Excited? About DLC? I'd normally rather throw myself under a bus, seeing as 90% of the stuff is usually over-priced fluff, but 343 look to be putting a ton of effort into Halo 4's fancy Spartan Ops game mode.

An episodic series of co-op and multiplayer experiences, I knew they'd have some sort of narrative attached to them, but damn, didn't know they'd even spent money making more of those gorgeous Halo 4 cinematic sequences for them as well.

I missed the first episode, but the second should be out later today.

Zachariah Scott, a cinematic designer at BioWare, may have an unfair advantage when it comes to Source Filmmaker clips, seeing as he's not exactly an amatuer, but whatever. If professional videos are what we get when professionals use the tool, then we're all winners.

In this clip, TF2's Medic has an...episode after the loss of his beloved bird. It's far more haunting than I would have thought before I pressed play.

Bad Medicine [YouTube]

I'd like to think that a zombie Iron Man, retaining at least some small part of Tony Stark, would shamble around searching liquour cabinets and bars. Any brains or human flesh he'd find there would be just a bonus.

This images are the work of cosplay photographer Adam Jay, while the man—or what remains of a man—inside the suit is Kyosti Kallio.

Zombie Ironman [Adam Jay, via Rampaged Reality]

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I have a long-standing love of old-fashioned reference books. Like, the ones where the whole thing, cover-to-cover, is devoted entirely to illustrations of, say, Napoleonic cavalry uniforms.

One day I'll sort out just what that fetish means, but in the meantime, I'm going to indulge it with these pieces of Halo 4 concept art by Kory Hubbell.

A guy who's done work for companies like 343 Studios (obviously) and Zynga, he's now at Wildstar developers Carbine Studios. You can see more of Kory's work at his personal blog and CGHub page.

To see the larger pics in all their glory (or, if they're big enough, so you can save them as wallpaper), right-click on them below and select "open in new tab".

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The citizens of Puerto Rico have voted in favour of becoming the 51st State of the Union. It doesn't mean they necessarily will soon, or will ever be granted such status, but it's a sure step on the road to trying.

If they succeed, as has happened a few times previously in American history, the flag will have to be changed, so that it has 51 stars for each state, not the 50 it currently sports.

To help the government out, some Redditors have played the role of 21st century Betsy Ross, and have come up with their own designs.

I like the one above, by 55555 (even if it does only have 50 stars... maybe one's already been eaten).

51 state flag [Reddit]

I never saw this on a shelf as kid. I know this, because if I had, I'd have bought it.

RPS' Alec Meer has just put down the paperback adaptation of Microprose's 1994 strategy classic X-Com: UFO Defense (or UFO: Enemy Unknown), this year remade as XCOM, and while he reports it's a bit of a dull affair, I'm just impressed there was a novel written at all.

I mean, there are 1994 video games that were perfect for novelization. Blackthorne, for one. Or Final Fantasy VI. Or even Jazz Jackrabbit. But a game that was half turn-based strategy, half global management sim? I wouldn't have picked it.

Someone did, though. As these Amazon reviews show:

As a big fan of X-COM (I play X-COM 2 once to completion every January) I stumbled across this book and had no choice but to purchase it. It is possible I was being mind controlled by space aliens at that point.

Recognizing Diane Duane from some of her other work (Star Trek novels, mostly) was a bonus.

Having read the book (it's a quick read) I was left a little disappointed. In terms of content, it's the first half of a novel that was #1 in a series of several. In reality, it's the only X-COM novel I could find.

Not only is the book itself thin, the plot and the characters are too. How thin? Well let me say that sometimes the game mechanics shine through them. If you are looking for true Sci-Fi, or anything heavier than a McDonalds' Value meal, look elsewhere. Unless you are nostalgic for the video game, or need something to fill out your time in the bathroom then this book may be worth a read. Personally, I recommend finding something meatier.

I loved X-COM the book and the game, I wish more books were written and I love the game. I would say a movie about X-COM would rake in the dough literally. I wish it were longer and there should have been a sequal but hey I am happy with it anyway. Hope everyone else enjoys it.

This is one of the better books I have read. It centers on the building of a new base in Andermatt, Sweden. During the
building of the base the aliens find out and the X-Com team has to go into overtime to stop the advancing aliens. All in
all this book is great for those who like Sci-Fi. The only problem I can find is that there isn't another one coming.

Being so long out of print it's understandably hard to pin down a copy. Unless you've got more money than this thing is probably worth.

Wot I Read – X-COM UFO Defense, A Novel [Rock Paper Shotgun]

Being a colossal smash and money printing machine, there's not much more that can be done to Minecraft to make it more successful. So it's good to hear it's developers aren't really trying.

Instead of continually adding new stuff to the game from their end, Mojang has decided that the future of the game lies in the thing that's made it so successful to date: its user-generated content.

To that end, the team tells PC Gamer that they're hard at work re-writing the bones of the game from almost the ground up, so that in the near future they can release an official editing suite for the game (currently creating and installing mods can be a little too tricky for the casual user). Mojang is also looking at hosting their own private servers, so small groups of everyday users can build their own persistent worlds and experiment.

If the game as it stands can already support working computers and games of Team Fortress 2, it'll be interesting to see what the masses can come up with once modding is made easier.

The Future of Minecraft: what lies ahead for the all-conquering sandbox game? [PC Gamer]

Fifth Element? Dissidia? A gender-bending Dragon Age outfit? What a week it's been for awesome cosplay.

Yup, below you'll find a dude dressed as Dragon Age's Morrigan. And it totally works. As does everything else in an unusually strong week for the feature.

To see the larger pics in all their glory (or so you can save them as wallpaper), right-click on the "expand" icon on the main image above and select "open in new tab".

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Had a rough day at work? Too many bills to pay? Husband/wife been yelling at you for something/nothing? You need to relax. With your Wii U. And its menu music.

The last few Nintendo machines, the Wii especially, were what I'd call "whimsical". This, this is "scientifically engineered to calm you the f**k down".

Above and below you'll find all kinds of tunes from the system's front end, from stuff like the Wii U's new account screen, home menu and boot-up sequence.

Wii U Music [ZeldaPowerVideos, thanks Fernando!]

Valve's Source engine has been running most of the company's games for around a decade now, but despite some wizardry being performed on games like Left 4 Dead 2 and Portal 2, it's starting to show its age. Which is probably why the company is starting to ramp up the number of times it mentions its Source successor in public.

Back in August, some notes were found in code referencing "Source 2", then last week, during a fan visit to Valve's HQ, boss Gabe Newell said that the company was working on a brand new engine, not simply an upgrade to the existing Source Engine (which has been updated several times since Half-Life 2's release as it is).

I won't even bother asking what your thoughts would be on what game could possibly debut a new Valve engine.

Gabe Newell Confirms That A Next-Gen Valve Game Engine Is In Development [Lambda Generation]