What will you remember 2008 for, in terms of gaming?

We asked some of the game admins and network staff to find out their thoughts, but here's a quick recap of the past 12 months, to refresh your memory.

Non-games dominated this year's charts, with Wii Fit rewarding gamers for standing still. As a country, we were still fans of the music game genre too, finally getting our hands on Rock Band, which seemed to have been pushed onto shelves by the release of Guitar Hero: World Tour a week later. Who knows, the full-band version may even have healed some hurt caused by the "interesting" yet awkward Guitar Hero: On Tour release for DS. There was a new Call of Duty to heed, a new Bond to meet, Marcus and Dom were back, and independent developers twisted our brains with Braid and our rhythm skills with Audiosurf. Red Alert was back, and we revisited the Midnight Club. We also saw the release of the "Three Fs" - Far Cry 2, Fable 2, and Fallout 3, meaning many gamers were a bit strapped for cash by the end of the year.
...and, who could forget? 2008 is the year we met Sackboy!

With no major console launches, we had to make do with midnight game releases. Grand Theft Auto IV was worth staying up for, even though it had been the centre of some censorship drama pre-release. Then it was a bit quiet for us until we experienced the Wrath of the Lich King, in the rain, in November (speaking of Blizzard, they didn't do too badly for themselves, with World of Warcraft topping 11 million subscribers, the announcement of Diablo III and the revelation that StarCraft 2 will be a trilogy.)

Australia still does not have an R18+ rating for video games, thanks largely to the SA attorney-general Michael Atkinson, who has prevented official discussion on the topic. This saw five games effectively banned in Australia this year, several of which have been resubmitted and granted release.

In terms of Games On Net, we leave the year with a different name than we started, a different address and a totally different website. We have more mirror servers dotted about the place, and they're even bigger than they were last year, with heaps of space for all the demos, clients, full games, screenshots, videos and patches that you could ever want. While many of those videos are game trailers and footage, there's some that are really special to us - the result of playing with our new toy, the video camera. We carried it around with us and now have interviews about Quantum of Solace, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the One Laptop Per Child project, as well as coverage of eGames 2008, including Guitar Hero finals and parkour demonstrations. Look forward to more of that in 2009!

...while we've got a few other plans for the upcoming year, we'd like to take this moment to thank you - the visitors - each month we're still getting more and more popular, with more and more people coming to check us out, read the news, post in the forums, and download files from our library. Thank you, for all your support. Obviously, we wouldn't be here without you, and we really appreciate it!

Now, let's see what various people around the network are thinking - starting with our resident hard-working reviewer, Matt K:

Favourite Game of 2008: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. It tied up just about everything in the series in a (mostly) satisfying way. You'd obviously get more out of it if you're a fan of the existing games in the series, but the underlying gameplay is fantastic. I'd have liked to see them explore the battlefield-style gameplay from the first two chapters a bit more, though. Least Favourite Game of 2008: Facebreaker. I was expecting this to be an average clone of Ready 2 Rumble at best, but it turned out to be truly terrible. Broken fighting mechanics, derivative character design and just devoid of anything remotely fun. Highlight of the Year: Act 4 of Metal Gear Solid 4. You know what I'm talking about. Lowlight of the Year: Developer bankruptcies and shutdowns. We've lost some good studios in Ensemble, Factor 5 and Free Radical. Hopefully the talent in these studios finds new work quickly. What are you most looking forward to in 2009: Lots. Home version of Street Fighter IV. Resident Evil 5 in March. I'm interested to see how The Sims 3 turns out. Fight Night Round 4 and Punch Out!! should satisfy my pugilistic urges too. Empire: Total War and Starcraft II. I'm trying not to look too far ahead - I've still got some stuff I want to play from this year.

One of our newer newsbots is next, Mr Matt Warner with a brief, MMO-tinged perspective:

Favourite game of 2008: Wrath of the Lich King. Least favourite game of 2008: Spore. Highlight of the year: Starcraft 2! Lowlight of the year: Age of Conan! What are you most looking forward to in 2009? Any details on Blizzard's next-gen MMORPG.

