Thousands of passionate GiN readers have cast their ballots to choose the nominees for the Game Of the Year Awards. According to GiN columnists Chella Ramanan and Todd Hargosh, 2007 was an incredible year for gaming, producing more excellent titles that at any other time in recent memory, making the job of finding just a few nominees in each category all the more difficult. As such, even being nominated is a huge honor.

Like a caucus, the top vote getters in each category have advanced to the final vote process. Nominees had to garner at least ten percent of the vote.

Now however, all things are equal once again. Each and every subscriber to the free weekly GiN newsletter gets one vote to cast. If you are not already a subscriber, you can still Subscribe Now so you can vote.

And so, in a very difficult year with thousands of worthy titles, here are the nominees for the 2007 GiN Game of the Year.

Best Adventure Game

• Assassin's Creed — UbiSoft
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix — Electronic Arts
• Monster Hunter Freedom 2 — Capcom
• Penumbra: Overture — Strategy First
• Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened — CDV
• Uncharted: Drake's Fortune — Sony Computer Entertainment

Best Family Game

• Fritz & Chesster's Chess For Winners — Viva Media
• Marvel Heroes: Comic Book Creator — Planetwide Games
• Pet Vet 3D Wild Animal Hospital — Viva Media
• Scene It? Movie Edition — Namco Networks
• Xango Tango — MumboJumbo

Best Online Only Game

• Myst Online: URU Live — GameTap
• Pirates of the Caribbean Online — Disney Online
• The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar — Turbine
• Vanguard Saga of Heroes — Sony Online
• World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade — Blizzard Entertainment

Best Peripheral

• I Can Play Guitar — Mattel
• MadCatz Arcade GameStick 360 — MadCatz
• SteelSound: 5H v2 — SteelSeries

Best Puzzle Game

• Capcom Puzzle World — Capcom
• Kororinpa: Marble Mania — Hudson
• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice For All — Capcom
• PopCap Arcade Volume 1 — PopCap
• Zendoku — Eidos

Best RPG

• Hellgate: London — Electronic Arts
• Mass Effect — Microsoft Game Studios
• Neverwinter Nights 2 — Atari
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Shivering Isles — Bethesda Softworks
• The Witcher — CDProjekt

Best Shooter

• BioShock — 2K Games
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare — Activision
• Enemy Territory: Quake Wars — Activision
• Halo 3 — Microsoft
• John Woo Presents Stranglehold — Midway
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl — THQ
• The Orange Box — Valve

Best Simulation

• ArmA: Combat Operations — Atari
• Flyboys Squadron — Interactive Magic
• Race 07 — Viva Media
• Sid Meier's Railroads! — 2K Games
• The Guild 2 — JoWooD

Best Sports Game

• Baseball Mogul 2008 — Enlight Interactive
• Madden 08 — Electronic Arts Sports
• Race 07 — Viva Media
• Tony Hawk's Project 8 — Activision
• Virtua Tennis 3 — Sega of America

Best Strategy Game

• Battlestations Midway — Eidos
• Dawn of War: Dark Crusade — THQ
• Europa Universalis III — Paradox Interactive
• Front Mission — Square Enix
• Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar — Stardock

Best Environment

• Bioshock — 2K Games
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare — Activision
• Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock — Activision
• Oblivion: Shivering Isles (Expansion Pack) — Bethesda Softworks
• Rock Band — MTV Games
• Space Giraffe — Llamasoft

Best Soundtrack

• Bioshock — 2K Games
• Europa Universalis III — Paradox Interactive
• Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock — Activision
• Rock Band — MTV Games
• Star Trek Legacy — Bethesda Softworks

Best DS Game

• Contra 4 — Konami
• Front Mission — Square Enix
• Glory Days 2 — Eidos
• Naruto: Ninja Council 3 — D3 Publisher
• Nervous Brickdown — Eidos
• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice For All — Capcom

Best PC Game

• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare — Activision
• Europa Universalis III — Paradox Interactive
• Hellgate: London — Electronic Arts
• John Woo Presents Stranglehold — Midway
• The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar — Turbine

Best PlayStation 2 Game

• Dawn Of Mana — Square Enix
• Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol — Konami
• Marvel Ultimate Alliance — Activision
• Spiderman: Friend or Foe — Next Level Games
• Tomb Raider Anniversary — Eidos

Best PlayStation 3 Game

• Assassin's Creed — UbiSoft
• Dragon's Lair (Blu-ray) — Digital Leisure
• Heavenly Sword — Sony
• The Darkness — 2K Games
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion — Bethesda Softworks
• Uncharted: Drake's Fortune — Sony Computer Entertainment

Best PSP Game

• Alien Syndrome — Sega
• Call of Duty: Roads to Victory — Activision
• Chili Con Carnage — Eidos
• Monster Hunter Freedom 2 — Capcom
• Silent Hill: Origins — Konami
• Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth — Square Enix

Best Wii Game

• Bleach: Shattered Blade — Sega
• Cooking Mama: Cook Off — Majesco
• Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire — D3 Publisher
• Elebits — Konami
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games — Sega
• Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles — Capcom

Best Xbox 360 Game

• Bioshock — 2K Games
• Crackdown — Microsoft
• Halo 3 — Microsoft
• Mass Effect — Microsoft
• Project Sylpheed — Square Enix

And the overall GOTY is wide open. Any game, even one not already nominated in another category, can win the big prize. Each reader gets one vote, and we look forward to the results.

Congratulations to everyone nominated this year and may the best game (and the developer/publisher team behind it) win!