GameSpot is proud to present its seventh annual Best and Worst of the Year feature, which highlights the most noteworthy achievements from the past year in gaming. It's appropriate that this year's feature is by far the biggest that we've ever produced, because, by all accounts, this has truly been an extraordinary year in gaming--one where great games weren't uncommon. So now we wish to commemorate the many impressive accomplishments that have emerged in 2002, in an awards feature that encompasses more than 100 unique categories, each with up to five deserving nominees. If you wish to know how we selected the winners, read on. Otherwise, dive right in to the award sections! And be sure to check out our Best and Worst of 2002 video presentation by clicking on the button near the top of the page, as well as our Readers' Choice Awards.
The Method
Our decision-making process in determining the best games in each category, and the categories themselves, was focused, involved, and intensive. We considered every North American game released during the 2002 calendar year, and took into consideration our review scores for those games (especially our editors' choice award winners), how our perceptions of those games might have changed over time, and many other key factors. Notably, during this process we tended to give deference to games that were developed to take advantage of a given gaming platform's unique properties--all other things being equal, we preferred to honor those games that were released exclusively for a particular platform, rather than those that were ported to most or every gaming system. However, in many cases we did not rule out multiplatform ports, and for one award, we honor the game that made the best showing on the most platforms.
The Categories
The makeup of this feature, and the nature of the different award categories, was designed to be reflective of issues that are currently relevant to a large proportion of gamers owning any current gaming platforms. That is to say, each year, the categories contained in our Best and Worst award feature change to some extent, because each year, the gaming industry continues to grow and evolve--and GameSpot grows and evolves accordingly. The result, we believe, is a feature that comprises dozens of different award categories that truly matter and that justly pay tribute to the games that most deserved to win above all the intense competition surrounding them.
The Video Presentation
At any point during this feature, we invite you to watch GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2002 Video Presentation. Offering a very different take on our awards, this video shows our editors discussing the year's big winners in an open forum. You can watch the entire feature by clicking on the button near the top of the page now. Or, you may watch platform-specific segments of the feature by clicking the button from platform-specific sections of this awards story. For example, you'll only see the PC awards video from the PC section of this feature. As with the rest of this feature, we invite and encourage you to watch as much of the video presentation as you wish.
You've Got a VIP Pass and Front-Row Seats
We invite you to browse this feature in any way you like. There are more categories here than you may wish to peruse in a single session, so take your time. Some categories are relatively more significant than others, but all are worth your while to check out, and certainly all the games featured here deserve your attention in some way. At any rate, please feel free to read this feature from start to finish or jump around to see only the big winners if that's all you really want to see--you're in control.
The Year in Review
We're compelled to reiterate that this has been an unbelievably great year for games. Last year might have marked the release of a few truly exceptional games such as Grand Theft Auto III for the PlayStation 2 and Halo for the Xbox, but this year, great games showed up in droves, and competition was fiercer than ever before. The PC, Xbox, GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Game Boy Advance each had an extremely good year, as new, surprisingly high-quality games emerged constantly for each of these platforms, often in close succession or even simultaneously. With so many outstanding games released in 2002, deciding on the best of the best was no easy task. Yet we did decide, and we now wish to direct your attention to the winners without further ado.
