And The Winners Are...

The year might have started out a little slow, but ended up being one of the biggest in recent memory. With tons of games covering every possible genre, choosing the best of the best was no easy task. But close to 100,000 readers cast their vote, and we have the results. Congratulations to all the developers and publishers who managed to get their games on this exclusive list.

Best Adventure Game LEGO Indiana Smith: The Original Adventures Fans of Indiana Smith and Legos, now is your time, because Traveller's Tales has done what they did for six Star Wars movies. They have transformed the first three Indiana Smith adventures into the world of Legos. And this year in gaming, it's hip to be square as both Lego titles picked up big awards. See our Review.

Best Family Game Happy Tails Animal Shelter The folks at Viva Media have practically cornered the market on family titles involving the care and feeding of animals. And the Happy Tails Animal Shelter took this genre to the next level by adding in the act of trying to find good homes for the pets you rescue. This added level of responsibility is a great learning tool for children, and the great graphics and easy gameplay made the game suitable for adults as well, especially if they were playing with their kids. See our Review.

Best Online Only Game World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King If you're a fan of World of Warcraft and haven't purchased this latest expansion yet, you should stop reading this and buy it. Suffice it to say it's good. This expansion for the mega-popular WoW series added high level content that takes players into the 70s and beyond. It also added new levels that made extensive use of height, making even very powerful characters feel a little small when compared to the new landscapes. See our Review.

Best Peripheral iZ3D 22-Inch LCD If 2009 becomes the year of the 3D game, it will be because of the gains made by companies like iZ3D in 2008. The 22-inch 3D LCD was the first real mass produced LCD monitor that let games literally take their favorite titles into the next dimension. Today the prices on these amazing monitors are falling rapidly, so the final barrier to 3D could soon be crossed. If it is, we can say that it with the iZ3D 22-Inch LCD. See our Review.

Best Puzzle Game Defense Grid: The Awakening Like with most good games, Defense Grid: The Awakening takes only a few minutes to learn, but much longer to master. The seemingly simple concept of defending ground against a hoard of aliens using towers is brilliantly created here, and it's more than worth the low $20 price whether you need an afternoon distraction or a title that you can take time to really master. It may not be a traditional puzzle game, but it's the best of the genre in 2008, so the industry better take notice. See our Review.

Best RPG Fallout 3 Garnering more votes than any other title nominated this year, Fallout 3 proves that successful RPGs don't need to be populated by Elves and Dragons. With a first person interface and combat that could be either real time or turn-based, Fallout 3 was the white hot game of 2008, and certainly outshined traditional RPGs. Based on the beloved Fallout world, Bethesda took a real risk with a first person sequel. But it paid off for them and then some. See our Review.

Best Shooter Call of Duty: World At War Not everyone was happy when it was announced that developer Treyarch would be taking the Call of Duty series back into World War II. After Call of Duty 4 racked up plenty of GOTY awards with modern warfare, the old WWII genre seemed kind of quaint. But World At War dropped players in to the Pacific with hot action and a gripping storyline that really highlighted this underserved theater of war. It showed that World War II was still a popular genre, as long as it was done right. See our Review.

Best Simulation Mount And Blade Mount & Blade is really something different in the game industry, and given how things are these days, that's saying a lot. It's not a game that you can slide right into, but with a little bit of effort, you will find a true gem hiding just beneath a slightly rough exterior. Mount And Blade is a simulation of medieval combat and to some extent of medieval life. It has garnered a huge fan base who are busy creating hundreds of mods, so the replay value is almost limitless. See our Review.

Best Sports Game NHL 09 Hockey, and the NHL series in general, has always been a favorite of sports gamers. For NHL 09, EA decided to ramp up the realism - and the difficulty - for its players. Features such as the defensive skill stick, dump and chase and the lift stick option played toward the more hardcore fans. However, if some people found that a bit too intimidating, they could always revert back to the older, and simpler, control scheme. In this way, NHL 09 offered a little something for everyone on the ice.

Best Strategy Game Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution The Civilization series has always been a mainstay of PC gaming. But Revolution was very well named because it moved the game over to the console platform. And the true genius of the game is that it maintains all of the elements that make Civilization so fun to play, but speeds the game up and streamlines the interface for the console platform at the same time. About the only people who aren't happy are exclusive PC gamers who no longer hold the monopoly on Civilization. See our Review.

