What changed?  70% of the items you use are the same, several of the stages even overlap directly.  The 3 divisions are the same (50, 100, 150), mirror courses to try and stretch those stages are the same.  There are a few new characters and a few new stages, does that make the game totally different?  

   Compare link to the past (SNES) with a newer Zelda game or compare Mario World to Mario 64 or Galaxy, huge changes.  The changes to Mario Kart (and Smash Bros) have been primarily cosmetic.  The stages and gameplay are more or less identical.

    I can't think offhand of one major feature besides the one I mentioned (motorcycles) that has changed.  Time trials, Vs mode (which I would argue was BETTER in the SNES and N64 version, that block fort alone was worth hours upon hours of play) with baloons...everything is the same!   Mario Kart Wii isn't even the best version (the N64 version deserves that honor especially for its battle mode).

  Actually...I would argue that the peak of almost all current Nintendo series was the N64 Era now that I'm thinking about it.

   Mario 64 is still the best Mario game, Orciana of Time is still the best Zelda game, Mario Kart 64 is still the best Mario Kart and SSB on N64 had WAY less timing cheese then the later versions even if it had less characters.   On top of that other great N64 games like Diddy Kong Racing, Donkey Kong 64 and Conker never made the trip because Nintendo let Rare get away.  

   I know a lot of people are on the Wii bandwagon and the Wii is far more successful then the N64, but I would contend that the N64 is the peak of Nintendo's core game library.  The only series that has improved on the N64 gen is Metroid with the Prime series, but that was never made for N64 so kind of a wash.

You know, I had a nice little argument all planned out and about 1/3 of the way written but I decided to not waste my time on someone who hasn't played the game, who more than likely isn't going to ever play this game, and is someone is too stubborn to ever change their mind.

Have fun in your sad, small, and closed off little world.

I understand your point and I don't want to diminish the quality that this game could have, but a "best of the year" award is not a "I want to put this game under spotlight because he is not well known". You will see that a lot of Wii gamer will not understand this choice and would not find it fair.

I can't agree with you either. I think the Wii version is better for having more players, full 12 player online, stunts, the motion sensing, bikes and I happen to like the old tracks for nostalgia. Admittedly it is not revolutionary, but it does everything (bar local battlemode) better than the other versions in my opinion. I'm not sure you can really revolutionise a driving game in the same way you can change a platform game from 2D to 3D, though you could argue you are still collecting stars, jumping on creatures and kicking King Koopa/Bowser's ass in Mario games. Not that I would.

I fail to understand what is your problem?  Have you some emotional issues because I thought that Smash Bros Brawl deserves this award more than a WiiWare game?

Give me one gaming award that doesn't fit.

No, in fact, I do think SSBB deserves it more than World of Goo (but SSBB still isn't the best this year, I'd give that to Boom Blox or MK:Wii), but my reasons are actually valid.  While I base mine on things like gameplay, art direction, fun (which both games have plenty of), you base yours off of one is downloadable so it's impossible to win and the other is full of stuff and more is better.

Fine. Then they need to play it to find out, instead of ranting without good reason. I would go with Goo over Brawl for the reason I stated. I like them both, but would find it hard to judge as it depends on what you are looking for. Goo is a billion times (yes, massive exaggeration) better as a single player game. Brawl is fab for multi-play frenzy, but it aint nothing new.

Again, I have to give these guys credit. This was a bold as hell move. I just got world of goo and have been playing it for hours and it is freakin' amazing, this is a genius game. And they put their balls to the wall to give it credit, knowing no doubt the ire it would draw.

The thing that is so ridiculous is the claim of bias and hate. If you take off your fanboy hats and ever listen to these guys talk about videogames you can plainly tell that they think the fanboy wars that take place in trenches like this are retarded and childish. They all have the picard facepalm jpeg playing in their head when they have to read the message board comments under their articles. They do it as a job, and they play more games in a month than most of us do in a year. And unlike people here who have only one, maybe two systems that they have a bizarre emotional attachment to, They have a wall full of systems and they could care less which one they have to put a disc in to make the game play. That changes a person's perspective of gaming. They aren't there to push some personal agenda fueled by a combination of nerd rage and emotional imbalance.

They saw a unique, wonderfully realized, ingenious game, with an incredible soundtrack, art work, story, and gameplay and gave it the award regardless of it's pricetag and went out on a limb to do it because the fanboys all clamor for one game to be handed the award many of which haven't even played the other choices. There isn't a conspiracy there, it's all in the mind of the fanboys. If you disagree with their choice, fine, it's a free world. But to claim that it's passive aggressive conspiracy by wii hating fanboys, you need to look in the mirror at the real fanboy.

Well, how about the fact that all the tracks in Super Mario Kart were flat Mode 7 maps?  All the others are actually in 3D.

Expecting a revolution like SMW-SM64 in every game is insane. 

To go back to my original retort, would you in fact say that you consider the original SMB to be "more or less the same" as SMW?  Because that's an equivalent situation.