GIFs are cool! Here is my Top 10 GOTY 2015 list in GIF form (I planned to make all these but I'm lazy and a dirty thief):

If your life is without the amazing experience of the Ice-T FINAL LEVEL Podcast then SORT. IT. OUT.

2 Episodes in and I am more than confident in saying that it is the most enriching edutainment that will ever enter your ears! I can't simply can not contain how amazing this is. Hear him talk about operating systems, Justin Bieber (PUMP THE BREAKS SON!), replacements for the words 'bitch' and 'gay' in order to not be offensive and then hear him sell you fitness apps. Oh and they made it to no.1 on the gaming podcast charts so that 1. Makes it relevant to here and 2. IS AMAZING. SMG REPRESENTIN'!There is even some #RealTalk about online gamers.

There is a whole segment in episode 2 about Ice-T impersonators and somehow a certain a John Vignocchi does not come up. What's that about??!

I listen to a lot of podcasts and it's very easy to follow advertising trends and watch as they overlap in each cast and It's becomes a whole new level of amazing listening to the legend himself advertising these same products that the likes of the GB crew and Garnett Lee have in the past...

I just... I can't. Just... Just Subscribe on iTunes and all that... It's amazing, you are missing out. 10/10

http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-paragon-collective/icet-final-level

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/ice-t-final-level/id792629018?mt=2

Titanfall - Game of the show? Probably. Game of every year? Maybe. Simply amazing. Got in twice, winning team both times and pretty high up the scoreboard as well. Played like a crazy run and gun maniac and got away with it. Played a tactician (which was a female class - that was nice too see) had a lock-on pistol which was a laugh. Called in a Titan about 10 times per match and at one point I watched about 6 Titans go at it and it was incredible. The fancy new epilogue section is one of my favourite things and pretty clever. AI enemies dotted about the map is the smartest thing. Played on PC. SO PRETTY. Just so much fun!

DEAD RISING 3 - First time playable which was a huge shock. Seemed like a last minute get for EG. Glad I got in to try it out. Massive fan of the first two and this looks to just be a whole lot more. Dumb gritty look is very strange when considering all the new silly combo weapons such as blademachettes, motorfists, a dragon suits and a nuke. You can combine vehicles now, so I combined a steamroller with a motorbike and that was fantastic. I dressed up as a bull. A lot lot lot of zombies on screen, at one point it looked like Dynasty Warriors, and the framerate did seem like it kept up, I hear the Xbone boost really help them out, they said they wanted it locked at 30 by release.

Bayonetta 2 - More Bayonetta and that is REALLY not a bad thing! New weapons. New climax go crazy hair mode (great for bosses and bigger enemies). Witchtime is still the single greatest mechanic in any 3D character action game. Fighting on top burning jets was amazing, fantastic style and cutscenes as expected. Fighting along side Jean during one of the bosses was cool.

There Shall Be Lancing - Game of the show that I didn't know existed before hand. Insanely fun party game not unlike dive kick. Tight controls, easy to learn but had some high level tactics in there. Can't wait to play more and Sophie Holden was kind enough to hook me up with the build we played.

Batman: Arkham Origins - Good. I'm actually up for more Batman. New detective mode was great and I hope there will be many more than the cool example they have shown in that demo. Framerate was rough on the PS3 demo I played, hope that gets addressed by release. 1v100 mode sounds neat. Cutscenes are really goddamn pretty and well presented, new VAs are fine.

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate - Not fun at all. It's seems to be trying so hard to emulate the console combat and stealth gameplay and just falling flat on it's face. It ultimately might have a good story/progression but not worth pulling through with the current terrible gameplay.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 - Great fun. Enjoyed the demo and love the silly storyline of the LOS universes. The promise of modern day gameplay woven into Dracula's castle is neat and based of the ending of the last game will probably be appropriately bizarre. Robert Carlyle's voice acting is great once again and hearing him workshop the "what is a man speech" what so dumb/amazing.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate HD - Stupid name and completely junk. Should be the perfect marriage of old and new using the interesting new characters and story with the great classic 2D gameplay but fails and results in a bad mess, squeezing the 3D gameplay into situations were it doesn't work. Just like Arkham Blackgate. No idea why this is coming out in 'HD' as a download after the 3DS one was so bad...

The Crew - YEAH BOI! THIS THE JAMS. Yo me and ma crew are so pumped for this dig. We are going to smash it up BRAP BRAP. Played the demo with friends, it was a laugh. The missions seemed cool. Open world is HUGGGE. Car controls seemed a bit off though. I hope there is a airport runway mission. Transforming cars.

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number - More Hotline Miami, That's not a bad thing I guess.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds - I want it. I want it want. I it want it. I want it. I want it. I want it. I want it. I want it. Ughhhhhhhhh.

