And another thing that makes my list even less worth while is that I'm not even sure I've played my Game Of The Year 2009 yet. I haven't played Uncharted 2, Assassin's Creed 2, Modern Warfare 2, Dragon Age, Infamous or Murasama: The Demon Blade yet, all that are games that I think I'll really like.

Last year I wrote a post about how amazing 2008 was for gaming:

• LittleBigPlanet
• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
• Fable 2
• Mirror's Edge
• Fallout 3
• Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
• Grid
• Grand Theft Auto IV
• Patapon
• Valkyria Chronicles
• Castle Crashers
• Bionic Commando: Rearmed
• Mega Man 9
• Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
• The World Ends with You
• Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
• Soul Calibur IV

... And many, many more! This year has delivered a huge; gigantic even, pile of amazing games! I remember thinking that last year was a great year for gaming with games like Bioshock and Call of Duty 4, but damn, this year has been nothing short of superb!

I would go as far as to say that this has been among the best year of gaming ever. Right now I can't think of any other year with so many great games.

- Arcade Berg, 2008
http://arcadeberg.com/causerie/amazing-2008/

Since there are so many games I haven't had the time to play yet from 2009, I don't dare to say if 2009 is better than 2008 or not. I find it doubtful, even though 2009 has been totally awesome.

Anyway, here I go, the best games released last year that I've actually played during 2009.

Best Single Player Experience

Batman: Arkham Asylum (360/PS3/PC)

Shortly after its release I wrote a post about it's wonderful fighting mechanic and I dare say that it's one of the best there is.

http://arcadeberg.com/causerie/batman-arkham-asylum-free-flow-combat/

I even praised the game for its demo, because they nailed what a demo should be and how it got me hooked:

http://arcadeberg.com/causerie/the-purpose-of-a-game-demo/

Can't wait for the sequel!

Best Multi Player Experience

Resident Evil 5 (360/PS3/PC)

I love Resident Evil 5. I've heard all of the complaints from the haters. About the controls, the AI, etc. etc. But I really do think the game is brilliant and that most of the game design choices are just right. I'm working on a little article about why the game kicks ass but I don't know when it'll be done. Once it is, of course I'll post it here.

I played through the game online with a friend and it was one of, if not THE best gaming experiences I had during 2009.

Both the game and level design is nothing short of excellent.

An incredibly memorable game

Best Game In A Genre That Isn't Good Enough To Be The Best Game Of The Year Because The Genre Doesn't Offer Me Enough Compared To Many Other

Tales of Monkey Island (PC/Wii)

I'm sorry if it sounds mean, but to me personally; an adventure game can't possibly be the game of the year. Nor could a puzzle game, a racing game or a sports game. But among all these categories I must say that the five episodes of the Tales of Monkey Island is a great, great adventure.

As a huge Monkey Island fan I was sceptic, but TellTale really respected the IP and released the best adventure game I've played in many, many years.

Best adventure game in about 10 years

All URL's: 03/01/2010

http://gspgames.com (28/11/2009)

Each country as I understand it has their own competition, with different branches but they're all a part of the big Global Game Jam. One of my very close friends is  Project Manager over at Gothia Science Park, the ones holding the Swedish branch this year. It's the first year Sweden is a part of it.

http://globalgamejam.org

The Global Game Jam (GGJ) was founded in 2008 as an IGDA event to broaden the outreach of the organization while giving the world an opportunity to create games in the world’s largest Game Jam to date. The 1st Annual Global Game Jam was held January 30-Feburary 1, 2009 to much critical acclaim and success. With over 1600 participants in 23 countries, the GGJ produced 370 games.

- http://globalgamejam.org/jam (28/11/2009)

If you participate, you're placed in a team and you're supposed to create a game within 48 hours. Awesome! Have a look if there's a Game Jam in your country as well.

And if you're in Sweden, why not join? I have, so maybe we'll end up in the same team?

See you there!

http://gspgames.com/anmalan

http://arcadeberg.com/web/google-wave-invites/ (25/11/2009)

Just like last time, comment or e-mail me, providing your mail adress and I'll invite the first seven people. But this time I want one more thing than your adress, I also want you to mention one game you like. That's it.

googlewaveinvites [at] arcadeberg [dot] com

I'll update this post when I run out of invites as fast as I can.

Update: I'm all out folks. Enjoy.

I just got a bunch of Google Wave invites and I thought I'd give 'em away here.

Just give me your e-mail and I'll give them to the first seven people to reach me. Either post a comment, or if you don't want to write a comment visible to all, send me an e-mail on:

googlewaveinvites [at] arcadeberg [dot] com

I'll update this post when I run out of invites.

Oh, and even if I add you to the list, you won't get the invite at once.

Invitations will not be sent immediately. We have a lot of stamps to lick.

- Google

Update:

Woah, that was fast! I'm all out now, sorry.

Congratulations Markus, Frédéric, Tom, Stephen, Philip, Axel and Patrik!

How I decided on a winner? I asked Cozy Dave to choose a number of 1, 2 or 3. He chose #2. Kaplan was the second person to compete, hence he won.

And I thought I could give a shout out to his blog as well since he's also a game developer working on games for the XNA Community at:

www.danielkaplan.se (Jan 9th, 09)

Actually I was a part of assembling the team creating the company Ludosity Interactive back before I got a job at GRIN, but then I left for my new job before things got serious and they created their games.

I wish all the guys there the best of luck!

Once again, congrats Kaplan.

The user has access to tracks of all major labels and numerous smaller labels, with the repertoire being constantly extended through new labels. The tracks can be found via search for artists, titles, albums, genres or year of publication.

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotify, 2/1-09

The only way to get an account right now is to get an invite and I just so happens to have a couple to give away. So I thought I'd give one away here.

Just comment this post, telling me what your favorite game is and mention one thing you like about that game. It can be any game and anything about that game. Then at the end of next week I'll send an invite to one of you guys, chosen at random.

Remember to give me some way to contact you in the comment, e-mail, facebook or MSN for example.

Best of luck! I'll of course announce the winner here as well.

Everyone Loves Music