Rebeccasaskia

Komplettüberwachung, wir erinnern uns, machen wir ja, weil man Al Kaida nicht infiltrieren kann. Kann man doch, wie sich rausstellt.

Rentnerprostitution in Südkorea

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

Selecting from Banksy favorites and classics, this series of brick-based fan art both replicates and expands on familiar two-dimensional works.

Professional photographer Jeff Friesen is known for staging LEGO creations around Canadian provinces and American states, the latter having since been compiled into a book: 50 States of LEGO.

The Bricksy series includes some degree of whimsical interpretation, often putting existing Banksy art into an expanded physical context. The photographer is selling prints of these pieces for $20 each.

A bit more about the artist: “Jeff Friesen’s photography has gathered worldwide recognition for an uniquely diverse collection of work. His awards include the most prestigious in the photography world, including an Award Of Excellence from Communication Arts and a winning image in the PDN Photo Annual. In 2009 Jeff’s work was among the most repeatedly honored by the International Photography Awards”

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[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

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Hey, Hoopy Froods! Don't look now, but it's Towel Day!!

(By CakeCentral member JenLGAJ)

 

But Don't Panic!

Even if you forgot your towel, we've got you covered:

(By I Dream in Icing)

So you'll be safe from any Ravenous Bugblatter Beasts of Traal.

 

Now, let's fire up our electronic thumb and take a spin among Douglas Adams' stars!

(By Strawberry Lane Cake Company)

We'll look for land masses with lovely, crinkly edges, and we'll never, ever use the word "Belgium."

(At least not gratuitously.)

 

I promise, we'll have a whale of a time!

(By Gelly's Cakes)

Um, maybe I should rephrase that...

 

We'll flollop, willomy and glurry on Sqornshellous Zeta with Zem,

(By Guloseimas da titia Lilly)

...and his friends Zem, Zem, Zem, Zem, Zem, and of course, Zem.

Voon!

 

And maybe we can figure out where all the dolphins went.

(By Crunchies & Munchies)

It's been So Long...

 

Let's ask the mice, or Marvin the Paranoid Android!

(By Annica's Cakes)

Heck, he has a brain the size of a planet, so he ought to be able to figure it out.

 

And I'm sure we'll run into Agrajag again!

(By CakeCentral Member Ladybug Lady 13)

Really sorry about that, Dude. We didn't see you.

(You remember Agrajag, right? That poor creature who is continually reincarnated and then unknowingly killed -- every time -- by Arthur Dent? Of course you do...)

 

We'll stop at Milliways and dish with the Dish of the Day, before sitting down to a nice meal of...
um...

(By Debbie Does Cakes)

[*Gulp*]

 

...salad.

(By The Sugar Syndicate)

Definitely salad.

 

You don't mind traveling by Chesterfield sofa, do you?

(By CakesDecor member Coocakecachoo)

Any other mode of transportation is most definitely not Krikkit.

(Extra geek cred if you get the sofa reference -- I even managed to stump Jen!)
(Shhhhhh... Don't tell her I ratted her out...)

 

I promise we'll get you home in time for tea.

(By Cakes by Lorinda)

Or something almost, but not quite, entirely unlike it.

 

And maybe some cookies.

(By Cookie Cowgirl)

Because even though the mice have assured us 42 is the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything, a couple of Sweets couldn't hurt.

 

Be sure to check out our Sunday Sweets Directory if you want to see which bakers in your area have been featured here on Sweets!

*****

Thank you for using our Amazon links to shop! USA, UK, Canada.

Time for the second half of our Sweets Alphabet!

 

N is for Nursery Rhymes:

(By Sugar Creations)

...read from a book.

 

O is for Owl:

(By Cake Whisperer)

Such a piercing look!

 

P is for Pinwheel:

(By Couture Cakehouse Melbourne)

So fun when it whirls.

 

Q is for Quilling:

(By Bella Cupcakes)

They do it with curls.

 

R's Ratatouille:

(By Richard's Cakes)

He cooks with renown.

