Welcome to the Best of Kotaku, where I round up all of this week’s best content.
The gorgeous image above is part of my favorite design for a proposed BioShock Infinite reversible box art. It’s one of six choices, but so far my second choice seems to be winning out (as of this writing).
https://kotaku.com/you-can-vote-for-bioshock-infinites-reversible-cover-ar-5967888
Moving on to our Best Of content this week, we kick things off as usual with a comment from the community.
The Best Comment From The Community
Our favorite comment of this week comes to you from Synitare:
https://kotaku.com/ubisoft-brags-assassins-creed-iii-has-sold-through-7-5967912
So then, according to Ubisoft that means that ~133,000,000 copies have been pirated.
For context
https://kotaku.com/ubisoft-says-93-95-of-their-pc-games-get-stolen-by-pir-5936855
The Good And Bad of Battlefield 3, One Year (Or So) Later
https://kotaku.com/the-good-and-bad-of-battlefield-3-one-year-or-so-lat-5967112
David Veselka gauges the growth of Battlefield 3‘s multiplayer in the year since its release. More »
The Imperfect Art of Judging a Game Before It’s Out
https://kotaku.com/the-imperfect-art-of-judging-a-game-before-its-out-5967183
Stephen Totilo explains why it’s difficult to judge a game on a preview. More »
The Smartest and Dumbest Things Microsoft Did in 2012
https://kotaku.com/the-smartest-and-dumbest-things-microsoft-did-in-2012-5967152
Holden Miller rounds up what Microsoft’s year looked like. More »
Aliens: Colonial Marines Will Make You Jump at Every Freakin’ Shadow You See
https://kotaku.com/aliens-colonial-marines-will-make-you-jump-at-every-fr-5967473
Evan Narcisse uncovers what made the Aliens films so great in this first-person shooter. More »
Thirteen Things You Should Know About Metro: Last Light
https://kotaku.com/thirteen-things-you-should-know-about-metro-last-light-5967488
Jason Schreier is impressed with how much alcohol there is in this game (ok and other things, too). More »
The Smartest & Dumbest Things Sony Did in 2012
https://kotaku.com/the-smartest-dumbest-things-sony-did-in-2012-5967291
Holden rounds up a look at Sony’s happenings in 2012. More »
The Year in NSFW
https://kotaku.com/the-year-in-nsfw-5967102
Brian Ashcraft rounds up all the NSFW news this year. More »
Assassin’s Creed III‘s Final Chase Sequence Was The Worst Thing I Played All Year
https://kotaku.com/assassins-creed-iii-s-final-chase-sequence-was-the-wors-5967220
Kirk Hamilton is really sick of running and dodging over and over again. More »
Take a Look at The Legend of Zelda Manga Inside The Hyrule Historia
https://kotaku.com/take-a-look-at-the-legend-of-zelda-manga-inside-the-hyr-5967537
Evan gets us an exclusive look at the 35-page Hyrule Historiamanga. More »
The Best PC Mods of 2012
https://kotaku.com/the-best-pc-mods-of-2012-5967378/
Luke Plunkett rounds up a ton of awesome PC mods we’ve seen over the last year. More »
Changing Its Testimony, Gears of War: Judgment Remains True to Its Story
https://kotaku.com/changing-its-testimony-gears-of-war-judgment-remains-5967732
Owen Good takes an early look at the next Gears of War chapter. More »
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: The Kotaku Review
https://kotaku.com/the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey-the-kotaku-review-5967737
Jason finds The Hobbit captivating, even with its flaws. More »
No Longer a Rookie, Bryce Harper Wants to Welcome You to The Show
https://kotaku.com/no-longer-a-rookie-bryce-harper-wants-to-welcome-you-t-5967696
Owen Good reveals MBL 13 The Show‘s new difficulty beginner’s mode. More »
The Smartest & Dumbest Things Nintendo Did in 2012
https://kotaku.com/the-smartest-dumbest-things-nintendo-did-in-2012-5967846
Holden looks at Nintendo’s best and worst moves in 2012. More »
The Most WTF Review Scores of the Year
https://kotaku.com/the-most-wtf-review-scores-of-the-year-5968002
Stephen rounds up the worst video game reviews of the year. More »
Kotaku Timeline: The Last Guardian
https://kotaku.com/kotaku-timeline-the-last-guardian-5964547
András Neltz gives us a historical rundown of The Last Guardian. More »
Judgment Delivers the Multiplayer Feature Gears of War Fans Demanded
https://kotaku.com/judgment-delivers-the-multiplayer-feature-gears-of-war-5968005
Owen plays around with what’s basically Beast Mode vs. Horde Mode. More »
Here Are Three Possible Reasons For Including Rape In Far Cry 3
https://kotaku.com/here-are-three-possible-reasons-for-including-rape-in-f-5967772
Patricia Hernandez considers the possible reasons rape was included in Far Cry 3. More »
Reality Check: There’s a Strong Chance We’ll Have a PS4 and Xbox 720 A Year From Now
https://kotaku.com/reality-check-theres-a-strong-chance-well-have-a-ps4-a-5968211
Stephen speculates that we’ll get new consoles fairly soon. More »
The Hobbit Feels Like A Video Game. That’s Not A Good Thing.
https://kotaku.com/the-hobbit-feels-like-a-video-game-thats-not-a-good-th-5968069
Kirk dislikes The Hobbit in ways he can relate to a video game. More »
The Smartest & Dumbest Things Square Enix Did in 2012
https://kotaku.com/the-smartest-dumbest-things-square-enix-did-in-2012-5968003
Jason covers Square Enix’s biggest moves this year. More »
Weapons of Mass Disruption #1: It’s The Best Time To Be A Gamer, And Here’s How That Happened
https://kotaku.com/weapons-of-mass-disruption-1-its-the-best-time-to-be-30768142
Ben Cousins debuts a new column about what’s going on in gaming. More »
Beginner Mode: A Tutorial for MLB The Show’s Non-Tutorial
https://kotaku.com/beginner-mode-a-tutorial-for-mlb-the-shows-non-tutoria-5968306
Owen explains what “Beginner Mode” in MLB 13 The Show is all about. More »
The Best Video Game Music of 2012
https://kotaku.com/the-best-video-game-music-of-2012-5968289
Kirk rounds up a bunch of this year’s best video game soundtracks and leaves out Halo 4 (Hi Kirk!). More »
Baldur’s Gate 3 Was Almost Made Four Years Ago
https://kotaku.com/baldurs-gate-3-was-almost-made-four-years-ago-5967965
Jason teases us with news that Obsidian Entertainment almost made Baldur’s Gate 3. More »
The Year In Controls
https://kotaku.com/the-best-controls-of-2012-5968528
Kirks looks at video games that exhibited the best control schemes this year. More »
The Smartest & Dumbest Things Valve Did in 2012
https://kotaku.com/the-smartest-dumbest-things-valve-did-in-2012-5967968
Holden considers Valve’s news this past year. More »
