This award goes to the game we most enjoyed playing together after an exhausting day at the show.

Winner: Guitar Hero (PS2)

Steven Rodriguez: The staffers who had never played it before tried it and loved it. The power of rock is not to be underestimated.

Jonathan Metts: I had not played Guitar Hero for months and was pining for it badly. I got my fix and then some in the hotel, as we played the game into the wee hours, night after night. Activision, don't you love Nintendo? Bring Guitar Hero to Wii. You know you want to. Just do it.

Mike Gamin: I was never completely sure who had downs, but people kept fighting about it. Everyone wanted to rock.

Michael Cole: Everyone was raving about this game at GDC, and it was winning awards by the bucket. I raised an eyebrow at the time, but now I understand.

Evan Burchfield: Correction: worst hotel game. It only takes a few repeats of Jonny messing up the riffs in 'Iron Man' before even Ossu! Tatakae! Ouendan! sounds calm and relaxing in comparison.

Runner-up: Super Smash Bros. Melee

Michael Cole: Who cares when it was released or that Nintendo just blew our minds with Brawl? This game hasn't just endured the test of time, it seems to have grown more popular among PGC staff. Sure, some folks were rusty, but I think we all thoroughly enjoyed our old-fashioned tourneys.

Daniel Bloodworth: We played Smash Bros.? Oh right, I hadn’t played in two years so I got knocked out of every tournament instantly. Us losers waited for the next round by holding Tetris DS and Ouendan games on the side.