Killer Instinct - Looked like an okay 360 game with a stupid amount particle effects on screen. Played okay, the combo system was very easy and I could easily mash out large combos with no previous knowledge. Not really Interested and the F2P future for fighting games is not something I want to be a part of.

Luftrausers - Yes! More! Controlled and played SO well. Customization of ships was cool and I just want to play it now.

Dying Light - Dead Island but with parkour. Short demo. Played it right after Titanfall which was a bad idea because of how the rocket parkouresk movement in Titanfall is soo well done. Titanfall you guys!

Ryse: Son of Rome - "Good for a ps2 launch game" - A quote from my friend which I think is too much of a complement. Who is that game for...? Junk.

Kinect Sports Rival - Bum terrible kinect shit that I don't care about. Kinect 2.0 seemed no different and I had all the same problems navigating menus and playing the game.

Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z - Surprisingly fun. Silly combat and mechanics. Didn't get a feel for the writing as there was no sound or subtitles, so that's probably terrible.

Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag - Wow. I was impressed. I told myself I wouldn't be fooled after being SO let down by AC3 but it came out with a lot more than I expected. Fantastic demo with the open world, sailed around on my ship, singing songs and shooting other ships. Dived into the ocean and swam up to remote islands to explore and fight. Really fun. I don't think I will get it at launch just to be safe. Though now I am way more interested in the finished product. Ran really well on the PS4, hit a few bugs though.

Achtung Arcade - Incredible. Just such fun, the machine was insanely loud and there was a wall of thoughts behind it with very confusing messaging. Got to meet and chat with Sos and he is a complete hero. I got a photo with him while we both screamed "video games", so that was cool. http://achtungarcade.com/

Doom Piano - Best, most immersive way to play Doom.

Octodad: Dadliest Catch - Seemed just a great as the original. Controls worked well on the PS4 pad. Didn't look particularly next gen.

Resogun - Best thing I played on the PS4, pretty and amazing fun. Such a good get for EU PS+. Can't wait to play more!

Sonic Lost World - Surprised how much I enjoyed the demo. Pretty much just Mario Galaxy but with the best 3D sonic controls and a great sense of speed. Could be fantastic.

Super Mario 3D World - Plays great, just like the killer 3DS game. More fun and less chaotic in 4 player than NSMB and actually seems playable through in co-op. Cat suit is puuurrfect.

Mario Kart 8 - Looks amazing. Plays well. I used bikes. Fun.

Tearaway - loved it. Really pleasant, controlled great, looked great and good use of the platform. Vita games? Would love to play it when released.

Knack - It was okay. Felt like early Crash Bandicoot. The building up Knack with particles was neat.

Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus - Seems like a return to greatness for Ratchet. Let's hope.

I missed out on Battlefield 4 on Xbox One, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze & Dark Souls II because of the massive queues but I bet those were all good. I heard from friends who enjoyed them.

Pinball - They had about 10-15 pinball tables setup at the back of the hall. I played around on Batman Forever, Terminator and Star Wars. I love playing pinball and it's one of those things I would own more if I had all of the money.

Retro Arcade - Great area. Played on a Sega Mastersystem. Played Donkey Konga. Played Garou: Mark of the Wolves with anyone who sat down. Wanted to get in on the intense Super Monkey Ball 2 multiplayer action.

Streetpassing - I did so much streetpassing. About 300 over 4 days. I went in with the plane of only doing puzzles which I am now 700/800ish but ending up using my time spent in queues playing and completing Battle and Mansion. Very fun for conventions and great way to kill time.

Xbox One - Controller was good, new dpad is amazing. Didn't get the rumble triggers, new shoulder buttons will take a while to get used too, don't know why they changed. I didn't enjoy many games I played for Xbox One (I played Titanfall on a PC), Dead Rising 3 was pretty cool. Kinect 2 was pish and I don't want one in the box.

Playstation 4 - Controller was amazing, touchpad button works incredibly well. Used it as a map navigation tool in AC4 I felt myself using it without even noticing which is great! Really neat addition. Didn't get to use the speaker on the controller. Sticks and triggers are tighter and fixed overall. Played some games, none of which blew me away, Resogun was probably the best thing I played on PS4.

Overall, my taste of the next generation confirmed what I expected. The new consoles and controllers are great but I've never bought a console at launch and I don't intend to because they launch with shit games. I'm mostly interested in the PS4 and InFamous: Second Son, so we will see what happens when that comes out.

Wii U - So I came away from eg expo thinking that I really want a Wii U... I played and enjoyed The Wonderful 101, Bayonetta 2, Mario 3D World, Wind Waker HD, Mario Kart 8 and a fair few enjoyable eshop games like Scram Kitty. Plus Smash4 soon.... Is it time? Hmm...

