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2008's Game of the Year, As Chosen By You

Today's the day we reveal the results of your votes and the game you chose as the best of 2008.

The war economy!
The war economy!
Remember those laid-back days of late December, when all we had to do was sit around, hang out, watch TV, and check out the daily updates to Giant Bomb's year-end awards? Me too. It was glorious. One day I slept in until like 4PM. It was crazy.

Along with our own awards, we also asked you to pitch in and vote on your favorite game of the year. We figured we'd give you guys a few weeks to cast some votes and reveal the winner on January 15th. It seemed so far away, like some far-flung future where the police have been replaced by robots and cars drive themselves.

As it turns out, today is January 15th. I got a hand-written parking ticket yesterday from an actual, human cop. And as much as I tried to let go of the wheel while driving in this morning, the car simply would not steer itself. I was pretty disappointed.

But there's no disappointment involved when it comes to your voting. The votes have been cast and the winner has been chosen. Your game of 2008, as voted by you or people like you, is...


It's true. You all like Solid Snake's latest (final?) adventure. Unless you were among the 14 percent that voted for the #2 game, Grand Theft Auto IV. From there it breaks down into smaller chunks, with games like Fallout 3, LittleBigPlanet, and Gears of War 2 doing reasonably well. Others did pretty poorly, though. Infinite Undiscovery? Zero votes. Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit? Not one of you thought it was the best game of 2008. Not even Vinny.

Can't say I'm too surprised by that. If you listened to our year-ending podcast, you know that we tossed and turned over GTA4 and MGS4 for hours before making our choice. I probably would have been happy with either choice, and it's neat that it's winning a top award from all y'all.
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jeff

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Edited By jeff
The war economy!
The war economy!
Remember those laid-back days of late December, when all we had to do was sit around, hang out, watch TV, and check out the daily updates to Giant Bomb's year-end awards? Me too. It was glorious. One day I slept in until like 4PM. It was crazy.

Along with our own awards, we also asked you to pitch in and vote on your favorite game of the year. We figured we'd give you guys a few weeks to cast some votes and reveal the winner on January 15th. It seemed so far away, like some far-flung future where the police have been replaced by robots and cars drive themselves.

As it turns out, today is January 15th. I got a hand-written parking ticket yesterday from an actual, human cop. And as much as I tried to let go of the wheel while driving in this morning, the car simply wouldnot steer itself. I was pretty disappointed.

But there's no disappointment involved when it comes to your voting. The votes have been cast and the winner has been chosen. Your game of 2008, as voted by you or people like you, is...


It's true. You all like Solid Snake's latest (final?) adventure. Unless you were among the 14 percent that voted for the #2 game, Grand Theft Auto IV. From there it breaks down into smaller chunks, with games like Fallout 3, LittleBigPlanet, and Gears of War 2 doing reasonably well. Others did pretty poorly, though. Infinite Undiscovery? Zero votes. Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit? Not one of you thought it was the best game of 2008. Not even Vinny.

Can't say I'm too surprised by that. If you listened to our year-ending podcast, you know that we tossed and turned over GTA4 and MGS4 for hours before making our choice. I probably would have been happy with either choice, and it's neat that it's winning a top award from all y'all.
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Bulldog19892

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Edited By Bulldog19892

I haven't played it, since I don't own a PS3, so I can't comment.

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breadfan

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Edited By breadfan

I'm a huge Metal Gear Solid fan, but I don't have a Playstation 3 to play MGS4.  Stills seemed to be one of 2008's best titles, but I voted for Left 4 Dead, can't go wrong with killing zombies

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Willy105

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Edited By Willy105

MGS4? It was ok at best.

But the people have spoken.

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LiquidPrince

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Edited By LiquidPrince

Most people have good tastes =P

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Not_Rage

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Edited By Not_Rage

wow I forgot about this, will we still be able to vote in other catagories?

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Aaron_G

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Edited By Aaron_G

Can't comment on this, never played it.

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Steve_C

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Edited By Steve_C

Well deserved. That game was simply an experience.

