2011 Community GOTY Results!

Poo.

1) Skyrim. I feel like I need to return my "PC Gaming Hipster" card on this one given its popularity (I need to bump it above Saints Row 3!) but I'll hold on to it by making sure to claim that "I love Elder Scrolls before it was cool". A flawed games that could be picked apart if you wanted to, but really, so could any game. It just scratches the same damn Bethesda itch and adds an amazing setting and visuals. It really was GOTY as soon as it was announced.

2) The Witcher II - For doing almost everything that an RPG should that Skyrim doesn't. If somehow the best of both these games could be combined....

3) Demon Souls - It probably would be Dark Souls if I had picked that up instead, but decided to try my hand at the original and loved it. Not right away, mind you - I unfortunately started playing a Thief (Rough Noob Class) around Halloween (Worlds were set to Full Black, the hardest mode) and got my ass handed to me repeatedly. Tried again after Halloween with a Royal and had a blast. Would still be playing if it weren't for Skyrim, so this is on hold for now.

4) Deus Ex: Human Revolution - A flawed but fun return to the Deus Ex series, plus bonus points for being partially set in Montreal, complete with Montreal easter eggs. Really I want a Vampire: The Masquerade reboot.

5) Assassin's Creed - Brotherhood - Was a blast climbing around Rome after just having visited, gets points knocked off for being too long which made it get rote faster than it should have.

6) Portal 2 - Still up there, but the magic just didn't quite grab me as much as Portal 1. The humor, story, etc was all great, but the puzzles felt a bit uninspired. Didn't get to try coop which might have bumped it up.

7) Dragon Age 2 - Also wins the award for Game I thought I would absolutely hate but then actually quite liked, which pretty much goes hand in hand with Worst Demo of 2011. Seriously, the Demo showcased the worst aspects of the game (The sometimes boring combat in drab corridor environments) which, combined with the zoomed in camera, brought me up in arms after the great Dragon Age. How Dare They! Picked it up for 12$ which certainly helped measure my expectations, but then I got to experience the better parts of the game (Character Development, Story, basically what Lara liked) which redeemed it. A lot. I now actually think DA2 is better than DA1 because it plays better to Bioware's strengths. Was tough accepting that they are not good at making Baldur's Gate style game anymore, but the more I think about it the more I realize DA1 wasn't really all that good. (I replayed it this year, too), but I did.

8) Battlefield 3 - Also wins the award for Game with the worst release date. I was seriously JUST getting the hang of it after a long hiatus from the BF series when Skyrim came out, and I haven't looked back. I hope to pick it back up again next year, but damn, if this game had come out in September, it would probably have been much higher on my list. Just didn't get enough of a chance to play. Did I mention I liked Skyrim?

9) Bastion - Great action game with a very engrossing and stylistic narrative. Reminded me of what I loved about SNES games. Would have ranked higher if it was a bit deeper in terms of mechanics.

10) Magic: The Gathering 2012 - Also wins Best Game to play while doing something else. Serioulsy, if I want to watch the Daily Show but my ADD demands I do something else too, can't beat MTG. Sunk a lot of time into it this year.

Special Awards:
Games Released in 2011 that would probably have made this list and I can't wait to pick up during the Xmas sale and pop on the 2012 list
Dead Island, Rage, LA Noire, Might and Magic: Heroes VI, Trine 2

Game I am irrationally biased against, but will probably buy anyways
Saints Row the Third - I can't ignore how much everyone loved it, but the PC port of SRII was so god-awful that just the name makes me want to puke. I know this port is supposed to be great. I will buy it. Did I mention Skyrim?

Game I really, really wanted to be good that I'm super duper sad wasn't
Game of Thrones: Genesis

Game I'm a bad, bad person for not having played yet
To the Moon. Get to Steam, Stat!

Been mostly portable gaming these days.

1. Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (PSP)
2. Dragon Age: Origins + Awakening (360)
3. Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes (DS)
4. Game Dev Story (iOS)
5. Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon (DS)
6. Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (DS)
7. Yakuza (PS2)
8. Infamous (PS3)
9. Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes (PS3)
10. Halo 3 ODST (360)

Redwing wrote:

This is a tough year. So much stuff came out I've even forgotten about the earlier releases of the year. Definitely going to have to go home and make a huge nominees list then cull that down to 10.

Yeah I gotta think some more too. Obviously Zelda that I just finished, and Dark Souls right before that. And Portal 2. But then I have to think. Well at least I probably have my top 3.