Eurogamer Expo - Overall, I had a great time over these four days but I can't put a lot of that on the Expo itself. There was a LOT of people! Like probably too much for the size of the hall and the amount of stations they had at each demo. The whole thing just felt badly organised. The layout of the floor was so bad compared to last year, I pretty much almost got lost this year and straight up MISSED some sections after days of exploring. The map was confusing and wrong. If I came for one day instead of the four I would be pretty upset. The early access is maybe the reason I will continue to come back as It was the one thing that allowed me to get access to the games that then became 2-3 hours queues by lunchtime. The staff had a real up and down feel, Some did their job well. Some didn't do anything at all and even let people push in line. I feel EGX (as it is now named) could learn from PAX (since they seem to be chasing it down with the name change etc.) and get public enforcers to go around and actually put in work. There were so many in 'STAFF' t-shirts walking around who didn't seem to do anything. The queues NEED to be addressed. The layout of some queues from some games was a complete joke and the queue outside to expo was not even funny. Each day was different and the whole queue was shifted as people pushed and shoved to get up front as the queues moved 3 times over each morning. The pit of people, as shown above, on the first day was shocking. I assume this was all for some big money shot for news pictures. It was totally dangerous and stupid. I had a good time at Eurogamer Expo and I can't wait to attend again next year but I really hope some of these large issues get addressed.

Five Guys - Well, I ate a lot of food when I was down in London. However, one night I queued outside for fast food... It was probably, maybe the best burger I have eaten... Me, @matt, @wunder_ and @pruneface had seven all in burgers between us so make of that what you will... #twoburgers Pretty awesome spicy fries as well as free peanuts? I dunno. Oh, they also had a coke freestyle machine, so that was amazing. I think I had a vanilla, lime, cherry, orange coke zero at one point. It didn't taste very good.

BUT MAN THAT BURGER WAS GOOD - DAYUM.

I'm probably going to upload the 100+ pictures I took to an album and link them here

ACTUALLY HERE IS A LINK TO THE FACEBOOK ALBUM CAUSE WHATEVES YOLO

.

PEACE OUT YO! :D

rmanthorp's Official Top 10 GOTY 2012

Here is my top 10 list for 2012. It's crazy the great games that didn't make my list like Darksiders 2 and Assassin's Creed III. This maybe wasn't the greatest year for games overall but I had a tough time narrowing down my personal top 10 which has never been an issue for me before. Maybe I just played more games?

	1. The Walking Dead The Walking Dead was truly an experience unlike anything else for me. It's a hyperbolic statement yet it's so very true. I've never been made to wait for each level or chapter of a game before and instantly proceeding to play the new chapter in one 2-3 hour stretch. I'm not even a big fan of the comics or show and zombies are not something that I’m keen on either. Despite all if this Telltale's The Walking Dead is my number one game of the year for 2012. I really like this game and I have talked about it so much over the last year discussing every single choice in each chapter with multiple friends over the social networks. Uhhgggghhhhhh EMOTIONS.
	2. Mark of the Ninja Mark of the Ninja is an incredible 2D stealth game. I've never felt more in control of my character and aware of everything that can happen in any moment which is truly a triumphant statement especially for a stealth game. The animation and style is so pretty and for what it's worth the story is not that bad with a pretty interesting twist at the end.
	3. Asura's Wrath I don't know why I like this game so much. It started as a joke but it became so much more. I love the design and style of Asura’s Wrath and for some crazy reason I love the stories and characters much more than I think I should. I have played the game five times across the three difficulties to unlock everything and I am still not sick of the events and I still get chills when I hear Yasha and Augus’ themes. Oh and the final chapter DLC is my DLC of the year because of reasons.
	4. Persona 4: Golden Persona 4: Golden I didn't even play Persona 4 Golden this year but the amount of information and content that I absorbed from my partner and friends playing the game is enough to cement the fact that when I eventually buy a Vita to play the copy that I already own for myself it will be one of my all-time favourites. I can't wait for Persona 5 and it would be a very smart idea for it to come straight to Vita. Persona + Handhelds + Bed = Best.
	5. Trials Evolution Trials Evolution is can at some points seem like more of a platform that a game. The level of creativity and diversity that comes from the robust level editor is itself enough to create an insane amount of content for players to dive into. That does even begin to include the expertly crafted single player levels that make Trials Evo one of my favourite platformers (because let’s be honest, that's what it is) of all time.
	6. Dishonored Dishonored really took me by surprise to the point that I didn't even follow the game until a week before release. Then it blew me away, the world of Dunwall was incredibly immersive and i was pulled into the story and characters in a way I didn't expect. The story and characters come at such an additional benefit because the gameplay in Dishonored is close to perfection with some of the greatest level design I have ever experienced. Who cares how short the main campaign is when it is infinitely replayable and so tight throughout.
	7. Borderlands 2 Borderlands 2 is my most played game of 2012 with over 150 hours I really got in deeper than I ever expected. Loot games have never been a huge draw for me with games like Diablo and Torchlight just not doing enough to hold me. Now I am in the majority here acknowledging that the writing and characterisation in BL2 is overall pretty terrible but I can't say it didn't get a few big laughs out of me and the main thread was interesting enough to spur me to keep on trucking even when my co-op players began to drop. The DLC continues to be great.
	8. Spelunky I love Spelunky even though Spelunky hates me and I actually hate Spelunky. Well, maybe I love Spelunky and I hate myself. Ahh, I don't know! This game is really good or something but it's also really messed up. I feel like this was my FTL (which I am dreading playing at some point) I have so many amazing stories to tell that always end in - 'and then I died and it really sucked.' This OG roguelike platformer got the HD treatment with an additional multiplayer which turned out to be an exhilarating party game.
	9. Mass Effect 3 Mass Effect 3 was maybe not the greatest game in the series by any factor but it was still an incredible game and I just get lost in that world over and over again. Oh and the multiplayer was a huge surprise and really enjoying even after I found myself sighing when it was first announced.
	10. SSX This game JUST made my top 10 list this year and that sucks. SSX was my most anticipated game for 2012. Defiantly one of my favourite series back on the PS2 I played (and still do) Tricky and 3 to death. This game was close yet so soooo far. I really want that team to get another shot and next time I hope EA focus more on quality over quantity.

