Dvader said:If far cry was called Escape from Douche Bag Island it would have swept the awards.
I would have bought it if that was its title.
[I'll update with reasons later]
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[10.] Minecraft (XBLA) -- How can sooo many MILLIONS of players be wrong? A CREATIVE game trumps Call of Duty on the 360?! What kind of world are we living in?! One of our own design, courtesy of Minecraft! Make your own world to invite others to play in, better yet, it keeps getting BETTER! One of the most BELOVED (non) Games of All Time!
[09.] Dishonored (360) -- What kind of Arcane magics did Arkane Studios use to produce a game of THIS quality?! Where did they and this come from?! BioShock meets Metal Gear meets Thief meets Deus Ex all within one of the most creative Steam Punk worlds devised in QUITE a while!!
[08.] Halo 4 (360) -- Bungie who? 343 has managed to keep the spirit of Halo alive and well, employing clever as ever AI and weaponry you REALLY need to consider for each situation! Such colors, such variety in the gun-play. Add to that a story-line you care about, Spartan Ops and PERFECTED online multiplayer. BlOps has not shot to tops!
[07.] Spelunky! (XBLA) -- Side-scrolling platformer meets Rogue game with COMPLETELY addictive results! Sooo many unique items and weapons to play with. Watch the havoc a few explosives can ignite. Thank GOD for XBLA, giving some of the world's BEST Indie developers the chance to show their labors of love to the mainstream gaming population!
[06.] New Super Mario Bros. U (Wii U) -- For many of us, the Mario Bros. games are what got us into gaming in the first place. ANY game that recalls that childhood feeling of playing Mario 3 or World deserves a place on ANY GOTY list, but this being Mario's first entry into the world of HD... could it be THE game this year?
[05.] XCOM: Enemy Unknown (360) -- Hold your breath as you send tiny Robio into enemy territory as he's covered by Travo the Sniper and Vader the Heavy. Part Base-Building sim, Part Turn-Based Strategy game. No other game this year sets up such a feeling of Anxiety and Suspense as you play. What a REMAKE!
[04.] Need for Speed: Most Wanted (360) -- Yes, a Burnout Paradise by any other name IS just as sweet! Add to that game HUNDREDS of REAL WORLD cars (Muscle, Exotic and Concept), Races for EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THOSE CARS... and Oh! That AutoLog! EA has done GREAT things with the incorporation of your Friends List into the very game itself. Drive the streets of your very own motorized play ground, searching for Billboards with your friends faces or Avatars on them and try to top their times and/or accomplishments. Sometimes you'll want to race, sometimes you'll just want to break your friend's records, but EVERY time you'll have fun, without a doubt!
[03.] The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition (360) -- Boobies! ...but seriously... Mature adventuring, an evolving storyline based on your actions and a gameplay system that let YOU decide how YOU wanted to play it. Trapper? Swordsman or Magic-User... All of the above? Yes, please!
[02.] Mass Effect 3 (360) -- Forget the ending. The ENTIRE GAME was the ending. Brilliant FPS/RPG melding meets masterful story-telling in a world where all your past decisions came back to haunt or help you!
[01.] Borderlands 2 (360) -- What else could I possibly say about Borderlands. Vader is most likey right, this will probably be IT, but more on that later and AFTER all the games are considered!
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Nice diverse list there. I wish I had the ability to play XCOM, Spelunky and Dishonored. All the rest fo those I played or will get to (besides Mario).
So Mario gets on the list just for the HD?
"Forget the ending. The ENTIRE GAME was the ending."
So forget the entire game? 
I wasn't going to mention it, due to the past reactions to this particular game series --BUT-- I eliminated Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 from my list waaay too early! I am utterly, totally and hopelessly addicted to Multiplayer at the moment and have been playing it practically non-stop for the last two weeks. I won't go back on my decisions now, but had I played it more, earlier, it would have been in my top-ten easily!
I was actually thinking of making a topic solely dedicated to explaining the multiplayer and the various modes (they are sooo good), but decided against it afterall. You all got another Virtual Console topic instead.
Well, I see the problem. BlOps 2 wasn't even --ON-- my list! 
I guess I never intended to buy it originally, did on a whim, and forgot to add it!
It may have pushed out Halo 4 had it been considered! 
aspro said:I wish I had the ability to play XCOM, Spelunky and Dishonored.
So Mario gets on the list just for the HD?
Why can't you play them?
--AND--
Not JUST, but it's a compelling reason... any Mario game around the X-Mas season makes me happy and is almost always a sure-fire addition.
phantom_leo said:aspro said:I wish I had the ability to play XCOM, Spelunky and Dishonored.
So Mario gets on the list just for the HD?
Why can't you play them?
--AND--
Not JUST, but it's a compelling reason... any Mario game around the X-Mas season makes me happy and is almost always a sure-fire addition.
That's good enough reason then.
I cannot play the other games because I just cannot play strategy, stealth or platformers. Can't/ Won't. Obstinate Monkey that I am 
**Updated a tad. Really not much more to say than was already said, but some deserved to be expanded on!**
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[10.] Minecraft (XBLA) -- I'm not one to create anything. In any game. Ever. For a game to inspire that in me, then let me share it with friends? Wow. I'll never forget exploring Steel's Jungle world for the first time, after living in my barren, snow-scape for as long as I did. He even built a shack for us to survive the night, as the Creepers lurked patiently outside! Best of all, Minecraft is the game that keeps on giving, as Creation Mode and Adventure mode came AFTER I was already in love with the game!!