Best Environment Fallout 3 One of the reasons that Fallout 3 is so popular is the atmosphere, which the game has dripping off of it. Bethesda recreated a post-nuclear war 1950's-era world perfectly right down to the radio stations that play in the wasteland. Everywhere you turn in the game there is flavor, and based on how popular the game is, people enjoy the taste. See our Review.

Best Soundtrack Grand Theft Auto IV Lots of people love the GTA series and when you ask them why, one of the things they always say is the music. With GTA IV, Rockstar has created an entire living world with its own Internet, TV and radio stations. From the talk stations which add humor to the game to the variety of music from Jazz to foreign to computer synthesis to classic rock, there is something for everyone in the GTA world to like. The soundtrack is just as masterful as the rest of the game. See our Review.

Best DS Game Guitar Hero: On Tour One of the truly innovative games on the DS this year was Guitar Hero: On Tour, which added a peripheral to the Nintendo DS that let players experience the Guitar Hero feel in miniature. You play On Tour just like you do the console version of the game, hitting buttons on the new peripheral just like the full size guitar controllers. For DS games, this was the best of the year, and that sounds great to us. See our Review.

Best PC Game Fallout 3 With the capture of the PC Game of the Year title, Fallout 3 is setting up for a sweep. In the world of next generation consoles, the PC platform sometimes tends to get overlooked. That is not the case with Fallout 3, which of course has its roots in the PC world. To remove it from the PC would have been sacrilege of the highest order. Instead, Bethesda offered PC gamers one of the most delightful gaming experiences of the year, and picked up the GOTY in that category at the same time. See our Review.

Best PlayStation 2 Game LEGO Batman Games like LEGO Batman prove that the PS2 remains a viable gaming platform. And instead of following a movie like most LEGO titles, Traveller's Tales instead created a unique story that really freed them up to do some amazing story-based twists and turns. All six sections of the game unlock new items and characters, so the replay value is very high, and should keep PS2 players coming back for a long time. See our Review.

Best PlayStation 3 Game Grand Theft Auto IV Moving the GTA series to the PS3 was like planting a bomb in the ranks of its fans, even with a simultaneous 360 launch. But the PS3 is a powerful console, and perfect for the gigantic open world that Rockstar created for the game. PS3 players could finally enjoy all the killing and mayhem that the series offered, and apparently fell in love with the game, voting it the best one for the PS3 this year. We couldn't agree more. See our Review.

Best PSP Game Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII exploded onto the PSP platform by gracefully shedding some light on a few unanswered questions left over from the awe-inspiring Final Fantasy VII series. But more than just solidifying the series and putting the overall storyline into a greater perspective, this prequel to FFVII reaches into the past and gives new life to a former Final Fantasy timeline. With cutting edge game play mechanics, it could perhaps define the way future RPGs should be played out, especially on the PSP. See our Review.

Best Wii Game Super Smash Bros. Brawl It's probably no surprise that the biggest hit series for the GameCube is shaping up to also take the top crown for the Wii. With 35 characters from across the Nintendo world and 40 levels, this fighter is oozing beautiful content. Couple that with nearly unlimited customization options plus online play, and you have a title that is not afraid to land a few punches. It breaks out of the kiddie mold the Wii is building around itself, and offers some of the most exciting gameplay of the year.

Best Xbox 360 Game Gears of War 2 With a highly upgraded version of the Unreal Engine driving this third person shooter, it garnered enough votes to put it over the top for 360 Game of the Year. Besides being a spoiler for Fallout 3 repeating an Oblivion-like sweep of the awards, the game offers one of the best uses of cover in any title, so that every other game should take note. Couple that with stunning visuals that push the 360 to previously unknown limits, and you have a title that rocks seriously hard.

Overall Game of the Year Fallout 3 It's really nice when one of the most anticipated games of the year also turns out to be the best. Winning the PC, Environment, and RPG categories, Fallout 3 now adds another title: Overall Best Game of the Year. With a sweeping, epic plot combined with intense role-playing and nuclear hot action, Fallout 3 appeals to gamers of all stripes. Set in DC in a 1950's era post nuclear war wasteland, this game is one for the ages. See our Review.

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