Another 
year is nearly in the books, and for gamers, it was a biggie.
Sony and Microsoft released their long-awaited next generation systems. Rockstar Games didn’t just break records, it blew them to smithereens. Players saw tons of new avenues open up, while an increasingly connected world brought plenty of headaches.
The 
staple of the Sunday newspaper made it to the century mark.
On Dec. 21, 1913, New York World published the world’s first crossword puzzle. One hundred years later, the paper is a distant memory, but the puzzles live on.
Embattled 
NSA leaker Edward Snowden has one high tech defender: Mark Pincus.
The founder of Zynga (and current chief product officer and chairman) reportedly asked President Obama to pardon Snowden at a face to face meeting yesterday. The president rejected the suggestion, according to CNN.
The 
Wii U may not be getting tons of attention this holiday season, but that’s not stopping Nintendo from playing Santa Claus.
In a Nintendo Direct broadcast Wednesday, company president Satoru Iwata and Nintendo of America chief Reggie Fils-Aime revealed a number of surprises and updates for both the Wii U and the 3DS — and even delivered some of them to players immediately.
Mobile 
gamers were on a sugar rush in 2013.
Apple has released its lists of the top apps of the year, and no surprise here: Candy Crush Saga was the hands-down winner. King’s addictive social/mobile was downloaded more than any other free app in the company’s iTunes app store, topping both the iPhone and iPad lists.
The 
Xbox One has gone gold. Literally.
Harrods, the British retailer with a penchant for making expensive things even more expensive, has introduced a version of Microsoft’s console that is plated in 24-karat gold.
To 
say the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are off to a strong start is the understatement of the year.
The November sales of both systems topped not only the first month of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 – but sold more units than their predecessors did in their first three to four months following their launches, according to BMO Capital Markets analyst Edward Williams.
What 
a difference a couple new consoles makes.
Overall, when hardware, software and accessories — including subscription cards for Xbox Live and PlayStation Plus — were added up, the industry posted sales of $2.7 billion at retail stores last month, a 7 percent increase over 2012, reports the NPD Group.
When 
Sega first released Sonic the Hedgehog 2 to iOS devices a few years ago, the reviews weren’t great.
On Thursday, the company announced plans to remaster the game for mobile users, and in the process made it one of the most anticipated updates around for classic gaming fans.
It’s 
a dead heat between the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
Microsoft says sales of its next-generation console have topped 2 million in 18 days. That’s roughly on par with the PlayStation 4, which sold 2.1 million units in 15 days.
Chris Morris: Journalist 