Best Of The Best

This was an amazing year for games in every genre and on every platform. As such, the voting was extremely close this year. GiN thanks everyone who participated and cast a ballot. Ladies and gentlemen, here are games of the year, as chosen by you.

Best Adventure Game Myst IV: Revelation Myst IV: Revelation broke some traditional rules to make this title both a puzzle game and a more traditional adventure game. But far from turning away puzzle gamers, the tile kept its base and also picked up a ton of adventure gamers as well. See our Review.

Best Family Title The Sims 2 It makes sense that the best family title would be about building a family. The Sims 2 added very cool graphics and sound to the Sims world while continuing to prove that achieving domestic bliss is an adventure all its own. See our Review.

Best Online Game World of Warcraft With a virtually limitless world to explore and an easy to use crafting and guild system, World of Warcraft is gaining millions of fans and outpacing most other online titles. So grab your sword and follow the pack on this amazing adventure.

Best Peripheral AirFlow Wireless Controller The AirFlow Wireless Controller combines the benefits of wireless play with an ingenious cooling system that blows air over your hands as you play. So you don't get tangled in your wires, or stopped by sweaty palms. See our Review.

Best Puzzle Game Myst IV: Revelation For the past several years a Myst title has been the winner in this slot. The original Myst created the puzzle game genre, and each subsequent title helps add to it with a completely engrossing world to explore. See our Review.

Best RPG The Bard's Tale Combining an incredible sense of humor with some great console RPG action clenched the category for The Bard's Tale this year. For a quick diversion or an entire weekend of play, this game appeals to both RPGers and more action-oriented players. See our Review.

Best Shooter Half-Life 2 Worth the wait is a great way to describe Half-Life 2. The developers really gave players a ton of variety. In the game you will find yourself piloting an airboat, driving a dune buggy, fighting underground and in open fields. With Half-Life 2, there is never a dull moment. See our Review.

Best Simulation The Sims 2 Sweeping a second category, those lovable Sims have worked their way into the hearts of millions. Letting a sim grow from childhood to old age is a new feature that really helped put The Sims 2 over the top here. See our Review.

Best Sports Game Madden NFL 2K5 All hail king Madden! Dating back to the early days of computers, the Madden franchise has tackled its way to the top of the pile and remains there to this day. The Madden behemoth seems unstoppable, and this year is no exception.

Best Environment Myst IV: Revelation Officially the title with the most category wins this year, Myst IV: Revelation also wins the Environment prize. Amazing eye-popping graphics and a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack make Myst the hands down winner here. See our Review.

Best Soundtrack GTA: San Andreas The Rockstar folks have done it again. With plenty of radio stations in the game to enjoy in your stolen rides, players can rock out anything from Rap to Reggae, Classic to Country. How do they fit all that music onto the disk? See our Review.

Best Strategy Medieval Conquest In a surprise move, gamers chose a rather humorous RTS as their choice for Strategy Game of the Year. With graphics that would be at home in a Shrek movie and heroes with a mind of their own, Medieval Conquest is a horse of a different color. See our Review.

Best GameCube Game Resident Evil 4 Nintendo should take note. Gamers overwhelmingly choose one of the few adult-oriented titles as their choice for best of the GameCube. Two hit movies did not hurt its chances, but perhaps this means gamers want more adult oriented titles.

Best PC Game (exclusive) Half-Life 2 An amazing single player experience coupled with one of the strongest multiplayer shooting engines ever created helped to show the strengths of PC gaming, and won Half-Life 2 our highest award for a game on that platform. See our Review.

Best PlayStation 2 Game GTA: San Andreas There were so many good titles released for the PlayStation 2 this year, but GTA's non-linear gameplay style and the ability to customize your character's look, plus amazing voice acting all around, help to vault this one head and shoulders above the rest. See our Review.

Best Xbox Game (exclusive) Halo 2 No surprises here. Though Fable made a good showing, when you think of Xbox, you think of Halo. Halo 2 pushes the graphics of the world's most powerful console, but offers smooth gameplay without slowdown and even a few unexpected plot twists.

Overall Game of the Year Half-Life 2 Shooters continue their immense popularity this year, and of all the shooters that were released, Half-Life 2 easily outshines all others. There are so many different level types that the game is almost several games in one. You will have to get around clever traps, drive some really cool vehicles, outrun helicopters, attack heavily fortified structures and even lead platoons of both men and monsters. There is something for everyone in Half-Life 2, and we are proud to award it the overall game of the year. Now if we can just get the developers to work on Half-Life 3" See our Review.

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