It's that time of the year when all of the big releases land before Christmas. In the last couple of months, we've already seen FIFA 13, Dead or Alive 5, Torchlight II, Dishonoured, Borderlands 2, Guild Wars 2, Trine 2, New Super Mario Bros. 2, Darksiders 2, and Sleeping Dogs hit shelves (or their digital equivalents).

With some even bigger releases just around the corner - such as Halo 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Hawken - it's a good time to stop and take stock.

One of the more popular games of late has been the beta of the massively multiplayer online shooter Planetside 2. The constant warring between the game's three factions and battles across the planet of Auraxis, featuring as many as a couple of thousand people at any one time on foot, air or land, has been a huge hit with players around the world, especially fans of the original which was released nine years ago.

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A couple of weeks back we featured some trailers for Battle Arena Melbourne 2012, the last major event on Australia's fighting game calendar this year. Featuring Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition 2012, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, Dead or Alive 5, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, King of Fighters XIII, Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown, Street Fighter 3: Third Strike, Soul Calibur 5, Super Smash Bros Melee, Super Smash Bros Brawl, thousands of dollars worth of prizes and giveaways, the event was a roaring success and another example of the strength of the local fighting game community.

Victorians dominated the podiums for the majority of proceedings, with the southern state taking home first, second and third in the Soul Calibur, Virtua Fighter, Tekken Tag, Marvel vs Capcom, Super Street Fighter 4 and Dead or Alive tournaments. (As of writing, only footage from the Street Fighter 4 event is available.)

Another game that had a rousing start but has been flying under the radar for quite a while is the free-to-play MMO: Star Wars: The Old Republic. SWTOR (or TOR) enjoyed a great deal of success upon launch just before Christmas last year, and the impending release of an Australian server excited a lot of local fans.

Some players became dismayed at the player vs player combat, while the similarity of the questing system to just about every other MMO that came before it disappointed others. But one facet that Bioware didn't disappoint on was the story, with a fully scripted and voice-acted storyline for every single class in the game.

If you're still in the process of playing the game - or simply don't want the story spoiled - then look away. Everyone else though: feel free to enjoy the fruits of Bioware's labour. Rather than linking over a hundred videos, however, I've linked a series of playlists featuring all of the relevant videos in sequence. And just in case you've forgotten what made The Old Republic so enticing to many, there's also the starting cinematics for good measure.

Finally, it's always good to remember just how far gaming has come as a form of entertainment and the good memories that it has left behind.

And there was no better evidence of a trip down memory lane this week than the performance of the Ohio State University Marching Band, which left a mark of their own with a very special half-time performance.

Alex Walker is the regular gaming columnist for ABC Tech + Games. You can follow him on Twitter at @thedippaeffect.