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[Messofanego]

The Walking Dead winning a lot of awards is alright with me, but it's kind of strange for it to be winning so easily. The puzzles are pretty terrible in the game and while the writing is very good, it's not really better than Spec Ops' writing and has some weaknesses. Game was great, but I'm not sure it was great enough to dominate the awards over other worthy games.

I don't think anyone cares about puzzles in Walking Dead, it's more about the character interactions and that was nailed down in the game even compared to the tv series. Each character is well-developed enough to make you feel bad for choosing one over the other in the decisions. Some people were so challenged that they would leave with "..." replies. Would it matter if the puzzles were super challenging? Wouldn't it be weird figuring out some obtuse puzzle in a post-apocalyptic survival scenario?

I would like Spec Ops to get more recognition on this front, but hey it's relatively one of the most overlooked games this year so not a surprise.

 

[Sanctuary]

All those marks for The Walking Dead have me scratching my head. I know a lot of people really enjoyed it, and felt like it was the surprise of the year or something, but I just don't get it. Currently finishing up the first episode, and I'm not sure if I'll even bother with the rest. I don't even consider it a "game" either. It just feels like an interactive comic. Would the mainstream reviewers have given it such high marks if not for the show being so popular right now?
Don't get me wrong, it's good storytelling, but it sure doesn't feel anything like an actual game to me.

Besides that, the list in general is full of "meh". There's only one game on there that I would consider something refreshing (that some would say is the next coming or whatever). 2012 was such a down year for great games.

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

The Walking Dead winning a lot of awards is alright with me, but it's kind of strange for it to be winning so easily. The puzzles are pretty terrible in the game and while the writing is very good, it's not really better than Spec Ops' writing and has some weaknesses. Game was great, but I'm not sure it was great enough to dominate the awards over other worthy games.

The fact that The Walking Dead is dominating and Virtue's Last Reward is getting completely snubbed really rubs me the wrong way.

 

[Berto]

The Walking Dead winning a lot of awards is alright with me, but it's kind of strange for it to be winning so easily. The puzzles are pretty terrible in the game and while the writing is very good, it's not really better than Spec Ops' writing and has some weaknesses. Game was great, but I'm not sure it was great enough to dominate the awards over other worthy games.

The Walking Dead is winning so many awards because of the emotional impact it had on people, and I love that. I love that emotional connection is prevailing against cold technical prowess.

 

[Sanctuary]

The Walking Dead is winning so many awards because of the emotional impact it had on people, and I love that. I love that emotional connection is prevailing against cold technical prowess.

That still doesn't mean that it even fits into the same media. Almost nothing about it makes it anything resembling a game. It's almost as bad as giving Bambi a GOTY award because of it's emotional impact. The only reason it's lumped with the rest of the actual games is because there's no category for "best interactive narrative" yet. It's similar to Heavy Rain, yet even less of a game than even that was.

 

[Berto]

That still doesn't mean that it even fits into the same media. Almost nothing about it makes it anything resembling a game. It's almost as bad as giving Bambi a GOTY award because of it's emotional impact. The only reason it's lumped with the rest of the actual games is because there's no category for "best interactive narrative" yet.

How is it diffirent from... idk Monkey Island? Or any other point n click adventure game?

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

The fact that The Walking Dead is dominating and Virtue's Last Reward is getting completely snubbed really rubs me the wrong way.

Virtue's Last Reward doesn't have the zombies to get the press to go wild for it. It's definitely getting robbed, though.

 

[Sanctuary]

How is it diffirent from... idk Monkey Island? Or any other point n click adventure game?

It's really not that different from those games, although even with the old school adventure games you had puzzles that actually mattered, and the various objects you might find actually required player input. So far, at least in the first episode all of the items you find are just plot devices that are automatic. I mean yeah, so you have to hit a button when the game prompts you to...but that's really not the same thing at all. Quick time events take about as much thought and reaction as picking up the remote to a tv set.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

The fact that The Walking Dead is dominating and Virtue's Last Reward is getting completely snubbed really rubs me the wrong way.

