Best Videogame has historically been a category where the readers didn’t line up with the staff at BOP very much, and that didn’t change this year. Only half of our selections made your list while a title that almost won, Alan Wake, garnered hardly any attention at all from the readers. As literate as you are, you should definitely track down a copy of it.

Mass Effect 2 was your game of choice, which is an understandable selection. The game’s ability to define the fate of the player by their actions within the course of their solo campaign is one many videogame designers have attempted. Bioware, the makers of the Mass Effect franchise, are the first to have a claim at perfecting the scheme. As I mentioned in The Calvins write-up for Best Videogame, Bioshock 2 and Red Dead Redemption make similar attempts at this feat and since you named the latter videogame your eighth favorite of the year, you should probably check out the former title as well.

Like us, you were conflicted about which game to vote number one. Along with Mass Effect 2, Halo: Reach and Final Fantasy XIII were in contention until the very last moment, indicating that you are gamers after my own heart. I only have about 10,000 Gamerscore on Xbox and about 25% of it comes from the three games you selected as your favorites for the year.



The readers of BOP love Nintendo releases. Donkey Kong Country Returns finishes in fourth place while the vastly superior (sorry, folks, but you know it’s true) Super Mario Galaxy 2 winds up in ninth. You also show some love for the DS with your vote for Professor Layton and the Unwound Future. Poor Professor Layton really needs to vacation somewhere that is not shaped like a puzzle in waiting.

In terms of other titles you have nominated, MLB 10: The Show is an absolutely fantastic selection as long as you’re repeatedly taking the Atlanta Braves to the World Series. If you’re not, you are now my sworn enemy. Rock Band 3 marks the third straight time you have selected one of these games for your list. There was also a tiny bit of love shown to the PS3 as Heavy Rain finishes in sixth place, one of the best performances ever for a PS3-exclusive title.

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