2009 Game Of The Year nominees

With the major releases out of the way for the remainder of the year, I feel confident that I can go ahead and name the games that I feel merit serious consideration for the Game Of The Year award. I will be picking one game from this list as the GOTY and will probably be doing some sub-categories this year as well, such as best story, voice acting, etc.

Before I get into this any further, I must mention these 2 huge caveats:

1. I have not played (and will not be playing) some of the biggest releases of the year such as Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and Forza Motorsport 3. As such, these games are not eligible for GOTY. I know this makes the list null and void for some people but COD:MW2 and L4D2 are mainly multiplayer games and I am not much of a multiplayer gamer, so there is no sense in me spending money on these games. If you can handle these games being ineligible, then you may find these awards worth browsing.
2. These awards are for Xbox 360 and PS3 games only. I am not into the Wii, DS, PSP or PC gaming.

Okay, with those things out of the way, here are my nominees for the 2009 Game Of The Year award (along with the console on which I played them), in no particular order:

1. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)
2. Batman: Arkham Asylum (360)
3. The Beatles: Rock Band (360)
4. NHL 10 (360)
5. Borderlands (360)
6. Assassin's Creed II (360)

Please note that even though I linked these games to their IGN reviews, those scores will not influence my decisions at all. They just serve as a reference for anyone unfamiliar with the games.

As you can see, I played all of these games on the 360, except for Uncharted 2, which is a PS3 exclusive game. You are probably wondering why and I will tell you. First, I prefer the 360 controller over the PS3 controller. I like the analog triggers on the 360 controller and just the overall heft of the thing. I don't dislike the PS3 controller, but I do prefer the 360's. Second, you can install games onto your hard drive on the 360, which helps with loading times while playing games. And third, downloading patches, DLC, etc. is much faster for me on the 360 than on the PS3. Don't get me wrong, I think the PS3 is a fantastic console and no doubt it is much more reliable than the 360. But when push comes to shove, I just prefer to game on my 360.

The fact that NHL 10 made the list is probably going to alienate me from my Canadian buddy Pete Anderson. He has real problems with the way the skaters control in the game and he knows more about hockey than I could ever pretend to. Still, the game works for me and it is a wonderfully complete package. Sorry, Pete!

There are a number of really high quality games that I played this year that didn't quite make the nominees list. I'd like to give these Honorable Mentions some recognition: Demon's Souls (PS3), IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds Of Prey (360), Dragon Age: Origins (360), FIFA 10 (360), Sacred 2 (360), MLB '09: The Show (PS3), Street Fighter 4 (PS3), Red Faction: Guerrilla (PS3), Madden NFL 10 (360).

In addition, besides the already-mentioned Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and Forza Mototsport 3, here are some of the games that I did not play this year that would probably have a good chance at making the nominees list: Dirt 2 (360), Infamous (PS3), Resident Evil 5 (360), Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time (PS3). I have had Resident Evil 5 for over a month from GameFly, but have been busy with other games. I may yet play it before the awards are announced and if so, it will be given full consideration.

The decision this year will be a tough one. While the last couple of years have had tons of excellent games, in 2007 and 2008 one game stood out head and shoulders above the rest (Bioshock and Fallout 3 respectively), making the actual GOTY announcement itself not so difficult. This year I have no idea which way I am going to go. I have some ideas here and there but I can make a serious case for each one of the nominees and I really do not know which game will come out on top. I have a lot of different things to consider. Any feedback would be welcome.