Portal

You'll Want These Portal Action Figures Next ChristmasThey're from ThreeA, so your loved ones will need the time to save up, but look at them. They'll be worth it.


We've seen these before in their unpainted prototype state, but these painted models are just to die for.


Still no word on a release date or price.


ThreeA x VALVe Portal [ThreeA]


Portal

This Motion-Tracking Portal Turret Uses Your Webcam To Keep Intruders OutActually r4di0fly3r's motion-tracking turret probably won't keep intruders out. But it will startle them. And it will probably keep cats and dogs out from sheer terror of "OH GOD WHAT IS THAT."


You can download the software for your PC or Mac, or just run it off of the deviantART page since that didn't seem to work for me.


Interactive Portal Turret [deviantART via Reddit]


Team Fortress 2

Murraythis breaks out the Source Filmmaker to bring the internet a very Team Fortress Christmas.


Such great animation, and the Scout was the perfect choice to play the Christmas Eve sneak. He's such a dick.


Night Before Christmas... [YouTube]


Portal

Behold, A Portal Gun. Signed By Valve.Let's say you're a Valve super-fan. I know I'm reaching somebody out there with that label. And you want to buy yourself something nice. Something Valve-related that nobody else has.


Forget lithographs or coffee mugs. You need to get this. It's a replica Portal Gun signed by the development team. All proceeds go to charity (Child's Play). And at time of posting, it's on eBay for a surprisingly reasonable price of $760.


Considering the worth of something like that to super-fans, and the place your money is ending up, that's a steal.


Portal gun replica, signed by Valve for GAAM & Child's Play Charity [eBay, via Gamefreaks]


Team Fortress 2

Team Fortress 2 Celebrates Christmas With... Godzilla Tributes And Giant Robot EngineersTeam Fortress 2 just got itself a big Christmas update. I'm so far past playing this game that the significance is lost on me, but hey, that giant Godzilla poster is awesome.


Mecha Update [Team Fortress 2]


Team Fortress 2 Celebrates Christmas With... Godzilla Tributes And Giant Robot Engineers


Half-Life

Next Year, You'll Be Able To Buy Your Own Half-Life 2 Gravity GunSadly, it won't make the holiday shopping season, but toy company NECA's replica Half-Life 2 gravity gun will be available for purchase next Spring.


It's 1:1 scale, and as you can see from the prototype below, lights up as well. Since this is the same company behind the replica Portal guns, you could probably expect some sound effects as well.


1:1 Half-Life Gravity Gun Coming From NECA In 2013 [TNI]


Next Year, You'll Be Able To Buy Your Own Half-Life 2 Gravity Gun


Portal

As we told you back at New York Comic-Con, Ellen McLain, the voice actor behind Portal's GLaDOS, has a role in Guillermo Del Toro's upcoming Pacific Rim. Playing an AI.


As you can see in this new trailer, what this means is that, basically, she's playing GLaDOS in all but name. Well, all but name and maniacal intent.


Also, GLaDOS cameos aside, holy shit does this movie look amazing.


Team Fortress 2

Giant Team Fortress Statue Sadly Does Not Include Tiny Jar Of PissGaming Heads has been working away on a line of enormous Team Fortress 2 statues for literally years now, and are only now moving onto their fourth one. But that's OK. When they turn out as nice as they have, it's worth the wait.


The latest is my second-favourite Australian in the TF2 universe, a man whose accuracy and ability to pull of wearing a silly hat more than makes up for his slender build.


The Sniper should hopefully be out in Q2 2013, and will retail for $220 (or $235 for a slightly fancier, limited edition variant that comes with an African shield).


The Sniper [Gaming Heads]


Giant Team Fortress Statue Sadly Does Not Include Tiny Jar Of Piss Giant Team Fortress Statue Sadly Does Not Include Tiny Jar Of Piss Giant Team Fortress Statue Sadly Does Not Include Tiny Jar Of Piss Giant Team Fortress Statue Sadly Does Not Include Tiny Jar Of Piss Giant Team Fortress Statue Sadly Does Not Include Tiny Jar Of Piss


Half-Life 2

The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different TaleIf the Video Game Awards are actually an awards show, and not just a keynote for promoting upcoming games, then the big news from last night was The Walking Dead: The Game. Eminently quotable analyst Michael Pachter said before the show that if this title, a downloadable self-published game, took home Game of the Year, he'd eat his hat. To his credit, Pachter later tweeted out a request for one, presumably to consume.


But the surprises don't just stop there. The Walking Dead won Game of the Year coming out of the Best Adapted Game category. Except for 2003, the first year of the VGAs, when things were very different from today, only two adapted games have even been nominated for GOTY: Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, and neither won. This is a different time in games development, with publishers looking for games whose characters and stories they fully own.


Some might look to a licensed or adapted work and consider that the game derives its significance, or at least the attention given to it, because it draws on some other franchise in popular entertainment. So it's strange that a licensed, adapted work reminds us that story, and characters, and choices, and the memorable experiences they create, matters most.


Here's another surprise nugget: The Walking Dead: The Game earned its makers five Video Game Awards. The next big winner? Journey, with three (including a nomination for Game of the Year.) Borderlands 2 also took home three awards, the best haul for a traditional boxed console game.


