Game of the Year 2006

It’s finally 2007, so what better way to celebrate the New Year then with a Game of the Post. It’s a bit lengthy, since I’ve done platform awards and a couple of awards for hardware as well. Check after the break for the full list.

Best Game – PC

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Without a doubt, Oblivion was the best game released on the PC last year. Despite shipping with some bugs, it is an amazing and epic gaming experience. The voice acting it is top notch as well with Sean Bean and Patrick Stewart both lending their vocal talents to it.

Honourable Mentions: Lego Star Wars 2, Star Wars: Empire at War

Best Game – PlayStation Systems

Final Fantasy XII

It’s the latest installment in one of the most successful game series of all time, what more do you want? Despite some complaints about the combat system, Square-Enix once again produced an instant classic.

Honourable Mentions: Loco Roco, GTA: Liberty City Stories

Best Game – Nintendo Systems

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

This was a difficult choice. There have been some amazing games released this year for the DS, GameCube and Wii, but at the end of the day, Zelda gets it. The game doesn’t have the graphics of it’s next gen peers, but it’s still a beautiful piece of work. The gameplay manages to stick to the traditional Zelda format while feeling new and innovative.

Honourable Mentions: Animal Crossing: Wild World, Resident Evil 4, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Wii Sports, WarioWare Touched

Best Game – Microsoft Systems

Dead Rising

Dead Rising could easily have turned into a Resident Evil clone. Thankfully it didn’t. Instead it introduced us to the idea that nearly anything can be used to kill zombies. Yes, it’s gimmicky, but it’s great fun.

Honourable Mentions: Viva Pinata, Call of Duty 3

Console of the Year

Nintendo – Wii

There wasn’t much competition for this, since only two console launched in the UK in 2006 and both of them are made by Nintendo. The Wii may have it’s faults and it may be underpowered compared to the 360 and the PS3, but Nintendo managed to change the way that people look at and play games. The Wii has near universal appeal. 2007 will tell us whether or not it is just a gimmick.

Hardware of the Year

Apple – Mac Book Pro

For Apple users, 2006 was the biggest year since the original iMac launched, with Apple switching all it’s product lines over to Intel processors. One of the casualties of this switch was the PowerBook series of laptops, which were replaced with the wide-screen MacBook Pros. Initially available with Intel’s Core Duo processor, the MBP is an absolute powerhouse of a laptop. There are heat issues, but I’m willing to overlook that fault given that it’s got a shiny aluminum enclosure.

nVidia – the GeForce 8 series

The launch of Microsoft’s Vista OS heralds the arrival of DirectX 10 and with it, a new generation of graphics cards. The GeForce 8 series, which so far consists of the 8800 GTX and GTS. With these chipsets, nVidia has redesigned the architecture of the GPU from the ground up. Reports so far are good and I really can’t wait to see these babies perform. The one downside about the 8 series is the price, but that should come down as more cards are released. Still, one of the major innovations in hardware this year.

Best Game – Overall

Gears of War

Gears easily runs away with this one. Once every generation, a shooter coming along that changes the market completely. In the past Doom, Quake, Duke Nukum, Half-Life and Halo have done this. Now it’s Gears’ turn.

GoW has everything a good combat game need: excellent multi-player, high quality graphics, good plot and great gameplay. This year, nothing else has come near making the splash that Gears of War has. A well deserved Game of the Year 2006.