The above Ode to Garry’s Mod is a hilarious, silly and kind of moving tribute to one of the goofiest games in existence. Just watching it made me think of all the hours I’ve spent in the Source engine’s multiple iterations, from Garry’s Mod to Left4Dead and Counter-Strike. Without Garry’s Mod, we dudes at Smooth Few Films would have been unable to produce some of The Leet World’s stupider effects. It’s hard not to be grateful for that engine, and all the time I’ve spent exploring it for glitches, physics and lighting experiments.

So it got me thinking: what gaming experiences are you guys thankful for? From multiplayer to singleplayer, what experiences do you feel went beyond a hobby to something that actually played a big part in your life? Beyond Garry’s Mod, I’d have to say Mass Effect inspired my imagination more than almost any game in the last few years, and Halo gifted me with a way to stay in touch with all of my long distance friends.

What about you guys? What gaming experiences are you thankful for?

After a long wait, the Kickstater-backed iOS title Star Command finally came out today. If you’re unfamiliar with the game, Star Command is sort of a combination of Game Dev Story and FTL where you take control of a spaceship and its crew. There’s permanent crew death as well, so, much like XCOM: Enemy Unknown, prepare to get crushed when your little sprite crewmen die by getting sucked out of the airlock. Here’s the release trailer to get your interest piqued:

Hit the jump to read about the announcement plans for the next-gen Xbox.

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Nintendo’s been hit with a bit of the Legend of Zelda bug as of late, it seems — and I don’t think it’s a bad thing at all. In addition to the HD Wind Waker remake due out this fall, Nintendo has also announced Link to the Past 2, releasing for the 3DS this year.

The sequel to the much loved SNES game debuted during yesterday’s Nintendo Direct, introduced by the big Reggie himself. It takes place in the same world as Link to the Past, features some 3D dungeons and even allows link to become a wall drawing in order to solve some puzzles. While I never played Link to the Past (I didn’t own an SNES), I did watch a friend play quite a bit of it. I have no doubt that there are certain GamerSushi fans (and a few of its staff) that are freaking out about this news.

But what say you?

BioShock Infinite was announced a long time ago in gamer terms: 2010 was the first time we heard about the world of Columbia in any official sense (Irrational had been referring to the game as Project: Icarus before that). Even though we’ve known about it for three years, we can assume it’s been in development for much longer than that. Naturally, any game with a long gestation cycle will undergo a lot of changes, and BioShock Infinite is no exception. The folks over at Outside Xbox have a short video detailing the ways that Infinite has progressed ever since we first laid eyes on it, and I thought I’d share it with you for this week’s “Did You See This” Wednesday.

Even though we at GamerSushi are extremely happy with the end product, it’s crazy to think what could have been. BioShock Infinite isn’t wildly different in its final form, but Elizabeth’s powers were more broad in scope and the combat arenas were much more open and dynamic than they were in the final game. What do you guys think? Happy with how Infinite turned out? What features from 2010 would you like to have seen stay in the game?

One of the next big releases on the gaming calendar happens to be the release of The Last of Us in May. Developed by Naughty Dog, this game is set to be a new IP for the PlayStation 3, just in time for the end of this console cycle.

The release of the newest Red Band trailer for The Last of Us shows off even more of the story and the world than ever before. In this trailer we see more than just Joel and Ellie, we see communities, other survivors, some of the infected and different locales as well. Early trailers just showed off bits of the overgrown city, so it’s cool to see that the game opens up in a bigger way, with what looks to be a crosscountry trip of sorts.

What do you guys think of the new trailer? While I’m not completely sold on the actual game yet, I do have to say that Naughty Dog’s storytelling abilities are almost unmatched in the industry at the moment, so I’m excited to see what kind of journey they have in store for us. Some of the thematic stuff looks like what the Walking Dead show tries to tackle but constantly fails. Tell us your thoughts in the comments.

GDC is going on this week, and apparently Konami and EA were bursting at the seams to announce their games and couldn’t wait for E3 to roll around. Both Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain (a combination of the previously announced Ground Zeroes and, of course, The Phantom Pain) and Battlefield 4 were revealed with accompanying trailers. Metal Gear Solid 5 is just below, with Battlefield 4 after the jump.

