Seattle Times lists their best video games for 2008

And yet even more (online) publications are rolling out their “best of 2008” lists. Following the rather compromising list from Time Magazine comes another one from Seattle Times. Though the list seems questionable of their credibility in video games evaluation (well, everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, right?), the awards they’ve given out are still well-deserved of the games they’ve listed.

And yet even more (online) publications are rolling out their “best of 2008” lists. Following the rather compromising list from Time Magazine comes another one from Seattle Times. Though the list seems questionable of their credibility in video games evaluation (well, everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, right?), the awards they’ve given out are still well-deserved of the games they’ve listed.

Seattle Times‘ list stays on the safe side because their it doesn’t necessarily claim itself to be the end-all for all “best of” lists. Their lineup is rather distilled to focus on just some… very specific aspects of gaming. With only five categories to go with, the games to choose from is limited.

• Most Improved: Rock Band 2 (PS3, Xbox 360, PS2, Wii)
• Best Atmosphere: Fallout 3 (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)
• Best for Kids: Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
• Best Nonconformist: Wii Fit (Wii)
• Best Embrace of Our Inner Weirdo: Spore (PC, Mac, spin-off on DS)

If they decided to name games for other unconventional categories (maybe something like “Most Underrated”, “Most Patched due to Development Bugs”, “Most Controversial Song Used in a Game”, or “Best for Adults and Cause for Jack Thompson’s Demise”), then maybe we would have seen the likes of GTA4 and other “best of” staples somewhere in there.

You can read Seattle Times’ full descriptions of their evaluation of how this or that game won their respective award through the Via source link below.

Meanwhile, we’re currently in the process of drafting our very own “best of” list too (I say “in the process” because boohoo for me – I haven’t submitted my draft to Chris C. yet *facepalm*). Watch out for that in the coming days. We’ll be pulling out some surprises for sure.

• GTA4 bags Game of the Year award at Spike VGA 2008
• Time magazine’s Top 10 Video Games of 2008: GTA4, LBP, GoW2, etc.