[Question] The Gamingforce Game of the Year 2010: Vote a Go Go

I'll preface my nominations by saying that there haven't been any games in 2010 that have really grabbed my attention. Sure, there have been some fun diversions, but nothing that sucked me in and left me wanting more. That said, here's my picks:

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit - 30 points: Back in the PS1 days, I spent hours playing Need for Speed, especially High Stakes. The transition to the current console generation didn't interest me, and I had transferred my racing game enthusiasm to the Burnout series. Honestly, I'd paid no attention to NFS: HP until right before it came out, when I found out it was a return to the same old NFS I remembered. The autolog gives me a special thrill every time I beat one of Omagnus' scores, and there's nothing quite like wrecking 4 police cars and speeding past your opponents to win the race.

Rock Band 3: 30 points: I'm a sucker for music games, especially ones where I can sing, and Rock Band 3 takes everything that was great about the first 2 games and improves on the experience. Keyboards are a nice addition, but I could take them or leave them. The big seller for me is the ability to seamlessly jump in and out of each player's career mode, switch instruments, etc. Just a solid game all the way around, and it's a shame it didn't sell better.

ilomilo - 20 points: You could argue that this is a 2011 release since it officially came out today, but those in the know have been playing it since November. It's a charming puzzler that oozes sweetness, and a fantastic co-op game. The satisfaction of solving a puzzle after an hour of deliberation is something that's hard to find in games these days.

Call of Duty: Black Ops - 10 points: I'm not the best judge of this game, since this is the first CoD I've ever played, and I'm not a fan of the genre in general because I suck at shooters. As an outsider, I've enjoyed how easy it is to pick up and play, and have a great party experience just running around shooting dudes. There doesn't seem to be nearly the effect of high-level folks steamrolling over casual folks; sure, it happens, but it seems perfectly easy for someone to pop in the game from scratch and do reasonably well.

Kirby's Epic Yarn - 5 points: What is there to say other than it's a Kirby game? I'd be less inclined to include it on the list if the whole yarn gimmick wasn't such a fantastic departure from the usual Kirby fare. Yes, you can't die, but just playing through and seeing the animation for each patch you collect is worth the price of admission.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light - 5 points: A completely different puzzler than ilomilo, but no less a great co-op experience. Given the quality of recent Tomb Raider games, this title was a pleasant surprise. It's a bit too short, but it's fun while it lasts.

Honorable mentions (that I didn't play until 2010)

Tilt to Live: Looks like this one came out in December of 2009, so it's just barely ineligible. I steered clear of it for a long time because I didn't think they could possibly get the tilt controls precise enough to work, but boy was I wrong. This is at the top of my casual title list, and I've bought both the iPhone and iPad versions with no regrets.

Droplitz: Another title from 2009 that I didn't pick up until a PSN sale. The first few times you play it, you'll say, "How the hell am I supposed to score 150,000 points to unlock the next mode?" and then suddenly everything falls into place. Once you figure out how to chain your moves, the game becomes as addictive as Tetris.

How ya doing, buddy?