1) Skyrim
2) The Witcher 2
3) Dragon Age 2
4) Uncharted 3
5) Dark Souls
6) Portal 2
7) Resistance 3
8) Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
9) Total War: Shogun 2
10) Bastion

  • Dead Island. So. Much. Fun. (Also a complete surprise.)
  • Portal 2. Writing and polish make this a fantastic game. Valve gets it done again.
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (may be my fave TES game, but I say that every time.)
  • LOTRO: Rise of Isengard (Put in more hours here than anywhere else. Had fun. Enough said.
  • Deux Ex: Human Revolutions (Good game, nice tip of the hat to the source material.)
  • The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings (Probably better than this, but I didn't play it much. I'm sure that's my mistake, but I can't rank it any higher until I play more.)

I didn't play much else this year. Fallout: New Vegas, Risen, Batman: Arkam Assylum, Europa Universalis III don't make the time cut.

TrashiDawa wrote:

The best part of the GOTY voting is seeing who the gaming hipsters are (which is defined by not including Skyrim on their list).

I'm sure it's a fantastic game, but I have an absurd backlog and I'm not big into open world exploration. I've played Daggerfall/Morrowind/Oblivion, and they were all great games that I didn't care for. So I skipped Skyrim, just like I skipped

ChrisGwinn wrote:

I'm sure it's a fantastic game, but I have an absurd backlog and I'm not big into open world exploration. I've played Daggerfall/Morrowind/Oblivion, and they were all great games that I didn't care for. So I skipped Skyrim, just like I skipped (insert your favorite racing game here). I'll give it a try someday when its cheap and I'm less busy.

Oblivion is on my backlog! Actually, Morrowind GOTY (Xbox) would also be on my backlog but it doesn't work on my Japanese 360.

I didn't play a lot of games this year, and I didn't finish most of the games I did play, but here's my list of new games I played a fair amount of this year that I feel good about:

1. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PC). It was Deus Ex, again. They nailed it.
2. Batman: Arkham City (360) This would probably be #1 if I had played more. I don't love the open world shift as much as some, but I do love me some Batman.
3. Fallout: New Vegas (PC) I'm a Fallout junky, and I was happy to see the return of memorable characters and dialogue to the series.
4. Dungeon Raid (iOS) This game is crack that fit in my pocket. Such a brilliant piece of game design.
5. Alpha Protocol (PC) There's a lot wrong with Alpha Protocol. And even more right. Everyone should play this.
6. Portal 2 (PC) I've been playing through the single player with my wife, so we still haven't finished. I like it though.
7. Blood Bowl: Legendary Edition (PC) The only real multiplayer game I've played this year, and it really grabbed me.
8. Dragon Age 2 (PC) This conversation has been beaten into the ground at GWJ. It works for me. Of course, I'm still not done with act 3, so I could become enraged.
9. Ascension (iOS) It was only OK, until I started playing regularly with the qt3 crowd. Now I really like it.
10. Words With Friends (iOS) Uh... yeah.

I'm probably missing some non-steam PC games that didn't get transferred in my PC upgrade.

Bastion and Dead Island are sitting unplayed on my hard drive, embarrassingly enough. If I get to either in the next few weeks, it could shift things around. I also played Mass Effect 2 on PC for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed it, but I'd already completed it on the Xbox.

It's quiet at work. Indulge me.

1. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (360). It's everything I want, and possibly my idea of the perfect video game. A "country in a box", as Tom Francis calls it in his review for PC Gamer, a fantasy medieval life simulator for any prospective adventurer. The systems are in place, the paths are laid down, and the player is, after a brief introduction, let loose in a world to do as they please. The breadth and depth of an Elder Scrolls game, and Skyrim at their most mature, are unparalleled—though not without their complications, but that's a low price for the high value of player freedom that Skyrim prizes above all else. As the AV Club's review says:

Skyrim lets these rough edges show, because the element of chaos lets players feel like the game is happening to them, and they are alive in it—not just cogs in a pre-fab Game Experience. That’s what sets Skyrim apart from some of its contemporaries. Where many games with lavish production values seek to direct players’ imaginations, Skyrim seeks to ignite them.

2. Bastion (XBLA). If I start saying "perfect" for all my suggestions, I'm going to lose credibility pretty fast. Let's say then that Bastion is a singularly designed game, where all of its elements—mechanics, art, music, storycraft, and a unique and ambitious narrative delivery—are precisely created to deliver an affecting story and genuine emotional payload in a way only a video game as a medium can. Testifying to Supergiant's skill in this holistic design is that the fantastically fun and laser-focused action-RPG gameplay doesn't play second-fiddle to the narrative, or vice-versa.

