I was in my 20’s when the Napster revolution came along. Even before that I remember piracy on newsgroups. During the crafting of the first Unreal I remember watching one of my peers downloading Hollywood movies in the background and then watching them on his giant, fat monitor. I remember at the time thinking "Hollywood’s going to shit when they see this."

They are, beyond control schemes and visuals, the single best reason to play games on a PC. Mods can, at their laziest, tweak a game so its settings or features behave more to your liking. At their most ambitious, they can transform your entire experience, leaving you with something that feels like an all-new game.

This year was a big one for PC mods, with two - DayZ and Black Mesa - rivalling commercial products for public awareness and, perhaps more importantly, quality. But they weren't the only great mods released this year, here's a shortlist of the best mods released during 2012.

In its recent earnings report, Netflix teased the possibility of partnering with HBO -- a deal that would potentially allow cord-cutters to keep up with popular shows like Game of Thrones without relying on illegal filesharing services. Unfortunately, the premium network quickly dismissed...

It was only last week that in lieu of a decent official Game of Thrones title I was recommending people keep an eye out for a GoT mod for Crusader Kings II instead. Turns out you didn't have to wait long, because it's not only been suddenly released, but it's surprisingly playable and comprehensive.