Newsbot Brenna Hillier has been absent a bit recently, managing to pick up quite the hefty case of glandular fever, but we scraped her off her sickbed to give us her thoughts:

Favourite game of 2008: Patapon! Injecting new life into my treasured PSP with portable-friendly gameplay. PON PON PATA PON. Least favourite game of 2008: Mirror's Edge. How many trailers can one title produce! Stop spamming me with your repetitive marketing already! Highlight of the year: Realising that, at last, the run of PS3 releases in the final months of the year would mean I'd need to cash in all my Christmas and birthday points to acquire all the games I want. Bless you, Sony. Lowlight of the year: Discovering that Dynasty Warriors 6 was a come down from the previous titles in terms of gameplay, story, features and performance. QQ What are you most looking forward to in 2009? Not having glandular fever any more so I can get back to playing and writing - oh, and Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce. Thus proving that I never learn.

Another new newsbot recruit is Krystalle Voecks, jumping onboard in the very last moments of the year:

Favourite game of 2008: Wrath of the Lich King Least favourite game of 2008: Mirror's Edge (WTF random gun battles? Just let me enjoy some parkour, ok?) Highlight of the year: Jack Thompson getting disbarred Lowlight of the year: E3 What are you most looking forward to in 2009? Bioshock 2

Coming along at the same time as Krystalle is Will Dobson, who offers a thoughtful viewpoint:

Favourite game of 2008: I'm going to have to wimp out here and call a two-way tie. Firstly, Fallout 3 -- I bet a lot of people will agree with me on this one. My second choice though... I'm not sure how many of you will have my back, as this game seems to be very hit-or-miss for most people. In any case, it's Mirror's Edge. I enjoyed the heck out of it, and if you didn't, "yer doin' it wrong!". Ahem *cough*, what I mean of course is, to each their own. Least favourite game of 2008: I tend to avoid bad games in general. That means that my least favourite game probably isn't that bad compared to some of the digital nightmares that get churned out every year. I picked up Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom because a friend wanted to try the multiplayer with me. I found it to be a very generic Dynasty Warriors type game, and a real departure from the quality of past KUF titles. At least I got it cheap! Highlight of the year: The news that E3 will be returning to the overbearing, obnoxious and completely awesome format of the past. Call me trashy, but I love it. Lowlight of the year: The death of my near-launch Xbox 360. I thought the poor old fella was invincible by this stage, but alas, the three red lights appeared and left me 360-less for a while. What are you most looking forward to in 2009? As someone that owns a good gaming PC and all three current-gen consoles, I don't have a bias toward one particular platform. However, looking at each system's exclusives for 2009, I am definitely most excited for the PS3's lineup: Uncharted 2, Killzone 2, God of War 3, and inFamous are just some of the titles that will make next year another cracker for gamers.

Chiming in from the reviewer side of the fence again is Not_Matt (whose name makes him easy to separate from all the other Matts we have around the place!):

Favourite game of 2008: Midnight Club: Los Angeles. Not necessarily what I'd call the best game of the year, but I just couldn't put it down. 48 hours of progress in under a week is just a little scary. Least favourite game of 2008: Celebrity Sports Showdown for Wii. Who on Earth thought this was a good concept for a game? Highlight of the year: Activate Asia '08. Given the chance to pick the brains of project leads on some of the hottest titles of the year was an eye opening experience. Lowlight of the year: The PSP 3000 screen fiasco. I held out 4 months to replace my busted PSP only to be treated to a sub-par screen and no action on Sony's behalf to rectify the problem. What are you most looking forward to in 2009? Street Fighter IV. I got my first taste of this at an arcade in Sydney and it left me wanting more. Planting a raging demon on the local champ after only a couple matches left me with a smile all day long.

Timmy Campbell, collator of Now Playing has taken a moment from watching videos to tell us about his year:

Favourite game of 2008: This is a challenge.. Pure was an early stand out for me I had a lot of fun riding around those ATVs... Street Fighter IV comes to my local arcade and was way too enjoyable... however I would have to give it to LittleBigPlanet. The soundtrack, game play, creation, online, DLC has just been mind blowing... oh and Sackboy rocks. Least favourite game of 2008: Umm either Super Smash Bros Brawl or Golden Axe: Beast Rider. Give me the originals any day! Highlight of the year: Getting to make my own game at a 48hr comp and actually doing well enough to get an honorable mention! Or spending the breaks at uni playing Street Fighter IV and finishing Time Crisis 4 at the arcade. Lowlight of the year: The amount of awesome titles that were dropped without a publisher (*looks at Activision*) and the closure of a few good companies (*sad face*). Oh and realising how much money I spent at the arcade this year and only having a Tekken 6 game card to show for my efforts. What are you most looking forward to in 2009? Going to Game On more (yay!) but games wise... Uncharted 2 without a doubt, Pearl Jam's Ten released on Rock Band AND Street Fighter IV to come over and play at my house.

