It’s difficult to put into words just how great this trailer is. However, as we get paid by the word around here, we should at least give it a try.

Well, to be sure, it’s amazing. So many great bits and so much pop culture and old-school sci-fi/action b-movie nostalgia all rolled into a slick package. And hey, the game, a stand-along expansion to Far Cry 3 itself, looks pretty fun too. It even stars famous sci-fi actor Michael Biehn, which is pretty cool.

If you haven’t seen this trailer for Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, you should. In fact, click through immedietly and watch it. You won’t be sorry. Once you watch it, be sure to buy the game too. We need to support things like this.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is available now for PS 3 via the Playstation Network and XBox 360 via XBox Live Arcade.

Earlier in the week, I praised Far Cry 3 for the living world it presented to players. Now, only a few days later they have ticked me off in a way I only recently suspected from Capcom. The other day on XBox.com, I saw Far Cry 3 had new DLC and thought to myself, “Great. More Far Cry 3 to play and it’s only ten bucks.”

Six more missions, more rare animals to hunt, multiplayer unlocks and the previously unreleased retail bonuses from The Monkey Business Pack, The Lost Expeditions, The Warrior Pack, and The Predator Pack. But then I look over and see the file size. 108 kb. While I know there are some coding tricks out there to compress file sizes, but a 108 kb isn’t enough to load new missions and rare animal character models. But it is just big enough to unlock content currently on the game disc…

This has been a personal pet peeve of mine since DLC began supporting on disc unlocks. If it’s on a disc, that means it was completed before the game was sent to print. In my mind, the price I paid for the game disc should include all of that content on said disc. There aren’t extra man hours being created to produce new content after the game was completed which is why most people pay for additional DLC like map packs in Halo or Call of Duty. It is literally players just being given a key to unlock what is on the physical media they already have in their possession.

Most people who consider themselves “Real” gamers and are over the age of 20 have probably played Super Mario Bros. more times than they can count and can most likely play through the first level blindfolded and know where every Goomba and Koopa Troopa is. But those Goombas and those Koopas are going to be there every time and noting is going to change, in this game or any other. Or is it?

In fact, the rules of gaming changed and a random element was introduced. While there were still some static NPCs and scripted events that were required for the progress of a game’s story, an open world based on behavioral patterns and the sandbox was born.

One of the greatest early sandbox games was Grand Theft Auto which put players in a city that reacted to their actions. But when it made the shift to a 3D environment the world and the interactions changed along with it. But it still didn’t feel like the world was truly alive.

For the most part, passersby would go without noticing the player or each other with the exception of pathing themselves out of the way of each other or reacting to the actions of the player. There was no fully random aspect to their interactions with each other or the world itself. But then things changed again.

Welcome to The Flickcast Presents the Best of Gaming 2012. This is going to be a five part series throughout this first week of 2013 concluding with the Game of the Year being awarded on Friday.

Best Use of the PlayStation Network’s Voice Chat – Journey

So any gamer who has a PS3 already knows that people with microphones don’t really exist, especially compared to the plethora of expletive spitting, homophobic prepubescents who have claimed to have slept with our mothers that troll XBox Live. What they may not know is that some of the best communication that has happened in 2012 on the PSN comes from a game that actually doesn’t even allow for voice chat.

In Journey, players are placed in the role of a robed figure who has no voice at all but can make a singing tone. Those connected to the PSN will occasionally be placed in random worlds with other players but have no method of communication other than the singing tone. This means that players are actually tasked with creating their own non-verbal communication.

At a press confrence late yesterday game publisher Ubisoft’s made several announcements sure to please fanboys and girls everywhere. As we were otherwise occupied (ok, distracted by shiny Apple goodness) we didn’t make it to the press event.

Fortunately, our pals at Geek Week were there to bail us out yet again (we oe them a beer). Here’s the highlights of the Ubisoft announcements for your reading pleasure:

• RAYMAN ORIGINS announced and demoed; lots of variety, including platforming, chasing, and boss fights

• DRIVER: SAN FRANCISCO previewed

• BROTHERS IN ARMS: FURIOUS 4 footage shown, which features Stitch, Crockett, Chok, and Montana killing Nazis in a bar

• GHOST RECON: FUTURE SOLDIER demoed; beta open for GHOST RECON ONLINE, free PC service

• TRACKMANIA 2 footage previewed; it is all in-game footage that has been created by players; the game is due out in September