Hayden Meikle hands out his awards for 2010.
GAME OF THE YEAR
Red Dead Redemption.
Nicknamed "Grand Theft Horse", the remarkable Western set new standards for playability, longevity and technical achievement.
The main character (John Marston), the horses, the hunting, the shooting, the quests, the minigames, the open world, the graphics and the additional content combined for an unforgettable package.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
In any other year, Mass Effect 2, Halo: Reach or Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood could have been a worthy overall winner.
Bioshock 2 was also pretty special.
PLEASANT SURPRISES
Zombie games are now a dime a dozen, but Dead Rising 2 did a great job of mixing hack-and-slash with humour and customisation.
Civilisation V turned some hardcore fans away but made a lot more sense to us Civ rookies.
And Call of Duty: Black Ops somehow managed to live up to all the hype.
MOST INTRIGUING GAMES
Each major console had a fascinating new title.
On the Xbox 360, it was the dark and absorbing murder-mystery Alan Wake.
The PS3 responded with Heavy Rain, another mystery that took interactive storytelling to a whole new level.
GAMES THAT WERE SLIGHTLY OVERRATED
Crackdown 2 didn't really improve at all on the original.
Battlefield Bad Company 2 filled me with "meh".
And Mafia 2 couldn't knock the Godfather series off its perch.
GAMES THAT WERE SLIGHTLY UNDERRATED
The nitpickers found plenty wrong with Fable III but it seemed to stack up pretty well to me.
And Medal of Honour didn't really deserve to be completely overshadowed by COD.
WAITING TO BE CONVINCED
Is Fallout: New Vegas an unbelievably impressive achievement? Or just a glitchy, frustrating waste of time?
SORRY, HAVEN'T PLAYED THEM YET
The two major releases that failed to reach my living room this year were God of War 3 and Vanquish.
I have to assume both were not bad.
BEST HANDHELD GAME
Pass. Seriously, were there any decent games released on the PSP or the Nintendo DS this year? It seems both are falling miles behind the big boys.
BEST SPORTS GAME
A really, really strong year for the most important sector of gaming.
Madden 11 was even better than last year, Tiger Woods 11 got bonus points for including the Ryder Cup, Fifa 11 somehow took football to a new level, Pure Football was great fun, and NBA Jam made a welcome return.
But the king of 2010 was NBA 2K11, the greatest basketball game ever made, featuring the greatest player of all time.
SPORTS GAME WE MISSED
It remains a great shame that proper baseball games are not considered a natural fit for the New Zealand market.
This Red Sox fan would have loved to see MLB 10: The Show.
BEST DRIVING GAME
Another strong field.
Gran Turismo 5 finally made it - see the review below - and ModNation Racers was a fantastic concept.
F1 2010 looked good but proved a little inaccessible.
My pick is Split/Second Velocity, which had speed and sizzle and hours of unlockable goodness.
BEST MUSICAL GAME
You simply must play Rock Band 3 at some stage in your life.
A sensational game, and a blessing for those of us who are tone deaf.
BEST DOWNLOADABLE GAME
Didn't know what to expect when I tried Limbo.
Certainly didn't expect the best little game of the year.
Subtle and sweet, this simple little tale was a rare gem in a market of blandness.
BEST GAMING BLOG
This could get me sacked but I have to offer praise to Game Junkie, the Stuff website blog maintained by prolific Press gaming writer Gerard Campbell.
He's built a solid base of commenters based on his knowledge and ability to generate a debate.
QUESTIONS FOR 2011
1. Will Kinect, Move or the fading Wii dominate the motion gaming market?
2. Is Gears of War 3 the early pick for game of the year? Or Mass Effect 3?
3. Will any more New Zealand game distribution offices crumble?
4. Will the rise of iPad and mobile gaming have any effect on console and PC gaming?
5. Any news on the PlayStation 4 or the Xbox 720?
