Game of the Year
LittleBigPlanet
Developer: Media Molecule
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform: PlayStation 3

We really fought over this one. Next week, we'll give you a little peek at the internal debate which took place in choosing our Game of the Year winner, but rest assured that it's never been this tough before. We did it, though, as the majority of us succumbed to the charms of one of the most amazing games released in years.

LittleBigPlanet isn't as much a game as it is an experience, and it is by far and away the best experience of the year. It walks the line between a traditional 2D platformer and a physics playground where the creativity is as much a part of the gameplay as simple play is part of the creative experience. Media Molecule gave us a total package. The single-player is like a storybook come to life where you can get lost for half an hour just wandering through the opening credits alone. When you take on the adventure with a friend (or two or three) the game transforms into what can most easily be described as raw play. People are working together, beating on each other, and just laughing. There's so much room for random experimentation. And while the user-created levels started out as more experimental than inspirational, now some of the things we're seeing daily equal or surpass the levels the game shipped with.

Media Molecule gave advanced players all the tools they would ever need to bring their dreams to life, yet in a way that doesn't intimidate the novice. The result is an endless well of fun being created by the people who enjoy it. Who would have thought that in 2008, a 2D platformer would claim Game of the Year? Maybe it's not the most cinematic title of the year, and maybe it's not the most epic and emotionally evolving game of 2008, but that isn't important.

LittleBigPlanet earns its title for the sole fact that no other game in 2008 has been able to bring endless smiles to the faces of so many of us in ways we couldn't have imagined a year ago. Isn't that what a truly great video game should do?

Runners-up: Fallout 3, Grand Theft Auto IV, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Gears of War 2, Super Smash Bros. Brawl