It sucks because Xenoblade X is by far the best game I played all year
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Game Developer Choice Awards (GDC) nominees announced
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
It sucks because Xenoblade X is by far the best game I played all year
PaulBizkit
Member
2013 : GTA V vs Last Of Us
2014 : nothing, it was a bad year except for Bravely Default.
2015 : The Witcher 3 vs Bloodborne
It sucks Life Is Strange got so few nominations. I hope it wins "Best Narrative".
2014 : nothing, it was a bad year except for Bravely Default.
2015 : The Witcher 3 vs Bloodborne
It sucks Life Is Strange got so few nominations. I hope it wins "Best Narrative".
I'm still surprised that award organisers tend to lump all mobile and portable games into one category regardless. Considering that a handful of AAA games from a relatively small number of released titles end up getting shortlisted multiple times across the half a dozen awards that they split between them, it just seems odd to bundle a huge chunk of the industry into one catch-all bucket when selecting categories.
I agree it was a weak year, but Steamworld Heist deserves its honourable mention. I'm just surprised that it made it in due to a) it's December release and b) the omission of MH4. Maybe devs work so hard they don't have time to hunt monsters
They're still eligible for other categories, like Her Story appears in several other categories, but the award exists to highlight portable gaming that might not otherwise get recognized without going down to the platform level.
Independent game award categories were really common before they started getting game of the year nominations.
Best Technology: Fallout 4
Radiant AI doing work!
I'm sitting here thinking what exactly have they done that was not already in their previous games. I seriously can't think of anything other than the prettified graphics and better shooting, which other games have done better.
Other than that, the lists look pretty much on point for this year.
Radiant AI doing work!
I'm sitting here thinking what exactly have they done that was not already in their previous games. I seriously can't think of anything other than the prettified graphics and better shooting, which other games have done better.
Other than that, the lists look pretty much on point for this year.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
I'm expecting mobile games to fully takeover the category.
Robert at Zeboyd Games
Banned
What exactly would you nominate this year for portable games though? Nintendo had a rough year on the 3DS with their games bombing (and if nobody plays a game, nobody's voting for it), being geared for super-casual audiences, or just not reviewing well. Monster Hunter has limited appeal in the West outside of their diehard fanbase. Sony didn't release much of anything other than Oreshika which again is super niche. And as far as 3rd party portable support goes, you're pretty much looking at low-budget JRPGs, visual novels, and Japanese music games.
Lord Phol
Member
Hahha this made me laugh out loud for some reason. But yeah honestly can't agree at all with the fallout 4 nominees for these categories.
Glad to see some Bloodborne love though!
Thought Xenoblade would get a mention in best visual art over splatoon, but I guess I can see it
Majoras Mask. Or monster hunter? It sold enough I suppose
Majoras Mask. Or monster hunter? It sold enough I suppose
SliceSabre
Banned
That Best Handheld/Mobile Game is a fucking shame they clearly are ignoring everything that came out on Vita/3DS.
If you want to mention one Nintendo game then mention the actual great one and not a decent one with bad design decisions Bayonetta 2
or is the Wii U that irrelevant because of it's sales ?
Bayonetta 2 vs. Destiny (literally and figuratively)
SENRAN KAGURA 2
Robert at Zeboyd Games
Banned
Neither of those are all-new games though. Majora's Mask is an updated port & Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is an enhanced version of a game that came out a couple years ago. Even if both games are great, they're not the kind of things that developers are likely to nominate.
MH4U was Monster Hunter 4's first appearance in the west.
And does it matter if MM3D is a port/remake/update? It's not like OG MM came out in the past couple of years, or even decade.
I mean, we're talking about the best handheld category, not GOTY. One or both of them should be on the list imo. Or at least honorable mention
I think that's more to do with mario games themselves being fun, familiar and accessible/easy to grasp.
If you change "are ignoring" to "were not drawn to" then I'd agree.
Semantics, but I think it's closer to the truth.
Baroquemantic
Member
Go Rocket League!
Robert at Zeboyd Games
Banned
Ah, I didn't realize the earlier version wasn't in English. Still the point remains - Monster Hunter is a very insular series (albeit one that's becoming more popular) and either you love it or you're completely indifferent. It's like Path of Exile on Neogaf - super popular free Action/RPG on PC that's constantly getting major updates but every dedicated Neogaf thread I've seen on the game dies quickly.
Your average Western dev just doesn't care much about portable gaming outside of mobile.
