There's never really a calm time in the game industry. Technological and market forces are constantly pushing the industry in new directions, both as a business and as an artistic medium. Still, 2012 felt like an especially eventful year for gaming, with long-standing trends like digital distribution, user-created content, and mobile/tablet gaming coming together in some new and interesting ways. Take a look at the evidence with the biggest gaming stories of the year.

Crowdfunding helps developers get around publishers

By far the most important, far-reaching trend in the gaming business this year was developers forgoing the traditional publisher model and reaching out directly to customers for startup funding through services like Kickstarter. Double Fine got the ball rolling by raising $3.2 million for its "Adventure Game" Kickstarter, but that was soon followed by $3 million for a Wasteland sequel, $4.1 million for Obsidian Entertainment's Project Eternity, and more than $6.3 million for Chris Roberts' Wing Commander-alike Star Citizen.

Hardware makers got in on the crowdfunding revolution too, raising $8.6 million for the Android-based Ouya console and nearly $2.5 million for the Oculus Rift head-mounted display. We could keep listing Kickstarter gaming projects large and small, but there's only so much space on our servers...

Despite all of the hoopla around crowdfunding, most of these success stories have yet to result in actual playable games or usable products. Plus, there have already been some high profile failures for the model. Going into 2013, it will be interesting to see which of these projects live up to their promise and which inevitably end up disappointing backers.

Nintendo launches the Wii U

With the original Wii rapidly showing its age, it's not all that surprising Nintendo officially launched the next generation of home game consoles this November with the Wii U. The system itself helped bring the company into the present with much-needed features like HD graphics and a usable online interface, and launched with the best 2D Mario game in decades.

But the Wii U's most notable feature by far is the touchscreen-meets-analog-controller GamePad, allowing for two-screen gaming. The company's competitors aren't far behind either. Microsoft followed suit with SmartGlass, which turns various tablets into a second screen for the Xbox 360. And Sony has been promoting the Vita as its own second-screen solution for the PS3.

Many third party developers seem to be struggling to make good use of the Wii U's GamePad so far, but we'll see if that changes as the system continues to mature next year. It would certainly help Nintendo if they did; the company is counting on the Wii U's to help it turn around its first ever fiscal year loss. Initial sales haven't quite lived up to the Wii's record-breaking example, but that hasn't stopped the price gougers.

Steam transforms itself

The version of Valve's ultra-popular digital delivery service that entered 2012 is quite different from the one that left the year, thanks to a few major initiatives changing the face of Steam. The biggest might be the introduction of Big Picture mode, a front-end redesign meant for use on the living room TV. The new feature presages a Steam-based living room PC planned for 2013 that could have a major impact on the market for traditional game consoles.

Steam's second biggest move this year was the introduction of Greenlight, a new section where developers could pitch projects directly to the Steam userbase. The most popular ideas earn a coveted spot on the Steam storefront. The section quickly got overrun by spam posts, though, leading Valve to institute a somewhat controversial $100 charity payment for developers seeking Greenlight consideration. That fee was later waived for entries in the "Concepts" section of Greenlight.

The final big change to Steam this year was the service's beta launch on Linux. The move reflects Valve boss Gabe Newell's growing dissatisfaction with Windows 8 and it will be key to providing any Steam-based hardware at a low cost. Not everyone is a fan of the expansion, though; GNU founder Richard Stallman called the introduction of the DRM-based platform on Linux "unethical."

Oh, and did we mention Steam is now selling productivity software alongside games?

Mass Effect 3's ending causes controversy

No matter how Bioware decided to end its epic, galaxy-spanning trilogy full of branching narrative and emotionally resonant characters, there were going to be people that are unsatisfied with that conclusion. What makes the wide-ranging protests over Mass Effect 3's ending different than similar Internet grumbling over other gaming narratives was the sheer scale of that dissatisfaction... and the response it garnered from the developer.

It took only days after the game's release for disgruntled fans to organize online, eventually growing into a throng tens of thousands strong. The continuing furor eventually elicited a formal response from Bioware, and led Bioware co-founder Ray Muzyka to say publicly that he found the reception to the game "painful." When that failed to quell the controversy, Bioware soon promised a free "Extended Cut" DLC to help expand and clarify the controversial ending. That DLC hit in June. It wasn't the "new" ending that some purists feared, but it did add some important context that seemed missing from the original conclusion.

Fan opinion about the move, and on its impact on Mass Effect's lasting legacy, is still hopelessly split. The whole saga could prove to be a watershed moment in the relationship between players and developers.

Diablo III disappoints fans

With fans having waited well beyond a decade since the launch of the mega-popular Diablo II, it was probably impossible for expectations surrounding Blizzard's oft-delayed Diablo III to be higher. Still, it's safe to say Blizzard did not meet those expectations with the game's launch in May.



The issues started well before launch, with users complaining loudly about everything from the game's requirements for a persistent Internet connection to the fees Blizzard was extracting from the in-game, real-money auction house. When the game did launch, initial players ran in to persistent server errors and widespread reports of account hacking, which I experienced first hand.

Gameplay wise, many fans expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of end game content with some complaining that the game gets less interesting after 550 hours or so (seriously). Blizzard has continued to release new content, bug fixes, and gameplay tweaks in an effort to keep the experience fresh, most notably expanding the end game significantly with new "Paragon levels." But the general consensus is the company hasn't been able to recapture that old Diablo II magic, raising the question: Did the franchise change over the last decade or so, or did the players?