Editor's note: Mike Minotti's almost like our own version of Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of Zero Punctuation, only in written form. Today, he predicts the future for us. This should save us a lot of work come Game of the Year time. Oh, and Uncharted 2 is incredibly incredible, by the way. After posting this, I'm off to finish the last boss and cry because the game is over. -Shoe

If you’ve been reading my articles, you probably know that I’m a pretty big fan of Naughty Dog’s Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. In my very first article, The Obligatory Top Arbitrary Number List: Top 8 Modern Console Games, it took the top spot.

Now here we are, a couple of weeks away from Uncharted 2: Among Thieves' release, and I’m ready to declare it the 2009 Game of the Year. “But Mike,” you may ask, “how can you call an unreleased game the best of the year, you snarky, hypocritical dirt bag?”

Well, let me explain to you just some of my reasons. I’m sure once we’re through here, even the most offended critics will agree with me.

Reason #1: It’s the sequel to Uncharted

Seriously, did you guys play Uncharted? That game was amazing. Remember how we all thought that Gears of War was the shit back in 2006? Well, Uncharted was like Gears of War but with a better story and a jump button.

How many other games are there where people go out of their way to praise animation? When was the last time you heard anyone say that a game had excellent voice acting? Games with good shooting mechanics and pretty graphics are a dime a dozen these days. A game that can manage all that and go above and beyond with its presentation is truly special.

So, Uncharted was great, which means that Uncharted 2 will be awesome. I mean, this isn’t the movie industry, where sequels typically disappoint and fall short of the original. Video game sequels are always better thought-out versions of the original. It's why Sonic 2 is better than Sonic 1, WarCraft 2 better than WarCraft 1, Mega Man 2 better than Mega Man 1, Metal Gear Solid 2 better than…Metal Gear Solid 3 better than Metal Gear Solid 2.

Reason #2: The E3 2009 live demo

Sony demoed Uncharted 2 at its E3 press conference, and it immediately became one of the most talked about games of the show. The presentation was simply breathtaking. I mean, the crowd was actually applauding the game’s draw distance. Let me repeat: The audience applauded the draw distance.

Let’s not forget that Nathan Drake was shooting people in a collapsing building and then jumped out of the building mid-collapse. Bad. Ass.

Everyone loves to play the E3 Home Game, where we watch all of the videos and read all of the hands-on reports, then pick our own Game of the Show. Anyone with any common sense would have given it to Uncharted 2, unless they were too busy swooning over Scribblenaut’s concept, seemingly oblivious of the game’s later maligned controls.

Reason #3: Odo

Anyone who is cool loves Star Trek, and the coolest of Star Trek fans know that Deep Space 9 was the best series. So adding Rene Auberjonois, who played Odo on that beautiful show, to the cast of Uncharted 2 is brilliant.

Odo, by the way, was a bad-ass shape shifter, which means that it’s entirely possible that Auberjonois’ character in Uncharted 2 is in fact Odo, just assuming a new shape. This adds further credence to my theory that Uncharted takes place in the Star Trek universe.

Also, Rene Auberjonois was the voice of the French chef in The Little Mermaid that sang "Les Poissons," a hilarious song about butchering fish. He was also a preacher who fought people with a rifle in The Patriot. How many preachers do you know that fight people with guns? Zero, because they aren’t cool enough.

Reason #4: Special edition you’ll never have

Almost every big release gets a special edition these days, usually filled with soundtracks and art books. Boring! Worst of all, anyone is allowed to purchase these supposedly “elite” versions.

Not Uncharted 2! Uncharted 2: Fortune Hunter Edition will not be sold in stores. It’ll be so rare, I actually have no idea how to even get one. Now that’s a collector’s item!

Also, it comes with a knife. Would you rather have another art book collecting dust on your shelf or a freaking knife? Thought so.

It also comes with an art book.

Reason #5: 21/20

One of the first reviews for Uncharted 2 was from the French edition of PSM3, which awarded the game a 21/20. I am not kidding. They looked at the game, saw what their mathematically highest possible score for the game was, and decided it wasn’t good enough.

Clearly, this means that Uncharted 2 is better than perfect. IGN, no doubt in a move to further some anti-Sony agenda, tried to low-ball Uncharted 2 with a score of 9.5. Disgraceful. Nevertheless, Uncharted 2’s current Metacritic is very, very high.

I hope that you now see that I was not speaking falsehoods or exaggerations. Uncharted 2 is already the best game of the year. The fact that it’s not out yet is merely a technicality.

-Mike Minotti (still jobless, should just get in line for Uncharted 2 now)

See this post and more on my site: Give Mike Minotti A Gaming Journalism Job.