 

S is for Steampunk:

(By Andrea's Sweet Cakes)

See, it's not all brown.

 

T is for Turtle:

(By Art2Eat Cakes)

Discworld on his back.

 

U's Ursa Minor:

(By Viva La Cake)

Countdown: Cute Attack!

 

V is for Violet:

(Submitted by Caroline H. and made by Cake Woman)

These cake builds are tough!

 

W's Wibbly wobbly...

(By Artisan Cake Company)

...timey wimey...

stuff.

 

X marks the spot.

(By Man Bakes Cake)

What? You thought xylophone?

 

Y is for Yoda:

(By Cakes by Beth)

He fought with a Clone.

 

Z is for zebra:

(By Creative Cakes by Julie, a course cake from Margie Carter Cake World)

He knows that he's cool.

 

Don't you wish they taught Sweets Alphabet in your school?

Be sure to check out our Sunday Sweets Directory if you want to see which bakers in your area have been featured here on Sweets!

*****

Thank you for using our Amazon links to shop! USA, UK, Canada.

im-not-a-climbing-frame:

flynnabob:

Just look at how his boobs jiggle

#BustyGirlProblems

London-based Lix Pen has just unveiled an all-new 3D printing pen that's touted as the world's smallest. Similar to the 3Doodler, you doodle in the air via melted plastic, which quickly cools so that 3-dimensional structures can be built up from the bottom. After some practice, you could use Lix for prototyping, making custom jewelry, freestanding decorative sculptures, or eye-catching art pieces. Continue reading for a video and more information.

Nigel Farage (Chef der britischen Rechtsaußen-Populisten UKIP) hat seine deutsche Ehefrau als Sekretärin eingestellt. Hier muss er sich fiesen Fragen eines Journalisten stellen, ob es denn dafür nicht auch eine Britin getan hätte, immerhin vernichten diese Ausländer doch in England die ganzen Arbeitsplätze :-)

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

Reclining in the space between the extremes of sped-up, movie-style GIF files and traditional, immobile paintings, this artist brings lazy scenes of everyday reality to life.

Rebecca Mockam is a Brooklyn-based illustrator and comic artist whose cinemagraphs move only as much as needed, a different kind of visual artist’s takes on medium most often associated with photography.

Note that these reduced-sized examples don’t do justice to the detail and seamlessness of her originals, so it is worth looking more closely at her portfolio for these and more.

Her work is peaceful and contemplative, lending itself to a lot of potential comparisons, including Edward Hopper and Norman Rockwell. At the same time, much of the subject matters is definitively contemporary, including all-too-familiar ringing phones and tablet swipes. Still-life Americana revisited, this approach (in the age of portable computers, tablets and phones) uses a medium that makes sense with its era.

Mockam has worked on everything from art exhibits and comic covers and is currently drawing a graphic novel titled Four Points, set to be released in 2015. She uses a Wacom tablet for most of her illustration work, sketches with a pencil and ink with various brush pens, and a nib & ink when it comes to drawing comics.

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[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

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[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

No smoke-and-mirrors or post-production here, just fleeting vignettes swiftly staged on steamed windows and set against natural outdoor backgrounds.

Jim Osborne is a self-taught landscape artist who typically works in watercolor, acrylic and oils. He describes himself as being inspired by his surroundings, light and the weather. Recently, however, he has begun working in a new direction with water condensation on glass window surfaces.

His Steamy Windows Collection represents a bit of a departure for him in terms of tools and approach – the work is necessarily fast, drawing on organic backdrops, lighting conditions and perceptual cues. Each piece is shot quickly as well, and prints can be found for sale on his website.

With the need for speed, every little gesture counts – the results are simultaneously planned but ultimately uncontrolled, a mixture of simple figures and hasty grounds that somehow manages to look like more than the sum of its parts. The approach seems like a a great way to train oneself to think in an agile fashion and be nimble in execution.

