EndWeekGame: December 28

Andrei Dumitrescu: We have a five-day free period coming up that I plan to dedicate to gaming as much as possible, with some time devoted to partying just on December 31 and on January 1.

Just before Christmas, GOG.com updated their version of Alpha Centauri with the Alien Crossfire expansion and I plan to give my virtual machine setup and my old CDs a rest and use this version of the game on my Windows 7 machine to once again enjoy one of the best strategy experiences that were ever launched.

Alpha Centauri is developed by Firaxis, which is currently handling Civilization and now XCOM, but the main designer was Brian Reynolds and not Sid Meier.

The game experience is slower and somewhat more complicated than in other turn-based series.

But the variety of the factions and their strategies means that Alpha Centauri is the kind of game that will end up eating weeks of playtime for a fan.

Andrei Dobra: While I'm certainly going to party into the New Year, until then, I plan on gaming for a long time in order to make the most out of the extended holiday we get here at Softpedia.

First and foremost, I'll be jumping back into Borderlands 2 as several of my friends have just purchased it on the PC thanks to some great promotions run on Steam and other such digital distribution services.

As such, I anticipate a variety of great moments on Pandora alongside friends and quite a lot of arguments over the loot we acquire.

After shooting things cooperatively, I'll probably continue this trend and participate in a few Mass Effect 3 multiplayer matches. While there's no special Operation during the weekend, I still want to continue my progress with the different challenges in the online mode and unlock the special Biotic God title card.