As we say goodbye to 2008, we also say goodbye to what was a great year for gamers. Games like GTA IV, Fallout 3, and Metal Gear Solid 4 invaded our consoles and also our hearts. Fear not, however, as 2009 will kick an equal if not higher amount of ass!

So here are some reasons to love 2009

Top 10 Reasons to Love Games in 2009
10. GhostBusters
Many of us fell in love with the Ghostbusters as children and secretly wanted to be one. Well when June rolls around we can all live out our fantasies on the virtual screen when Atari releases Ghostbusters on the 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PC, and DS

9. FEAR 2: Project Origin
While the expansion packs were canon, neither did justice to the original franchise. Monolith (the original developers from the first game) come back with what promises to be another emergency bowel evacuation inducing thrill ride. It'll come out in February for the PC, PS3, and 360.

8. Rage
John Carmack (You know, the dude who made Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein) brings us his next action fueled game this year for the PC, PS3, 360, Mac, and Linux. Every game Carmack has designed has been great so we expect big things from this hybrid FPS/Driving game.

7. Bionic Commando
Last we saw of Rad, he blew Hitler and his Nazi goons away on the NES. It's been 21 years (that's 4 game console generations) since we last saw Ascension City and this years installment promises to have, among other things, much better graphics and sound. But seriously, this game looks awesome and for all of us old enough to have love the original Bionic Commando, we eagerly await its release on the PC, PS3, and 360.

6. Deus Ex 3
When Deus Ex hit the PC in 2000, it was one of the best games ever made. It fused the RPG and FPS genres perfectly and was so deep it took me over 6 months of consistent gameplay to attain all the endings (and I hadn't even done all the side missions). Deus Ex: Invisible War continued the tradition with another outstanding game and 5 years later comes Deus Ex 3. While this may also be on the list for Reasons We'll Love 2010, we remain optimistic that it will come out for the holiday season for the PC, PS3, and 360

5. Mafia 2
A bunch of you nubcakes are gonna wonder what Mafia 2 is doing on this list. Unfortunately Mafia flew way under the radar due to the fact that the amazing PC game was horribly ported to the consoles for reasons that could only involve potential truck fulls of money for the publisher. It was one of the most realistic, in depth games for its time (2002) and still has staying power today. Mafia 2 will hit sometime in the fall for the PC, PS3, and 360

4. Street Fighter IV
You can argue that the game already came out, and its true, it hit arcades in August, but were about home gaming and in February, Street Fighter IV will hit home on the PS3, and 360 (and later the PC). Unlike the previous generations Street Fighters which were nubbish and arguably shouldn'tve been released, this game stays true to its arcade roots and promises to be one heck of a fightfest.

3. BioShock 2
For those of you that have never heard about BioShock, then A: What are you doing on this website, and B: Put down 50 Cent Bulletproof and play a good game. Not much is known about BioShock 2: Sea of Dreams other than that the first game was good enough for us to assume that the 2nd game is going to be f***ing awesome. It's going to be a prequal/sequal and promises to make us love games in 2009. It'll hit Q1 2010 (which starts in Nov of 2009) for the PC, PS3, and 360.

2. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2
Many of you have this at number 1 and arguably are correct. Infinity Ward brings us their next installment of Call of Duty 4 and supposedly takes off where COD4 ends. While not much is known about this game, Infinity Ward has yet to disappoint on any of their games thus far (These guys made Medal of Honor Allied Assault, COD1, COD2, and COD4). It'll arrive directly into our consoles holiday season 2009 for the PC, PS3, and 360.

1. Resident Evil 5
So a lot of you were turned off by Resident Evil 4. Whether the crazy storyline or extremely hard difficulty, people just couldn't get turned on to RE4. That all changes in RE5. Yes it's still crazy difficult but this time they give you a partner who can help you as either an actually smart NPC or an actually smart (or stupid) friend via online Co-Op. The graphics look awesome and anybody who played RE4 will know why RE5 is our numero uno pick of why we will love 2009. It'll hit stores in March for the PS3 and 360.

Other non-console exclusives of note:
Aliens: Colonial Marines
Damnation
Sabatuer
Velvet Assassin
Indiana Jones

Top Ten Reasons to love the 360 in 2009.

10. Ninja Blade
Yes, it does sound like a bad Japanese translation (much like Violence game and Fight Style Game) but it actually looks cool and

8. Star Ocean: The Last Hope
Most of you may not have played the original Star Ocean for the Super Famicom (SNES in NA) but that won't stop Square Enix from making a direct prequel to it. Not a lot is known about Star Ocean but 2009 isn't the best year for 360 exclusives, therefore it has cracked the top 10 reasons to love the 360 in 09.

7. GTA IV: The Lost and Damned
So you couldn't get enough GTA IV, huh? Well neither could we and in February, Rockstar will come out with its first of two downloadable DLC exclusively for the 360. It's 20 bucks and comes with hours of new gameplay. Not much else is known other than that it may include new cars and new areas and that you play as a member of the biker gang: The Lost. It is also hinted that it will not involve Niko at all. It'll come into our 360s in February

6. Alan Wake
Not much is known about Alan Wake other than that it is an open world sandbox style game that is made by the guys who made the Max Payne series. That is reason enough to be excited about this "psychological thriller/adventure". While Alan Wake hasn't made any appearances at any major gaming conventions since 2007, he will hopefully crash into our 360's sometime during the holidays 2009.

