"Yeah, Jim, I think we've got this one wrapped up this year."

This is going to be an interesting year, because I get the feeling that the list of titles up for the ever-so-prestigious Game of the Year could be rather long.

But more importantly, I also feel that the battle lines for the people’s choice will be broken into two distinctive camps: single player versus multiplayer.  There it is.  Whoever has more people in their respective camp will walk away with the title this year, because some of the biggest titles out there are split evenly down this divide.

The three that I can think of off the top of my head?  Batman: Arkham Asylum, Uncharted 2, and Modern Warfare 2.  Of course, MW2 hasn’t even come out yet, but the buzz associated with the upcoming sequel is enough to whip the gaming community into a frenzy.

If you are a big single player fan boy like myself, Batman: AA and Uncharted 2 were both unparalleled in their execution.  Obviously, Batman has redefined the superhero genre in video games…ironically, just as the original Modern Warfare did for first person shooters.  Uncharted 2, while a sequel, was done in such breathtaking cinematic fashion with some great action sequences that people have to immediately consider it a contender.

However, the multiplayer kiddies are already sounding the rallying cry over MW2, heralding it as the game to trump all game experiences (despite the fact it hasn’t come out yet).  Of course, if you’re talking about MW2, you’re usually talking about the multiplayer experience, despite the original MW having a really bang up Tom Clancy-esque storyline in their single player.  So all your headshooters and noobtoobers are already sending in their nominations and getting ready to fire off hate mail at me for even suggesting that anything might stand in MW2’s nod for game of the year.

So who will win?  If it were up to me, I personally think Batman should take it.  Firstly, it doesn’t have a damn sequel number tacked on to the title: that should get it +10 points right out of the gate.  The game has literally raised the bar across the board for both licensed games and superhero titles, showing that the words “great” and “superhero game” can be used in the same sentence together.   And while MW2 will sell a metric boatload more games, will it really be coloring outside the lines from the original?  Oh, boy, new perks.

Isn’t that what the title of Game of the Year should be about?  It shouldn’t be about game sales, because if that were the case in movies, the pile of schlock that was “Transformers 2” should be nominated for a slew of Oscars.  It should be about new and innovative titles that re-invent how you think of video gaming as a whole.

And, no, I’m not talking about Flower.