No, you're not seeing things; we originally ran this contest a few weeks ago, but it mostly went ignored by our well-meaning readers thanks to the approaching Christmas holiday. That said, we've decided to re-launch it with a brand new due date for entries. Check out the information below to find out how to win an iCade of your own!

Video games can be many things to many people, so the idea of proclaiming a single one as the best of 2012 strikes us as a little limiting. This year, instead of screaming at each other for hours in a sweaty, smoke-filled room until we emerge with a handful of winners, your friends at 1UP have decided to forsake categorization and write about the experiences that brought us the most enjoyment this year -- and that's the point of playing video games, isn't it?

Video games can be many things to many people, so the idea of proclaiming a single one as the best of 2012 strikes us as a little limiting. This year, instead of screaming at each other for hours in a sweaty, smoke-filled room until we emerge with a handful of winners, your friends at 1UP have decided to forsake categorization and write about the experiences that brought us the most enjoyment this year -- and that's the point of playing video games, isn't it?

Video games can be many things to many people, so the idea of proclaiming a single one as the best of 2012 strikes us as a little limiting. This year, instead of screaming at each other for hours in a sweaty, smoke-filled room until we emerge with a handful of winners, your friends at 1UP have decided to forsake categorization and write about the experiences that brought us the most enjoyment this year -- and that's the point of playing video games, isn't it?

Video games can be many things to many people, so the idea of proclaiming a single one as the best of 2012 strikes us as a little limiting. This year, instead of screaming at each other for hours in a sweaty, smoke-filled room until we emerge with a handful of winners, your friends at 1UP have decided to forsake categorization and write about the experiences that brought us the most enjoyment this year -- and that's the point of playing video games, isn't it?

Video games can be many things to many people, so the idea of proclaiming a single one as the best of 2012 strikes us as a little limiting. This year, instead of screaming at each other for hours in a sweaty, smoke-filled room until we emerge with a handful of winners, your friends at 1UP have decided to forsake categorization and write about the experiences that brought us the most enjoyment this year -- and that's the point of playing video games, isn't it?

Video games can be many things to many people, so the idea of proclaiming a single one as the best of 2012 strikes us as a little limiting. This year, instead of screaming at each other for hours in a sweaty, smoke-filled room until we emerge with a handful of winners, your friends at 1UP have decided to forsake categorization and write about the experiences that brought us the most enjoyment this year -- and that's the point of playing video games, isn't it?

Video games can be many things to many people, so the idea of proclaiming a single one as the best of 2012 strikes us as a little limiting. This year, instead of screaming at each other for hours in a sweaty, smoke-filled room until we emerge with a handful of winners, your friends at 1UP have decided to forsake categorization and write about the experiences that brought us the most enjoyment this year -- and that's the point of playing video games, isn't it?

To be perfectly frank, video games about war generally don't have a whole lot to say. Your protagonist is usually an infallible American hero who can give and take damage like the lead in a summer blockbuster. Your guns are generally pointed at some various shades of foreign invaders with backstories as shallow as a kiddie pool. And then there's the plot...well, the less we say about the plot of most action games, the better. It's with this low bar that I entered Spec Ops: The Line. After I was done, everything had changed.

Video games can be many things to many people, so the idea of proclaiming a single one as the best of 2012 strikes us as a little limiting. This year, instead of screaming at each other for hours in a sweaty, smoke-filled room until we emerge with a handful of winners, your friends at 1UP have decided to forsake categorization and write about the experiences that brought us the most enjoyment this year -- and that's the point of playing video games, isn't it?

Video games can be many things to many people, so the idea of proclaiming a single one as the best of 2012 strikes us as a little limiting. This year, instead of screaming at each other for hours in a sweaty, smoke-filled room until we emerge with a handful of winners, your friends at 1UP have decided to forsake categorization and write about the experiences that brought us the most enjoyment this year -- and that's the point of playing video games, isn't it?

Video games can be many things to many people, so the idea of proclaiming a single one as the best of 2012 strikes us as a little limiting. This year, instead of screaming at each other for hours in a sweaty, smoke-filled room until we emerge with a handful of winners, your friends at 1UP have decided to forsake categorization and write about the experiences that brought us the most enjoyment this year -- and that's the point of playing video games, isn't it?

Video games can sure be...what's the word I'm looking for...busy? Part of the medium's charm is immersing yourself in a complete sensory overload. This isn't a judgment call attempting to condemn games which busy the screen with noise. 2012 brought experiences like Super Hexagon, Hotline Miami, and Thirty Flights of Loving, which were were all games that I cherished, partially due to loving the sensory overload that each one delivered. But it's the providing of the exact opposite of this noise that made the opening of The Unfinished Swan resonate so strongly with me. In a year filled with noise -- not bad noise, mind you, but noise -- Giant Sparrow's game embraced minimalism through its design, aesthetics, and mechanics. (Side notes -- for a great read on the topic of minimalism in games, check out 1UP contributor Nickolai Adkins' fantastic blog.)

Video games can be many things to many people, so the idea of proclaiming a single one as the best of 2012 strikes us as a little limiting. This year, instead of screaming at each other for hours in a sweaty, smoke-filled room until we emerge with a handful of winners, your friends at 1UP have decided to forsake categorization and write about the experiences that brought us the most enjoyment this year -- and that's the point of playing video games, isn't it?

Video games can be many things to many people, so the idea of proclaiming a single one as the best of 2012 strikes us as a little limiting. This year, instead of screaming at each other for hours in a sweaty, smoke-filled room until we emerge with a handful of winners, your friends at 1UP have decided to forsake categorization and write about the experiences that brought us the most enjoyment this year -- and that's the point of playing video games, isn't it?

Video games can be many things to many people, so the idea of proclaiming a single one as the best of 2012 strikes us as a little limiting. This year, instead of screaming at each other for hours in a sweaty, smoke-filled room until we emerge with a handful of winners, your friends at 1UP have decided to forsake categorization and write about the experiences that brought us the most enjoyment this year -- and that's the point of playing video games, isn't it?

Video games can be many things to many people, so the idea of proclaiming a single one as the best of 2012 strikes us as a little limiting. This year, instead of screaming at each other for hours in a sweaty, smoke-filled room until we emerge with a handful of winners, your friends at 1UP have decided to forsake categorization and write about the experiences that brought us the most enjoyment this year -- and that's the point of playing video games, isn't it?