Still to come... FC4, Dragons Age, GTA V redux [which may be banned anyway]. Any chance of them pinching Top Spot, or is Driveclub already your firm favourite? Voting won't be for a little while yet, but we might as well get some lists going, and we can even use it as an excuse to entice Reg back.
You unleash the controversy, I'll unleash the contrived ruleset and Excel formulae...
Eligibility Criteria
Must be a game. Must be released in 2014. May or may not be art.
Re-releases legit if they're vaguely different to previous versions (GTA probably, Halo just about, TLoU not really).
Voting Rules
1 - Voting closes midnight on 7:14am, 2 February 2015 (at which point I'll be exactly 35 years old)
2 - You can vote for at most 5 games
3 - You may assign each game an integer points value of between -2 and +5
4 - The total POSITIVE points assigned mustn't exceed 12
5 - Examples are therefore (5, 3, 2, 1, 1) or (5, 5, 5, -2, -2)
6 - The winner is the one with the most points.
7 - Please @acemuzzy me if you're voting for a game that isn't in the longlist in the OP, so I can add it!
8 - There will be two lists, one including negatives, one excluding. Top of the former list will be declared GotY.
The Standings
EXCITING NEWS - MY ONLINE SPREADSHEET IS UP AND RUNNING!!!
Hopefully read-only. I've put three people's votes in so far, I'll do more when I get a chance. Please @acemuzzy me or PM me if you're missing, or you think there's an error in what I have for you (e.g. I've guessed at your point allocation cos you didn't give one, and you'd like it to be different).
From the random three I chose to check my spreadsheet worked: Destiny is winning both lists!
I have played...
Destiny
Mario Kart 8
Halo MCC (I guess that doesn't count)
Sunset Overdrive
Dark Souls 2
So far Sunset has been the game I have enjoyed the most by far. Mario Kart is the best game of that list.
Reckon I will wait for Smash Bros before making a decision.
As for rules, I've always like the plain and simple 'if it came out this year' regardless of whether or not it's a suped up re-release, or a game previously out on another platform. Otherwise, people get frustrated at wanting to vote a game, but being told they can't because it's previously been on a platform they don't own.
Threes! is still the only correct answer. It's a videogame which transcends the medium and which could be played as long as solitaire. It's not only the best game of this year, it's one of the finest games in the history of gaming.