Hey folks,

Ringing in the new year here and wanted to spread the word to everyone!

So, here's to all the best to everybody in 2014!

Couple things to note:

In the GESC, dferrantino is arranging the 3rd Annual AlphaMeridian Memorial Chess tournament! Matches are played on chess.com, and you can post your participation in this thread.[arstechnica.com]

The Ars Co-Op Gaming group (Ars Nemo Relictus on Steam) tries to get together on Saturday nights for some co-op gaming. Usually non-competitive but not always. Stay up to date with the thread here[arstechnica.com]. Try and join in! There's nothing more fun than lighting Beebs on fire listening to Jebus swear like a madman lighting Mortus on fire good wholesome co-op fun!

For those of you who are shiny new console owners, make sure to check out the threads in the GESC: Xbox One[arstechnica.com], Xbox 360[arstechnica.com], PlayStation 4[arstechnica.com], PlayStation 3[arstechnica.com] and Wii U[arstechnica.com]. Ask questions, post gamertags/PSN IDs/whatever Nintendo uses, and find people to play games with on your consoles.

Last, what are you looking forward to in 2014?[arstechnica.com] I'll be honest, I've got some high hopes for Destiny... although I really wish Bungie would announce a PC port. That would make me all kinds of happy. Looking forward to seeing what Kickstarter games actually make it out this year. Should be some good 'uns! The Banner Saga (turn-based strategy with Vikings) in the next couple of weeks is something that I backed on Kickstarter and am anxious to play. Make sure to sound off in the GESC thread!

Anyways, that's all the babbling from me for now!

May your blades stay sharp, your bullets shoot straight, your dice roll what's needed, your Steam wishlist go on sale, and whatever other stupid cliche things you want to put here happen!

Happy New Year!

Or four or five or eight! Depends on how many people decide to join us!

This Saturday at 9PM Eastern (7PM Mountain - sorry for you different timezone peoples, I'm too lazy to math) we're going to have a Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed get together.

You can post your interest in the Co-Op Gaming thread[arstechnica.com] or just hit up any of us you see playing and ask for an invite.

For those wondering, this essentially is Mario Kart with Sega characters, transforming vehicles and mayhem!

For a couple of video peeks, make sure to check out the videos Mortus has posted on YouTube.

Video 1
Video 2

Also, this plays REALLY nice with a controller so I'd recommend one. I'm sure you could play on the keyboard quite easily but... just feels better with a controller IMO.

Edit: Forgot to mention I have one copy of Sonic All-Stars Racing left. $15 through PayPal and she's yours if interested.

Some guy by the name of Mortus was made an admin of this group. I hear he has some sort of significance to the GESC community with ArsT.

So, how are people's wallets doing so far? Gotta say, mine isn't hurting that bad. I've picked up a few items from my Wishlist and only had two or three impulse buys so far, so I'm doing fairly well.

As a general reminder:


For those of you who are getting sucked into the Trading Card black hole, there's a thread over in the GESC where people are swapping cards around to complete badges. That can be found here.[arstechnica.com] Make a post with what you're willing to trade and what you want and I'm sure you'll have somebody get in touch with you shortly.

PSA: Jebus H Cripes and some of the folks are trying to put together some regular co-op nights. If you've got a game(s) that you're looking for some people to play with, check out the thread here[arstechnica.com] and join the ArsClan | Nemo Relictus co-op group.

Hey folks!

For those of you who don't hit the GESC that often, some of our forum denizens have started a little podcast for GESC.

ghost55, Mortus, Blacken00100 and guest have done two episodes of GESC Radio, with the second releasing yesterday.

If you want to check them out, the thread can be found in GESC (look for GESC Radio) or here's a link: http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1188126

Links to Episodes 1 and 2 can be found in the OP, and an RSS feed has been set up so they can be grabbed via apps. I don't think they're available in iTunes yet (and not sure if they're going to be).

Post comments in the thread and let them know what you think!