[09.] Dishonored (360) -- No, seriously, where did Arkane Studios come from? This game melds the best of BioShock, Deus Ex and Metal Gear, gives you a bunch of Supernatural Powers to toy with and multiple ways to complete your missions. Chaos changes the world around you and the ending you receive in quite a few subtle ways; what a suprise sleeper!
[08.] Halo 4 (360) -- Black Ops 2 may have stunning multiplayer but Halo 4 trumps it by having stunning Multiplayer --AND-- Single player! I never would have believed Halo could survive past Bungie, but I am glad to say I am wrong!
[07.] Spelunky! (XBLA) -- Side-scrolling platformer meets Rogue game with COMPLETELY addictive results! Sooo many unique items and weapons to play with. Watch the havoc a few explosives can ignite. Thank GOD for XBLA, giving some of the world's BEST Indie developers the chance to show their labors of love to the mainstream gaming population!
[06.] New Super Mario Bros. U (Wii U) -- For many of us, the Mario Bros. games are what got us into gaming in the first place. ANY game that recalls that childhood feeling of playing Mario 3 or World deserves a place on ANY GOTY list. This being Mario's first entry into the world of HD totally cemented a place in my top-ten!
[05.] XCOM: Enemy Unknown (360) -- Hold your breath as you send tiny Robio into enemy territory as he's covered by Travo the Sniper and Vader the Heavy. Part Base-Building sim, Part Turn-Based Strategy game. No other game this year sets up such a feeling of Anxiety and Suspense as you play. What a REMAKE!
[04.] Need for Speed: Most Wanted (360) -- Yes, a Burnout Paradise by any other name IS just as sweet! Add to that game HUNDREDS of REAL WORLD cars (Muscle, Exotic and Concept), Races for EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THOSE CARS... and Oh! That AutoLog! EA has done GREAT things with the incorporation of your Friends List into the very game itself. Drive the streets of your very own motorized play ground, searching for Billboards with your friends faces or Avatars on them and try to top their times and/or accomplishments. Sometimes you'll want to race, sometimes you'll just want to break your friend's records, but EVERY time you'll have fun, without a doubt!
[03.] The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition (360) -- Boobies! ...but seriously... Mature adventuring, an evolving storyline based on your actions and a gameplay system that let YOU decide how YOU wanted to play it. Trapper? Swordsman or Magic-User... All of the above? Yes, please!
[02.] Mass Effect 3 (360) -- Forget the ending. The ENTIRE GAME was the ending. Brilliant FPS/RPG melding meets masterful story-telling in a world where all your past decisions came back to haunt or help you!
[01.] Borderlands 2 (360) -- Immaculate Single Player. Outstanding Co-Op Multiplayer. The best, funniest written dialogue for some of the best realized characters in any game, ever. A villian you LOVE to HATE. Incredible GRAPHICS, GAMEPLAY and a BAZILLION GUNS!? Borderlands 2 represents not only some of the best FPS play this year, but this whole GENERATION and quite possibly OF. ALL. TIME! With DLC STILL incoming through 2013, this game has lasted longer, kept my interest and promises to RETAIN my interest more than any other game in recent history! The quality of the DLC is up there with that of the main game and keeps you anticipating more and more! For a game that isn't an MMORPG or a multi-billion selling franchise like CoD, for it to inspire such a fanbase, retention of player's interest and be so well received for the developers to even consider making MORE DLC passed the original planned 4... You know it has to be doing SOMETHING right! With enough content and such enjoyable co-op, online play, with such a diversity in playable characters and sooo many secrets to find in the game, Borderlands 2 can easily become someone's --ONE-- game to play and deserves nothing less than the TOP SPOT of my list for 2012. GearBox has become one of my favorite developers EVER and I highly anticipate anything else they'll do!
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Nice list Leo.
Very nice list. I really wish I had the patience / attention span to plow through more games and give them the love I want, but after every marathon comes days of nothing for me; there's always a TV show to watch, or work to do, or a Magic TG game to play.
And maybe I'm just lazy and skipped over it, but is there a rule that says our favourites have to be released this year? 'Cause 2012 was kinda thin for me, I spent a lot of time catching up on older games I'd missed the first time.
T_Prime said:Very nice list. I really wish I had the patience / attention span to plow through more games and give them the love I want, but after every marathon comes days of nothing for me; there's always a TV show to watch, or work to do, or a Magic TG game to play.
And maybe I'm just lazy and skipped over it, but is there a rule that says our favourites have to be released this year? 'Cause 2012 was kinda thin for me, I spent a lot of time catching up on older games I'd missed the first time.
Usually that is listed under our "Personal games of the year" type of entry, but we don't have any hard or fast rules, I am sure everyone would like to hear about whatever games you are passionate about that you played this year.
aspro said:
Usually that is listed under our "Personal games of the year" type of entry, but we don't have any hard or fast rules, I am sure everyone would like to hear about whatever games you are passionate about that you played this year.
Thanks. I'm glad to know I could put it here if I wanted. I just think it'll probably look tidier in a blog post, y'know? Coming from me, anyway.
In retrospect, Minecraft and Dishonored would have been pushed off my list by Black Ops 2 and Spec Ops: The Line had I played them (or played them more) before the end of the year. Not sure where either would fall, Spec Ops would be close to the top, but not going back on my list now.
So what was your game of the year
Borderlands 2!
I think I give my 2012 GOTY to Mass Effect 3, with Xcom close behind.
Zombi U gets an honorable mention.