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Edited By AndrewGaspar
LiquidPrince said:
"Most people have good tastes =P"
Less than 20% voted for MGS4. ;-)

I voted Burnout Paradise! The other 2% who also voted for Burnout, please stand up.
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borgmaster

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Edited By borgmaster

I voted GTA IV. My theory is that most of the people nerdy enough to be on this site are nerdy enough to be huge MGS fans, and that explains this.

Also I own and have played GTA IV and MGS4; so yes, I do know what I'm talking about.

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OmegaPirate

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Edited By OmegaPirate

Hurray!

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LordAndrew

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Edited By LordAndrew

Princess Debut just barely beat out Professor Layton. Man, our community's fucked up. :)

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Edited By Sephiroth9997
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Edited By LiquidPrince
AndrewGaspar said:
"LiquidPrince said:
"Most people have good tastes =P"
Less than 20% voted for MGS4. ;-)

I voted Burnout Paradise! The other 2% who also voted for Burnout, please stand up."

Okay, some people have good tastes =P

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myke_tuna

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Edited By myke_tuna

I've played both, but I didn't complete MGS4 because... I didn't like it. I never have liked any of them really. The controls were a lot better in this one, but it's still just not for me. I voted GTA IV. Still, I respect MGS4 for what it did for its fans. I'm not a fan though.

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BawlZINmotion

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Edited By BawlZINmotion

MGS4 is a good pick, but Burnout Paradise all the way.

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MattyFTM

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Edited By MattyFTM  Moderator

I expected GTAIV to win since it's multiplatform therefore more people would have played it, but MGSIV isn't exactly surprising. I voted for banjo, I loved that game, but I obviously knew it wasn't going to win.

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Snail

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Edited By Snail

littleBIGPlanet!!!!!!

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sloppyjoe

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Edited By sloppyjoe

It's a proxy GOTY

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Edited By AndrewGaspar
Chainblast said:
"MGS4 is a good pick, but Burnout Paradise all the way."
Represent!
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suneku

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Edited By suneku

That's what I voted for!

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McQuinn

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Edited By McQuinn
MGS4 definitely won that.  "SUNLIGHT!!!!"
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Edited By chacho89

Yeah I voted for GTA4, i think it was Gta4 lol. but still I think MGS4 was prety good, but it just wasnt my game of the year (between Us I never finish the last act i got into other games :-/  ) Still pretty fun. :-)

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Edited By xionpunk

Game of the decade.

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Edited By Tamz

I loved MGS4 because it was a very personal experience, over the years I've developed a deep connection with the MGS universe and in particular Snake, so MGS4 felt as if Kojima and his team had created the final game just for me, while it might be considered as pandering to the fans exclusively, I think that was the only way that MGS series could recieve a fitting send off. I loved every facet of MGS4 - feature length cut scenes and all.

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Edited By tmontana1004

I'll be very happy if it gets ported to 360.

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deactivated-5d61ff6f14b61

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That game won? Really? Wow, there must be more panty-sniffing freaks here than I originally thought...

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Edited By Rio

lol at people making excuses about why mgs4 won.  It was not an "ok game at best", its was an amazing title that deserved user choice for game of the year on GB......... and it has attained just that. 

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Stephen_Von_Cloud

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Well deserved.  If only the ending was what it should have been.  It would have easily been the best game of the year.

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Edited By LordAndrew
Rio said:
"lol at people making excuses about why mgs4 won.  It was not an "ok game at best", its was an amazing title that deserved user choice for game of the year on GB......... and it has attained just that. "
Willy is allowed to have an opinion as much as anyone else here.
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aaox

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Edited By aaox

It's KILLING me that I can't play this! Does anyone have a PAL compatible PS3 they could send me?!

*Please note, this request is not applicable to most people.*
*Please note, this is not an actual request.*
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Edited By falconer

I voted for Burnout Paradise myself. But that's coming from the guy with the most edit points on it's page. :)

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Edited By dtran1212

well deserved...thats all i can say

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Edited By FLStyle

Wahey! Congrats for MGS4, I don't feel as bad that GTA IV got GB's GOTY.

