Away from the slew of new announcements and trailers for next year's big hitters, Saturday's Spike Video Game Awards did live up to their name by recognising the best 2011 had to offer.
Chaos reigns in the brackish bayous of this endearingly ramshackle racer from Hydro Thunder Hurricane developer Vector Unit. An erratic police presence might attempt to uphold the law, but between the fluctuating prices of its illegal trading posts and the trail of destruction your air boat leaves in its wake – not to mention a frame-rate choppier than the winding waterways themselves – this is a world without order.
You can subscribe to Edge in print, on iOS via Newsstand an
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is the new number one in the UK all-formats chart, aggressive discounting helping it dethrone Modern Warfare 3 for the first time since both games were released last month.
The Halo Waypoint app, previously only available for Windows Phone 7, has been released for iOS and Android.
The app includes Atlas, the official multiplayer companion for Halo: Reach that shows multiplayer and Firefight map layouts and their weapon and vehicle locations, with Waypoint tracking match stats in near-realtime.
Our latest look at Mass Effect 3 comes from the weekend's Spike VGA, and with its release rapidly approaching BioWare is showing off its set-pieces, with Shepherd escaping from a Reaper thanks to the timely intervention of a Thresher Maw.
Mass Effect 3 will be released on March 6 in North America, and March 9 in Europe, for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.
More footage from the weekend's Spike VGA, this time a trailer for Square Enix's upcoming Hitman: Absolution, due next year for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
Developer IO Interactive promises an experience that is "familiar and yet significantly different" from previous games in the series - the most recent of which was 2006's Blood Money - with one new feature being a multiplayer mode.
Another trailer from the weekend's Spike VGA, showing off the return of Tom Clancy's Rainbows due in 2013 for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.
Patriots, the first in the series since 2006's Rainbow Six: Vegas, stars multiple protagonists facing off against the True Patriots, a revolutionary group seeking vengeance on corrupt politicians and financiers.
Our latest look at Irrational's sky-bound adventure comes from the weekend's Spike VGA, and blends clips from previous gameplay demos with all-new footage.
There's still no release date for this third entry in the BioShock series, due some time next year for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Read our major preview of BioShock Infinite here.
Rocksteady's acceptance video for its Spike VGA award for Best Character shows Joker clutching a "Batman: Arkham World script".
Hardly official, but accidents don't happen in the tightly planned world of acceptance videos and trailer reveals - nor even Joker-style pranks given Warner's investors will be watching, too. However, we'd rather think that the logical next step for the series would be Batman: Gotham City, but maybe that's just us.
Still being produced by Kojima Productions, Raiden's slasher vehicle has been newly subtitled Revengeance and will be set after the events of MGS4.
Finnish developer Remedy has revealed Alan Wake's American Nightmare, set for release on Xbox Live Arcade in the first quarter of 2012.
The announcement was made at last night's Spike VGAs, but little else was revealed beyond the below teaser trailer. Look out for an in-depth preview of the game in our next issue, E236.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD has been announced for release on "digital platforms" in the first half of next year.
The game, revealed by Tony Hawk himself on the red carpet before last night's Spike VGAs, contains levels from the first two games in the series remastered in HD. Hawk said that the School and Downhill levels would be included, and the below teaser trailer reveals that Warehouse, the original game's opening stage, also features.
Epic Games has announced a new IP, Fortnite, at the Spike Videogame Awards.
The announcement was made by design director Cliff Blezsinki, who said: "We've had amazing success with games like Gears Of War and Infinity Blade this year, but we decided it was time to switch things up a little bit and do something different and fun.
"Imagine a world where you explore, you scavenge, you build and ultimately you survive."
Uncharted developer Naughty Dog has announced The Last Of Us, a PlayStation 3-exclusive survival adventure, at the Spike Videogame Awards.
A press release describes the game as "a genre-defining experience that blends survival and action elements to tell a character-driven story about a population decimated by a modern plague."
The future of STALKER developer GSC Game World hangs in the balance after a Ukrainian news site reported it had closed, and a tweet from the developer denying the claim was deleted.
Talk about finding a niche for yourself: Jonathan Whiting is perhaps my favourite developer when it comes to making games that are all about running away from things. First he created Antagonist, a platforming nightmare in which you're chased by a succession of horrible purple diamonds.
BBC Worldwide has announced Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock for PC, PlayStation 3 and the upcoming Vita.
The game, a downloadable title due early next year, is in development at Guildford-based Supermassive Games, the studio behind Start The Party and Tumble. It's been written in close collaboration with the TV series' production team in Cardiff, and actors including Matt Smith, who plays Doctor Who, and Alex Kingston have recorded voiceovers for the game.
Back in 1983, when computer games were still constructed of mud and straw, people much like myself spent more time than is healthy playing The Hobbit. This ZX Spectrum text adventure had, like all half-decent games, bits that required smart thinking. Or the more likely approach of trying everything. These choke-points, and there were perhaps two in The Hobbit, are burned into my memory for one reason.
Mark Pincus, CEO of Facebook gaming titan Zynga, has told investors the company can double the number of users that actively contribute to its revenue.
Zynga is far and away the most successful developer on Facebook, with 220 million monthly active users across its games, all of which are free to play. In the 12 months to September 30, however, just 7.7 million paid for virtual items.
Rovio's mobile smash Angry Birds is two years old on December 11, and the Finnish developer is marking the occasion in several ways.
Left 'in the lurch'. 'Buried'. 'Debacle'. Xbox 360's new dashboard has done little to assuage general fears that Microsoft has turned its back on Indie Games.
EA COO Peter Moore has warned publishers that they must prepare for the day when the industry fully transitions to digital distribution, saying: "unless they change their ways and invest in the future, those companies will die off."
UK videogame trade association UKIE has announced the appointment of Dr Jo Twist as its new CEO.
Twist joins from Channel 4, where she was commissioning editor for education, and has previously worked for BBC Entertainment and BBC Three.
UKIE chairman Andy Payne said: "We are really excited that Jo has agreed to lead UKIE at this really exciting time in our development. We took our time to find the right CEO and we believe we have her."