Intrepid newsbot Steven Perdikis is next, and we shouldn't really be surprised what his favourite game is...

Favourite game of 2008: The Witcher: Enhanced Edition - a spectacular role-playing experience with memorable characters, well-paced plot and incredible attention to detail. Least favourite game of 2008: Grand Theft Auto IV. While it is an extraordinarily competent effort from Rockstar, and offers much enjoyment, the sheer hype and school-girl like fanfare surrounding it is quite disturbing, given that it is very similar to everything that proceeded it. Highlight of the year: Finishing a Bachelor of New Media Art & Photography, while finding time to review games, write news and be a social hermit! Lowlight of the year: An over abundance of block-buster "must-buy" titles, which lead to anorexia in my finances. If I really must demonise something however, it has to be Red Alert 3. The multiplayer is simply woeful in comparison to the likes of Supreme Commander, World in Conflict and Dawn of War. What are you most looking forward to in 2009? It is hard to decide on one single thing or game. Diablo 3, Dawn of War II, Dragon Age Origins, F.E.A.R. 2, Overlord II, Starcraft II, and many others are all titles that I'm anticipating with glee.

Senior admin Emp was a little late with his submission, perhaps because he was busily off wielding the banstick in server!

Favourite game of 2008: New game (PC): Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Old game (PC): played the most, probably TF2. New game (Wii): Super Smash Bros. Brawl Least favourite game of 2008: ET:QW, was never going to be my thing, didn't last too long with the community either with it's server numbers quite small compared to games that have been around far longer. Highlight of the year: Moving back home to Queensland after 3 years away Lowlight of the year: Still trying to finish studies. What are you most looking forward to in 2009? Haven't made up my mind yet. So far nothing's really catching my attention.

Our beloved Slaine has also chipped in his two cents, also taking some time out from his senior adminly duties:

Favourite game of 2008: TF2. Put more hours into that than any other game this year. I went quite a lot of months not playing it at the start of the year, but then I got back into it. I love the medic, keeping the team alive amoungst millions of calls for a medic, I love the heavy, slicing and dicing with bullets and getting in the way, but mostly I love pyro. Maybe its the gimp mask, maybe its the muffled speach, but I suspect its mainly the burning (particularly of other admins! :D) A close runner up would be Guitar Hero: World Tour. Spent many a drunken night rocking out to old school hits! Been great fun! And fantastic with mates joining in. Least favourite game of 2008: That game. With the gun. See, so crap I can't even remember the name! Bah, I dunno why but Left 4 Dead just didn't cut it for me. I just found it really boring and repetitive. Granted I never played it with other people, but I just didn't care! No interest at all. Highlight of the year: Remembering how to play games. Most of my time is speant on the forums or looking after admins, but this year I refound my gaming mojo, and while I'll never be a brilliant player, it makes me happy in my pants to actually get myself back to playing for hours into the early morning. And playing it with the community makes it that little bit more enjoyable. /me aims flamethrower at TheMeadow Lowlight of the year: Call of Duty: World at War. Now don't get me wrong, I loved the game, and really do need to play some more, but man I hate it when people call in the hounds. :( Having to put half a mag into man's best friend made me feel terrible each time. Sure I coulda tried patting them into submission, but they were to one minded about going for the jugular! I know German Shepherds aren't the same as my two puppies, but it doesn't make me any happier to kill them. The other lowlight I've found this year is the lameness that is the drums for Guitar Hero: World Tour. How DARE they break the first night of play? Once we fixed them, I've been more than happy, but that first night I was livid! What are you most looking forward to in 2009? Even more game time. Getting back out into the community and see if I can't make it up to Brisbane or where ever the next community event is gonna end up being organised. I miss the pub nig... I mean movie nights! Met so many people and picked up so many new admins that way!

Acaila spends most of his time looking after things from the server side, applying updates and patches, and pedalling on the generator to keep things running.

Favourite game of 2008: Wrath of the Lich King: Classic WoW, great new quest system and Death Knights are a lot of fun to play. Least favourite game of 2008: GTA4 - Would be a great game if I didn't have to baby sit my virtual cousin throughout it. Highlight of the year: Guitar Hero: World Tour - Drumming Tool songs, nuff said. Lowlight of the year: Rock Band's late and dismal showing. What are you most looking forward to in 2009? Diablo 3 - Just let me play it already!

