2009's Best

Every year a multitude of publications post their Games Of The Year. In 2009, a lot of them are also reflecting back on the decade that was, reminding us what has come out within that time frame and demonstrating, even if unintentionally, just how far videogames as a medium have come. Ten years ago, the phenomenon that is Guitar Hero and Rock Band didn't exist; Nintendo's Wii and its dominance was unthinkable, as the company was the joke of the industry -- to some people at least -- thanks to the GameCube's clear and unfortunate last place in the console wars; Big name franchises such as Grand Theft Auto, Halo and Call Of Duty didn't exist, or were nowhere near as popular as they are today; and a little something called World Of Warcraft was nowhere to be seen.

Reading these nominations, reflections and opinions of a year and decade gone by has been amusing, while choosing my own games has been a struggle. Basically, I always thought the process was pointless -- the choices were always going to be subjective for one, and for two, no one's going to remember once the new year's games distract us with their flashy graphics, fancy mechanics and general splendor -- and beyond that, I could never choose anyway. Last year I thoroughly enjoyed the likes of Fallout 3, Burnout Paradise and Grand Theft Auto IV -- among others -- while in 2007 it was BioShock, Forza 2, Portal and The Darkness; How, just how, can one choose a favourite title amongst that lot? I always figured the answer was simple: one can't.

This year has been a relatively similar process, but then I started to think about it some more. I realised that my point of view has always been that of a gamer or consumer: someone who devours the games that pique the interest, enjoys them for what they are and then moves on, forgetting their relevance to the overall medium as soon as the next big thing becomes available. Meanwhile, the past two years, but particularly 2009, has seen my perspective evolve from just your average gamer to one who thinks about the medium: someone who contemplates the meanings of the games they play, who enjoys reading and discussing videogames in any manner you can think of and, obviously, someone who enjoys writing about them too. This blog wouldn't exist without this newer perspective of mine, but it does and now that I've established my little corner of the blogosphere, I thought it was time to change my previous way of doing things and offer my own games of the year. In doing so, I can reflect on the year that was, but more importantly, I can also offer a little insight for my readers by showing them the games I thought were relevant, important or interesting in 2009.

So, starting tomorrow, I will be posting the games that I believe were the year's best, and that I hope future games in development aspire to.