I feel exactly the same, kinda depressing how it's being ignored.

My game of the year is between Xenoblade and VLR

 

[Messofanego]

All those marks for The Walking Dead have me scratching my head. I know a lot of people really enjoyed it, and felt like it was the surprise of the year or something, but I just don't get it. Currently finishing up the first episode, and I'm not sure if I'll even bother with the rest. I don't even consider it a "game" either. It just feels like an interactive comic. Would the mainstream reviewers have given it such high marks if not for the show being so popular right now?
Don't get me wrong, it's good storytelling, but it sure doesn't feel anything like an actual game to me.

Besides that, the list in general is full of "meh". There's only one game on there that I would consider something refreshing (that some would say is the next coming or whatever). 2012 was such a down year for great games.

That still doesn't mean that it even fits into the same media. Almost nothing about it makes it anything resembling a game. It's almost as bad as giving Bambi a GOTY award because if it's emotional impact.

Can you give us a detailed essay in how The Walking Dead isn't a game?

"interactive comics" are visual novels, which TWD really isn't since you have direct control of the character in a 3D space.

People like the game more for it being finally a serious take in videogames of a post-apocalyptic survival setting with actual consequences, than the so-so tv show. It's popular because fans of the game go on about how emotional it is, which isn't heard of as usual word-of-mouth for a game. There's no relation between either version, so no need to catch up and therefore a bigger audience. It's episodic, which makes for manageable chunks (so everyone can get caught up quickly) along with hype for the next installment.

Oh and zombies.

 

[Visualante2]

Guardian

And so the top two … We argued, we thought, we argued some more, but we couldn't separate them. So for the first time, we have a joint number one.

1. XCom: Enemy Unknown
1. Dishonored

 

[Lingitiz]

That still doesn't mean that it even fits into the same media. Almost nothing about it makes it anything resembling a game. It's almost as bad as giving Bambi a GOTY award because of it's emotional impact. The only reason it's lumped with the rest of the actual games is because there's no category for "best interactive narrative" yet. It's similar to Heavy Rain, yet even less of a game than even that was.

Really tired of this argument. I think Jeff said it best here:

There’s really no need to maintain such a narrow view of gaming. The answer to the question “what is game?” changes every year. If you disqualify The Walking Dead now, would you disqualify Monkey Island back in 1990? Zork in 1980?

All of those games fall on slightly different spots on the play-to-watch scale, I suppose, but to say that The Walking Dead isn’t even a game is a bit much.

Instead of worrying about what gaming is or isn’t, focus on what you like about games and why. It’s perfectly OK to think that The Walking Dead is lame, boring, or not for you. But to go all the way to the end and start saying that it doesn’t even fit in the same category as other, “real” games starts to feel a bit elitist, right?

 

[CerebralTiger]

SpazioGames - Far Cry 3

 

[A Link to the Past]

I feel exactly the same, kinda depressing how it's being ignored.

My game of the year is between Xenoblade and VLR

Depressing? It's my second favourite game this year, but if The Walking Dead didn't exist, would it be the media darling? Not at all. Despite how great VLR is, it would always get snubbed. It's getting snubbed not because it got overshadowed by another adventure game; it got snubbed because a lot of games did. It's simply not *that* game.

As for The Walking Dead, it's a game because, with how it's designed, it cannot work in any other medium. It can't even be a CYA book, because players are given only so much time to make decisions, with some decisions having less and some having more, depending on the importance of the decision. Putting players in control of the actions and choices of Lee is a huge aspect of the game which allows players to become more invested in the game. If a player cares about the person he or she controls, and his or her people (Clementine especially), they are going to be more likely to care about how the game progresses. The Walking Dead does make them care, and it simply couldn't have made people care enough in any other medium. Ergo, being that the only medium it could possibly work in and still be quality is video games, it's a video game.