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[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

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Aus der beliebten Kategorie "bei UNS ist Kernkraft SICHER", heute: "Weitere rostige Atommüllfässer in Brunsbüttel gefunden". Und wenn sie "rostig" sagen, dann meinen sie: Die Außenhaut ist nur noch partiell vorhanden. Guckt euch mal das Foto an.

Photo credit: SocImages

Charlotte, may only be 7-years-old, but when there's something that angers her, she always expresses how she feels, and this letter to LEGO voices her most recent concern. Let's just say that she wants more gender-balanced Minifigs thrown into the mix. Click here to view the first image in this week's demotivational poster gallery. Continue reading for a viral video of an amazing mid-air skydiving rescue.

When I was younger, I read somewhere that having peacock feathers in the house was bad luck. Something about the "eyes" on the feathers being evil.

Now, I don't know about you, but if I could gaze into these eyes all day, I'd consider myself downright lucky.

(Baker unknown)

Especially if I had a fork.

 

In fact, I'd feel pretty fortunate if I had any of these cakes around.

(By Sweet On Cake, sub'd by Paul M.)

Who could dread such a perfect fall of feathers?

 

And this little birdie would be welcome in any season:

(By Tasha's Tasty Treats)

Especially with all that intricate Mehndi-inspired piping! Wow.

 

Here's another pipe(ing)-dream:

(Baker unknown)

Look closely. See the peacock?
(And wouldn't those piped feathers make a lovely tattoo?)

 

Check out how this next one manages to convey "peacock" without a single beak or feather:

(By Fleur De Lisa Cake)

 

And another modern take:

(By The Royal Bakery)

That crest on top is too perfect.

 

Not that I'm dissing feathers, mind you!

(By McGreevy Cakes)

I want these as earrings.

 

You can even have a gorgeous peacock cake without a hint of their iconic blue:

(By Sweet Little Morsels)

So soft and sweet! I like the blush of pink in the flower buds.

 

Or for a real statement, how about white-on-white?

(By Martha Stewart Weddings)

Fingers crossed the bird was the ring-bearer.

 

Think we can eat the cake out of the middle of this and turn it into a lamp?

(By Vinism Sugar Art)

Eat your heart out, Tiffany.

 

And finally, if you've got it, flaunt it!:

(By Cakelava)

Well, it seems we've run out of peacock Sweets.

How unlucky.

 

Can't get enough peacock Sweets? Then here's 11 more!  And if you're wondering which bakers in your area have been on Sunday Sweets, check out our Sunday Sweets Directory!

*******

Do you shop Amazon? Then how about clicking through my affiliate link to shop? Visiting Amazon through that link will help support the site, and costs you nothing. Thanks, guys!

[ By Steph in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

Most people with single-family homes are used to pulling up into their driveways and then ascending flights of stairs to get to the living spaces. But in this case, a ground-level driveway leads directly to an open-air rooftop terrace, and to enter the home, you go down.

‘Car Park House’ by Anonymous Architects takes advantage of the hilly Los Angeles landscape. Built on a steep plot of land just off a winding road, the home makes the most of a challenging site, maximizing views from every level. Local building code requires the home to have two parking spots.

A steel frame and a series of concrete pillars support the modern house as it projects out from the hillside, with two separate terraces looking out onto the San Gabriel mountains from the kitchen and master bedroom.

Calling it a ‘car park house’ puts the emphasis on the least attractive part of the home, but perhaps it’s appropriate considering Los Angeles car culture. But it’s a lot more than just a driveway with a view.

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[ By Steph in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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Inspired by the belief that amber jewelry tends to be “strictly defined and conditioned by tradition,” Emilia Kohut created Superfine Jewelry to break that trend. The collection highlights and emphasizes the individual characteristics of amber.

To create this collection, Kohut used an unusual combination of materials and re-imagined uses of more well-known objects. Contrasts are created with indeterminate shapes and are visible through the used plastic. By combining wood, amber, synthetic and resin, Kohut provides a modern and unprecedented effect.

