Not long ago, television was in the giddy throes of a new golden age—and part of the reason why TV has since become tarnished is because gaming has now entered its own gilded era.

It took developers some time to suss out how to squeeze enough juice out of the now-gen consoles, but they now seem comfy enough to get back to focusing on the games themselves, making 2008 one of the strongest years for gaming ever (even if not quite as mind-blowing as last year).


Best RPG: Fallout 3 (Bethesda Softworks) Xbox360, PS3, PC
Picking this mash-up of the best games of the last two years—Oblivion and BioShock—was as easy as shooting radioactive mutants in a barrel. It took the best parts of both (the former’s  go-anywhere, do-anything world and the latter’s retro-futuristic style and moral consequences) and managed to create an equally engrossing adventure. From the moment you emerge from the womb through your escape from Vault 101 and excursions through the post-apocalyptic remains of Washington, DC, you know you’re playing a game-changer.

Runner-up: Fable II (Lionehead) Xbox360
Doing a better job at fulfilling creator Peter Molyneux's cradle-to-gave ambitions than its predecessor, this medieval-fantasy RPG is a real treat for any pen-and-paper D&D fan that can pull themselves off  World of Warcraft long enough to give it a go.

Best Action Game: No More Heroes (Wii) Ubisoft/Grasshopper Manufacture
From the twisted mind of “punk gamer” Suda51 comes the most gleefully gory game the Wii will likely ever see. At least until the already in-the-works sequel. It manages the rare feat of savagely satirizing violent games and the gamers who love them (seriously, the save point is a toilet seat) while still giving those gamers exactly what they want. After all, Suda himself loves videogame violence and we’re all the better for it.

Runner-up: Mirror's Edge (EA/Dice) PS3, Xbox 360
This first-person parkour game was perhaps the year's most-divisive game. Yes, like last year's Assasin's Creed it was more potential than realization, but the bleach-white dystopia, au current storyline and the sheer balls of removing shooting from an FPS made it a looking glass I enjoyed leaping through.

Best Sandbox: Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar) Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Smaller and simpler than San Andreas, but even more likely to engross you in tangents far from the main storyline, Rockstar finally handed out a roman numeral for this long-awaited and brilliantly-realized return to their signature NYC stand-in Liberty City.
The GTA series has always been the whipping boy for the anti-game crusaders, so where 4 truly stands out is in the subtext, where this story of immigrant Nico Bellic acts as a critique (and, yes, celebration) of American consumerism and violence.

Runner-up: Spore (Maxis) PC
Forget sandbox, Sims creator Will Wright starts this game out in a petri dish. It's a unique experience evolving a creature from single-celled organism to spacefaring race—who says there's no such thing as intelligent design?

Best War Game: Metal Gear Solid IV (Konami) PS3
Set in a none-too-distant future where war has been corporatized, series star Solid Snake is now a weary old man. He’d really rather not be fighting but you’ll be hard-pressed to put your controller down as you help him bring this years-in-the-making tale to its stealthy climax. But unlike most war games, the final chapter of Hideo Kojima’s military epic is as concerned with showing the toll conflict takes as it is with blowing shit up.

Runner-up: Call of Duty: World at War (Infinity Ward/Activision) Multiplatform
Not as good as last year's terror-era Modern Warfare, but by inserting CoD 4's eye-popping engine into their original, old-school theatres, they have pulled off the definitive World War II game.

Best Peripheral: Wii Balance Board (Nintendo) Wii
The hardcore kids dissed Wii Fit  not being a game—which is like dissing oranges for not being a vegetable. But wherever you stand on Nintendo’s exercise software—I’m a huge fan of balance “games,” especially the ski-based ones—the weight-based peripheral shows promise well beyond its original function. Ubisoft’s Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip works wonderfully with the balance board and brings us one step closer to virtual reality. Look out, Lawnmower Man!

Runner-up:  Wii Wheel (Nintendo) Wii
Once again, this peripheral is intended for the casual crowd—serious Mario Kart racers perfer the traditional, and more accurate, controls—but steering with the wheel is fun...for once a Wii-mote add-on added something visceral to the experience.