The 1999 Game of the Year is Age of Empires II.
The runner up is Final Fantasy VIII.
The master thread for all of these contests can be found here.

Ok, there is going to be a runoff vote for 1999 Game of the Year.  The runoff will end Thursday, Oct 19 at 11:59 PM EST.

First there are three games that remain from the first voting round:

Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal (Gameboy Color)
Pokemon returns and continues it’s megasales with this second set of entries into the Pokemon series.  Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal would sell over 29.4 million copies.

Final Fantasy VIII (Playstation)
Just 2 years after Playstation fans were blown away by FF7’s 3-disc adventure, Squaresoft releases this 4-disc adventure with greatly improved character models.  With a universally loved card game, and a not-so-universally loved battle system, FF8 would sell over 8.6 million copies making it the fourth best selling game on the Playstation.

Super Smash Bros (N64)
A bunch of family friendly Nintendo characters came together to beat the crap out of each other for the first time.  Super Smash Bros sold over 5.5 million copies.

TV Commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytQSGg3W-W0

The following games got more than one "Other" vote, and are now added to the poll:

Age of Empires II (PC)
Bruce Shelley refines the Age of Empires design to yield fantastic sales and critical acclaim.  Age of Empires sold over 2 million copies by the end of 1999, and was later ported to both Mac and the PS2.

Homeworld (PC)
This space-themed RTS was the highest rated PC game on Metacritic for 1999.

Gran Turismo 2 (Playstation)
This second entry into the GT franchise sold over 9.3 million units on the Playstation.

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (Playstation)
This entry in the Resident Evil series was originally conceived as a spin-off title, but by release time it has simply become the third entry in the series.  Resident Evil 3 sold over 3.5 million copies on the Playstation alone and was ported to the PC, Dreamcast and Gamecube.

Games which didn't survive the first voting round:

Heroes of Might and Magic III (PC/Linux/Max)
Roller Coaster Tycoon (PC)
The Legend of Dragoon (Playstation)
Silent Hill (Playstation)
Donkey Kong 64 (N64)
Shenmue (Dreamcast)

No Age of Empires II?
Surely a game that iconic deserves to be on the shortlist.

Here are some other notable games from 1999:

Crazy Taxi (Arcade)
Dead or Alive 2 (Arcade)
Tekken Tag Tournament (Arcade)
Age of Empires 2 (PC)
EverQuest (PC)
Grand Theft Auto 2 (PC/Playstation)
Homeworld (PC)
Jagged Alliance 2 (PC)
Quake 3 (PC/Linux)
System Shock 2 (PC)
SimCity 3000 (PC/Mac)
Unreal Tournament (PC/Linux)
Pokemon Pinball (Game Boy)
Chrono Cross (Playstation)
CTR: Crash Team Racing (Playstation)
Dino Crisis (Playstation)
Driver (PC/Playstation)
Gran Turismo 2 (Playstation)
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (PC/Playstation)
Medal of Honor (Playstation)
Need for Speed: High Stakes (PC/Playstation)
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (Playstation)
Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage (Playstation)
Syphon Filter (Playstation)
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (Playstation)
Valkyrie Profile (Playstation)
Harvest Moon 64 (N64)
Ogre Battle 64 (N64)
Pokemon Snap (N64)
Pokemon Stadium (N64)
Star Wars Episode 1: Racer (N64)
NFL 2K (Dreamcast)
Ready to Rumble Boxing (Dreamcast/PS1/N64/GBC)

The list of "other notable games" this year is easily the longest of any year so far.

Fuck it I can't choose between 3 of my fave games ever. Strider 2. Omega Boost and Shenmue.

A lot of great games this year as well, but there are a few that stand out to me in particular. Final Fantasy VIII is one of the best games in the series and one I replay on a fairly frequent basis, Heroes of Might and Magic III is still probably the peak of the series and is one of the best strategy games ever made, The Legend of Dragoon remains one of my all-time favourite games in general, and Freespace 2 is the best space combat sim of all time, as well as being a nearly completely forgotten game these days which is a massive shame.

Two of those games are also in my all-time top three, namely The Legend of Dragoon and Freespace 2. While I highly doubt either one are going to win, I'll have to vote for the former. 

The gold/silver games are the best in the Pokémon series. Only the remakes soul silver and heart gold might be better. large world, great Pokémon design, great mysteries to solve, 16 gyms to beat, eggs, breading, roaming legendary dogs, alternate colored shinies, much better balanced battles.

Honorable mention to Pokémon Snap. My favorite spin off Pokémon series game.

Even if Pokémon had a great showing this year, my vote goes to my third best game of all time, Heroes of Might and Magic III. The only game I played for an entire 24 hours without paus. The strategy elements both on a macro scale in the overworld and hands on in combat makes this a highlight among strategy games. Nothing before comes close and nothing after matches. The predecessor Heroes of might and Magic II is also a fine game but did not feel as polished and the graphics does not hold up as well.

Alpha Centauri. - Turn based strategy.

What StarCraft did for WarCraft, Alpha Centauri did for Civilization.



And can't forget Dungeon Keeper 2.

Gran Turismo 2 and Jagged Alliance 2 stand out for me. Going by what I like, sheer quality and content, as well as impact on the industry, I can only choose Gran Turismo 2 though. Third best-selling Playstation game of all time (only behind FFVII and Gran Turismo). I still remember the countless hours we spent tuning and testing cars in GT2, it was filled with geezer-mobiles with pathetic power and tires the breadth of a child's hand, it was awesome smacking huge turbos and slick tires on them and race. It also had very impressive sound-mixing, and support for thumbsticks was much improved, allowing for smoother steering.

Edit; dreading the 2000 thread, how will I choose between two of the greatest games of all time; Baldur's Gate II and Deus Ex?!

Other, as usual, but first a complaint: No Alpha Centauri or Planescape: Torment on either list despite both often being on shortlists of best games ever released???

Number 5 goes to Unreal Tournament. This one, along with Quake 3: Arena (also from this year btw), really brought Multiplayer ego-shooter to the forefront.

My fourth spot goes to Heroes of Might & Magic III. I'm probably one of the few who actually prefers HoMM IV over HoMM III.

Third one goes to Planescape: Torment, the RPG with probably the best story ever.

Second one goes to Alpha Centauri. This is what Civ should have become, but alas it never went that way.

And my number one spot goes to Jagged Alliance 2. Poor, poor Elliot... *slap slap*