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Nothing is more fitting for this week’s “Did You See This” Wednesday than the reveal trailer for Supergiant’s (the creators of Bastion) next game, Transistor. Moving away from the fantasy setting of Bastion, Supergiant takes their isometric prowess to sci-fi. Don’t worry, they haven’t left the more verdant color pallets behind; Transistor is just as visually pleasing and varied in tone as Bastion. Whether or not Logan Cunningham makes an appearance as a narrator is unknown, but I bet Supergiant don’t want to cast themselves as a one-trick pony. Here’s the trailer.

So, what do you think? Are you eager to try Supergiant’s next game? What do you think of the art style? Bummed that it’s coming out in 2014 as opposed to right now? What do you think of Supergiant saying that they “haven’t chosen” which platforms to release it for?

Seems that this last week has been pretty slow for gaming news, so we only have the premier trailer for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag to show you today. While it’s all pre-rendered, as is the way with Ubisoft’s announcement trailers for Assassin’s Creed, it does get me hyped for the game against my better judgement. In Black Flag, you’ll be playing as Edward Kenway, father of Haytham Kenway from Assassin’s Creed 3 and protagonist Connor’s grandfather. In the trailer, infamous pirate Blackbeard gives us an introduction to our new assassin.

This seems a little odd for the series, as pirate and assassin don’t really mix, but I’m down for it. Apparently the game world is an open ocean with a few major ports and a lot of little islands to explore. So far I’m down with Assassin’s Creed IV, but I’m definitely waiting for a bit after release before I buy it. What say you? Are you on board with Assassin’s Creed IV? Did the trailer work its magic on you?

Hola, Sushians. For Did You See This Wednesday, I bring great gaming gifts, like a spice trader who’s wandered across the internet’s vast desert on camelback.

OK actually, I just found some cool stuff I thought you guys might like to see. We’ve got two videos here. The first is an original piece by Tim Hijikema, who, if you’ll remember, made the excellent Video Game Planets piece almost a year ago.

In his new video, Video Game Locations, Tim re-creates classic video game locales, from Hyrule to Vice City. Set to excellent music, this thing is a crazy nostalgia tour. Can you name them all?

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When Dead Space 3 was first announced at E3 last year, it was met with a chorus of skepticism. With the addition of co-op and a revamped combat system, this formerly slow-paced horror game looked more like a Gears of War knock-off. Although Visceral games has said repeatedly that Dead Space 3 will still adhere to the series’ roots, developers are known to embellish a little.

The final act of a trilogy carries a lot of expectations, especially when the people making them add a bunch of new features and try to rework tried and true conventions. How does Dead Space 3 fare under the microscope?

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For Stop the Presses Thursday, the biggest pieces of gaming news to drop this week happened to come in the form of two trailers.

Bioshock Infinite, coming in March, is a game that I can’t quite seem to peg. It’s well documented that the original Bioshock didn’t quite grab me the way it grabbed everyone else, even though I was appreciative of its dark atmosphere and its art design. Meanwhile, Infinite’s city in the sky, Columbia, is almost the opposite of Rapture in terms of its look and feel, even if its dark underbelly is similar in theme.

This newest Infinite trailer highlights the secrets of Columbia, and gives us a bit more info about the story. This game is tempting me something fierce, guys.

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Sushians! As part of our new content spree of 2013 (which we’ve honorably dubbed as “Year of the Sushi” around these parts), we’ve started up our very own GamerSushi Twitch TV channel.

Last night I streamed the second half of Hotline Miami as a bit of a test, and a few of you joined and hung out for a little bit. And right now, Nick and I are streaming some Borderlands 2. Obviously if you see this a bit later, you’ll have missed out on the fun, but we’re working on some kind of loose schedule when we’ll be streaming some different games.

So yeah, join in on the fun. Year of the Sushi!

Update: All done playing now, but you can find the play session after the jump!

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It’s been a heck of a year guys, starting off strong with Journey and Mass Effect 3 and finishing off with a wide array of excellent games from Borderlands 2 to Halo 4 to Far Cry 3. This year has been so great in fact, that a video montage by YouTube user Malcolm Klock is the best way to send it off. Set to “Leaving Earth” from Mass Effect 3, the video has clips from thirty-plus games from 2012. Give it a watch and enjoy.

There you go! What did you guys think of that? Did you favorite game show up? What games were sadly missing from this montage?

It’s crazy to think that we’re almost a year out from Skyrim’s launch and we’re still getting DLC for it. Bethesda’s long-term commitment to their games this gen have been nothing short of astounding, at least where Xbox 360 and PC users are concerned. That aside, the trailer for the upcoming Dragonborn DLC for the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is out and it features a whole host of new features and areas.