Newtype-001
Member
I hope Bloodborne atleast wins best visual art. The only substitute is Ori that games looks beautiful.
MH4 was never released in the west
bennywhatever
Member
I really hope Moon Studios takes it home for "Best Debut." The amount of "total package" they put into Ori & the Blind Forest is just phenomenal for a first game.
I think it's because they respect the complexity under the hood.
They likely have a deeper understanding of the actual coding process than your random, anti-Bethesda "Git Gud" drive-by sentiments from random armchair developers on message boards.
DecoyOctopus
Member
It boggles my mind how few nominations (let alone awards) SteamWorld Heist got this year in the Best Handheld Game category. Such an amazing game!
Fallout Shelter but no SteamWorld Heist? Wow...
Really happy to see Splatoon nominated for Innovation, Design and Visual Art!
Fallout Shelter but no SteamWorld Heist? Wow...
Really happy to see Splatoon nominated for Innovation, Design and Visual Art!
Nice to see that Necrodancer is in the running for Best Audio. The soundtrack and rhythm-based gameplay made it one of my favourites of the last year. I really found the Life is Strange soundtrack worked well as well, so I am not surprised that it at least got an honourable mention in this category.
I'm surprised at lack of 3DS/Vita games though. I figured MH4 would get some recognition, but I also expected to see Code Name S.T.E.A.M and P4: Dancing All Night in the Best Handheld/Mobile Game category. S.T.E.A.M. is a fun game, although from what I understand it didn't really set any sales charts on fire. Maybe that is why it isn't on the list, just the fact that nobody played it.
I'm surprised at lack of 3DS/Vita games though. I figured MH4 would get some recognition, but I also expected to see Code Name S.T.E.A.M and P4: Dancing All Night in the Best Handheld/Mobile Game category. S.T.E.A.M. is a fun game, although from what I understand it didn't really set any sales charts on fire. Maybe that is why it isn't on the list, just the fact that nobody played it.
Spikematic
Member
I'm assuming best audio includes the music of a game as well? Not seeing Undertale there is ridiculous, it's soundtrack is amazing. Also lol at Fallout 4 in technology. Like many people here said that game deserves to win nothing. Same old stale, regurgitated shit, especially when compared to all the other awesome open world titles we had this year.
Cymbal Head
Banned
While I'm disappointed Everybody's Gone to the Rapture isn't in the main running for best narrative, I'm tremendously pleased it's in for audio.
foxuzamaki
Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
Splatoon nominated and honorably mentioned alot
gamerMan
Member
I was thinking the same until I played it. I can't stop messing with it now. I say I'll play for a few minutes and end up spending the whole day with it.
What other type of piece of software is anything like Mario Maker? It is the best level design creation software I have ever come across. Hands down. I have never seen a level design tool where you can draw out the level and hit play instantly.
Nintendo makes it look so easy and effortless that it is easy to take it for granted. That is until you mess with another level designer. If only making games were that easy. I can just imagine the amount of thought Nintendo put into it. It's by far the most innovative piece of software Nintendo has come out with in the last 10 years.
maquiladora
Member
Fallout 4 is my GOTY.
I support it's deserved nominations here.
I support it's deserved nominations here.
Only honorable mention and IIRC it's getting ported to Wii U (or at least elsewhere).
S.T.E.A.M. should have been on it but it's too divisive (much like Kid Icarus was). I would have actually expected Box Boy on the list given that the general public seemed to have really liked it.
foxuzamaki
Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
Wut
I can't even comprehend your post.
Visualante2
Member
If the beginner's guide doesn't win best innovation then that's pretty disappointing. What a bad list of nominees.
Well deserved. Game devs know their stuff.
I think that has a lot to do with it, these guys/gals are not voting for a lot of the same reasons that your average gamer or gaffer would.Whenever you see anyone on Gaf talk about Bethsoft and their engine it's almost always completely negative but every time I see a developer talk about it they seem impressed with what Bethesda is able to achieve especially when your talking about scale and the possibility space they create in their games.
I actually recently heard an interview with Feargus Urquhart from Obsidian on the game informer podcast and from a technical perspective he seemed pretty positive about Bethesda toolset and also had the opinion that one of the reasons they keep it going is because not only is it great for them since they know it so well but also because they want to keep modding open to as many of their fans as possible.
Makes sense to me that Developers are going to pick their choices for things that the average gamer just wouldn't see or understand.