Hey guys,

as with a LOT of other duders here on the site I am super excited for the new SSX. One feature that really interests me is the ability to import you own music and have it remixed in the crazy SSX fashion. So after a while of thinking to myself what tracks I should use I decided to use the soundtrack for SSX3 (which is still something I most likely will be doing) then I got to wondering what everyone else will be doing. However, instead of this just becoming a discussion of your favourite music I put a challenge to the Giant Bomb community.

Make me the best/worst SSX soundtrack ever

• One track per user that you strongly feel fits SSX
• Please post the title and artist and if possible a link to the song on iTunes, AmazonMP3 or YouTube
• I will then compile these songs and when the game releases upload them

I feel like this could go in two very different directions but I'm excited either way. Troll me or be legit, either way I will add every song that is posted. Now get thinking about the sickest tunes and get back to me!

EDIT: 05/02/2012 - SSX SOUNDTRACK - 48 Song files / 174 MB - Awesome.

About

What is This Year?

At This Year our mission statement is to produce summaries ("best-ofs" or highlights) of the best podcasts available on the internet. By selecting the funniest and most insightful moments of each episode and packaging it together in one easily digestible format we provide a succinct and fun way of listening to old shows. Typically we'll do yearly recaps -- that is, recaps of an entire year's worth of episodes -- but for podcasts with daily episodes This Year releases monthly recaps.

Why is this being done?

I (host and editor Matthew Floratis) undertook this endeavor for my own personal use. I wanted to cut through each episode and save all the parts I thought were the best so it wouldn't be necessary to listen through hours of material. That's not to say listening through hours of great shows is an arduous task -- it's just that sometimes you want to get only the big beats and the highlights. It occurred to me that others would probably like to hear the product of my work, and I hope that you can get as much joy out of these shows as I do.

http://thisyearcollection.blogspot.com/

I recently discovered This Year a couple of weeks ago just before I started moving flats and I have to say it did a huge part in keeping me sane over the weeks that I had little to no access to the internet or even electricity at times. Matthew Floratis (Who also writes for Whiskey Media's Screened.com) does a fantastic job editing together a years podcast into an amazing 6-8 hours, he also takes a great effort to add his own introductions that give context along with helpful summaries and time-stamps on his blog. All the greatest parts of my favourite podcasts allow to take a crazy trip down memory lane, It was fantastic to listen to the last few years of the Hotspot and 1UP Yours and remember everything I was thinking, feeling and what was going on in my life. It was so amusing to hear the members of Gamespot and 1UP speculate about the future of gaming and wether Duke Nukem Forever would ever see the light of day.

I also recently wrote a blog about how he was holding a vote for his next project and the first years of the Bombcast and Arrow Pointing Down were in the running, however this was slightly beating by GFWL Podcast (which I shall enjoy listening to for the first time to see how the experience differs). It has since said that the Bombcast will get the This Year treatment and I personally cannot wait to start listening to all the old gags once again.

Keep on keeping dude. I hope you somehow find this and know that your work is REALLY appreciated! As for everyone else get showing your support and enjoy some good old fashion Gerstmann talk some shit about Manhunt 2!

Useful Link To Help Support

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/thisyearcollection

Twitter - http://twitter.com/#!/this_year

Formspring - http://www.formspring.me/thisyear

Edit: Ah he also has an account here on Giant Bomb http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/matthew_floratis/ ya'll should follow him.

Over the last few months me and friends decided that studying is overrated so we made this: 
 

 
http://marvel.crosscounter.tv/