You'll never catch me saying that 2013 was anything but a grand year for video games. Not only did we see two new consoles get released, but we got some of the best titles for the seventh generation systems on top of that. Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us alone easily make this year an A+.

However, just because something is great doesn't mean it can't be better. So if the digital gods are listening, here are a few requests for the coming year.

A Little Less Violence in Big Releases: If there is a problem with the uncontested rule of the first-person shooter over the past several years, it's that shooting has become literally the only solution offered in games of all genres anymore. When all you have is a hammer, every problem tends to look like a nail.

Now, no ones expects The Last of Us to be anything but murder after murder of zombies and roving gangs, but the lack of other options in stuff like Tomb Raider was slightly annoying, and when dropped into the world of Columbia in Biohock Infinite (which was set in a fully whole city instead of a ruined dystopia), it became just downright odd. As long as games are going to continue to trend towards ultra-realistic, the fact that we're forced to react to every situation by opening fire is going to feel increasingly weird.

And a Little Less Moral Ambiguity: Of course, one of the big events this year was Grand Theft Auto V, which brought with it all the hooker-killing, pedestrian-running-over action that is to be expected of the series. And yet, in many ways it felt like a franchise that badly needs to grow up.

I have no problem with conflicted antiheroes and criminal protagonists. Legacy of Kain is one of my favorite games of all time, especially for the murkiness of right and wrong, and Hitman: Absolution was an exceptionally good, if brutal, play this year. The question is, can't we do something like GTAV where we get our primitive kicks by breaking up a human trafficking ring or something instead of just giggling mindlessly at the carnage? Well, yes, we can. It was called Sleeping Dogs. Can we have more of that, please?

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