"Well what a year 2008 was! Certainly a bountiful year full of quality gaming. Will 2009 be as good or better, despite the world-wide recession and the loss of game studios and gaming related jobs?

What will be the big stories of 2009?

With that still to be determined, we have dug into our archives to dust off some of the stories we brought to you over the last year. You may have missed them with all that gaming, or you may want to see if the stories are still relevant now that the y..."

"Well, the year 2008 is finally at an end and though there were disappointments, many games lived up to the hype. The decision to make a Top 5 Games list instead of a Top 10 list was rooted in the fact that there were so many great games that it was tough for the staff to develop a consensus past the first five. Plus, the longer the list, the more you start to get all political with it and say crap like, "Boy, we need another game from x console in there." So here they are, our top five games ..."

"We're just fiending for Santa crap around this time of year so why don't more game companies take advantage of our sentimentality with special DLC? Here's five pieces of downloadable content we'd love to see next December"

"1. Fallout 3
Shoulder-mounted nuclear launchers, super mutants with exploding heads and the ability to wipe an entire town from existence. Fallout 3 grabs you by the collar and doesn’t let go for about 50 hours, and is one of the most complete, satisfying and enjoyable games in year."

"We look at the top 12 games from several platforms in order to determine which are the Top 12 Overall Games for 2008, and you might just be surprised at the ‘overall’ winner for 2008 - coming from an Xbox site. OXCGN (aka XboxOZ360-gamer) has always maintained that the staff are “gamers” - not fanbois. Most have more than 2 consoles and platforms to play games on and simply enjoy ‘gaming’ period.

So what better way to round off the year than to take a look at what we believe to be the top ..."

"

1. World of Warcraft
2. Tetris
3. Peggle
4. Everquest
5. The Sims
6. Bejeweled
7. Starcraft
8. Pac-Man
9. Street Fighter II
10. Doom
11. Halo 3
12. Fallout 3
13. Counter-Strike
14. Grand Theft Auto IV
15. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
16. Gears of War 2
17. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
18. Animal Crossing
19. Rock Band 2
20. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
21. Super Mario Bros. 3
22. Madden NFL 09
23. Solitaire
24. Burnout Paradise
25. Frogger

"

"When we sit down for a round of gaming with our console or PC of choice, we're usually on the look-out for extreme action, non-stop thrills and a sophisticated story. One thing we never expected to see was sex. But as the average age of the gaming audience grows ever higher, interactive entertainments are tackling more grown-up topics like the beast with two backs in a variety of different ways. Some games play it for humor, some use it as a plot motivator, and others let you fornicate just f..."

"

1. Silent Hill
2. Raccoon City
3. Megaton
4. Bowser’s Castle
5. Rapture
6. Kvatch
7. Mallet Island
8. Saffron City
9. Jacinto
10. Liberty City

"

"2008 Holiday Gift Guide
Need to gift a gamer? Everyone's a gamer nowadays, and every gamer has his or her own unique tastes. You can't buy the same game for your fratty jock friend that you bought for your nerdy, blister-thumbed nephew. Ah, stress! What to do!? Calm down; breathe into this paper bag, we’re here to help.

With the 2008 Holiday Gift Guide, we've sorted through the best gifts for gamers and divided them by player type. The jock? Try TNA Impact. The hardcore gamer nephew? Let..."

Do you enjoy games with collectibles? Then this list may be just the thing for you! Whether it's collecting letters, fossils or skulls these games are the top providers for those who love a good scavenger hunt. Collectibles have always made for good fun and lengthening gameplay, so here's the twelve best for you by gamedaily.com.

"

1. Final Fantasy VII
2. World of Warcraft
3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
4. Chrono Trigger
5. Fallout 3
6. Diablo II: Lord of Destruction
7. The Ultima Series
8. Xenogears
9. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
10. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
11. Mass Effect
12. Earthbound
13. Final Fantasy XII
14. Super Mario RPG
15. Suikoden III
16. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl
17. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
18. Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn
19. Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness
20. Deus Ex
21. Persona 3
22. Planescape Torment
23. Skies of Arcadia
24. Grandia
25. Kingdom ...

"

"1. Okami (PS2, Wii)
2. LittleBigPlanet (PS3)
3. Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
4. Mirror's Edge (Xbox 360, PS3)
5. Halo 3 (Xbox 360)
6. Metroid Prime (GC)
7. ICO (PS2) ICO (PS2)
8. Fallout 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
9. Team Fortress 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
10. Mega Man 9 (Wii, PS3, Xbox 360)"

"Before anyone sets foot in the post-apocalyptic Washington, D.C. portrayed in Bethesda Softworks' Fallout 3, they should read through our Fallout timeline. Then come back here of course. Series newcomers won't necessarily be lost walking into FO3 cold, but they'll miss plenty of inside references not to mention the historical context which has grown out of the two canonical entries in the series."

1 Wii sports
2 Braid
3 Halo 3
4 Fallout 3
5 Rockband

A very interesting list indeed. Recently a newspaper in the UK named the Independent released their list of the top 50 games of all time, above is the top five.

Their number one choice was Wii Sports, is this a joke? The inclusion of Halo3 makes some sense, but are there not many better games that should've made the top 5?