Super Meat Boy is another game that has been nominated for multiple categories. It's unusual that it didn't make it into the visual finalists, but it doesn't matter, as the game itself is awesome. Super Meat Boy is an expansion of the addicting and incredibly difficult browser platformer Meat Boy, and those that want some floaty precision jumping can not do much better than Super Meat Boy. You play as the Meat Boy, who must save his love Bandage Girl from the terminally hateful and depressed Dr. Fetus. It's a very bizarre plot, and serves pretty much as an excuse to heap around liberal amounts of cartoony gore and giblets on every surface. Not that there's anything wrong with that! The game shifts between art styles and characters quite often, so it always stays fresh.

The audio in Super Meat Boy is exceptional, with some delicious retro tunes for you that shift between SNES classics and modern hard rock. It gets you pumped and keeps you cheerful as you die for the nth time trying to get that last little bandage. If you are looking for a game to keep you relentlessly happy and entertaining, Super Meat Boy is the game for you, thanks to the incredibly good music. The audio itself is also quite good, with the whirrs of buzzsaws, splotching of the titular meat boy, and swooping noise of Dr. Fetus all being excellently realized. Sound is a hard thing to make especially memorable while still being good, but Super Meat Boy does this.

Shatter is the last game on this list, and the only one that is not available for PC. A PSN game, Shatter is a re-imagining of Breakout or, as most people remember it, Arkanoid. However, it ratchets the action up considerably, revolutionizing the tired Breakout genre with new and interesting conventions. In a way, it's a lot like Geometry Wars in both concept and execution. Where Geometry Wars changed the arena shooter by adding extra layers of beauty and complexity to the formula, Shatter does the same for Breakout. When you first see yourself blowing around blocks with physics and moving through a circular play field, you will definitely become hooked on what Shatter has to offer.

The music of Shatter is the strongest point, with some truly excellent electronica serving as the driving force. It feels retro-futuristic while keeping you pumped for the gameplay ahead, which is excellent. This feeling captures the essence of the game, which is that of a classic being thrust forward and reinvented for a new generation to play and enjoy. The sound effects are good as well, adding to the music in their own ways. It's no Everyday Shooter (what is?) but the sound effects are great and worthy of praise. It's interesting that Shatter made the list, as three of the five entries (Closure, Trauma, Rocketbirds Revolution) feature ambient music primarily, with only Super Meat Boy providing a contrast. The difference between Shatter and the rest of the games is as clear as night and day, and we're glad it added some variety to the finalist listing.