Hi guys, sorry I haven't been posting a lot these past few weeks. I've been really busy playing Skyrim, Crysis 2, League of Legends, Minecraft, and as of a few weeks ago - Magic: The Gathering (not online). A few days ago I got Level 36: Radical Ninja, which is a pretty big milestone for me.

#10: Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS)

I was over-joyed when this game was announced. I've been waiting so long for another Animal Crossing, and I'm probably going to end up buying a 3DS for this game and the next game in the list.

#9: Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (3DS)

Last week I searched up Mario & Luigi RPG to see if a new one was on its way, and I was very sad to find out there wasn't going to be a follow-up to one of my favourite series. A few days later, Dream Team got announced.

#8: The Elder Scrolls Online (PC)

Really excited to see how this one turns out. I've applied for a Beta key, so hopefully I'll be able to try it out before it releases. I'm a little worried that this might ruin the series or put a dent in it, like The Old Republic and Final Fantasy XIV.

#7: The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct (PC)

As most of you probably know, I'm a very big fan of The Walking Dead. I've been collecting the comics for a few years now, and have been watching the TV show religiously. I really liked Telltale's TWD series, and I'm really hoping they work hard on this one, too.

#6: Grand Theft Auto V (PC)

Though I haven't been the biggest fan of the past few Grand Theft Auto games, I did enjoy the sandbox-aspect of it, and once I got into the story of GTA IV I've been looking forward to the sequel ever since. The trailers make this game look like it's going to be really fun, I just hope the game-world is big enough for my destructive habits.

#5: Crysis 3 (PC)

This one is already out as well, but I haven't seen a lot of gameplay for it because I've been trying to make my way through the first two Crysis games before I pick up this one, but from the trailers I've seen it looks like it's going to be amazing.

#4: DayZ (PC)

The stand-alone DayZ comes out this year, so having spent hundreds of hours on the original mod, I'll definitely be picking this up the week of its release.

#3: StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm (PC)

I don't know if this counts as a full game or an expansion pack (it's 40$ when it comes out), but I'm putting it on here anyways. I can't wait for this to renew my love of StarCraft. Zerg is my main race, so I'm sure I'll have a lot more fun with this than I did with Wings of Liberty (which will be hard!).

#2: The Last of Us (PS3)

Imagine zombies and Uncharted put together. That's what I envision The Last of Us to (hopefully) turn out to be, but I don't doubt Naughty Dog's ability to come up with new, innovative ideas. I'm really excited for this one, and it's probably going to be the first PS3 game I've bought in over a year (unless The Last Guardian comes out this year).

#1: BioShock Infinite (PC)

I always say how I'm okay with developers pushing games back to refine and polish them, but BioShock Infinite has been pushed back far too many times... We want it now!

#5: Guild Wars 2

I'll probably get some heat for this choice, as it wasn't everything that ?everyone? expected it to be. World versus World did not turn out as exciting as it looked in the trailer, which is the main reason that my friends were disappointed. I spent at least 80 hours on this game purely because I wanted to, not because I wanted to grind to 80 and quit. It's a really great game and the game world is exciting and fun to explore.

2011 #5 Game of the Year: Star Wars: The Old Republic

2011 vs. 2012: Guild Wars 2 (2012)

#4: The Walking Dead

It's no big surprise that I'm a major fan of The Walking Dead's comic series and TV series, and I'll be honest - I didn't expect the game to turn out as amazing as it did. When I heard that TellTale was going to be working on it, it gave me hope that the game wouldn't be a tacky TV show tie-in. What we received was a thought-out, original storyline where your choices make all of the big decisions in the game, which really puts you into The Walking Dead's universe.

2011 #4 Game of the Year: Battlefield 3

2011 vs. 2012: Battlefield 3 (2011)

#3: Dishonored

Being a Bethesda game, Dishonored was destined to be fun and enjoyable. It is very different from the rest of Bethesda games, and is probably the most unique game of the year. Though it isn't open-world, you will travel to large areas that feel open enough that you won't even realize you're restricted. The skills you will learn are fun and entertaining, and collecting new items is one of the most enticing things about the game.

