The past 12 months have been a period for innovation in gaming, with outstanding releases on all major consoles and for all types of gamers. With the winter gift-giving season coming up, what better list is there than the 10 best video games of 2010?10. ModNation Racers
Rounding out this year's incredible list of games is ModNation Racers, a hybrid between Mario Kart's fast-paced racing mayhem and LittleBigPlanet's focus on user-created content. Designing, sharing and racing your own tracks is insanely fun, as is immersing yourself in a community of other brilliant creators. Like its pseudo-predecessor, LittleBigPlanet, players are granted the ability to create almost every element in the game, from tracks to racers to the cars themselves.

9. Motion Control releases (PS3 and Xbox 360)
The PlayStation Move and Microsoft Kinect are neither single games nor single releases, but Sony and Microsoft's foray into the motion-sensing platform made significant enough changes to the industry that their efforts have to be mentioned. The Move controller enables precise aiming in games such as shooters, while the Kinect offers a variety of options such as dance games with its webcam peripheral. Our top recommendation for family fun? If you get your parents Dance Central for the Microsoft Kinect, it should definitely prove more than entertaining.

8. Fallout: New Vegas (multiplatform)
If justArts could give out an award to the best role-playing game of 2010, Fallout: New Vegas would win it without a doubt. While not a direct sequel to Fallout 3, it takes all the best elements in the 2008 game and improves upon them while adding new features such as a weapon modification system. Post-apocalyptic America has never been so fun.

7. Limbo (Xbox Live)
Where does one go in a world without explanation, without dialogue? As a young boy who wakes up in a forbidding forest, the protagonist of Limbo must navigate a world of darkness. It's a chilling and unique adventure that's sure to make players ponder the frequently discussed question: "Are video games art?"

6. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
This is a wonderful game, to put it simply. With cheerful atmosphere, perfected controls, mind-blowing level design from famed developer Shigeru Miyamoto and one of the best orchestral scores to appear in a video game in recent memory, Super Mario Galaxy 2 proves that Nintendo is still the best at reinventing the classics.

5. Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition (multiplatform)
Borderlands may have come out in 2009, but the newly released Game of the Year edition is such a great deal for gamers that it's the fifth-best game of 2010. The original game's blend of cooperative, first-person shooter and roleplaying elements was already amazing, and now buyers get all four add-on packs along with a couple of extras in one case.

4. Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty (PC)
At long last, Starcraft II has arrived, and it's hands-down the best real-time strategy game on the market. Wings of Liberty is a full-fledged gaming experience, and one that will consume hours upon hours of your life-that's a good thing, right? And don't worry, the established gameplay elements of the battle between the Terrans, Zerg and Protoss are still here, so Starcraft veterans and newbies alike should be able to jump right into its online community.

3. Halo: Reach (Xbox 360)
Bungie's final and best Halo game takes a look back to the events preceding the original trilogy, featuring an emotionally driven storyline about the inevitably doomed Noble Team. While the knowledge of humanity's impending extinction can be despairing, Halo: Reach never fails to engage the player in a suspenseful and thrilling experience.

2. Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii)
Game developers are constantly utilizing cutting-edge technology to create photorealistic interactive experiences. In a year filled with visual and technological marvel, how does a 2-D platform game come on top? It's not just nostalgia that's at work here. This is developer Retro Studios (Metroid Prime series) and Nintendo at their best, creating a superbly designed and visually charming combination of old-school gameplay and newly implemented features.

1. Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
Here it is: justArts' game of the year for 2010. Rockstar Games, developer and publisher of the Grand Theft Auto series, released this free-roaming Western game this spring, and it became one of the highest-rated games of all time, with The New York Times calling it "the leading edge of interactive media." We agree. Be ready to delve into the immersive world of former outlaw John Marston as he engages in gunfights, explorations and countless missions. You'll never have more fun riding off into the sunset.

These were the best of the best for 2010, but honorable mentions include Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, God of War III, Goldeneye, Mass Effect 2, Kirby's Epic Yarn and numerous Nintendo DS and Sony PSP games. Happy gaming!