Game Of The Year Picks: Heroes Team's Marque Pierre Sondergaard

As part of Gamasutra's end of year round-up, we've asked our readers to submit their choices for top three games of 2005, which we're publishing daily alongside picks from the Gamasutra staff. Today's picks come from Heroes Team's Marque Pierre Sondergaard, whose top game choices for 2005 are as follows: "World of Warcraft. Well, I don't know where you class it with the different launch dates for different continents and all. But at least it deserves an honourable mention, however old it is. In our house, where a great many games are played, it is simply known as "the game", that speaks volumes. Age of Empires 3. About time we had a new installment there, and it is a typical Ensemble Studios job - polished, solid and very well playing. It has been taking a lot of flak for lack of innovation, but that is not why you buy an installment of a series; you love what you played before, and you want more of the same. Ensemble Studios delivered, of course... Nintendogs on the DS. Big fat kudos to Nintendo for actually doing something to taking games into the mainstream. Such efforts makes you wonder if we even have any clue of all the things a game actually can be. And that is a nice heartwarming thought in this age of generic FPS titles and GTA rip offs."