Photo credit: Epic Carnage

Here's an amazing look at paramagnetic paint, which allows you to change your vehicle color using your smart-phone or built in controls. Simply put, prism-shaped metallic pigments are rotated based on the voltage frequency dispersed throughout the vehicle body, giving you the ability to change your cars color. Continue reading for the video.

Now this is one great way to start off the new year. Two of our favorite ladies of Sci-Fi, Katee Sackhoff and Tricia Helfer, of Battlestar Galactica, created the charity Acting Outlaws, which raises and donates money to good causes. One might say they do it for the Bonerment . . . I mean BETTERMENT of Mankind . . . This latest project is a 2014 calendar featuring the two in various states of tastefully artsy undress. We’ve got some of the stills and a behind the scenes video of the making of the calendar. If you were already sold on the title alone and want to buy the calendar, use this link. The calendar is a mix of new black and white photos and some of last years, but we don’t mind.

 

Here’s the behind the scenes video:

Via: Uproxx

tnitnetny (aka Quiltoni) has really outdone herself this time. This quilt is amazing. She says, “I finished my masterpiece. It is a queen sized quilt made with Batik fabric. The backing is an awesome Star Trek fabric. I am really proud of it and think this is my favorite quilt I have made so far. I can’t wait to display it at Magfest and see the look on the couples face that ordered it.”

All I know is that I WANT.

via[TheSpriteStitchForum]

[ By Delana in Art & Photography & Video. ]

Photographer Christoffer Relander combines nature and human faces to create preternaturally beautiful portraits. The double and triple exposures blend aspects of the natural world and the grace of the human form.

More than a few artists have compared the grace of nature and the beauty of humanity, but Relander’s interpretations imagine a world in which we, the animals, are as delicate and fragile as nature.

Many of the artist’s portraits add an extra dimension to the humanity of the subject. There are others, however, that all but erase the human portion of the composition. Leaves, branches and blossoms take the part of skin, veins and muscles.

The truly amazing part of Relander’s work is that he doesn’t use Photoshop to create these masterpieces of multiple exposures. He creates them all in-camera using a Nikon DSLR.

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[ By Delana in Art & Photography & Video. ]

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Did Stuart Heritage keep it together when he cooked crumble for his longtime crush on her new TV show The Taste?

Things are not going to plan. After harbouring an intergalactically huge crush on her for longer than I care to remember, I'm now sitting in the same room as Nigella Lawson. This would be the greatest moment of my life, except she's sitting next to a surly Frenchman, and I'm pretty sure he hates me.

Nigella and the Frenchman – a chef called Ludo Lefebvre – are, along with Anthony Bourdain, the judges on Channel 4's upcoming new cookery competition The Taste. Already a moderate success in America, The Taste is best summarised as one part MasterChef to one part The Voice. Contestants cook dishes, and are judged on a single spoonful. Eventually, presumably, someone wins something.

Reading on mobile? Click to view

I'm here on a press day, seeing how the format works by trying it out for myself. These things are usually enjoyably zero-stake affairs, where nobody tries because nobody wins. But this time, the stress of meeting Nigella – not to mention the angry Frenchman – means I'm cacking myself. And that means I've started babbling.

"Why are you staring at me?" I gibber at Ludo. "You're very intimidating. Has anyone ever told you how intimidating you are? Why aren't you blinking? Do you have a condition? I like your tattoos. Where did you …" Ludo cuts me off by silently pointing at his temple. This means he's either thinking or that he wants me dead. It's hard to tell.

I've made them an apple and loganberry crumble and custard. As they are visitors to this country, I wanted Bourdain and Lefebvre to try something traditionally British. Also, the recipe is quite easy and I only had 45 minutes. The cooking itself was quite stressful – the counter was too small, the scales and timer didn't work, I hadn't worked out how to get any of it on to the poxy spoons – but it was nothing compared to the judging.

