game and leave a glaring vocal discrepancy between the original voice actress and the new one. So rerecording everything makes sense, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Seemingly endless exposition
This complaint is a holdover from the game’s original PS2 release, but Persona 4: Golden takes forever to get going. If you want an RPG you can hop into quickly, I suggest you avoid the Shin Megami Tensei series entirely.

The beginning of Persona 4: Golden is a 90-minute-to-three-hour slog through the main character’s arrival in the rural town Inaba and an introduction to the murder mystery hanging over the populace. Along the way, you meet the first three members of your party, realize Chie has an unhealthy obsession with steak, and fall into a television. None of that seems dull, but for most of this introduction, you’ll be clicking through dialogue screens and moving through scripted events instead of exploring the world.

Even though Persona 4: Golden is a fantastic adventure, heavy exposition is frustrating for many players and will certainly turn away some prospective Vita owners looking to break into the series. Japanese-RPG fans sometimes accept these narrative tools too quickly and forget that not everyone wants to watch a game play itself for hours at a time.

Conclusion

Persona 4: Golden is a beautiful and content-rich bundle of joy for Vita owners looking to dust off their woefully undersupported handhelds. The subtle incorporation of new characters, scenarios, and even online connectivity takes full advantage of the new hardware without compromising content or story quality.

But Persona 4 isn’t for the faint of heart. Playing it is a very long but ultimately rewarding journey full of unforgettable characters. It’s just a shame that Chie’s new voice can sometimes distract from her depth and place in the story.

Score: 98/100

Persona 4: Golden was released on the PlayStation Vita on November 20, 2012. Atlus provided a digital download code for this review.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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