2011 #3 Game of the Year: Portal 2

2011 vs. 2012: Portal 2 (2011)

#2: Borderlands 2

2011 #2 Game of the Year: Minecraft

2011 vs. 2012: Minecraft (2011)

'Humorous' doesn't even begin to describe the storyline in Borderlands 2. The characters are even more loveable than the prequel, the game-world is bigger than ever, and there are even more weapons than last time (quadrillions?)! It's such a fantastic game even without all the hilarity and jokes aimed at gamers.

#1: Far Cry 3

Far Cry 3 is the most fun game that came out in 2012. There is so much to do, even after you beat the game, and it has one of the best open-worlds of all-time. It is by far the best in its series, and though the storyline may seem like a standard action-movie, it feels like you're actually in the world's best action-movie. The graphics are fantastic, the gameplay is even better, and you'll actually be scared to go in the water because the sharks look so realistic. Congratulations, Far Cry 3.

2011 #5 Game of the Year: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

2011 vs. 2012: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)

Though it may be true that 2011 dominated 2012, these games are some of the best games I've ever played regardless of how good a year 2011 was.

I've been using a program called WordPulse, which I forgot to check until now, and since September 20th, 2012, I've pressed 2,431,058 keys and clicked my mouse 3,222,172 times. Honestly I didn't expect the difference between my clicks and key presses to be around 800,000, nor did I think I had clicked that many times!

Video Game High School (VGHS) Season 2 is now up for kickstarting on Kickstarter, with some cool rewards for backing (donating certain amounts of money). I've actually grown to like Kickstarter quite a bit, as it encourages people to donate to the things they enjoy, as well as help out indie developers for gaming and media (as well as other things that don't interest me as much).

Here are numbers 10 - 6!

#10: Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Though it did not live up to some of its greatest predecessors, Black Ops II fixes a lot of what Black Ops failed to excel at. The multiplayer feels a lot more balanced than its prequel (opinionated), and zombies are as fun as ever. I actually didn't expect Black Ops II to be good at all, since the formula for Call of Duty has been the same for a long time, but I ended up really enjoying this one.

2011 #10 Game of the Year: Deus Ex: Human Revolution

2011 vs. 2012: Deus Ex: Human Revolution (2011)

#9: Assassin's Creed III

Assassin's Creed III fixes nearly every problem with the previous games in the series. There's a lot more to do and you'll want to do it all, exploring is a lot more exciting and fresh. It's great to see a new landscape for Assassin's Creed, as the games were starting to look very similar (if not identical) to their prequels.

2011 #9 Game of the Year: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

2011 vs. 2012: Assassin's Creed III (2012)

#8: Diablo III

Diablo III has insane replay value and will definitely keep you busy for hours. The game is rather short, but it does a great job keeping you in by throwing exciting new challenges and great gear at you. It was a bit disappointing that PvP was delayed (yet again), there's still a lot to do in co-op.

2011 #8 Game of the Year: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

2011 vs. 2012: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (2011)

#7: Mass Effect 3

Mass Effect 3 is the perfect ending to a wonderful trilogy of games. The original ending may have been a bit rushed in development, but overall this is the best game in the series.

2011 #7 Game of the Year: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

2011 vs. 2012: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (2011)

#6: Max Payne 3

Having not played the previous Max Payne games and only watched the movie, I didn't really know what to expect when I bought Max Payne 3. It ended up being one of the most fun single-player experiences I've had in a long time. It's the kind of game that you want to keep playing, rather than in short bursts. I figured the multiplayer would be just a tacked-on experience, but it's very innovative and enjoyable.

2011 #6 Game of the Year: Batman: Arkham City / Professor Layton and the Last Specter (TIE)

2011 vs. 2012: Batman: Arkham City & Professor Layton and the Last Specter (2011)

Haven't posted here in a long time! I've been around, but I just haven't found the time to get back into posting blogs here.

