Kickstarter has quickly become one of the most popular ways for developers to get their games funded and into the hands of players without turning to big name publishers. However, for every successful project, like InXile’s Wasteland 2 and Obsidian’s Project Eternity, there are unsuccessful ones – Dark Vale Game’s flagship title, Forge, failed to reach their intended goal in the allotted time. However, they have risen from the ashes of Kickstarter purgatory with help from Steam’s new Greenlight program.

2012 was a year about a lot of things, like (terrible) end of world predictions, the discovery of the Higgs-Boson, and Mars rover landings. But it was mainly about video games, and not just video games, but good video games, because the worst kind of video game is a bad video game. And those aren’t nice. Here are some that are.

When browsing deals online, I’ll surely find a pair of Skullcandy earphones periodically. On my first impression, I always thought that they were meant for aesthetics, rather than performance. I’ve always been one to favor performance over aesthetics. Fancy my interest when I saw that Skullcandy would be releasing a wireless gaming headset that would be compatible across the board for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. Needless to say, I was ecstatic that a headset would finally be able to follow me as I game away with the modern wireless gaming controller.

The year is 1998, and anticipation runs deep at the studios of BioWare and Black Isles with their release of Baldur’s Gate, a role-playing-game tuned to the rules of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons2^nd edition. Critics acclaim the game as the precedent for RPG’s all around, singlehandedly revitalizing the perspective of D&D on the computer. Interestingly enough, 1998 was just 14 years ago, and while Baldur’s Gate may not be the definitive “throwback” RPG in the shadow of games like RuneQuest (’78) or James Bond 007 (’83), it certainly has not been forgotten. Developers at Overhaul Games along with publisher Atari took a run at the pre-millennial classic this year when they released Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition. As its title suggests, there are hundreds of improvements to the game—something that seems impossible while maintaining the integrity of the original Baldur’s Gate. However, the game’s inherent complexity allows these changes to be made seamlessly as it keeps its classic D&D design.

As 2012 comes to a close, we look back at the games released this year. While everyone wants to point out the obvious “best games,” there are others that stand out this year and deserve recognition. Here are the five highlights of the year for me, even if they aren’t the epic, Hollywood production titles everyone looked forward to all year.

Digital downloads have quickly become one of the most popular ways for gamers to buy and for companies to publish. NIS America, known more for their anime-style imports like the Disgaea and Atelier series, has entered the virtual marketplace once again with the uncharacteristically serious Clan of Champions.

It’s always a tricky affair with licensed video games. Few can translate the success of the original media form to video games, resulting in a plethora of titles that accomplish little aside from filling up the bargain bin at retailers. With George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, it would seem that both fans of the series and engaging storylines in general are in for a treat. However, while that answers one key aspect of the title, it leaves many others and whether or not Game of Thrones would succumb to the curse of licenses in the dark.

Traditionally, the stealth genre has either focused on the use of existing technology, such as in Metal Gear Solid 3, or futuristic technology right out of a science fiction flick, best seen in Deus Ex: Human Revolution. However, with Bethesda’s Dishonored, the genre takes a whole different route and places the grunt of the character’s techniques in the supernatural. From what we saw at E3, it’s looking great so far and chunks of our minds are still being cleaned off the floors of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Racing games have saturated the market more so than the Madden franchise or the other sports genres. Each racing game tries to be unique to keep gamers coming back for more. Ridge Racer Unbounded is the newest installment in the Ridge Racer franchise, and while some racing franchises have built a reputation based on the realism or customization, Ridge Racer has maintained its simplicity and accessibility. Unbounded promised a more in-depth racing experience than any of their previous titles, but does it deliver?