Joystiq's significant others name Guitar Hero III game of the year

Our exhaustively debated, occasionally pretentious list of the year's top games will be on the way soon, but we wanted to try something a little different to whet your appetite. We polled our wives, girlfriends and boyfriends (all of whom fall somewhere between casual and medium on the hardcore gaming spectrum) and asked them to choose their favorite games of the year.

We opted to be more casual with this list, allowing games that may not have been released in 2007 as long as the significant other in question spent most of their time with them this year. So, it's without further ado that we present the top five:

• 1. Guitar Hero III

• 2. Peggle

• 3. Rock Band

• 4. Super Mario Galaxy

• 5. BioShock

Way to go, everyone! What was interesting as we collected this list was the wide variety of games that were represented, many of which wouldn't even get a mention in most GOTY debates. Now, is that because they haven't played as many games or the more frightening option: Because they've lived a 2007 unpolluted by hype and are unafraid of picking the games that really brought them the most joy? Honestly, we're still not sure.

Check out all the also-rans after the jump.

Other Joystiq significant others' nominees for Game of the Year:

• Ratchet and Clank Future

• World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade

• Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

• Guitar Hero II

• God of War II

• Motorstorm

• Super Paper Mario

• Bookworm Adventures

• Evidence

• Marvel Ultimate Alliance

• Prism

• FreeRice.com

• New York Times Crosswords

• Picross

• Super Mario Bros. 3 (Wii Virtual Console)