Today marks my 4-year anniversary on GameSpot! Special blog to celebrate after I do this GOTY 2012 list!

This is my third year doing a Game of the Year blog, so it's a tradition that I'd like to keep around. I'll post the ten games that I'm nominating, then over the week I'll place them in an order of #10 - #1. Without further ado, here are this year's nominees (posted in alphabetical order):

Assassin's Creed III

Borderlands 2

Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Diablo III

Dishonored

Far Cry 3

Guild Wars 2

Mass Effect 3

Max Payne 3

The Walking Dead

Please note that this is a list of my Top 10 Games of 2013, meaning that Halo 4 isn't on here as I have not played it. I don't see myself getting an Xbox 360 in the near future, so I probably won't play Halo 4 anytime soon.

Sadly there was no new Professor Layton game released in North America this year, as they usually get high up on my lists.

DayZ was also not on this list, though it was one of the most fun games (mods, I guess) that I played this year. The reason it isn't on here is because it isn't a full game, and Arma II didn't come out this year. It is set for an individual release in Spring 2013, so it will likely be on my Game of the Year 2013 list if it's anywhere near as good as it was this year.

Fun fact: Out of all of the games listed above, I still did not play any of them as much as I played Minecraft and League of Legends this year.

I'm back (though I never left)! I apologize for not answering your questions or addressing your comments on my blog (I'm being formal because I feel like I have to since I've been away for so long), because I haven't been able to see comments. For the past 3-4 months, it has said that all of my blogs have 0 comments, so I figured GameSpot had messed up on me. That's not the main reason I haven't been blogging, though. The reason for this is that I was doing a lot of stuff over the summer, such as playing all of those games I bought at the Steam Summer Sale 2012 and going to Italy for a month.

Italy was fantastic and I had a lot of fun, but I won't be blogging the whole experience, since I sort of missed my opportunity to do that while we were in Italy, since I was out most of the day and had jet-lag, so didn't have a lot of time where I could talk about what I did each day. I will, however, be posting pictures of the trip in a couple of weeks' time.

I bought Guild Wars 2 about two weeks ago and have been quite addicted to that, though I only really get to play on weekends. I'm currently a Level 43 (I think) Human Warrior named Strider Greythorn. I'm probably going to review it soon since I feel like I've put enough hours into it to do so (I'll probably wait until I've explored the rest of the world).

I also bought the Razer Naga 2012 Gaming Mouse about a week and a half ago, which is that crazy Razer mouse with the 17 programmable buttons. Yeah, the one that looks like it has a cell-phone on the left side of it. I bought it mainly for League of Legends and Guild Wars 2, but it'll also be great for StarCraft II and other strategy games and RPGs. There's nothing wrong with the R.A.T. 7 I own, I just wanted to get another mouse to experience a different feel, plus it was on sale. I also bought a Razer Nostromo earlier in the summer and have been using that for almost all of the games I've been playing.

Though I do highly recommend both of these to PC gamers,only buy the Razer Naga if you plan to play MMORPGs, RPGs, strategy games or MOBAs (League of Legends, Heroes of Newerth, DoTA 2, etc...), because the buttons probably won't help very much in action/adventure games or First-Person Shooters. The only down-side to the Razer Nostromo is that some people won't like how it feels on your hand, and if that's the case for you, I'd recommend trying the Logitech G13, as it is a bit more comfortable (in my opinion).

I finished Breaking Bad Season 4, which was by far my favorite season of all. I won't say much more about it since I don't want to spoil it for any of you who haven't watched it yet, but it's a very eventful season. I'm only on episode 3 of season 5, so I'm not quite up to date yet, but I'm thinking season 5 is going to be even better.

In addition to finishing up to Season 5 of Breaking Bad, I also watched the first two seasons of Heroes in July, and I watched almost all of the episodes of Hunter x Hunter (2011) that have come out. It has quickly become one of my favorite anime series, and I suggest you watch it if you didn't get a chance to watch the original (or want to rewatch the original, it's kind of a rehash like Dragon Ball Z Kai).