My heart beating in my chest, I sat down in front of Nigella, Ludo and Anthony. They stared at my slate, splodged with dodgy custard and molten fruit. They put the spoons into their mouths. And then …

And then they were quite nice, actually. Nigella, repaying my years of infatuation, was the first to compliment my crumble. Bourdain – who, for all his famed edge, has basically softened and aged into Elliott Gould – told me that he didn't like puddings, but that he'd happily eat mine in a restaurant.

And then Ludo. I have a feeling that Ludo will be the breakout star of The Taste, given that he is singularly the most intimidating man who has ever walked the face of the Earth. He'd only eaten half of the crumble. But after a moment's contemplation, he nodded and ate the rest. He asked if it was my own recipe, then displayed aggressive disbelief when I told him it was. He complimented the state of my custard. "Do you want more of it? I made loads. I can go and get some for you if you want. I can put it in a glass. Would you like a glass of custard?" I babbled. Apparently, Ludo did not want a glass of custard.

Nigella explained the show's format. Like The Voice, she explained that the judges are also mentors. If only one of them liked your food, they would become your mentor. If two liked your spoon, they would duke it out to mentor you. Nigella explained that I'd found myself in a threeway. "If this was the real show, we'd now have to convince you to join us."

"Do it!" I bellowed. "Fight for me!" So they did. Bourdain, polishing up a monologue he'd clearly used before, leaned across the table and told me he could see into my soul. Nigella declared herself to be a champion of good food like mine. Ludo muttered something indecipherable. With a predictability that sickened even myself, I chose Nigella. "We could make such beautiful food together," she cooed. I turned bright red, shouted "Fhrhrfhrhfrh" at her and ran away like a bloody schoolboy.

So The Taste, then. If my experience is any indication, it's just like MasterChef, except you get to spectacularly blow it with people you fancy.

Stuart's apple and loganberry crumble and custard

For the filling
300g braeburn apples
30g unsalted butter
30g golden caster sugar
130g loganberries
Half a lemon, juiced
1 tsp vanilla paste
1 tsp cinnamon

For the crumble
120g plain flour
60g unsalted butter, softened
60g demerara sugar

For the custard
150ml whole milk
150ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla paste
2 egg yolks
25g caster sugar

Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6.

Peel, core and chop the apples. Melt the butter and sugar in a saucepan until it just starts to form a caramel. Add the apples and cook until they begin to break down. Add the loganberries, lemon juice, vanilla and cinnamon. Cook for another five minutes, pour into ovenproof dish, then set aside.

Mix the flour and butter with your fingers until they resemble breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, mix it together, sprinkle it on top of the filling and then bake for 20 minutes.

Pour the milk, cream and vanilla into a saucepan and heat until simmering. Remove from the heat.

Mix the egg yolks and sugar with an electric whisk. Slowly pour the hot milk mixture over the egg and whisk hard. Return to the saucepan. Heat gently, stirring, until it thickens.

• The Taste begins on 7 January on Channel 4.

Well, garsh....that was kind of an amazing year for games, huh?

As one generation wound down and another sputtered to a start with a phlegmy, throat clearing cough, we were left, in the end, with a rather monumental pile of great or at least very good games, on all platforms.
Thanks to the sheer volume of quality titles, this was the year in which I found myself back into handheld gaming with the 3DS,  and genuinely "struggled"  (if such a word can be used for such a joyous pastime)  to budget my time adequately and keep up with everything I felt I "needed" to play.  As such, I never even got to titles like Assassin's Creed 4, Super Mario 3D World, and more that might have otherwise made this list. So if you don't see your favorite game on here, that's one possible explanation.  Another might be that we just don't like the same things, which is okay and doesn't mean we can't be friends.  Also: I am personally singling out XCOM: Enemy Within as a game that I imagine, in an alternate universe, would not only be on this list but probably at or near the very top,  but is not here at all simply because I played so many hundreds of hours of XCOM: Enemy Unknown in 2012 (and 2013, on my iPad) that I am still in a heavy XCOM detoxification mode and could not handle rekindling the addiction.

