• Welcome, to the Extreme Gamer - Game of the Year Awards 2010. Concluding another year is our annual 'Game of the Year' Awards featuring the best titles from January to December. 2010 was year filled with enthusiastic releases that didn't wait until the holiday season to get rolling. From January to March, the industry was on fire releasing some of years most memorable titles. Even as we are focused current batch of games that have been released, the entire year is fresh in our heads. From Nintendo's rebooting of several classic franchises to Sony and Microsoft introducing their Wii-alternatives, 2010 has been big. Gaming has never been better, and it is great to see the game companies as passionate about their games, as the gamers.

Before we kick off this years Game of the Year Awards, I would like say a big "Thank You" to our readers, and contributors who have visited the site over the years. It's been another successful year, and the future looks even brighter. Now for the first envelope, please.

Red Dead Redemption didn't clean sweep our panel of judges like I expected. However, the majority of votes put "Red Dead" on the top spot for action game of the year. It's easy to see why Rockstar's Western epic snagged this award with its outstanding take on the Western genre, in what has to be the best Western game ever made. Sure the formula was slightly "borrowed" from GTA, but that's not really a bad thing is it when one game is filled so many memorable moments that overshadows most games in its first 5hrs. Congratulations Rockstar, you deserve this one.

It's not shocking that racing guru's at Criteron Games finished first across the line first in our racing game of the year. Number two for Criteron after the outstanding and still memorable 'Burnout Paradise' from 2008. This Need for Speed reboot could have only been handled by Criteron, showing that racing games can still have an arcade base and be about more than car modification and racing lines.

It's nice to see the platforming genre in a recergance of sorts thanks to the download networks on the consoles. Even with a new crop of contenders it's not a downloadable title that is stealing the show, it's our old friend Mario who showcases what it means to be a platforming game. Elaborating on what made the original a hit, 'Super Mario Galaxy 2' is more of the same, but that's OK when "more of the same" is pure awesomeness! Nintendo worked hard for this one, here is one more award for your virtual pedestal Mario. Congrats.

After all the zany titles NIS America has released in 2010, one game has stuck with us enough to capture our strategy game of the year. Not only doesn't it stand out from the crowd with its extra long title, but its steep learning curve and interesting game mechanics. "What Did I Do, My Lord 2" won't be for everyone, but if you don't mind a dose of humour with your tactics, this one is for you.

EA Canada gives hockey fans a big dose of fan service in NHL 11 that showcases how far the series has come over the years. NHL 11 is the most fluid running NHL title since NHL 09 and with its updated physics a strong contender in this year sporting upgrades. Sure, it's not as groundbreaking as some of the other winners from the past, but its still serviceable and worthy of our GOTY honour.

Capcom pulls off back-to-back wins with their updated edition to last years winner, 'Street Fighter IV.' Noted as being one the best fighters ever made, more features and characters is enough to keep it on the top spot for one more year. A solid achievement with strong competition such as UFC 2010. No matter how in-depth other titles might go, the fluid satisfaction that comes from one-on-one fighting on a traditional 2D space cannot be beat. Ryu, you're the true king of the ring.

Mass Effect 2 not only surpasses our expectations of what we expected out of the series, it inventively showcases its brilliant writing and genius at storytelling. Now arching over two games, Mass Effect 2 is one of the first brands that makes you feel like your choices have "real world" weight. Mass Effect 2 is an easy pick and a near clean sweep by our contributing panel. If you haven't played "ME2" yet, get it now.

Halo: Reach needs no introduction. Still, even as popular as the "HALO" franchise is, the shooter market is one of the most competitive genres in gaming, so Halo: Reach had to fight for this spot as top dog. However at the end of the day Bungie's excellence shines through. More than a multiplayer free-for-all, the single player campaign brings back the joy of fighting the war against the Covent forces without their star player, an accomplishment on its own. This is the best shooter of the year and a great ending to successful run for developer Bungie.

Microsoft shows us a sophisticated approach to the typical "party game" with its new controller-less peripheral Kinect. However, it wasn't a Microsoft product that emerged as Kinect's crowning jewel, it was Harmonix with their revamp of the old "DDR" formula in Dance Central. Even if you hate dancing, you will like this game and that's a bold statement... and that is the reason why Dance Central is our party game of the year. So you think you can dance? now you can prove it.