I went to see Russell Peters tonight (or last night - woah it's late), and I laughed harder than I've laughed in a long time. The only bad thing was that I've got a bit of a cough, so the laughing fits started to hurt my lungs.

Well, I'm in Italy now! I know I haven't mentioned that I was going to Italy, but that's because I've been too busy to write a blog all summer.

Day 1

Day 1 was technically the pre-Italy phase. We got up at a reasonable time in the morning, I had a lot of sushi for lunch, then we drove to the Montreal airport (which took a good few hours, but I slept through most of it) and waited for a few hours before our 8:20 PM plane to Rome. The flight was pretty neat, and it was the first flight where my ears weren't in pain the whole time because I was constantly yawning due to lack of sleep (yawning prevents your ears from getting clogged). We each had our own television screens with a select number of movies, so I watched The Hunger Games (which was okay) and Bully (the controversial documentary).

Day 2

We arrived in Italy at 10:00 AM, so around 4:00 AM in our time. I've been so tired that I only recently figured out Italy is six hours behind us, instead of five. After gathering up our luggage, we had someone waiting for us in a Mercedes. The drive to our apartment was a reminder of how much different driving in Europe is from North America. For one, it's a lot scarier, because going down the highway at 140 can be quite thrilling.

Once we got to our apartment, we went out to get groceries, and came back with some Powerade and two jugs of water. I don't know why, but after not drinking anything for close to a day, Powerade is the best thing in the world. We didn't find another grocery store all morning that had enough food to cook a proper meal, so we went to McDonald's and waited in line for twenty minutes, then went home and slept until the evening. At around 9:00 PM, we walked around Rome for about two hours before coming home and sleeping for the rest of the night.

Day 3

Today, I woke up at 3:00 AM and watched Hunter x Hunter for a couple hours until the sun came up, then we got ready and went out in the scorching heat all day. We walked around and went to places like The Pantheon (not the League of Legends champion) and a few other things I don't think I can spell this early in the morning.

By around 2:00 PM, after six hours of walking around non-stop, we were pretty beat, but that was only half of the day... We went to tour the crypts, which was a really neat experience (plus it was cold,bonus). After that we went to a basilica and a place with about five or six rooms covered in the bones of humans. They've been there for a long time, and the reason you can tell is because there's a rule in Italy that says once a bone falls off the walls (the bones were all pinned to the walls and ceiling in different art patterns), you have to bury it.

Once that was done, we went home and slept until now. It's around 5:30 AM, and I realized I missed dinner last night, so I'm going to go get some right now.

What I would have spent (if the games had been normal prices): 495.00$

What I thought I'd spend: 200.00$

What I actually spent: 155.00$

I didn't plan to buy Saints Row: The Third (bought because it dropped to 12.49$), PAYDAY: The Heist (bought because all of my friends decided we should play it over the week) and Bastion (bought it because I couldn't resist the low price and had planned to put it on my wishlist). The rest of the games I bought were all on my Steam wishlist (which was essentially a "to-buy" list for me for the Steam Summer Sale 2012).

Here is a full list of what I've bought so far:

• Alan Wake
• Alan Wake's American Nightmare

I haven't played a lot of survival horror games since I played through Cry of Fear and wet myself, but I had been anticipating Alan Wake coming to PC since I first heard about it getting ported over. I almost bought it when it came out, but decided I'd wait for a sale. I'm glad I did, because I got a great price on both of them.

• Arma 2
  
• Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead

Most people nowadays are buying Arma 2 for DayZ, a popular zombie mod that just came out. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying people don't want to experience Arma 2 for what it is, I just think that people have taken a sudden interest in it since DayZ came out. I've tried Arma 2, and to be honest I'm actually enjoying it more than DayZ, probably because I'm impatient and get frustrated when games glitch a lot, even if they're in Alpha.

• Bastion

I hadn't heard of Bastion until a few weeks before its release, when someone from GameSpot mentioned they were working on it. I never really took an interest in Bastion, as I figured it would just be another RPG that I'd have to spend 10 hours on before I understood, but I was completely wrong. The game isn't easy by any means, but it isn't so complex that it turns users away. I'm glad I got Bastion.