3. ilomilo (XBLA). If having to rank these things doesn't bug me now, it will in a moment. Maybe it's ilomilo's saccharine trappings that make it less palatable than Bastion, but nor far below the plush and cute is a game as melancholic and affecting—and as much fun to play. I think ilomilo is an equal, as a game that has been so carefully designed to let its story and gameplay reinforce one another to touch the player. It will probably be forgotten in light of Bastion, and a December 2010/January 2011 release, and that will be a great shame. Mike Fahey's review on Kotaku explains what many might miss:

ilomilo is a game that celebrates the power of friendship. It's about how two people working together can maintain a strong relationship no matter how complicated and convoluted life becomes. Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but the fact that a puzzle game has left me in this thoughtful of a mood is something in itself.

4. Portal 2 (360). Razor-sharp design, inimitable writing, masterfully paced, and a smashing success at not just delivering the sequel that wasn't necessary but going so far beyond "more of the same" that I'm still in awe that just happened. The puzzles may be easier but they keep you barreling through a more interesting story, and it's a trade-off that Portal 2 ensures is worth it for the entire duration. And of course, Stephen Merchant.

5. Rock of Ages (XBLA). It's a simple game and wonderfully beautiful. It's definitely worth your time to play and look at, but so are plenty of games that don't otherwise deserve to be called out on illustrious lists such as... well, hopefully more illustrious lists than mine. But not only is Rock of Ages a game about art, it's also a game about art. Lana Polansky elucidated that for me in her review for Kill Screen:

The pith, the majesty of the game’s subject matter, is immediately undermined by Da Vinci’s breaking of the fourth wall. Sisyphus is no longer embroiled in an epic struggle: he is performing inanities for my amusement. And somehow, this is disempowering to me as a player. There’s a kind of absurdity to human hubris, to an overestimation of the nobility of our actions. Greek mythology taught these lessons well. So, perhaps, can videogames.

6. Forza Motorsport 4 (360). It's odd and ironic that I can break down what I love about those squishy subjective story-based games, but when it comes to Forza 4—a game about very concrete things like physics and metal and photorealism—I absolutely can't put my finger on why I'm so enlivened by it. Sure, I like cars and the occasional sim racer, but I'm not a gearhead—I don't even particularly like driving in real life. On the face of it, it looks like Forza 3.5; and while I enjoyed Forza 3, it never compelled me as much as the sequel has. Is it as simple and dry as the new tire physics? Whatever it is, Forza 4 has for me an indefinable feel that other sim racers, usually a clinical genre, haven't had. There's a real joy to the driving this time. Simply, Forza 4 has made the simulation fantasy of driving real cars fun.

7. Jetpack Joyride (iOS). It's just so much simple but insane fun. The vehicles, the music, the panicky scientists, all put the joy in joyride. What makes Jetpack a more compelling experience—and surprising how a one-button endless runner can be compelling—than, say, Tiny Wings, are the constantly changing missions. In Tiny Wings, you have to complete all three at a time before they're swapped out—eventually I hit a wall. In Jetpack, each mission accomplished is swapped out for a new one—maybe as mundane as collecting a number of coins, or as subversive as avoiding all coins or vehicles or rubbing your head against the ceiling for x metres—so progression is always one tantalizing challenge away.

Honourable Mention:

Best Swagger: LA Noire (360). F*ck the facial animation—the game's interrogation sequences could have, even should have, been FMV for all Team Bondi wanted to accomplish. But look at that stair-walking! Holy crap! Up, down, no matter where I make him go, he's really walking on stairs!

All the Other 2011 Games I Played:

DiRT 3 (360), From Dust (XBLA), Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (iOS), Ticket to Ride (iPhone), Tiny Wings (iOS)

All varying degrees of greatness but none I'd consider a GOTY.

1. Skyrim - I'm over 110 hours in and still discovering new things. The best game of the year and possibly my favorite game of all time. I thought nothing would ever unseat System Shock 2.

2. The Witcher 2 - Before I played Skyrim I thought this would definitely be my game of the year. I love seeing a developer take chances and actually make a game with adult themes.

3. Dead Space 2 - A spiritual successor to System Shock 2 with some amazing levels and audio design. A step-up from the first game in every way.

4. Deus Ex: Human Revolution - I never thought Deus Ex would get the sequel it deserved, but it certainly has.

5. Forza 4 - I've always been a huge fan of Forza and this new iteration is close to perfection. The track count is sorely lacking and I'm hoping the next Forza really brings it on that front.

