The 2008 Gamers With Jobs Community GOTY Award Results

The votes are in and the goodjers have spoken. Here are the best games of 2008.

GAME OF THE YEAR: FALLOUT 3

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Runners Up:
2. Left 4 Dead
3. Sins of a Solar Empire

PC EXCLUSIVE GAME OF THE YEAR: SINS OF A SOLAR EMPIRE

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Runners Up:
2. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
3. The Witcher Enhanced Edition

XBOX 360 EXCLUSIVE GAME OF THE YEAR: [i]FABLE II[/i]

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Runners Up:
2. Braid
3. Gears of War II

PLAYSTATION 3 EXCLUSIVE GAME OF THE YEAR: [i]LITTLEBIGPLANET[/i]

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Runners Up:
2. PixelJunk Eden
3. Resistance II

WII EXCLUSIVE GAME OF THE YEAR: SUPER SMASH BROTHERS BRAWL

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Runners Up:
2. Boom Blox
3. No More Heroes

DS EXCLUSIVE GAME OF THE YEAR: [i]PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE CURIOUS VILLAGE[/i]

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Runners Up:
2. The World Ends With You
3. Disgaea DS

PSP EXCLUSIVE GAME OF THE YEAR: PATAPON

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Runners Up:

2. God of War: Chains of Olympus
3. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

INDEPENDENT GAME OF THE YEAR: BRAID

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Runners Up:

2. World of Goo
3. Castle Crashers

There you have it. Here's the raw voting data.

Fallout III 569
Left 4 Dead 564
Sins of a Solar Empire 235
Fable II 215
Braid 202
Rock Band II 200
Grand Theft Auto IV 177
Gears of War II 172
World of Goo 133
LittleBigPlanet 120
Castle Crashers 110
World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King 103
The Witcher Enhanced Edition 103
Far Cry 2 88
Warhammer Online 85
Dead Space 85
Civilization Revolution 82
Mount & Blade 79
Metal Gear Solid IV 76
Mass Effect PC 75
Penny Arcade Adventures 73
Audiosurf 66
Spore 66
Saint's Row 2 65
Burnout Paradise 61
Geometry Wars II 60
Lost Odyssey 57
Professor Layton and the Curious Village 57
The World Ends With You 54
Prince of Persia 52
Super Smash Brothers Brawl 52
Boom Blox 45
Mirror's Edge 41
STALKER Clear Sky 38
No More Heroes 38
Rez HD 35
EVE Online Quantum Rise 34
Too Human 33
Pixeljunk Eden 32
Patapon 30
Persona III FES 29
NHL '09 28
Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of Arnor 28
Mario Kart Wii 28
Lego Indiana Jones 28
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 25
Tomb Raider Underworld 24
Battlefield Bad Company 23
Lord of the Rings Online Mines of Moria 22
Viking Battle for Asgard 21
Wii Fit 20
Sacred II 19
Persona IV 18
Red Alert III 17
Mother III 17
Sam & Max Season II 17
Final Fantasy IV 16
Call of Duty World at War 16
Football Manager '09 15
Castlevania Chronicles 15
Soul Calibur IV 15
Bionic Commando Rearmed 15
Tiger Woods 09 14
Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts 13
Super Street Fighter 2 HD Remix 13
Europa Universalis III: In Nomine 13
King's Bounty The Legend 13
Crysis Warhead 12
God of War Chains of Olympus 12
Age of Conan 11
Resistance 2 11
Yakuza II 10
Wii Music 10
Mega Man IX 10
Peggle Nights 10
SOCOM Confrontation 9
Space Invaders Extreme 9
Disgaea DS 8
Myster Dungeon Shiren the Wanderer 8
Da Blob 8
Ninja Gaiden II 8
Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn 8
Advance Wars Days of Ruin 8
Chrono Trigger 8
Dark Sector 7
Hinterland 7
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 7
Tales of Vesperia 7
Wipeout HD 7
FIFA '09 6
Guitar Hero World Tour 6
Pic Pic DS 6
Metroid Prime III 6
Valkyria Chronicles 6
Assassin's Creed PC 5
Dragon Quest IV 5
Mr Coo: El Laberinto Esférico 5
Condemned 2 5
Pixeljunk Monsters 5
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword 5
Star Ocean The First Departure 5
Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII 5
We Ski 5
Viva Pinata Trouble in Paradise 5
N+ 5
GRID 5
Star Wars The Force Unleashed 5
Colonization 5
Mercenaries 2 4
Animal Crossing City Folk 4
Multiwinia 4
Ticket to Ride 4
Devil May Cry IV 4
Savage II 4
Depths of Peril 3
Castlevania Order of Ecclesia 3
Hot Shots Golf 2: Open Tee 3
GalCon 3
Rolando 3
End War 3
Frontlines Fuel of War 3
Shift 2
Debrysis 2
41st Reality 1
Echochrome 1
Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People 1
Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection 1
The NXE 1
Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition 1

5 points difference between Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead? That's incredible.

I'm a little disappointed that Braid beat out World of Goo.

NXE? Srsly?

LobsterMobster wrote:

NXE? Srsly?

Someone voted for it... *shrug*

Sinatar wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:

NXE? Srsly?

Someone voted for it... *shrug*

I'm not saying it shouldn't be up there, I'm just saying that person's opinions are objectively wrong and they're bad for having them.