• The Binding of Isaac

I bought this one (not just because I share the same name as the protagonist) because I'm a big fan of Edmund McMillen's games (i.e. Meat Boy) and I had played it with a friend a few days prior, and I really enjoyed it. I can't really compare it to anything, since this game is one of the most unique ideas out there, and to get a real feel for it, you've gotta play it for yourself. It was on sale for 1.25$ and will probably go b ack to that on the last day of the sales.

• Cities XL 2012

Out of all the games I bought, this one is probably the least popular among reviewers and my friends on Steam (I'm the only one out of all my friends who has it). It's actually a really fun game, but I do agree that it isn't even close to being as good of a city simulator as SimCity.

• Crysis
• Crysis Warhead
• Crysis 2

These three games were at the top of my wishlist, and there were a few times where I almost just bought them at Best Buy, but decided not to because they would have cost me 70$-80$ for both. I was planning to get Crysis 2 when I bought my computer to help me test it out, but instead I got a bunch of other games during the Steam Summer Sale 2011, back when Crysis 2 wasn't on Steam.

• DiRT 2

A few weeks ago, I realized that I didn't have any racing games for PC, so I started looking at the DiRT games and the Need for Speed games, and the one demo that I had the most fun with was the DiRT 2 demo, so when I saw this drop down to 4.99$ I had to pick it up.

• Fable III

I still can't believe I managed to get this game for 12.49$ (75% off). I've heard it's not a great Fable game, but I've always wanted to try Fable, and this is the only one they have on PC.

• Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

I wanted to buy a racing game during the sale, and it was really a toss-up between this and DiRT 2, and they were both on sale for 5$ so I bought them both. This is definitely my favorite of the two, and it is a very fun and addicting game with a great sound-track.

• PAYDAY: The Heist

I never thought I'd be buying this game. I only bought it because my friends said they were getting it (since they did), and told me "It's only 5$, you should buy it". It's a fun game, but I don't think I would have paid any more than 5$ for it, because it's pretty repetitive and there aren't a lot of missions.

• Saints Row: The Third

I did not expect that I would be buying this one, either. I didn't really have too much of an interest in this game, but I did think it looked like fun (but not the 50$-worthy kind of fun). When I saw it at 12.49$, like Fable III, I jumped at the opportunity and bought it right away.

• Sid Meier's Civilization V

I just bought the regular one, not the Game of the Year Edition for the extra five bucks. The reason for that being because I've never owned a Civilization game before, so I thought I'd try it out, and if I really like it months from now, maybe I'll pick up some of the DLC. I'm a big fan of Sid Meier's Pirates, which is the main reason I thought I'd get into Civilization.

• Sonic Generations

A few of my friends recommended this one to me, and it looks like a game I'd enjoy, because I played a lot of 2D and 3D Sonic games while growing up.

• Train Simulator 2012

I honestly only bought this because it was 90% off. I'm not really ashamed of that because I was interested in it awhile back due to how much DLC it has (over 1000$ worth).

• Tropico 4

I was going to buy Tropico 3 because it was half the price, but for another 3.50$, I figured I might as well upgrade to the newest version.

• The Witcher: Enhanced Edition
• The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition

These, along with Crysis and Alan Wake, were at the top of my list. I'm really excited to play these, especially because two of my friends gave The Witcher 2 their Game of the Year award.

Star Wars: The Complete Saga

I got this about two weeks before my birthday, which was perfect timing as it had just dropped in price at our local Future Shop. So far I've only watched (or rewatched, I suppose) half of A New Hope, and it's just as amazing as it was when I was a kid. The only down-side is that the backdrops don't look as realistic as they did when the film was all grainy and not crystal-clear.

Breaking Bad: Season 4

Breaking Bad was another one of those shows that once I started the first episode, I was instantly hooked (same thing with The Walking Dead, Falling Skies, House and Heroes).