6. Saints Row 3 - This game is just simple balls-out fun. The story missions are amazingly over the top and memorable. That said, some of the activities are not up to par and I find THQ's DLC strategy troubling.

7. Portal 2 - Valve really nailed it with Portal 2. It has a strangely epic feeling I wasn't expecting that defined the experience for me.

8. Gears of War 3 - Fantastic, solid game on all fronts. The campaign was the best of the series and the improvements to the Horde mode really brought the game to the next level.

9. Bulletstorm - I'm not sure how well this game sold, but it deserved a better response than it got. The story wasn't memorable but the vivid colors and majestic vistas are reason enough to play this game.

10. Shift 2 - I am a racing game fanatic and I just had to include Shift 2. It has the best track selection of any racing game out there today. I can't wait to see what Slightly Mad Studios can do with Project CARS.

I hate to see how many sequels there are on my list, but that is just the way of things in the gaming industry at the moment. There were so many great games this year, I consider 2011 the best gaming year since 1999. With that in mind, I have Assassin's Creed Revelations and Batman: Arkham City on my pile, insanity!

1) skyrim
2) saints row the third
3) shadows of the damned
4) deus ex: human revolution
5) dark souls
6) dead island
7) dragon age 2
8) dead space 2
9) portal 2
10) infamous 2

Honorable Mention: Kirby's mass attack

1. Skyrim - Probably one of the greatest games I've ever played. Sunk a lot of time into it on the 360, planning on picking it up on Steam for the modding capabilities. Can't say enough good things about this game.

2. Dark Souls - Unique is the word I think best describes this one. A lot of fun, frustrating as hell without being psychotically difficult, this one's a great find.

3. Minecraft - The indie smash hit. Been playing this since February and don't see myself stopping anytime in the near future.

4. Terraria - 2D Minecraft? In a sense, although the combat is much deeper in this game, and the creation options are a lot less deep. I think that balances it out a little.

5. Star Wars: The Old Republic - Not even out yet, but I can't keep this one off my list. As someone who's been playing MMO's since 2004, I have high hopes for this.

6. Torchlight - It keeps my Diablo 3 thirst slaked, as well as just being a great game in and of itself.

7. Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 2 - An excellent new take on Dawn of War, I really enjoyed having a limited number of squads to control, as opposed to the old RTS formula of capture resources and build squads yourself.

8. Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition - The game that made me fall in love with the FPS genre. Same solid single player with really improved graphics. Not the same multiplayer, but it's still solid.

9. Portal 2 - Wacky, whimsical, and a complete blast, whether multiplayer or singleplayer.

10. Gears of War 3 - A solid entry into the series. Great multiplayer, good campaign, although the ending left me feeling unfulfilled.

Honorable mentions: Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Orcs Must Die, Bastion.

1. Bioshock 2 - If not for the Minerva's Den DLC, this would probably be at #2.
2. Portal 2
3. Assassin's Creed 2
4. Halo: Reach
5. Velvet Assassin - as long as I pretend the last level doesn't exist
6. Torchlight
7. The Saboteur
8. Bastion - has my favorite soundtrack of the year
9. Rochard (for PSN) - sadly overlooked in the Q4 deluge
10. Bulletstorm

Hmmm... my top two games are follow-ups to titles I didn't think needed sequels. I went in worrying I'd be disappointed but had a great time with both.

I have a ridiculous number of 2011 games on the pile, many of which I might even get around to playing in 2012! And I didn't buy Skyrim yet.

1. Skyrim - Rivals Morrowind for one of my favourite RPGs of all time, Bethesda at their best.
2. Battlefield 3 - The multiplayer is where this shines, and with the new Expansion out, it has a solid amount of content for a game that's still quite new.
3. Terraria - What looked like a 2D Minecraft clone ended up being an amazing sandbox action-RPG with an amazing level of support from its developers.
4. Dead Island - More for being a surprise that anything else, it came out of left field and reinvigorated an oversaturated zombie genre, and has the best first-person melee system in a game to date.
5. Orcs Must Die - Another surprise, it takes its ideas from the tower defence genre, but instead of placing towers, you place traps, and you fight along side them as well. It all comes together in an amazingly well polished game. It's fun, and more than a little hilarious.
6. Dragon Age II - In any other year, this would place a lot higher. I know a lot of people had issues with it, but I feel it's at least as strong as its predecessor.
7. Brink - Some great concepts that were unfortunately paired with some bad level design, bad bot-AI and some performance issues out the gate. I still got 60ish hours out of it anyway, and it makes me look forward to a sequel with all the flaws ironed out.
8. Deus Ex: Human Revolution - The sequel to Deus Ex that Invisible War should have been. Not quite up to the standards of the original, but still an amazingly ambitious game with a surprisingly large hour count for a game made in 2011.
9. Bastion - I almost feel like I'm cheating a bit here since I'm probably not even half way through the game yet. But I've listened to the soundtrack more times than I can count, and that has to count for something.
10. Atom Zombie Smasher - Something about this game is crack to me. The offbeat sense of humour & surf music somehow pair perfectly with a top down zombie strategy game.