My turn! Jessica Citizen - senior newsbot and content editor, I whip newsbots into shape and make sure you know what's going on.

Favourite game of 2008: Wii Fit, heh. It was the perfect combination for this newsbot - anyone who tells you a game can't keep you fit hasn't tried the boxing routines! ...that said, the disk has been collecting dust for a while now, but maybe I'll face the scales once more after the holidays and get back into it. Or... maybe I'll just stay on the couch. We'll see. (Runner-up was the only game I can remember finishing this year - Desperate Housewives. I wish I was kidding.) Least favourite game of 2008: I didn't really play any games that I didn't like, to be honest. I've been too busy bringing you all the news that's fit to print (and other cliches), so my gaming time was dedicated to only the best titles on offer. This is perhaps best illustrated by the amount of hours I spent on Zen of Sudoku, Spider Solitaire, various online Tower Defence games, and the aforementioned Desperate Housewives. Highlight of the year: BLIZZCON!! My first time out of Australia, I had to make it special. What better way to celebrate than heading to California and spending a couple of days in a huge convention centre with 20,000 screaming Blizzard fans? It was ...huge. Also worth a mention: eGames/iDEF in Melbourne, E for All in LA, and seeing the new website come to fruition in September. Lowlight of the year: South Australian attorney-general Michael Atkinson effectively squashing our hopes of having an R18+ rating for video games any time soon. All year, I'd been trying to educate people that it wasn't a simple matter of one person's opinion holding us back, but in late October, news came to light that - honestly - it was the South Australian politician's beliefs that meant anything considered unsuitable for 15 year olds is unsuitable for the rest of us. As result of his stance, 2008 saw more video games refused classification than any previous. Let's hope that doesn't continue! What are you most looking forward to in 2009? I'd really, really like Australia to join the rest of the developed world and finally get an R18+ rating for video games. I'm very interested in seeing where Blizzard take the new three-game trilogy that is StarCraft II. I'm excited by the fact that we'll get to see F.E.A.R. 2. I'm a little bit nervous about doing more video features. ...and, of course, there's more than a few tricks left up our sleeve that should see some interesting developments in '09.

And finally, one half of the terrible two - Ignant, who narrowly escaped the clutches of addiction this year:

Favourite game of 2008: This is a hard one. '08 has been a year of little game play for me actually, I've never had a year quite like it in the past. After getting into it very late in the piece, though, I'm going to have to say World of Warcraft... Least favourite game of 2008: I'm also going to have to say World of Warcraft! My PC definitely died at the right time - that part of a gamers life when WoW starts eating up every spare minute of the day and all you can do is talk about quests and drop rates and... Other stuff I never really understood. Lets just say that after my PC dying and the troubles of moving house and DSL, I cancelled my subscription and took up casual games. Highlight of the year: I'm going to sound like a broken record here, but I have to say that it's our growth once again this year. It's been an awesome year, and I'm still loving the new site. New friends I've made in the industry, and even stronger relations forged through drunken evenings both locally and abroad. Props where props are due too, so a huge well done goes out to Chienne and our team of NewsBots and Reviewers. There's been a few additions and subtractions this year, but overall the quality and quantity of articles has been a true highlight. Top effort guys! Lowlight of the year: This has to be Alone in the Dark. I had it listed as the game I was most looking forward to in our 2007 Year in Review, but in all honesty I was so over the game by the time it came out, I am still yet to actually play it! What are you most looking forward to in 2009? More video content! Oh, and can anyone say Starcraft II? My life for Aiur!

...and last, but certainly not least, our illustrious leader, the man of few words himself, he who needs no further introductions: UgLyPuNk!

Favourite game of 2008: Frontlines: Fuel of War Least favourite game of 2008: Singstar ABBA Highlight of the year: The launch of the new website... and the start of 2009 Lowlight of the year: 2008 (Very average year for games) What are you most looking forward to in 2009? ...the start of 2009.

So. After all that, I think we can all agree that 2008 had some pretty good points, but also some low ones. 2009 has got some work to do, but also some lessons to learn.

...now it's time to be celebrating the new year in style - but feel free to take a moment to share your thoughts with us. What did you love about 2008? What did you hate? What do the next 12 months hold for you?