It was a contentious fight: Which game of 2010 was the absolute best of the year? But we've reached a conclusion and have, at last, a clear winner.
We spent the better part of January nailing down the games we agreed internally were the best contenders for best game of 2010. In 2009, we narrowed that list down to just three games. This year it came down to two.
Several felt that Rockstar's western epic, Red Dead Redemption was the pinnacle of gaming in 2010 because of not only what it offered to gamers, but how it delivered that experience.
Fahey felt that it was Mass Effect 2, not just because of the role-playing experience it created, but because of how well it married that with third-person shooter controls. An accomplishment that Fahey believes deserves not one, but two game of the year awards.
My argument for Call of Duty: Black Ops as game of the year, was backed mostly by my endless hours playing it. It was the most fun I had in a video game in 2010, I argued.
Finally, Owen argues for NBA 2K11 as game of the year. It was a pinnacle sports gaming experience, he wrote, one that deserves the nod.
We wrote up our thoughts on all four games, debating the good, the bad, the ugly of the games. We even opened the debate to you, our readers, and we talked amongst ourselves.
Then we voted.
Kotaku Tower agrees, as much as we can, that the best video game of 2010 was Red Dead Redemption.