Personally, I haven’t played any of the DLC for Skyrim, but Dragonborn looks like it will be a pretty meaty add-on, so I might consider picking this one up. In reference to the PS3 joke above, how do you PS3 owners feel about how Bethesda is handling the DLC for Skyrim? I hear that Dawnguard doesn’t even have an ETA yet, and who knows how long it will take to get Dragonborn.

What are your thoughts about the DLC? Are you in for more Skyrim?

Even if a game like Dishonored presents itself very seriously, there are still options to exploit its mechanics for moments of levity. One of my favorite YouTubers, birgirpall, found a way to turn Dishonored from a tale of a man seeking revenge into a comedy factory. It may just be his Icelandic accent narrating the entire thing, but I haven’t laughed this hard in a while. There may be spoilers for certain scenes in here; I don’t really know, I haven’t played the game yet. Just a head’s up.

Sometimes it’s nice to remind ourselves that people stil play games for fun as opposed to just finding ways to complain about them all the time. Just thought I would share this with you guys to try and brighten your day. Enjoy!

There may have been some crazy stuff going down at Irrational games over the past few months with some of its high-level designers leaving, but there’s no denying that BioShock Infinite is looking quite hot. It’s been a while since we’ve seen hide or hair of the game, but Machinima just released the Beast of America trailer for BioShock Infinite, and damn if it doesn’t get me excited. This game just needs to come out.

While I just couldn’t get into the first BioShock (I tried playing it about three years too late), I can tell that Infinite is going to push all my buttons in the best way. Leaping from cable to cable and blasting fools off floating cityscapes might just be too much fun. The game is still on track to hit its February 2013 release date. What do you guys think? Is BioShock Infinite still singing its siren song to you?

One PC gaming series I’ve always admired is Total War, mostly because of its adherence to large scale, semi-historically accurate battles. Last year’s Total War: Shogun 2 took us back to medival Japan, and for the next installment, Creative Assembly is taking another crack at classical antiquity with Total War: Rome 2. A recently released video from the developers showcases the upgrades they’re making including the new cinematic camera.

The fact that this game is just pre-alpha is kind of astounding and I can’t wait to try out the finished product. Total War is one of those series that makes PC gaming really shine. What did you guys think of the video?

It’s no secret that Halo 4 has a lot to live up in in terms of multiplayer, but this new video from 343 Industries fills me with confidence that they can deliver. Working in collaboration with Certain Affinity, the development team that made the best maps for Halo: Reach, 343 Industries has retooled Halo 4′s multiplayer with their own spin on things. While Ordnance Drops and Load-outs do sound like they came right out of the Call of Duty playbook, combining them with everything else in Halo 4 just seems to work. Check out this behind the scenes look at Halo 4′s Infinity multiplayer mode and see for yourself.

I don’t know about you guys, but this video made me genuinely excited in a way I haven’t been in quite a while. 343 Industries might have a huge team of talented people and giant development budget, but they seem to genuinely care about giving players an authentic, but fresh, Halo experience. I’m particularly excited for Dominion, which may turn out to be what Invasion from Halo: Reach promised but ultimately couldn’t deliver. What do you guys think about Halo 4′s Infinity multiplayer? Are you on board? Did this video make you a convert, or are you perhaps more wary now?

Live action Halo adaptions have a lot to live up to, what with Landfall, We Are ODST and Deliver Hope setting the bar pretty high. Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn is set primarily during the United Nations Space Command’s war with the Insurection, years before the Covenant invasion. It follows the story of one Thomas Laskey, a new recruit at the Corbulo Academy of Military Science. Along the way, he ends up meeting the Master Chief, an event which changes his life and puts him on track to be a highly-placed office on the UNSC Infinity, the giant spaceship in Halo 4. You can check part one here, with part two after the jump.

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One of the major reasons I upgraded my PC recently was to ensure that I would be able to enjoy the upcoming SimCity in all its simmy glory. It’s been far too long since we’ve had a proper entry in the series (the last being SimCity 4 in 2003) and this game looks like it will bring back all the fond memories I have of completely mismanaging my city because I’m really bad at financial planning.

There’s ten minutes of SimCity gameplay footage to watch, though, so go on. Take a look.

What do you guys think? Will you be getting the new SimCity?