ADVENTURE GAME OF THE YEAR

Winner: Sam & Max 201: Ice Station Santa
Telltale Games (PC)

After successfully completing the first full season of episodic gaming, Telltale is back for more with Season Two of Sam & Max. Episode 201: Ice Station Santa ranks among the dog and rabbit duo's best adventures yet, with a suitably surreal plotline, new locations (amen) and characters, and increasingly sharp writing and puzzle design.

A spate of technical additions along with the continued improvements to design and presentation provide more evidence that the second season will be even better than the first, despite Telltale currently carrying the episodic flag alone. -C.R.

Runner-up: Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure
Capcom (Wii)

A few years ago, we would think of games like Zack & Wiki: Quest For Barbaros' Treasure, sigh, and mutter, "They just don't make games like that any more."

That's why, for old-school adventure gamers, Zack & Wiki feels like getting reacquianted with a long-lost friend.

Broken up into stages, the game emphasizes exploration and creative solutions to its various puzzles. Savage monsters standing between you and a shiny treasure? Throw a rock at a snake to distract them, then drug their food with a sleeping mushroom while they're not looking.

Best of all, most of this is accomplished by performing the actual motions with the Wii Remote. Unlike many games, these motions don't feel gratuitous or tacked-on, they feel like a natural extension of the gamplay.

An old-school Myst-flavored adventure game on a console--who'd have thought? -C.F.

Nominees:
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations - Capcom (NDS)
Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened - Frogwares (PC)

MUSICAL GAME OF THE YEAR

Winner: Rock Band
Harmonix Music Systems (PS3, Xbox 360, PS3)

Harmonix was born to win this category. It's in the company's blood. If it's not replicating a full band dynamic in a video game, it's creating music-based games for your iPod. Rock Band is the ultimate representation of this mentality, the best musical video game yet.

How can they top this? Where do they go from here? Considering we knew nothing about Rock Band around this time last year, the potential is scary. -N.B.

Runner-up: Everyday Shooter
Queasy Games (PS3)

Everyday Shooter may not be a rhythm game in the traditional sense, but it is certainly a musical game, a rhythmic game. Creating or playing along with music is not the object of the gameplay, but music is intrinsically connected to the gameplay in a way that even many traditional rhythm games do not achieve. (Play it.) -C.R.
(Interview)

Nominees:
Guitar Hero 3 - Neversoft Entertainment (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PC)
Jam Sessions - Plato (NDS)
Every Extend Extra Extreme - Q Entertainment (Xbox 360)

DRIVING GAME OF THE YEAR

Winner: TrackMania United
Nadeo (PC)

Anyone who is a fan of racing games should be thrown in jail for not experiencing TrackMania United. Easily one of the most purely fun racing games in ages, TrackMania doesn't just settle for fun multiplayer racing. In addition, there are great platform and puzzle (!) modes along with an easy to use track editor.

The developers embrace the track-making community so much that additional community created tracks are actually downloaded within the single player campaign for you to try and rate. The original TrackMania and the free TrackMania Nations are well worth checking out as well. -S.G.

Runner-up: Project Gotham Racing 4
Bizarre Creations (Xbox 360)

There wasn't a whole lot left to add to the already-excellent Project Gotham Racing series, so Bizarre delivered another very solid game in Project Gotham Racing 4. Graphics have been further improved, resulting in an even more gorgeous game, and the addition of bikes works very well. The reworked kudos system, which allows you to buy cars and tracks with the points you score during the game, finally offers a nice incentive to drive properly. -M.G.

Nominees:
Forza Motorsport 2 - Turn 10 Studios (Xbox 360)
DiRT - Codemasters (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Stuntman: Ignition - Paradigm Entertainment (PS3, Xbox 360, PS2)

FLIGHT/NAVAL SIMULATION OR COMBAT GAME OF THE YEAR

Winner: Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific
Ubisoft Romania (PC)

A strict World War II-era submarine simulator isn't something you ever expect to be accessible, and even given many realism relaxing options, Ubisoft Romania's Silent Hunter series is really no exception. However, with a few hours of trial-and-error, Silent Hunter 4's stunning graphics and tense scenarios are sure to win any sim fan over.

The US-focused Wolves of the Pacific eclipses its predecessor in terms of graphical quality, offering truly awe-inspiring views of dangerous battle fleets and tempting Japanese cargo ships. It's all about charting a patrol and hunting down prey, adapting to each encounter and attempting to maximize damage, while simultaneously hoping making it out alive. The best PC simulations can be more fun when you're in danger of being destroyed, and Silent Hunter 4 is no exception, with impressive damage models and crew management interfaces. Highly recommended. -N.B.

Runner-up: IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946
1C: Maddox Games (PC)

One of the best combat flight simulators developed now sports over 300 planes and hundreds of missions. It's still a little hard on the eyes, but from a pure simulation point of view, it doesn't get much better than Maddox Games' IL-2 series. -N.B.

Nominees:
Ace Combat 6 - Namco (Xbox 360)
Flight Simulator X: Acceleration - Microsoft Game Studios (PC)

SPORTS GAME OF THE YEAR

Winner: Skate
EA Black Box (PS3, Xbox 360)

In a genre dominated by the decade-old, once-innovative Tony Hawk control scheme, EA Black Box breathed new life into skateboarding games with the flick of a thumb.

Instead of requiring players to increase their button-tapping skills, Skate maps almost all of a skater's actions to fluid motions performed with the analog sticks. The result is a skateboarding title unlike any other, one the demands practice--not button mashing--and a bit of skill to perfect.

Toss in an in-game movie editor with the ability to upload those replays to the web, and it dawns on you that those Tony Hawk titles are starting to feel a bit stale. -C.F.

Runner-up: NHL 08
EA Canada (PC, PS3, Xbox 360, PS2)

Last year's shot-stick innovation was a revolution in hockey gaming. Now EA has done the right thing by improving play on the other end of the ice, supporting its next-gen franchise with sensible poke-checks and downplaying the ridiculous check-heavy defense of old.

The passing game has been improved, and now the puck movement in power play situations almost seems accurate. It still doesn't look like real hockey half of the time, but it's getting much closer, which is more than anyone expected from the series even two years ago. -N.B.

Nominees:
NBA 2K8 - Visual Concepts/Kush Games (PS3, Xbox 360, PS2)
MLB Power Pros - Konami (PS2)
Mario Strikers Charged - Next Level Games (Wii)
Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 - Konami (PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, NDS, PSP)

And that's that. In a banner year for games, these were our favorites. If you made it through this beast of a feature, then congratulations. You--yes, you--are our 2007 Shacker of the Year. Go play some video games. You've earned it.