So if you're thinking this might have been a different Video Game Awards, in its 10th year, you're probably right. Had the show given more attention to that purpose—only a handful of these awards were actually presented in the broadcast—we might be pondering it as a landmark year. The VGAs are often accused of being an industry popularity contest, but maybe this year they acquired recognizable critical heft. We'll have to see what happens next year, and the year after.


So here are the 25 winners of the 2012 Video Game Awards, plus the Game of the Decade. Two fan-voted awards gave Character of the Year to Claptrap from Borderlands 2, and Most Anticipated Game to Grand Theft Auto V.


The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Game of the Year

The Walking Dead: The Game

Telltale Games


Also nominated: Assassin's Creed III, Dishonored, Journey, Mass Effect 3
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Studio of the Year

Telltale Games

Also nominated: 343 Industries, Arkane Studios, Gearbox Software


The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Xbox 360 Game

Halo 4

Microsoft Studios/343 Industries


Also nominated: Assassin's Creed III, Borderlands 2, Dishonored
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best PS3 Game

Journey

Sony Computer Entertainment/thatgamecompany


Also nominated: Assassin's Creed III, Borderlands 2, Dishonored
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Wii/Wii U Game

New Super Mario Bros. U

Nintendo


Also nominated: The Last Story, Xenoblade Chronicles, ZombiU
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best PC Game

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

2K Games/Firaxis Games


Also nominated: Diablo III, Guild Wars 2, Torchlight II
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Shooter

Borderlands 2

2K Games/Gearbox Software


Also nominated: Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Halo 4, Max Payne 3
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Action-Adventure Game

Dishonored

Bethesda Softworks/Arkane Studios


Also nominated: Assassin's Creed III, Darksiders II, Sleeping Dogs
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Role-Playing Game

Mass Effect 3

Electronic Arts/BioWare


Also nominated: Diablo III, Torchlight II, Xenoblade Chronicles
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Multiplayer Game

Borderlands 2

2K Games/Gearbox Software


Also nominated: Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Guild Wars 2, Halo 4
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Individual Sports Game

SSX

Electronic Arts/EA Canada


Also nominated: Hot Shots Golf World Invitational, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13, WWE '13
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Team Sports Game

NBA 2K13

2K Sports/Visual Concepts


Also nominated: FIFA 13, Madden NFL 13, NHL 13
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Driving Game

Need For Speed: Most Wanted

Electronic Arts/Criterion Games


Also nominated: Dirt: Showdown, F1 2012, Forza Horizon
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Song in a Game

"Cities" (Beck) for Sound Shapes

Also nominated: "Castle of Glass" (Linkin Park for Medal of Honor: Warfighter); "I Was Born for This" (Austin Wintory for Journey); "Tears" (Health for Max Payne 3)


The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Original Score

Journey

Sony Computer Entertainment/thatgamecompany


Also nominated: Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Halo 4, Max Payne 3.


The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Graphics

Halo 4

Microsoft Studios/343 Industries


Also nominated: Assassin's Creed III, Dishonored, Journey
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Independent Game

Journey

thatgamecompany


Also nominated: Dust: An Elysian Tail, Fez, Mark of the Ninja
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Fighting Game

Persona 4 Arena

Atlus/Arc System Works/Atlus


Also nominated: Dead or Alive 5, Street Fighter X Tekken, Tekken Tag Tournament 2
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Handheld/Mobile Game

Sound Shapes

Sony Computer Entertainment/Queasy Games


Also nominated: Gravity Rush, LittleBigPlanet (PS Vita), New Super Mario Bros 2
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Performance by a Human Female

Melissa Hutchison for The Walking Dead: The Game

Also nominated: Emma Stone for Sleeping Dogs; Jen Taylor for Halo 4; Jennifer Hale for Mass Effect 3
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Performance by a Human Male

Dameon Clark for Borderlands 2

Also nominated: Dave Fennoy for The Walking Dead: The Game; James McCaffrey for Max Payne 3; Nolan North for Spec Ops: The Line
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Adapted Video Game

The Walking Dead: The Game

Telltale Games


Also nominated: Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Downloadable Content

Dawnguard for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Bethesda Softworks/Bethesda Game Studios


Also nominated: Leviathan for Mass Effect 3; Mechromancer Pack for Borderlands 2; Perpetual Testing Initiative for Portal 2
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Downloadable Game

The Walking Dead: The Game

Telltale Games


Also nominated: Fez, Journey, Sound Shapes
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Best Social Game

You Don't Know Jack

Jellyvision Games


Also nominated: Draw Something, Marvel: Avengers Alliance, SimCity Social
The Biggest Winners Helped This Year's VGAs Tell a Different Tale


Game of the Decade

Half Life 2

Valve Corporation


Also nominated: Batman: Arkham City, BioShock, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Mass Effect 2, Portal, Red Dead Redemption, Shadow of the Colossus, Wii Sports, World of Warcraft


Portal

As promised, LEGO movie-maker extraordinaire Kooberz has finished the first part of his epic re-telling of Portal 2 via the wonders of stop-motion animation.


This opening part runs for over five minutes. The amount of work that must have gone into this makes my head want to go lie down independent of the rest of me.


Lego Portal 2 Part 1/2 (Machinima Interactive Film Festival) [YouTube]


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