Some other games that might have made the list in a less amazing year: Modern Warfare 3, Spacemarine, SPAZ, Binding of Isaac, Bioshock 2 (I was late to the party on this one), Red Dead Redemption (ditto), Rift & last but most certainly not least, Dark Souls.

Edit: Oh geez, and I forgot Portal 2. I'll stand by my choices but it should probably have been in the top 10 somewhere.

THE SQUEE9 SEVEN

1) The Witcher 2 - Yeah I slept with Ves.
2) Dragonage 2 - I stayed up until midnight to play this game the moment it came out...then stayed up until 3 AM because I live on the east coast.
3) Saint's Row The Third - I'm holding out for a hero.
4) Bastion - Then the kid raged for a while.
5) VVVVVV - Veni, Vidi, Vici.
6) Bulletstorm - Damn it Ishi, you scared the dick off me.
7) Dungeon Defenders - Squires are the best.

Grubber788 wrote:

I think Dead Space 2 might get the "Bridesmaid of the Year Award"

Here's to Bulletstorm and Shadows of the Damned getting "Crazy Uncle of the Year"

Wow - going through my XBL activity for the year, I played a LOT more games than I thought I did. All the while keeping my pile to a maximum of 3 games at a time (and even then, most of the time it was 1-2).

1. Portal 2
2. Dead Space 2/Dead Space iOS
(lumping these together because iOS is a prologue to DS2 - just count the vote for DS2)
3. Gears of War 3
4. Deus Ex:Human Revolution
5. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
6. Shadows of the Damned
7. Assassin's Creed: Revelations
8. Bulletstorm
9. Limbo
10. Batman: Arkham City

Honorable Mentions:

Alice: Madness Returns
Brink
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Crysis 2
Dragon Age 2
Hydrophobia
Lara Croft & The Guardian of Light
Rage
Rage iOS
Rock of Ages

Here I go... (all on PC)

1) Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
2) Portal 2
3) Witcher 2
4) Dragon Age 2
5) Orcs Must Die!
6) Frozen Synapse
7) Sonic Generations
8) Binding of Isaac

I didn't really play enough to make up a top 10. I played a lot of Europa Universalis 3 this year but I'd rather keep it to this years releases if that's ok. Yeah, Skyrim. I've only played 40 hours but I just know I'll be coming back to the well for a long time to come. Plus, I said only 40 hours. How many games can you say that about?

1. Skyrim
2. Witcher 2
3. Battlefield 3
4. Bastion
5. Rayman: Origins
6. Batman Arkham City
7. Rage
8. Warhammer: Space Marine
9. Crysis 2
10. Deus Ex HR

nel e nel wrote:
Grubber788 wrote:

I think Dead Space 2 might get the "Bridesmaid of the Year Award"

Here's to Bulletstorm and Shadows of the Damned getting "Crazy Uncle of the Year"

Actually, I'm more shocked there's virtually no mention of Mortal Kombat.

It was my biggest surprise of the year and single-handedly reignited my interest and respect for fighters. The campaign alone was the coolest thing I've ever seen in a fighting game to date.

1. Skyrim - The most expansive RPG I've played in years. I've sunk over 150 hours into it and I still haven't seen it all.
2. Dark Souls - I love the atmosphere and feeling of dread that pervades it.
3. Dungeons of Dredmor - The humor, challenge, and depth to this little roguelike was more than I ever hoped for.
4. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood - I received it as a birthday gift and I was completely taken by surprise (having never played a prior AssCreed game).
5. Portal 2 - Not much to say other than distilled awesome.
6. Dead Island - If it weren't for the analogue controls this wouldn't have been nearly as good but the feeling of dread I love in many games would have still carried it into my top 10.
7. Deus Ex: Human Revolution - I almost put the original Deus Ex here (since I played it for the first time just prior to this) but then I remembered the one thing this game channels, Blade Runner.
8. The Witcher 2 - The world and attention to detail sucked me in while the storyline kept me interested until the final chapter which felt out of place.
9. Mass Effect - I played this and ME2 for the first time this year but there was more RPG and less shooter in this one which led to its' inclusion.
10. Bastion - The closest thing I played to a new Torchlight or Diablo while still distinctly different than either.

