2010 Video Game of the Year Predictions

2010 Video Game of the Year Predictions By Ron Fair Ron Fair is a very passionate writer and scholar whose strong and sometimes unconventional opinions have stirred controversy - though his arguments and logic are often stronger than one might suspect. He is very active on MMOsite as an Associate Writer for the blogs (LordYanLiang) and moderator on the forums.

2010 is quickly coming to a close, and that means that soon the various video game magazines and different organizations will be looking back at what turned out to be a fantastic year for the video game industry, and rating the games that they feel deserve the year's highest honors. Each magazine and rating system is different, and they each vote independently. However, speaking primarily for the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences primarily (and for the majority of magazines), I am going to present my predictions for 2010's superlatives, including my prediction for the 2010 Game of the Year. I'm also going to include some categories that may be covered in a limited sense, and a few special MMO-related predictions (not affiliated with the MMOsite 2010 Reader's Choice Awards, or any of its results).

2010 Interactive Achievement Awards Predictions

Game of the Year: Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2 got such high ratings that it's already ranked among the top 5 Xbox 360 video games of all time on Metacritic, with some of the best reviews any video game could ask for. The only two games that might steal its crown are Red Dead Redemtpion (which only scored a point below) and Civilization V (which virtually swept the awards board at this year's E3).

Action/Adventure Game of the Year: Red Dead Redemption

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences usually splits this award into separate categories, and in that event there's a good chance that Halo: Reach will take the Action category and RDR will take Adventure. However, to clump them together as a singular entity for everyone else, Red Dead Redemption is going to be a resounding winner.

Family Game of the Year: Rock Band 3

As fun as Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is purported to be (and I am a HUGE Rush fan, which makes me love that game even more), Rock Band 3 is both more accessible and more challenging, and adds far more that whole families can appreciate, including the new keyboard. The on-disc music selection is lacking, but the new instruments and play modes, combined with the giant DLC and backlog music catalog, will probably cinch this one this year.

Handheld of the Year: Super Scribblenauts

For some reason, the Academy loved the first Scribblenauts, even though its critical ratings weren't as legendary as its contemporaries', and interest in the game fizzled very quickly. I, personally, got very tired with the original Scribblenauts very quickly -- but since Super Scribblenauts got more or less the same critical reception, I have a feeling that it will win Handheld of the Year this year.