 

[Messofanego]

Really tired of this argument. I think Jeff Gerstmann said it best here:
There’s really no need to maintain such a narrow view of gaming. The answer to the question “what is game?” changes every year. If you disqualify The Walking Dead now, would you disqualify Monkey Island back in 1990? Zork in 1980?

All of those games fall on slightly different spots on the play-to-watch scale, I suppose, but to say that The Walking Dead isn’t even a game is a bit much.

Instead of worrying about what gaming is or isn’t, focus on what you like about games and why. It’s perfectly OK to think that The Walking Dead is lame, boring, or not for you. But to go all the way to the end and start saying that it doesn’t even fit in the same category as other, “real” games starts to feel a bit elitist, right?

Couldn't have said it better. Is that from a Jar video?

 

[MrCookiepants]

All those marks for The Walking Dead have me scratching my head. I know a lot of people really enjoyed it, and felt like it was the surprise of the year or something, but I just don't get it. Currently finishing up the first episode, and I'm not sure if I'll even bother with the rest. I don't even consider it a "game" either. It just feels like an interactive comic. Would the mainstream reviewers have given it such high marks if not for the show being so popular right now?
Don't get me wrong, it's good storytelling, but it sure doesn't feel anything like an actual game to me.

Besides that, the list in general is full of "meh". There's only one game on there that I would consider something refreshing (that some would say is the next coming or whatever). 2012 was such a down year for great games.

If you have any interest in the story or characters whatsoever, it's absolutely worth it to keep playing. It gets so much better.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Virtue's Last Reward doesn't have the zombies to get the press to go wild for it. It's definitely getting robbed, though.

I'd say its biggest problem is that it's on handhelds. Handheld games never receive major awards from the press.

 

[A Link to the Past]

I'd say its biggest problem is that it's on handhelds. Handheld games never receive major awards from the press.

That's definitely holding it back, but seriously, if this was a major console release, would it really have been THAT much more successful at these end of year awards? Fantastic game, but it's still not mainstream enough.

 

[CerebralTiger]

Is that from a Jar video?

From his Tumblr

 

[yurinka]

That's what everyone said when similarly pretentious shitboxes like Flower and Pixeljunk Eden dropped.

I actually respect stuff like Plants vs. Zombies more, because it KNOWS it's a simpleton game, instead of pretending to be something else.

I am guessing that fans of Journey, Flower, and Pixeljunk Eden are all under the age of 25, because they are very reminiscent of interactive After Dark screen savers.

All these games are great.

They are appreciated by anyone who doesn't have a squared mind and can accept new ideas in gaming. Specially the guys in their 30+ who are bored of playing the same IPs and game concepts during 20+years in a row, which doesn't seem to be your case.

If hey get a low of awards or nominations should be for something. And I wouldn't say that it's due to moneyhatting.

 

[UberTag]

I'd say its biggest problem is that it's on handhelds. Handheld games never receive major awards from the press.

They perceive handheld gaming as "beneath them".

They're so tuned out of portables that they won't so much as touch anything that isn't made by Nintendo for fear of it being some iOS casual freemium fare or some "console game stripped of functionality" that they'd rather just play on consoles.

Hence each site has one or two guys on staff designated to review all of the portable fare and so even if that one person has played VLR (and most that have enjoyed it just like they did with 999) they have but one tiny disregarded voice when everyone congregates to hand out end-of-year awards.

So VLR will occasionally win a Best Portable Game award like it did from Gamespot. And given how coherently (or lack thereof) the guy who raved about VLR came across in Gamespot's Portable Game of the Year award came across, can you really blame anyone else on that staff for dismissing his opinion as that of some fanboy crackpot? I sure can't.

 

[szaromir]

How is it diffirent from... idk Monkey Island? Or any other point n click adventure game?

