Filed under: Polls

FanPoll'08: Get those votes in! Reader GOTY vote ends tonight!

by Xav de Matos { 11 months ago }

The End is Nigh! No, not that end but the end of the our reader poll for Game of the Year. Voting has exploded in the few short days its been active and there are only a few short hours left. Click the banner in this post or the link below to jump to the voting page, scroll through the page and make your selections in one easily organized area. Voting ends at 12:01am on December 30, 2008. Results will be revealed in the afternoon on December 30, 2008.

FanPoll'08: Vote for your Game of the Year and more!

FanPoll'08: Xbox 360 Game of the Year

by Xav de Matos { 11 months ago }

We've made it. The end of the line. 2008 is almost gone and these are the best of the best. The list is long and the choice may be hard but one thing we know for sure it has been on helluva year for gaming. Think on it, look over the list and let us know what your vote is for 2008 Game of the Year.

The X3F Staff will have their own end of the year list on December 29. Results from the FanPoll will be posted on December 30. Here are the nominees for 2008 Game of the Year.

FanPoll'08: Flat-Out Worst Game of the Year

by Xav de Matos { 11 months ago }

These games hold the dubious honor of being the worst of the worst in 2008. From our time with them we found no enjoyment unless it was when they were ejected from the tray if we were lucky enough to have our consoles red-ring on us as we played them. By no means should you spend money on these titles. You've been warned! Here are the nominees for Flat-Out Worst Game of the Year.

Read more about these nominees:
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic: Elements
Frogger 2 (XBLA)
Legendary
Rock Revolution
You're In The Movies

Voting closes at 12:01am on December 30, 2008. Results will be revealed on December 30, 2008.

FanPoll'08: Studio of the Year

by Xav de Matos { 11 months ago }

Quite possibly one of the hardest lists we've compiled, Studio of the Year honors are hard to decide. Many teams were added, removed, added back and scrutinized before we decided on those listed below. In the end the best thing about it is there are far too many studios doing amazing work to not recognize them all but these five teams have really brought something special to the mix. Here are the nominees for Best Studio of the Year.

Read more about the nominated developers:
Bethesda Softworks
Criterion Games
EA Redwood Shores
Epic Games
Rockstar North
Ubisoft Montreal

Voting closes at 12:01am on December 30, 2008. Results will be revealed on December 30, 2008.

FanPoll'08: Role-Playing

by Xav de Matos { 11 months ago }

If you went back to the Xbox-era and told our past selves that the role-playing genre on the next Xbox would be as impressive as almost any other genre we'd laugh. Then we'd punch you in the jugular for lying (kidding!). But seriously, 2008 brought with a variety of fantastic role-playing games from both the East and the West. With games like Final Fantasy XIII on the horizon the Xbox 360 is solidifying itself as a must-own console for RPG aficionados. Here are the nominees for Best Role-Playing Game of the Year.

Read more about these nominees:
Fable II
Fallout 3
Lost Odyssey
Penny Arcade: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness - Ep. 1
Tales of Vesperia

Voting closes at 12:01am on December 30, 2008. Results will be revealed on December 30, 2008.

FanPoll'08: Action Adventure

by Xav de Matos { 11 months ago }

After compiling what we thought were the five best action adventure titles of year, we realized how violent they are. Dismember limbs in Ninja Gaiden II, knock insane people senseless in Condemned 2: Bloodshot and bounce around a whimsical world in Prince of Persia. Oh, okay. Well maybe not all of it is too violent. Violent or not, these were the best of the best in 2008. Here are the nominees for Best Action Adventure Game in 2008.

Read more about the five nominees:
Condemned 2: Bloodshot
Grand Theft Auto IV
Ninja Gaiden II
Prince of Persia
Saints Row 2

Voting closes at 12:01am on December 30, 2008. Results will be revealed on December 30, 2008.

FanPoll'08: Fighting

by Xav de Matos { 11 months ago }

2008 was the year fighting games exploded back into the spotlight. With multiple quality releases and big news (specifically, Tekken 6 coming to the Xbox 360) this year was a great time for fans of the classic arcade genre. This competition is like a Hadouken ... because it's down-right fierce. No, that joke never gets old.

Read more about these nominees:
Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit
Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
Soulcalibur IV
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

Voting closes at 12:01am on December 30, 2008. Results will be revealed on December 30, 2008.

FanPoll'08: Strategy and Rhythm Games

by Xav de Matos { 11 months ago }

These two categories have been mashed into one post due to a serious lack of quality competition. Civilization Revolution did the unthinkable, bought Sid Meier's famous franchise to the console and made it work but EA has strong competition waiting in the wings. On the music front, Rock Band and Guitar Hero: World Tour continue to beat each other up for top ranks. Who wins out in the end?

Voting closes at 12:01am on December 30, 2008. Results will be revealed on December 30, 2008.

