News: That's three GOTY awards for Rockstar's first next-gen entry in the GTA series.
The New York Times has mosted an article revealing their picks for the most interesting and revealing games, gaming moments and gaming trends of 2008. Like Time Magazine and Spike TV before them, the Gray Lady has named Grand Theft Auto IV as their game of the year...
Game of the Year: Grand Theft Auto IV
G.T.A. IV came out in April, and for the rest of the year I kept waiting for some other new game to captivate and refuse to release me the way this masterpiece from Rockstar did. I'm still waiting. Beyond its formidable craft, apart from its well-balanced combat and driving mechanics, what impresses most about G.T.A. IV is its writing. It is one of the few games that even try to take on the real world in any adult way. (Of course, the game's Liberty City setting is a parody of modern New York.) Penetrating through all the game's gangster trappings is a hunger to engage with the idiocies, the contradictions and even some of the good things in modern America. After all, someone has to.
Other highlighted games include Left 4 Dead (Best Zombies), the Wii (Best Explanation of Why Nintendo Hardly Needs Big Games Anymore), Eve Online (Best Embrace of Democracy, Flawed As It Is), Spore (Best Disappointment) and Fable II (Best Vindication).