The big difference is that Monkey Island has the "figure out what you need to do" mechanic to it which is completely stripped away from The Walking Dead. It's not comparable at all.

And yes there has been many streamlined point'n'click adventure games over the years, but none of them were winning GOTY awards.

 

[toastyToast]

While I enjoyed TWD for its narrative, it seems disingenuous to shower it with praise when its essentially a beeline-to-the-end adventure game with puzzles about on par with Uncharted. Considering that's the only interactive element (aside from decision making) and it's poor, serviceable if you're being generous, is it doing a good job at being a game? I'm not suggesting it should be classified as something else entirely but the fact remains that the quality that makes it a video game rather than say, an interactive DVD, is lacking. Maybe if it had some quality puzzles I'd feel better about it. I'm conflicted

Hypothetically, if in the 2nd season of the game the difficulty of the puzzles jumped significantly to say Monkey Island levels (not that difficult, but significant) at the expense of narrative quality, would it be a worse game? Would the pacing be ruined if the narrative remained at the same level quality yet the difficulty of the puzzles increased dramatically?

The overall quality of TWD experience comes from its mechanical simplicity. It's not even elegant simplicity like Journey, it's incredibly bare bones. I'm not trying to champion Journey here either.

An adventure game with weaksauce puzzles is GOTY. I really enjoyed it too so, I don't know what to say.

 

[Ridesh]

Praise The Sun - Sleeping Dogs

 

[Uno Venova]

Praise The Sun - Sleeping Dogs

Bout time they got at least one.

 

[CerebralTiger]

Gamer.nl - Guild Wars 2

 

[Berto]

The big difference is that Monkey Island has the "figure out what you need to do" mechanic to it which is completely stripped away from The Walking Dead. It's not comparable at all.

And yes there has been many streamlined point'n'click adventure games over the years, but none of them were winning GOTY awards.

You also have to "figure out what to do" it's just extremely simplified. You use item X in Y, thats what you do in all adventure games and that was the point I was making to "almost nothing about it makes it (TWD) anything resembling a game".

 

[Cartman86]

All those marks for The Walking Dead have me scratching my head. I know a lot of people really enjoyed it, and felt like it was the surprise of the year or something, but I just don't get it. Currently finishing up the first episode, and I'm not sure if I'll even bother with the rest. I don't even consider it a "game" either. It just feels like an interactive comic. Would the mainstream reviewers have given it such high marks if not for the show being so popular right now?
Don't get me wrong, it's good storytelling, but it sure doesn't feel anything like an actual game to me.

Besides that, the list in general is full of "meh". There's only one game on there that I would consider something refreshing (that some would say is the next coming or whatever). 2012 was such a down year for great games.

After playing the first episode back when it came out I didn't get it either. Then I played the rest and it's my second favorite game of the year.

 

[Messofanego]

While I enjoyed TWD for its narrative, it seems disingenuous to shower it with praise when its essentially a beeline-to-the-end adventure game with puzzles about on par with Uncharted. Considering that's the only interactive element (aside from decision making) and it's poor, serviceable if you're being generous, is it doing a good job at being a game? I'm not suggesting it should be classified as something else entirely but the fact remains that the quality that makes it a video game rather than say, an interactive DVD, is lacking. Maybe if it had some quality puzzles I'd feel better about it. I'm conflicted

Hypothetically, if in the 2nd season of the game the difficulty of the puzzles jumped significantly to say Monkey Island levels (not that difficult, but significant) at the expense of narrative quality, would it be a worse game? Would the pacing be ruined if the narrative remained at the same level quality yet the difficulty of the puzzles increased dramatically?

The overall quality of TWD experience comes from its mechanical simplicity. It's not even elegant simplicity like Journey, it's incredibly bare bones. I'm not trying to champion Journey here either.

An adventure game with weaksauce puzzles is GOTY. I really enjoyed it too so, I don't know what to say.