5. Forza Motorsport 3
For those of you without a PlayStation to play Gran Turismo, then you know that Forza was the racing game to play. Forza 3 looks to build on Forza's 2 gameplay with more tracks, more cars, updated graphics, and a more realistic driving experience. You can edit the car and driver from everything down to the gloves the driver is wearing to the grip on the drive shaft. It'll drive into our consoles mid 2009.

4. Halo Chronicles:
Not much is known about Halo Chronicles other than that it is episodic (much like HL2) and that it takes place in the Halo Universe. For that reason alone it makes number 4.

3. Halo 3: ODST
Most noobs can't get enough of Halo 3 and for that, Bungie made Halo 3: ODST. You don't play as Master Chief, he's taking a much needed vacation, hopefully covenant free. In any event it comes with a robust single player mode which none of you will play and a hefty load of new multiplayer stuff, which is mostly all you noobs care about.

2. Halo Wars.
An RTS (Think StarCraft but with Halo stuff) is actually a nice refresher from the hum-drum FPS Halo series. It takes place about 20 years before Halo 1 and has a totally new storyline built specifically for an RTS. It'll come out in Febraury and while we are excited, we have to remember that RTS's on consoles don't always fare well.

1. New Motherboards
New motherboards mean no more (hopefully) Red Rings of Death that have afflicted too many of our brothers and sisters. While many of you may love your current console (and some of you may have adorned it with stickers and the such) it'll be a relief to know that Microsoft is actually doing something for our future consoles (for when ours finally kick the bucket).

Top 10 reasons to love PS3/PSP in 2009

10. DC Universe Online
Let's be honest, we've all wanted to be superheroes at one point. And maybe some of us still do. While many people play the MMO City of Heroes, it's just not the same without that license. Well Sony Online Entertainment has a license from superhero powerhouse DC and has high hopes for this MMO that features over 100 heroes and villains from the DC universe. It'll come out late 2009.

9. Heavy Rain
Heavy Rain looks to be one of if not the most realistic game released in terms of graphics and physics. It's a thriller/adventure game and sells itself off as an interactive movie where you control everything player-wise as opposed to an outright videogame. One of the most promising games of 2009, Heavy Rain could evolutionize the way graphics and character models and animations are done in games.

8. Resistance Retribution
The lone PSP entry on this list comes in the form of a third person shooter. The game takes place between R1 and R2 and features a new playable character called James Grayson. Like Hale, Grayson is immune to the Chimera, and also like Hale, has a thing about him that just makes him awesome at killing Chimera. It also marks the first game on the PSP that can hookup to the PS3 for use of in-game content and dualshock 3 controller use. Hopefully RR is one game that'll help reinflate the deflating rigid inflatable boat that is the PSP. It hits stores in February.

7. Stereoscopic 3D
While Sony hasn't officially confirmed anything yet (although would we expect them too?) A major game developer has. No, not EA or Atari, but Blitz Game Studios (whose most famous work is from the Bratz game series however they have also done Spongebob and American Idol games). While it's not set in stone and, let's be honest, it doesn't come from the most trusted source, just imagining playing Resistance 2 in 3d gets me all wound up.

6. Metal Gear Online
While a shaky, beta-style version of MGO was released with MGS4, a true final version will hit US shores that will finally let us fulfill our lifelong dreams of stabbing someone in the throat after they walked by us not expecting anything because we were hiding in a cardboard box. Ok, so maybe not everybody has that dream, but for those that do, MGO is for you (which rhymes, HOORAY!). MGO will offer more maps, more servers, and more content than it's MGS4 counterpart and will hopefully be out by mid 2009.

5. Massive Action Game
I'd like to think that MAG is just a working title and will have a much cooler name by it's release, but even if it is still called MAG, we are in for a treat. Zipper (the dudes that made the SOCOM games) are developing a shooter MMO (think COD4, but with way more people) with the ability to have up to 256 players on any given map. Basic battles will take place in various parts of a map, with an even larger map being affected by the battles in smaller maps. Not much information has been released on this game but a demo was shown off at TGS 08 and I have to say that it blew my mind. MAG will hopefully arrive during the 2009 holiday season.

4. Gran Turismo 5
So this may be another game in this article that gets released in 2010, but we remain hopeful that the game will be released in late 2009. We all know about Gran Turismo, it features hundreds of cars, dozens of tracks, and the most realistic driving engine ever. Enough said

3. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Part Indiana Jones, part Lara Croft, part James Bond, Nathan Drake is a straight up awesome dude. His last adventure saw him battling sea pirates, money grubbing "collectors", and zombie Spaniards. It was (and still is) one of the best looking, most awe inspiring, most gorgeous games out for the system. While not much is known about the game, we do know that it will involve Marco Polo (an explorer from the 13th century). Adventure on, Mr. Drake, adventure on. U2AT will hit stores fall 2009

2. Killzone 2
Killzone 2 takes place sometime after Killzone Liberation, and will take place mostly (if not all) on Helghan, which spells trouble for the Helghast. Not much is known about this FPS other than that you will play as Sev and will have a vast amount of weapons at your disposal. It hits stores early 09

1. God of War III
Not much about this game is known other than that it is most likely the last in the GOW series (but then again we said that about MGS2.... and MGS3..... and MGS4). It allegedly will have a co-op mode (and who hasn't wanted to play GOW cooperatively) and will, according to director David Jaffe, "ultimately will explain, why there are no more Greek myths." We don't know what that means but we still are so hyped for it that we put it at numero uno. It'll come out for the holidays.

So there we have it, multiple reasons why 2009 will kick ass. Lemme know you're top tens!