I would've voted for Valkyria Chronicles had I not gone for MGS4.
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Edited By RHCPfan24

Congratulations Konami. I voted for GTA IV, but there is no denying that both games are excellent....even if I think GTA should have won. No worries.

And, Jeff, there are signs of the future! My iPhone was jealous of my old iPod mini because I was playing it, and I think they fought when I was gone and now the IPod mini is dead. Robot wars are just starting....
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Edited By Claude

When I get a PS3 this is the first game I will buy. I voted for Fallout 3, but I'm still trying to play catch up.

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Edited By StaticFalconar

With this popular vote win, I'd any haters of this game are strictly in the minority.

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Edited By mattbodega

I voted for GTA IV, so I guess I hate everyone who didn't vote for my game? I don;t know how it goes.

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Edited By Rio

Its fine to have an opinion, but please state it as an opinion and not like your the only one who sees sense lol......... its how you express it that makes the difference.

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Edited By CallMeRotten

Yep. That's what I voted for.

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Edited By halfameatball

It was a toss up for me, a three way one at that. I couldn't pick between Fallout 3, Fable 2, and MGS4. However, since this was Snake's final mission I had to give it to the old fart. An amazing franchise wrapped up beautifully. GTA IV was great, but parts of the game dragged for me. Left 4 Dead is also fantastic but not enough content (if there were say three more maps it could've easily been my GOTY). Three months ago I had no doubt that Gears 2  would be the best game of 2008 but Epic really screwed up what use to be a balanced multiplayer game and added ridiculous smoke grenades so that you spend the first minute of every match on your back. The MP maps in that game lack the creative design the first Gears had also.

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deactivated-5d7bd9e4bef30

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It'd be kinda fun to see the percentage votes. kinda like when we do a poll in the forum.
I'm in a huge minority(oxymoron much?) and voted for No More Heroes. I loved the shit outta MGS4, but there was just something about that specific flavor of insanity that was NMH which struck a chord with me. Even at the times I didn't enjoy the gameplay, I was having a grand old time.

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Edited By Optiow

I have not palyed it, but I know from previous Meatal gears that it is a great game.

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Edited By thiago

I didn't vote, but I am glad that MGS4 won because it deserves. I own both MGS4 and GTAIV, and although GTA is a an excellent game I think MGS4 is more epic and simply a milestone in the history of games. What makes me believe so is the gameplay. The game doesn't force you to kill everyone in your way, or give you a straightforward mission, but it allows to play it in many ways. I stopped my third time through it because I got Valkyria Chronicles.

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deactivated-58efb53e06a03

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I still haven't played this game, I want to play the first 3 before I do however.

My only problem is my PS3 is not backwards compatible, so is there anyway I can still play the first 3 games (I don't have a ps2)
Are the first 3 on gamecube? cuz then I could play it on my wii.

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Jayge_

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Edited By Jayge_

Still say it should have been Fallout 3.

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Rowr

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Edited By Rowr

Thats pretty amazing since only like a quarter of the people on the site have ps3's. Then again, how many different games would you pick for GOTY on PS3 compared to 360.

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zoozilla

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Edited By zoozilla

Wow, that's actually pretty darn suprising.

Really dag-durn surprising, if ya asken me.

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Edited By LordAndrew
Gorillawhat said:
"I still haven't played this game, I want to play the first 3 before I do however.

My only problem is my PS3 is not backwards compatible, so is there anyway I can still play the first 3 games (I don't have a ps2)
Are the first 3 on gamecube? cuz then I could play it on my wii."
There's a remake of the Metal Gear Solid on the GameCube. However, Metal Gear Solid was a PlayStation 1 game, so the PS3 would be able to emulate the original just fine.
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Edited By waza

demos for MGS4 and MGS4O totally disappointed me

japanese shooters aren't for me ... i just couldn't get into it
specially because of controls, because of the setting i don't understand ... it's not for me, but i believe it's great