Just because it's an adventure game, I don't think it should follow the guidelines of the genre with necessitating puzzles just for the sake of challenge. Would people really appreciate harder puzzles when the meat and potatoes is the human drama? "What the fuck at these stupid puzzles, I just want to kick off this crazy dude off the train, he's jeopardising everything!".

The challenge is the timed decisions. Assess what you think of these characters in 5 seconds so far while we drop an unexpected decision moment on you.

I love traditional adventure games too (hey, check out The Dream Machine,Resonance, or Botanicula from this year), but there's a unique appeal to Walking Dead that is different from "this is a good game in this genre because of great puzzles".

 

[Delusibeta]

Rock Paper Shotgun - Far Cry 3.

Talk about coming from the left-field. I'd had penciled down Hotline Miami for their GotY, but nope.

 

[Messofanego]

Rock Paper Shotgun - Far Cry 3.

Talk about coming from the left-field. I'd had penciled down Hotline Miami for their GotY, but nope.

That sounds more like Eurogamer, since they gave it a 10/10 and featured it heavily in the Rezzed show.

 

[RedSwirl]

Wait a minute: Other than Xenoblade and The Last story in the US, was Mass Effect 3 the only RPG that came out on a console this year? That's probably why it's winning in the RPG category at so many places. It's probably the only new RPG most people even played this year.

 

[metalslimer]

Wait a minute: Other than Xenoblade and The Last story in the US, was Mass Effect 3 the only RPG that came out on a console this year? That's probably why it's winning in the RPG category at so many places. It's probably the only new RPG most people even played this year.

Borderlands 2, FF13-2

I'm so happy seeing so many different games getting GotY and most of them not being Mass Effect 3. Can't wait to pick up Far Cry 3 and Sleeping Dogs next year.

 

[RedSwirl]

Borderlands 2, FF13-2

BL2 - How many publications are even counting it as an RPG?

FF13-2 - Lol.

I guess you could count the Xbox 360 version of The Witcher 2, but that's kind of cheating.

 

[Xilium]

Off the top of my head:
Dragon's Dogma, FFXIII-2, Tales of Graces f, Guild Wars 2, Persona 4 Golden, Xenoblade, The Last Story, Mass Effect 3, Ragnarok Odyssey, Pokemon Black/White 2, Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2, Atelier Meruru, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Game of Thrones, Risen 2, Witcher 2 - Enhanced Edition, Borderlands 2, Diablo III, Torchlight 2, The Legend of Grimrock, Baulder's Gate Enhanced Edition, Dark Souls (PC), and The Secret World

Arguably (either disputed or I haven't played so don't know): Dishonerd, Dust: An Elysian Tail, Paper Mario (the one on 3DS), XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and a bunch of other handheld RPGs I'm sure exist but haven't played.

 

[Magic Mushroom]

That RPS piece on Far Cry 3 is a great read. The one on EG is nice as well:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-12-24-games-of-2012-far-cry-3

 

[Derrick01]

Rock Paper Shotgun - Far Cry 3.

Talk about coming from the left-field. I'd had penciled down Hotline Miami for their GotY, but nope.

Well at least RPS still writes great articles. I don't think I can take their recommendation on games seriously anymore though, too much disappointment between this and calling Dishonored the best stealth game since Thief 2 when it's not even a passable stealth game.

 

[A Link to the Past]

Journey and the walking dead winning kind of blow my mind. Games...
The keyword is games...
I think Journey looks really nice and has an interesting idea for multiplayer, but its game mechanics seem... lacking. I found myself having trouble wanting to go further in the game even though it looked really pretty.

So what the hell are they. They aren't books, movies, comics, music, TV shows, musicals, theater, dance, etc. They're games. They are things you play.

Seriously, these two games are the new Brain Age. "Non-games" are back

 

[george_us]

Sleeping Dogs didn't get one GOTY? Not ONE?

 

[SolidSnakex]

Sleeping Dogs didn't get one GOTY? Not ONE?