As always, this list is the one I happen to be writing right now while I'm in the mood I'm in right now. That is to say, it is not based on science and is entirely subjective, to the point at which I'm likely to disagree with myself as early as an hour after I post this today.  Knowhutumsayin?

So without further waffling or bet-hedging, let's do this.  Oh, yeah, and,  I guess it probably goes without saying but my favorite overall gaming experience this year has been with Dark Souls.  But since that was last year's game, it doesn't count here.  But we all know what's what.



11.  The Swapper
Just barely edged on to the list at the 11th hour, thanks to a recommendation from Giant Bomb's Patrick Klepek. Which is why I'm giving it the 11th spot.  Before he pointed me in its direction, I hadn't even heard of it.  But this PC-only puzzle game from Facepalm Games (available on Steam and from the company's website) is a profoundly clever little game, reminiscent of Portal in its mechanics, and instantly hit that part of my brain that loves this kind of challenge. How to get from Point A to Point B?  It looks impossible.  It seems impossible. Until you finally figure it out and it seems like it was obvious all along.  Here's hoping it finds a bigger audience in 2014.  It deserves it.

10.   Bioshock Infinite
If the rest of the game was as awesome as the first hour,  it'd be at the top of this list.  I loved the opening segment to pieces, writing at the time I played it that it was the best opener since Half Life 1.  I still stand by that.  And while the game was thoroughly entertaining and great to look at throughout, I had the same problem as a lot of folks -- the combat -- which to me just did not mesh well with  and did not have the same high quailty as the rest of the game. Bioshock Infinite abounded in cool ideas and clever, suspenseful storytelling, which is why it's on my list, but the gameplay itself fell a bit short for me.  Plus, I'm just too stupid to understand the ending.  And don't want to go through the combat a second time to try to figure it out.

9.   Rayman Legends
Like my #1 game  (I know you've already peeked ahead and spoiled it for yourself), this is a videogame that revels in being a videogame.  There is no point to Rayman Legends other than to ensure that you have a great time. And that I did.  This platformer franchise has always been mysteriously underrated and underappreciated, and I don't know why. Is it because Rayman has no bones?  Is it because it's actually somewhat difficult?  I do not know.  What I do know is that, even when the game was kicking my ass, I always had a smile on my face.  It looks great, plays great, has fantastic music,  and can (and should) be played by everyone in your family.

8.  Rogue Legacy
I think my average lifespan in this game was about 10 seconds. At best.  I am not very good at Rogue Legacy.  At times it feels like the gaming equivalent of beating my head against a wall.  But goddamn if a good head-beating doesn't feel good sometimes. Rogue Legacy's unique skill tree and progression are really what kept me going: funny in concept but actually super-smart in execution, with new abilities doled out just enough to feel like you may actually make it five more seconds into your castle run than last time. Everyone keeps telling me how hard Dark Souls is...and it is.  But I'll tell you this, I'm way further along in Dark Souls than I am in Rogue Legacy.  But it makes the list for continuing to make me come back for more even as it keeps having its way with me. I'm Rogue Legacy's bitch.

7. Saints Row IV
The sheer ludicrousness of the story is what made this for me.  Unabashedly over-the-top was absolutely the right way to take a franchise that used to draw comparisons to GTA, but has since gone its own way, gloriously, right off the deep end into zero-fucks-given absurdity. I gravitate towards "funny" games. It's just the way I'm built. I'm not sure where this franchise could possibly go now, but the cool thing is that the developers have proven themselves so imaginative now in conjuring the ridiculous that I'll basically follow them anywhere now.

6. Gone Home
Enough digital ink has been spilled on whether this is a "game" or not, so you're getting no more of that from me here. All I know is that I was riveted the entire way through, keeping me guessing (incorrectly), messing with all of my expectations, until arriving at an ending that showed that sometimes the most riveting stories are just the simplest and most mundane. Like the #2 game on this list,  and #3, too,  it focused on family, in a real way, in a way that resonated. That's good enough for me.

