Best new Intellectual Property

As much as it pains me personally to admit that Left 4 Dead does not deserve this award, Little Big Planet in the Best New IP this year.  Where Little Big Planet truly shines is in the toolbox for level creation.  This is a game that gives you ultimate control over your own experience and allows you to share that experience with your friends.  There are now over one million user created levels now available for LBP, and that's why it's our Best New IP.

Best Movie Tie-in

X-Men Origins: Wolverine runs away with this award.  Let's face it, most movie tie-in games are not good.  X-Men Origins breaks the mold by being significantly better than the movie it's based on.  It stays just true enough to the plot of the movie to still be relevant, but diverges enough to have a more entertaining and intelligent story.  And ripping and tearing your enemies apart as Wolverine never gets old.  This game is what all movie tie-in games should strive to be like.


Best Sandbox

inFamous - It'd be easy to award this title to Fallout 3, but we'd be overlooking an extremely fun title in inFamous. They tried something new with a moral compass super hero game and did it well. Super hero games are an interesting lot; either you're too powerful, the powers are atrocious or the storyline just doesn't make sense. inFamous was able to show that you can make a good super hero based game if you're willing to take the time to let your character develop. Exploring the sub-terra of Empire City to restore electricity netted you new abilities that could be upgraded by taking down baddies and completing main and side missions. Doing side missions also unlocked mission restart points closer to the action and either increased or decreased your Karma. You're given the choice to be good or bad and with all moral compass games it's a cheap way to make you play through twice. That being said, the story arc and cut-scenes for this game are done so well that you legitimately want to either become a savior or the bane of society.

Best Sports/Racing

Oddly enough, the choice here for best sports title beats out another Game of the Year.  This years Sports Game of the Year goes to EA Sports NHL 09. From top to bottom, 2009's offering brought everything it had. Featuring great new modes like "Be-a-Pro" where a player designs himself, and must work his way up from minor league scrub to NHL superstar, and the industry changing EASHL where players can design their own teams and recruit friends to compete in online leagues against others and their friends, this past years title has something for everyone, even those who don't consider themselves hockey fans will enjoy this title. And that's something the sports world hasn't seen since NHL '95.

Best Strategy

Admittedly this is a genre that doesn't see much love anymore. What we have seen though is that when developers put there minds to it, the strategy/RTS genre can still pack quite a punch with several heavy hitters coming out in the last few years. This years winner of the Best Strategy Game of the Year award goes to Halo Wars. While being a terrific game in and of itself, the ability this game showed to blend a known and beloved franchise, and morph it into a game that not only works, but excels as a strategy title, proves that there is still hope for this generation of games to support the Strategy and RTS genre.


Best DLC/Expansion

Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition - As if there were any other choice. Updated graphics and voice acting bring the classic title back to life. There really isn't much more I can say about this title, so just check out our write up.


Best Action/Adventure Game

When you take out the Sandbox games, it's pretty clear that our winner for Best Movie Tie-in Game returns as the winner of our Best Action/Adventure Game.  While a somewhat linear experience, X-Men Origins: Wolverine has fantastic combat and platforming elements, and truly delivers upon the experience it sets out to give the player.  We can't stop raving about this game, so go pick it up already!

Best RPG

If you're looking for a first class time sink, look no further than Fallout 3.  Bethesda has done it again by creating a vast explorable world with their own unique take on storytelling.  The V.A.T.S. system leads to quite possibly some of the most entertaining moments you will have in any video game this year.  And with five batches of high quality DLC to sink your teeth into, the experience never seems to end.

Best PC Game

This was a tough choice between Left 4 Dead and Fallout 3. The latter offers an interesting look at post-nuclear wasteland DC with roving gangs of street toughs looking to end your existence everywhere you go, super mutants and behemoths that always make for a challenge, various other creatures mutated by the blast who have a general disposition towards you leaving their space and a scenic world that you'll quickly relate to and want to visit over and over again. From the minute you step foot in the Capitol Wasteland and hear the swinging tunes of the 40's on your PIP Boy, you'll never want to put this title down. Left 4 Dead was an entertaining game and both do offer unique elements and gameplay, but clearly, Fallout 3 has the edge with the MIRV. Any game that lets you launch multiple nukes at once is what game of the year titles are made of, and what makes Fallout 3 our PC Game of the Year.


Best Handheld

This years winner for best handheld was an easy decision. We had to pick Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. In a generation of games that are content to see handheld titles become a 'light' version of their console brethren, GTA:CTW aims higher to carve it's own path. With several intuitive features that are unique to this title specifically, and gameplay that is silky smooth, this title is our Handheld Game of the Year.

Best Wii Game: Tiger Woods 10

For a system with so many games, unfortunately not very many of them are very good.  And usually when a game comes out for all three systems, the Wii version is the weak link.  So when a game like Tiger Woods 10 comes around, it really grabs our attention.  The Wii Motion Control was absolutely made for a golf game, and the Wii Motion Plus truly shines in this title by giving you the precision required.  We can honestly say that Tiger Woods 10 is actually better on the Wii than it is on either the PS3 or 360, and that's why it's our Best Wii Game of the Year.


Best PS3 Game

It's very easy to forget that Killzone 2 has a single player experience. Much like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: World at War before it, the multiplayer component of this game is immense. There are varying game modes and objectives, classes and weapon types in addition to a diverse set of maps. Sony knew they had to deliver big with Killzone 2 following some of the now infamous E3 trailers of years past and managed not to disappoint. Sure, some of the dialouge was cheesy and the characters interjected with choice four letter words any chance they got, but this was a popcorn title. Gorgeous lighting, fantastic player models and a decent story line will keep you playing through long enough to jump back over the multiplayer and fritter hours away trying to jump through the ranks to finally unlock the Scout class to mercilessly pick off unwitting players with the sniper rifle.


Best Xbox 360 Game

With so many options this year, it's really hard to nail down just ONE title. While initially I think that Fallout 3 is the most deserving title, I also feel as though other titles are worth mentioning such as Gears of War 2, Resident Evil 5, Left 4 Dead, Dead Space, Fable II, Mirrors Edge, and Call of Duty: World at War just to name eight others. The winner for this years Xbox 360 Game of the Year is Fable II. With the amount of options presented to the player as they venture through life in Albion, from falling in love to growing attached to your dog and teaching it tricks, the options in this title are endless and present an extraordinary amount of replay value. While the multiplayer in the game certainly could have been better, it was a valient first attempt and opens the door for future RPG's to feature multiplayer or co-op elements without carrying the tag of MMO. For pure enjoyment that can only be experienced on the Xbox 360, Fable II is the only choice for this years Xbox 360 Game of the Year.


Game of the Year

What else can we say?  Fallout 3 is was the most fun we've had in a game this past year.  We're actually sad that Mothership Zeta has come and gone, because now it means that almost 9 months after the games release we're finally done getting new content.  But even still, you can expect to find us wandering the Capital Wasteland for some time to come.

Have an opinion?  Share it in our comments section!  The best part of picking gaming awards is sparking debate.