So, contrary to what you might expect, I am not going to judge the best game released in 2008. Why? For the very simple reason that I only played a single game released this year, meaning I am unfairly biased in that department. Unlike some journalists, I try not to let personal biases affect my judgement, so I've decided to throw all of the games I played for the first time this year into the ring and see which comes out on top.

Without further ado, the contenders are:

SUIKODEN

HALF-LIFE

SKIES OF ARCADIA LEGENDS

MOTHER

APOLLO JUSTICE: ACE ATTORNEY

PORTAL

SLY COOPER AND THE THIEVIUS RACOONUS

SLY 2: BAND OF THIEVES

SLY 3: HONOR AMONG THIEVES

LUNAR: SILVER STAR STORY COMPLETE

LUNAR 2: ETERNAL BLUE COMPLETE

HITMAN: CONTRACTS

MOTHER 2 (EARTHBOUND)

PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME

MOTHER 3

XENOGEARS

Those are the contestants. Now, lets have our game of the year! Drumroll, please...

THE WINNER IS:

XENOGEARS!!!!

That's right. The Playstation great Xenogears won my heart in 2008. Despite stiff competition from games such as Sly 2, Skies of Arcadia, Apollo Justice, and Mother 3 (all of which I'd probably rank in my top 15 games of all time), Xenogears managed to beat them all. Not only does Xenogears take my 2008 game of the year, but it also somehow managed to take my ALL-TIME game slot, too. Best game I've ever played, hands down, even over the venerable Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

There's more to the story. Truth be told, around August/September I was toying with the idea of giving up gaming as a hobby altogether. It had practically lost its luster for me, with what I then viewed as slipshod games being released on new platforms, as well as my marriage. I didn't see how gaming could fit into my busy schedule and was inclined to just drop it altogether, let the games I own sit for awhile, and eventually sell them. That all changed with the experience that was Xenogears. Let me just say to all of you who haven't played it: if you like high art, it's the game for you. Period. In my view it trumps the greatest Renaissance art as an expression of human spirit, it's that good.

STINKER OF THE YEAR:

HALF-LIFE

What can be said. I didn't like it. There were parts of it that were good but those were almost totally overshadowed by drudgery. I'll never understand why it was considered a great and why it continues to be viewed so highly by so many. To me, it's woefully average at best, and downright revolting at worst.

I will say, however, that during my very brief affair with World of Warcraft (not included on this list because I only played it for a few days), that WoW was much worse than Half-Life.