Someone with excessive time on their hands should do a statistical analysis that correlates votes with release dates. See if being "fresh in the mind" increases likelihood of being voted for.

It is interesting that two particular (very different) games really wiped out everything else. Big gap between second and third place.

beeporama wrote:

Someone with excessive time on their hands should do a statistical analysis that correlates votes with release dates. See if being "fresh in the mind" increases likelihood of being voted for.

It is interesting that two particular (very different) games really wiped out everything else. Big gap between second and third place.

At first thought, yeah it does. Then I realized how much I loved MGS4 and to a lesser extent GTA4 earlier this year, so I modified my list. Newer releases will always trump fresh releases, because it's hard objectively put aside the feelings for your current game in lieu of a previous favorite(s).

Great job putting this all together Sinatar!

Now for 2009 - lets see them more spread out, ok Publishers?

There is definitely something to the early releases getting largely ignored. Look at Burnout Paradise's votes compared to the amount of enthusiasm for the game back when it released.

BEST RHYTHM / MUSIC GAME: ROCK BAND 2

Runner up: Guitar Hero: World Tour with a 194 vote difference ; )

Seems like a lot more variety this year when it comes to game genres/styles. Even though it means a lot of my favourites didn't make the cut and a lot of games I didn't like did, I'm glad to see the overall perspective.

Also, it's the little battles that count. I'm glad that Lost Odyssey is the highest rated JRPG of the year.

That's an awesome list -- thanks for putting it together Sinatar! It's really great to see indie games like Braid, World of Goo, Castle Crashers, and even Sins scoring so highly. It's also a reminder that I need to get off my butt and pick up Fallout 3 already

Also, I think I see a mix-up on the platform lists -- should MGS4 be in second place on the PS3's list?

Mex wrote:

BEST RHYTHM / MUSIC GAME: ROCK BAND 2

Runner up: Guitar Hero: World Tour with a 194 vote difference ; )

All the cool kids know Rock Band's where it's at.

Thanks Sinatar.

Good work Sinatar...still can't believe L4D lost by 5 points

I'm actually really surprised that L4D got so many votes. I suppose I just thought there would be more that shared my dissenting opinion of the game.

Sinatar, excellent job. Thanks.

I should really get around to playing some of this Left 4 Dead and Fallout 3 everyone keeps talking about, but for some inexplicable reason I've managed to become fully engrossed in Blue Dragon and Rise of the Argonauts right now.

Don't ask. I don't have a rational answer.

beeporama wrote:

Someone with excessive time on their hands should do a statistical analysis that correlates votes with release dates. See if being "fresh in the mind" increases likelihood of being voted for.

But there's also two other effects I can think of:

--Many of the best titles are pushed back until November, anyway. Not from March, but I'm sure that some of these November titles could have shipped a few months earlier.

--So many games are overrated when they release, and over the following months we come to a more honest evaluation of their merits. I know that I left off GTA because I've had time to reflect on its flaws, not because I forgot about it. I'm sure that in a few months, some of the games from this Holiday season will have been left behind and we'll all smirk at our having been drawn in. Kind of like Gladiator winning Best Picture.

I'm surprised I was the only one that voted for De Blob. Anyone looking for quirky game like Katamari would probably love this title. It really is a blast to play. With everyone looking for cool Wii games, overlooking this is a travesty. Of course, I only got on board this month, when a friend brought it over.

I guess Bill Harris is not as All-Powerful as I had thought.

Oh, and Rabbit, you can download an iPhone version, too!

Sinatar wrote:

The votes are in and the goodjers have spoken. Here are the best games of 2008.

GAME OF THE YEAR: FALLOUT 3

Scandalous. You should all feel a deep, deep shame for this travesty!
*grumbles*

Silver wrote:
Sinatar wrote:

The votes are in and the goodjers have spoken. Here are the best games of 2008.

GAME OF THE YEAR: FALLOUT 3

Scandalous. You should all feel a deep, deep shame for this travesty!
*grumbles*

Even IGN avoided the Fallout 3 trap!

Maybe it's not a trap: poke it with a stick and find out!

Silver wrote:
Sinatar wrote:

The votes are in and the goodjers have spoken. Here are the best games of 2008.

GAME OF THE YEAR: FALLOUT 3

Scandalous. You should all feel a deep, deep shame for this travesty!
*grumbles*

This.

Clearly these awards are proof that this site is in the pocket of big publishers!

side note --im tempted to check out sins now!

I was rooting for Left 4 Dead, but I can live with Fallout 3.

*sniffle*

Anywho, great job, Sinatar.

The masses have spoken!

Great work, Sinatar.

Six points away from knocking Fallout 3 off the top. Damn.

And Braid really deserved to beat out Fable 2 for 360 exclusive.

Not that these really matter outside of this community.

With the exception of Braid, I didn't enjoy a single one of these games.

Maybe it's time for me to give up this hobby entirely...

Nijhazer wrote:

With the exception of Braid, I didn't enjoy a single one of these games.

Maybe it's time for me to give up this hobby entirely...

It's still terribly more interesting than say, golf, but I have to admit, golf is pretty funny when you are about 10 beers deep.

Good to see Braid up there. Personally its my GOTY for me with Gears of War close behind it.