The thoroughly democratic process through which our top 10 video games of 2010 were divined and decided left little room for sayers-of-nay once the dust had settled. The list -- as you'll soon see -- represents a cross section of what we believe to be the greatest (and therefore, our favorite, since we're such astute scholars of the ludological sciences) games of the year. All except for the game currently under discussion: David Cage's interactive thriller, Heavy Rain.

Of all the games on our list, Heavy Rain was the only one whose appearance -- even at the most humble position on the pedestal -- was called into question. With such apparent spite for the title coursing through our collective veins, you might wonder how it made any showing at all. The answer is indicative of the game's overall reception in the gaming community's collective consciousness: Many writers gave the game no weight in the discussion at all, while few gave it just about as much weight as they could possibly throw.