Battlefield 3 Razer BlackWidow Ultimate

This keyboard is a special version of the keyboard I was previously using (Razer BlackWidow Ultimate), which I had asked for since some of my keys on my old BlackWidow Ultimate weren't working due to someone spilling chocolate sauce on part of my keyboard.

Battlefield 3 Razer Onza Tournament Edition

I had been eyeing this since I first saw it at a store months prior to buying it, and I almost bought it on the spot. I ended up buying this with some birthday money during a daily deal at Canada Computers for 15$ off, and I've already used it to beat Max Payne 3. I've also been playing some Battlefield 3, Dirt 2 and Alan Wake with it, along with the occasional other game.

Star Wars: The Old Republic Razer Mouse Mat

Like the Battlefield 3 controller, I got this when it was on sale for 10$ off, which is yet another bonus. It's another item that I'd been eyeing, since I have a weird mark on my wrist which I thought was from my wrist scraping against my StarCraft II mouse-pad, but it turns out it's happening with every mouse-pad I try. This is still a fantastic mouse-pad, though, and I haven't had any problems with it sliding around while I'm gaming.

Justice Gundam and Dreissen (Unicorn Ver.)

These are both Gundam model kits that I'd been wanting for a while, so I was really excited when I got these. In case I hadn't made it obvious, Gundams are a pretty big hobby of mine. I'll make sure to put some pictures of them when I do a tour of my room, if I ever get around to that.

It's been over a month since I last blogged... Wow. I was sort of taking a break from blogging, but I've still been on GameSpot quite a bit, especially during the E3 week. A lot has happened since I last talked to you guys, such as Diablo III, Anime North 2012, E3 2012, and some pre-birthday celebrations.

I think the main reason I haven't blogged is because I figured with the new GameSpot update, my blog would no longer be visible, but that was incorrect. That was around the time that I bought Diablo III and got addicted to that for about a month, but I'm starting to get a little bit bored of it, as I've already put it around 130-140 hours on it. I'll probably start playing again once PvP is about to come out. I'll also be doing a long review on Diablo III, since I think I've experienced most of what the game has to offer.

I've been looking into this new game called "Starbound" after playing Terraria for the first time in months, because there was a link to it when I clicked to open Terraria on Steam in the news feed. I read the article, and it basically seems like Terraria in an outer-space environment. I think it would be very funny if the developers of Terraria called the game a "rip-off of our game", especially considering how close Terraria is to being a 2D Minecraft.

I've got a few blogs that I've been meaning to do, so I'll do them! I'll probably start with my Anime North 2012 blog, then do the E3 2012 blog, then my birthday blog, then my Steam Summer Sale purchases blog (which will be next month), then do my room tour! Oh, and a Diablo III review will be somewhere in there, as well. Until then, g2g ttyl glhf.

I was originally going to order a cosplay online, but the shipping was either too expensive or free,but the cosplay itself costed over 200$. Instead, I decided to have a Sabo cosplay made for me. If you don't know who Sabo is, he's a character from One Piece, my favorite Anime & Manga series. I won't give you any back-story on him since that would include major spoilers, but here's a picture of him.

I got his hat today, and the costume itself is being made by someone I know, so they aren't going to charge me for the materials and time, which is really nice. The total for my costume will just be the 19.99$ for the hat.

Last year I went as Tobi from One Piece, because I had bought the robe a few years prior but never ended up going to an Anime convention until Anime North 2011 last year.

I didn't save up a lot of money for Anime North last year because I didn't think I'd spend more than 200$, but I ended up spending close to 300$, mostly on Gundam models and other miscellaneous things like buttons and posters. This year I'm going to be buying more Gundams, but instead of going for quantity I'll probably go for quality, and buy bigger Gundam models (1/100). I also want to buy a few other things that I'll show below.

One Piece

Portrait of Pirates: Whitebeard & Silvers Rayleigh

Portrait of Pirates: Marshall D. Teech (Blackbeard) & "Red-Haired" Shanks

Thousand Sunny Model Kit