Read more about these nominees:
Guitar Hero: World Tour
Lips
Rock Band 2

Read more about these nominees:
Age of Booty
Civilization Revolution
Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3
Culdcept SAGA

FanPoll'08: Sports

by Xav de Matos { 11 months ago }

We like to joke that sports games don't matter (and by 'we' I don't mean me) but anyone looking at sales numbers will tell you sports games mean business. Serious business. You wouldn't think a lot of innovation could come from annual sports video game franchises but 2008 proved that theory wrong. It was a good year to be a sports fan ... let's do the wave. Here are the nominees for Best Sports Game of the Year.

Read more about these five nominees:
FIFA Soccer 09
Madden NFL 09
NBA 2K9
NHL 09
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09

Voting closes at 12:01am on December 30, 2008. Results will be revealed on December 30, 2008.

FanPoll'08: Driving / Racing

by Xav de Matos { 11 months ago }

Get behind the wheel, slam down the gas and mooove! This genre had quite a few high speed entries in 2008. High speed crashes or strategic positioning? Make your call with these nominees. Here are the nominees for Best Driving / Racing Game of the Year.

Read more about these five nominees:
Burnout Paradise
GRID
Midnight Club: LA
NASCAR-09
Pure

Voting closes at 12:01am on December 30, 2008. Results will be revealed on December 30, 2008.

FanPoll'08: Shooter

by Xav de Matos { 11 months ago }

Ah, shooters -- the life blood of the Xbox brand. This year saw the release of top-tier shooters so this list was harder to compile then you would think. Sure, the Xbox 360 has attacked a ton of other genres in recent memory to fatten its portfolio, everyone remembers what started the trend. Shooting virtual dudes in the virtual face ... virtually. Here are the nominees for Shooter of the Year.

Read more about these five nominees:
Dead Space
Call of Duty: World at War
Far Cry 2
Gears of War 2
Left 4 Dead

Voting closes at 12:01am on December 30, 2008. Results will be revealed on December 30, 2008.

FanPoll'08: Original IP

by Xav de Matos { 11 months ago }

It felt like almost every big game of the year had a number on the end of it. In this industry sequels are king, but these titles stand on their own as fresh, new and exciting. These are games with worlds and mechanics we loved but think the next installment will be even better. From trick-ATV racing in Pure to hack-and-slash mayhem in Castle Crashers here are the nominees for our favorite and the Best Original Intellectual Properties of 2008.

Read more about the five nominees:
Braid
Castle Crashers
Dead Space
Left 4 Dead
Pure

Voting closes at 12:01am on December 30, 2008. Results will be revealed on December 30, 2008.

FanPoll'08: Gold Watch Award

by Xav de Matos { 11 months ago }

The gold watch award is given to the franchise that needs to be put into retirement. This year saw another return of Sonic, the 12th Need for Speed title and five Guitar Hero games (across multiple platforms/devices). Enough! We're not saying cancel these franchises outright but taking a breather, sitting back and deciding where to go next could be a good idea. Or in the case of some games, maybe you should let us play through this one before you go ahead and throw us a new title (looking at you Activision) Here are the nominees for this year's Gold Watch Retirement Award.

Read more about these five nominees:
Cabela's Franchise
Destroy All Humans
Guitar Hero
Need for Speed
Sonic

Voting closes at 12:01am on December 30, 2008. Results will be revealed on December 30, 2008.

FanPoll'08: Multiplayer Game of the Year

by Xav de Matos { 11 months ago }

Since its release in 2002, Xbox Live has been a staple in online console gaming. Years later some players even make their buying purchases based on the small green and gold lettering in the top right corner of game boxes. No online? No buy! We've heard it, thought it and even wrote it all over X3F. This year brought us some incredible online gaming experiences from the Gears 2 Horde Mode to an all out Zombie Apocalypse in Left 4 Dead, here are the nominees for Multiplayer (Competitive and Cooperative) Game of the Year.

Read more about these five nominees:
Burnout Paradise
Call of Duty: World at War
Gears of War 2
Left 4 Dead
Rock Band 2

Voting closes at 12:01am on December 30, 2008. Results will be revealed on December 30, 2008.

FanPoll'08: Most Disappointing Game or Issue

by Xav de Matos { 11 months ago }

While 2008 certainly brought us new and exciting titles, we did encounter our fair share of disappointments. Surprisingly, some of our biggest disappointments came from titles we actually loved due to issues that drove us mad! Online problems and game ending glitches broke pieces of our favorite titles. Bugs may just be bugs but sometimes they destroy an entire experience, for example the broken online play and subsequent four-month-long wait for a patch kept one of our favorite XBLA titles -- Castle Crashers -- off our XBLA Game of the Year list. That in mind along with other titles we were really hoping would be fantastic or bug free in spots, here are our nominees for Most Disappointing Game or Issue of 2008.

Read more about these five nominees:
Castle Crashers Online Problems
Gears of War 2 Matchmaking Issues
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
Mirror's Edge
Fable II Game Ending Bugs

Voting closes at 12:01am on December 30, 2008. Results will be revealed on December 30, 2008.