Being on disability and now unemployment has put a big dent in the number of games I've picked up this year, but here's my top five for 2011.

1) Skyrim. 100+ hours in, and I finished the main quest on my first playthrough primarily because I wanted to save other major questlines for subsequent characters. No major glitches (though I finished before the 1.2 patch dropped). It's a testament to how great a job the design team did that there are places in Skyrim that have a greater sense of place and identity than many real-world locations.

2) Dead Island. This came out of nowhere for me, and nailed melee in a way no other game has done (so far). Playing solo has plenty of genuinely creepy moments, while co-op is a rollicking explode-y good time.

3) Portal 2. Outstanding puzzle game, with some of the best writing in videogames, period.

Here are the test results: You are a horrible person. I'm serious, that's what it says: A horrible person. We weren't even testing for that. Don't let that "horrible person" thing discourage you. It's just a data point.

4) Football Manager 2012. Latest update to the obscenely-detailed simulation series. Incredibly niche, and I don't expect it'll make anybody else's list, but holy cow does this game have its hooks in me. ErikTheRed described it as "the Dwarf Fortress of soccer", and I don't disagree.

5) Mount & Blade: Warband. Late to the party, but love the open-world, self-directed gameplay. Khergit and Proud.

6) Orcs Must Die. Far more fun than it has any right to be.

All these votes for Skyrim are making me want to play it even less. My gag reflex has even kicked in!

What a great year for games.

1. Skyrim
2. Portal 2
3. Assassin's Creed 2
4. Dragon Age 2
5. Dead Space 2
6. Tropico 3
7. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
8. Shogun 2: Total War
9. Bioshock 2
10.Beyond Good and Evil

Honorable Mentions:
Modern Warfare 2
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Machinarium
Atom Zombie Smasher
Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Hidden Gem I never thought I'd like: VVVVVV
Game I really need to give a second chance to someday: Rift/Mount & Blade (tie)
Most overrated for my tastes: Psychonauts

Best graphics: Skyrim
Best art style:Machinarium (indie), Assassin's Creed 2
Best music: Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Best characters:Wheatley, Cave Johnson, Merrill
Best story: Portal 2
Best replay: Mass Effect 2
Best game I didn't play yet: The Old Republic, The Witcher 2, Batman: Arkham City

EDIT: Updated the list, switching Skyrim and Assassin's Creed 2 and Portal 2. The more I play Skyrim, the more the little things just keep immersing me deeper and deeper into the world. I also expect to place The Old Republic somewhere on the list once I get enough playtime in, the beta was great enough to place it at #10, but I expect this will place even higher once I get enough time in with the full game. If we were counting replays, Dragon Age and Mass Effect would be at least in the Top 5 (yes I'm a BIoware whore), but let's give first time playthroughs their due.

If they eever made a Firefly Mod for Mount and Blade, I'd so be in.

trueheart78 wrote:

All these votes for Skyrim are making me want to play it even less. My gag reflex has even kicked in!

^^^^^
Gaming hipster

TempestBlayze wrote:
trueheart78 wrote:

All these votes for Skyrim are making me want to play it even less. My gag reflex has even kicked in!

^^^^^
Gaming hipster

All seriousness, wouldn't a gaming hipster exclusively have indie titles on their list that weren't available in retail or on console? Exclusively PC indie titles?

trueheart78 wrote:

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/pmtlv.jpg)

FTFY

ccesarano wrote:
TempestBlayze wrote:
trueheart78 wrote:

All these votes for Skyrim are making me want to play it even less. My gag reflex has even kicked in!

^^^^^
Gaming hipster

All seriousness, wouldn't a gaming hipster exclusively have indie titles on their list that weren't available in retail or on console? Exclusively PC indie titles?

Yep, and/or unique choices amongst all or most of their 10 picks. There are a few people who did that.

I've been tracking the results as well (I'm a stat-freak) and noticing some interesting trends. I won't give any spoilers, as to leaders, etc, but here are some interesting numbers:

so far, 179 different games have been listed. Of those, better than 50% only received 1 mention. 23 different games have received first place votes.

I will say this ... Shogun 2: Total War has been shamefully neglected!