5. Papers, Please
On paper, perhaps the most boring sounding concept for a game of all time.  You get to check passport documents and entry visas for people trying to enter into a fictitious Eastern Bloc country, all in gloriously pixilated 2D graphics. Yay?  But, again, execution was everything here.  And what might, in lesser hands, have been a tedious exercise in "hidden object" gaming, turned instead into a funny, often poignant, and surprising meditation on power and choice,  on duty versus morality, on selfishness versus altruism....all laced with grim humor and damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't decisions.  What would you do if this was your real job? Not many games ever really make you think about your own morality.  This one did, and did it while never forgetting to

4. The Stanley Parable
The funniest game of the year  - as long as you're already a gamer.  Like Gone Home (but in a totally different way), The Stanley Parable messes with our expectations around games themselves.  It assumes we've played many of them and then defies us to make sense of this one.  It has an answer for every wiseass decision we try to make, and then out-wiseasses us. Every time you think you may have finally figured out a way to "break" the game, you realize that the developers were still five steps ahead of you, and had a joke ready for you when you land there.  Super entertaining, hilarious narration,  a game about games that's still a great game itself.

3. The Last Of Us
This one climbed higher and higher on the list the further I got into the game.  I'll admit it: After the first hour or two, I didn't even think it'd be on this list at all.  I found the opening section tedious and underwhelming, with a whole lot of "Press A to continue" along with a story that didn't feel very original. Another zombie apocalypse?  Really?  And another character who may be the hope for all humanity?  And even the first rounds of combat didn't do much for me at all. As in Bioshock Infinite, I felt the combat inferior and subservient to the developers' storytelling ambition -- except at least in Bioshock Infinite the story felt original.  But..I kept playing.  And it grew on me. A lot.  The sheer detail of the world began to impress, and, much more important, the dynamic between Joel and Ellie began to gain weight and resonance.  As the story continues, the combat that at first felt mundane takes on increasing urgency, and the story itself takes enough unexpected, suspenseful turns to actually justify itself as the primary raision d'etre (sorry) of the entire experience.  I don't think it's the masterpiece that its strongest adherents feel it is, but it's the one "AAA" game I played this year that seemed like it ultimately justified its budget.  If this was mostly just a game as a big-budget movie, it was a movie I was glad - very glad - to have seen.

2. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Still, for all the emotional resonance that The Last of Us provided,  Brothers did it even better, and more profoundly, with far less.  And without even one word of dialog.  Brothers did something very cool this year, in the humblest of ways.  It presented an almost entirely new way of even thinking about game controls,  with one clever puzzle after another, while, simultaneously, telling an emotionally rich story with an ending as overwhelmingly brutal as any I've ever experienced in a game.  The game world itself is bizarre and mysterious and is never fully explained - thank god - as the developers seem to get that less truly is more, that showing is better than telling. The game looked and sounded beautiful, too.  I always think that the "games as art" discussion is pretty ridiculous.  Still, if any game was "a work of art" this year - whatever the hell that means -  it was Brothers.

1.  Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Pure joy.
I'm neither a Zelda nor a Nintendo fanboy.  I don't have a Wii U and don't particularly want one. I don't even remotely understand the history of Hyrule or how any of these games fit together, nor do I really care.  What I do know is this: I had more fun playing this game than any other game in 2013.  Every single moment in this game, every screen, every piece of music, every puzzle, was pure joy for me.  I played and played and played until I was finished, and then I started it again.   I've read complaints about the small dungeon size, and about the relatively easy difficulty level overall, but for me they were both just perfect.  So maybe that says something about me.  It probably does. But so does every list, and every choice on a list.  For me, A Link Between Worlds was just about perfect. Just challenging enough to make me have to use my brain, but not so tough that it held me up for long.  The wall merging was a brilliant gameplay addition, And that music...my god.  I don't know what really constitutes a "best" game of the year.  Every game on this list was awesome.  But Zelda made me happy every minute I played it.  It was pure joy.