Looking back at 2007

2007 was the year of the video game. All three consoles were on store shelves by the first of the year, and each console had a run of incredible titles. People bought systems and software at almost alarming rates; 2007 put 2006 soundly to bed in terms of retail sales. There are no such thing as "next-gen" consoles anymore, as we're firmly into the world of the Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. And, of course, the PC hasn't gone anywhere.

Unfortunately, 2007 was also a year of growing pains for gaming as a business and an art. There were important questions raised about the business of reviewing games. The ratings system came under attack again, and once more Rockstar seemed to be in hot water over pushing the boundaries of what could be considered appropriate content for games. One popular and critically-praised title showed war in a disturbing, unblinking way. The PlayStation 3 had issues moving hardware, even though its platform was home to some of the best exclusives of the year.

2007 felt like an important year. More people than ever picked up the gaming hobby, there was a massive pile of great games to choose from, and our consoles slowly became one of the most important (if not the central) component in our home theater systems.

We're going to take a look back at some of the things we loved about this year, and some of the things we hated. Then it's time to crown our 2007 game of the year. It was a hard choice, but in good years it always is.