Drumroll, please…

We’ve tallied up the votes, slipped into our tuxedos, polished up the trophies and are now ready to reveal the winners of the second annual PSN Gamers’ Choice Awards. Votes were cast this year across 10 categories in the PlayStation Store, including the community award for Best PSN Indie, which was voted online by the community.

First off, we’d like to thank all of the nominees for being a part of this year’s PSN Gamers’ Choice Awards. All of the games that we showcased were some of the highest and most user-ranked games released in 2011, which is an honor in and of itself. Second and most importantly, we want to thank all of you for casting your votes both online and in the PlayStation Store to determine our winners.

We had an incredible turnout during the voting period this year, which made for an intense competition. Things got so heated, in fact, that the battle for Best PS Move Game literally came down to the last day between Dungeon Defenders and Dungeon Hunter: Alliance. But only one could come out with top honors.

Without further ado, here are your winners for the 2012 PSN Gamers’ Choice Awards:

• Best PSN Exclusive: inFAMOUS Festival of Blood (PS3)
• Best PSN Game: Resident Evil 4 (PS3)
• Best PSN Game Playable Online: Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition (PS3)
• Best PS3 Full Game: Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (PS3)
• Best PlayStation Move Game: Dungeon Hunter: Alliance (PS3)
• Best 3D Game: God of War: Origins Collection (PS3)
• Best PlayStation Classic: Chrono Trigger (PS3/PSP)
• Best Mini Game: Angry Birds (PS3/PSP)
• Best PSP Game: DISSIDIA 012 [duodecim] FINAL FANTASY (PSP)
• PlayStation Community Award – Best Indie: LIMBO (PS3)

The celebration continues as the award-winning titles will be discounted 30% in the PlayStation Store for one week, starting later today, with a 50% discount available to all PlayStation Plus subscribers. Don’t miss out on the chance to score these great games! And don’t forget to start rating the games that you’re playing throughout 2012 so your favorite games can get nominated next year.

The answer: I’m here to announce Square Enix’s “Winter of RPGs” campaign. In some parts of North America, winter seems to have gotten an early head start. And while that brings a lot of headaches for those who have to contend with ice and snow, it’s also a perfect time for us to announce our latest group of titles coming to PSN. So, while you’re staying inside and out of the cold, icky weather, why not fire up your PS3 and play some classic RPGs? We’ve got some great games lined up to get you through the cold days ahead.

So what’s up first? Some of you may have noticed my responses to reader comments in my last column. And even last week, readers of “The Drop” were asking when we’d see this particular title arrive. Well, get ready to travel not through time, but through alternate realities when Chrono Cross releases. Join Serge as he finds himself in a world where he died as a young child, meets the enigmatic thief Kid, and goes on a quest for the artifact known as the Frozen Flame! The sequel to Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross delivers on some great gameplay and fantastic story, which is probably the reason why the game is so highly rated. It won lots of awards when it was released, including Gamespot’s Game of the Year in 2000. Don’t believe me? Google it. I’ll wait.

Chrono Cross will release on November 8th—just five days from now. You have been warned.

But, you know, we can’t really call it the “Winter of RPGs” if we just announce one title—even if it is one as great as Chrono Cross. The second title in our “Winter of RPGs” lineup begins with a meteor and some crystals. It also expanded on the incredible job system and introduced us to the Time Mage, Blue Mage, Berserker, and Dancer jobs, to name a few. That’s right—it’s Final Fantasy V! Our main character is Bartz, whom many of you will probably know from his appearances in Dissidia Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012[duodecim] Final Fantasy. In Final Fantasy V, you take on the role of Bartz and help defend the Crystals that keep the evil sorcerer Exdeath imprisoned.

Final Fantasy V will be released on November 22, just in time for you to save the world over Thanksgiving!

We’ve got one more title to announce, and it’s a big one. This one made it all to #9 on IGN’s top 100 games of all time back in 2007. And in 2009, Game Informer went one better and named it #8, while G4TV named it #1 in their “Top 5 Must-Own RPGs.” Have you guessed what it is yet?

It features a crazy clown mage who is truly evil and the young female half-Esper who winds up opposing him. Welcome Kefka and Terra to the PlayStation Network just in time for the holidays!

Final Fantasy VI will be released on December 6th.

That’s all for now—Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy V, and Final Fantasy VI. To horribly misquote Shakespeare, “Now is the winter of our RPGs.”

We’re happy to confirm that Chrono Trigger is coming to the PSN in North America on October 4th. That’s right—in just a few days, you’ll be able to visit (or re-visit, as I’m sure is the case for many of you) one of the most hilarious and unique casts of characters ever assembled in an RPG:

Crono: The spiky-haired, stoic protagonist who finds himself wrapped up in events beyond his control. He’s pretty good with a katana and doesn’t run from a fight.

Marle: The requisite princess, but she’s no ordinary princess. How many princesses do you know that wield a crossbow?

Lucca: Chrono’s best friend since they were little kids. Oh, and she’s a supergenius who invents things such as the teleporter that starts your journey through time.

Frog: A knight from the middle ages, Frog is a man who has been cursed and turned into a giant anthropomorphic frog. But being a frog doesn’t prevent him from being a fantastic fighter—and having one of the coolest special attacks in the game.

Robo: A robot from the future (I’ve always wanted to write that) who, after being repaired by Lucca, joins the party. Yes, a robot. With lasers!

Ayla: Hailing from prehistoric times, Ayla is tough. Really tough. She uses her enormous strength and agility to fight unarmed, and dishes out a lot of damage.

Travel through time to put things right and defeat the evil Lavos before he destroys everything!

There’s more than one way to save the world, of course, and Chrono Trigger respects that. In fact, the game has always been highly regarded for the number of different endings available. Have you got them all? If not, the time has come.

Robo, Lucca, Marle, Frog, Ayla, and Chrono are waiting for you.