Praise The Sun - Sleeping Dogs

.

 

[CerebralTiger]

Games(TM) - Borderlands 2


ActionTrip - XCOM: Enemy Unknown

 

[Xilium]

In relation to the Walking Dead/Journey discussion:

To me, it just seems like the gaming enthusiast press are becoming more like movie critics in that the qualities of what make a product in the media good to them is out of sync with the general consumer of that media. By that I mean that the gaming press, like movie critics, are looking for qualities that exemplify the medium's artistic value whereas the consumer is simply looking to be entertained. For the average consumer, whether a story is a well written piece of literature or not is secondary to whether or not it's fun/entertaining enough to play/watch. This is where the disconnect between what's popular and what's objectively good comes into play.

I feel like The Walking Dead and Journey (as well as Fez, The Unfinished Swan, and others of that ilk) are going to be games that critics and a handful of fans are going to talk about forever in an attempt to convince others that those games redefined the medium but are going to be utterly forgotten by most other gamers a few months into next year. Regardless of how much hype is behind them from critics and places like here on GAF (which has an abnormally high appreciation for experimental/non-traditional games), I don't think any of those games will have any staying power in the eyes of the average gamer.

I can't say for certain though as this is the first year that these types of games are winning more awards than their more traditional counterparts. It'll be interesting to see if gamers become more accepting of these style of games or if it just creates a further schism between critics and gamers.

 

[Berto]

In relation to the Walking Dead/Journey discussion:

To me, it just seems like the gaming enthusiast press are becoming more like movie critics in that the qualities of what make a product in the media good to them is out of sync with the general consumer of that media. By that I mean that the gaming press, like movie critics, are looking for qualities that exemplify the medium's artistic value whereas the consumer is simply looking to be entertained. For the average consumer, whether a story is a well written piece of literature or not is secondary to whether or not it's fun/entertaining enough to play/watch. This is where the disconnect between what's popular and what's objectively good comes into play.

I feel like The Walking Dead and Journey (as well as Fez, The Unfinished Swan, and others of that ilk) are going to be games that critics and a handful of fans are going to talk about forever in an attempt to convince others that those games redefined the medium but are going to be utterly forgotten by most other gamers a few months into next year. Regardless of how much hype is behind them from critics and places like here on GAF (which has an abnormally high appreciation for experimental/non-traditional games), I don't think any of those games will have any staying power in the eyes of the average gamer.

I can't say for certain though as this is the first year that these types of games are winning more awards than their more traditional counterparts. It'll be interesting to see if gamers become more accepting of these style of games or if it just creates a further schism between critics and gamers.

Yeah I kinda agree but EVERYONE I know loved The Walking Dead, even people that are not really gaming enthusiasts. The same with Journey although a lot less people played it unfortunatly.

 

[NBtoaster]

Well at least RPS still writes great articles. I don't think I can take their recommendation on games seriously anymore though, too much disappointment between this and calling Dishonored the best stealth game since Thief 2 when it's not even a passable stealth game.

It wasn't unanimous. You might agree with what the second guy in the article said.

 

[Cheesemeister]

The OP should be all caught up now. Whew!

 

[Fady K]

Cheesemeister, Gamespot just awarded their GOTY to Journey.

 

[Cheesemeister]

Cheesemeister, Gamespot just awarded their GOTY to Journey.

Thanks, added.

 

[Sammy Samusu]

Woah, Examiner! GOTY - Resident Evil Revelations

Let me click some of your ads!

My GOTY as well, a fantastic game and I was just playing it yesterday, almost at 500 missions done!

 

[POWERSPHERE]

Obviously a shit year for games.

 

[Squishy]

The complete absence of Diablo III in the GOTY list pleases me, but is also surprising given the huge amount of praise given to the game at release, and even more surprising considering the game has apparently improved a great deal since then.

What's even more surprising is The Walking Dead winning so many awards. Does nobody care about technical issues these days?