I don't think Bloodborne being exclusive really play a role in it wining, It was just robbed everywhere else. Though being serious if it was multiplat it would have just won by a greater margin.
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NeoGAF Games of the Year 2016 Awards
- Thread starter timetokill
- Start date
I don't think Bloodborne being exclusive really play a role in it wining, It was just robbed everywhere else. Though being serious if it was multiplat it would have just won by a greater margin.
opticalmace
Member
timetokill
Banned
Nah man, I think we've seen it pretty well proven that being exclusive is a huge positive modifier to your final vote tally
Saint of Killers
Member
Deserved! Good to see another of my 2016 favourites take the runner-up spot as well. A shame Watch Dogs didn't do better, but great to see The Last Guardian and Final Fantasy XV, both of which are games I wasn't sure of (yes, even after I saw all the positive reviews/player feedback) but ended up absolutely loving.
Generally speaking, 2016 may have been a annus horribilis, but for those of us who enjoy their video games it was an absolute belter. Here's hoping 2017 surpasses it!
Generally speaking, 2016 may have been a annus horribilis, but for those of us who enjoy their video games it was an absolute belter. Here's hoping 2017 surpasses it!
This is depressing. People should really broaden their gaming horizons and branch out into other publishers/genres. I hope next year somehow breaks the trend and we can actually see a non exclusive game too the list. It's not like exclusivity somehow makes these games anybbryter or anything. It's hard to believe GAFs tastes are that set in stone.
I actually argued with other people that both Overwatch and Doom definitely wouldn't win when I saw some predictions they'd push through. It's just not that kind of audience here.
To be clear, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I just find it surprising people would expect anything else.
Most of the forum got their start in the SNES or PS1 era and have been voting for the successor games to those formulas for ages, and the platform providers who have made the boxes they've used for 20+ years both exemplify their own genre choices, as well as have strong feelings associated with them.
You'll notice Splatoon didn't make good headway in its year, and it's actually the cinematic singleplayer Nintendo game that won the year Nintendo did, not their MP centric games.
For Infamous, an 80 would put you in the bottom half of $60 games reviewed in a year, and near the bottom of $60 games anyone talks about at the end of a year in a positive way.
CecilRousso
Member
Suprised over the choice. Not because I dislike Uncharted 4, or even have played it, but because I don't think I've seen that much enthusiasm around the title during the year.
I haven't played Doom either, and isn't interested in it, but that's a title I would have understood more, with there being a constant positive discussion around the title across the board, since it's release.
I haven't played Doom either, and isn't interested in it, but that's a title I would have understood more, with there being a constant positive discussion around the title across the board, since it's release.
Khalifa Jayy
Banned
P5, while having a vocal fan base, is still too niche to win as overall GotY. Horizon, if it excels, will challenge Zelda for top spot.
Blackleg-sanji1
Banned
Why even vote,why even have this community wide thing if ppl are going to get so salty make all these excuses Because a game won't that they didn't want too.
Son Of Sparda
Member
Yakuza 5 was so good that it won the best PS3 game award two years in a row!
Because it's an observable, reproducible phenomenon, not a salty conspiracy theory. It's also not something to get worked up or defensive over.
The fact that that was the closest year in a long time and Nintendo didn't win by a massive fucking landslide is more a refutation of your point than a corroboration though.
It's not some conspiracy, but I'd hazard a guess the fan base is split about 5 / 2 / 1 / 1 for Sony, Nintendo, Xbox, PC around here. I think Uncharted 4 was a good game, am not salty about it winning (definitely prefer it over Overwatch and Doom, so I'm actually kind of happy about it) and even sang some praises in my post, but the winner is pretty predictable given the voter base IMO.
Obliterator
Member
Dude Bayonetta 2, one of the most niche games even imaginable won a GAF GOTY
When we added the "you must put text on your vote" requirement, it removed a lot of the general voting that helped push games like Portal 2 to number 1.
Mind, I think that was a very good change as the threads are much better to read now, but it's also way more plausible for psssion niche games to win.
Cow Goes Moo
Member
persona 5 has been anticipated since its announcement
gaf being otakus will surely make it win
i mean the next zelda looks pretty anime, people dig that too, coincidence?
i think not
gaf being otakus will surely make it win
i mean the next zelda looks pretty anime, people dig that too, coincidence?
i think not
When I last checked the thread around Dec 26th or so UC4 seemed like it was firmly in fourth behind a number of other titles vying for first place. Granted this was just eyeballing it though I didn't make an excel sheet or anything so I could've been mistaken.
timetokill
Banned
Because the most interesting part is the voting thread, and also seeing the games further down the list that you may have missed.
The Last Guardian gave everything a run for its money having only been out for 6 weeks before GOTY voting and it had somewhat low sales so a bunch of people didn't even play it.
Sword Of Doom
Member
Gaf has spoke I guess.
Played Hyper Light Drifter recently and was hoping it would get some recognition.
Guys did a great job putting this together. Seems like a crazy amount of work
Played Hyper Light Drifter recently and was hoping it would get some recognition.
Guys did a great job putting this together. Seems like a crazy amount of work
I'm actually REALLY surprised by overwatch even getting into top 3 with the VOCAL (and as I see now minority) of people trying to detract from it calling its success unsubstantiated and generally say that a multiplayer only game can't win GOTY (or even come close).
I do really hope that sentiment will fade out with time.
I do really hope that sentiment will fade out with time.
Well the vocal minority also made a lot of people think Uncharted 4 wasn't as good/popular on the board as it really was.
Blackleg-sanji1
Banned
Same for ffxv as well.
Obliterator
Member
I'm thinking Zelda wins next year though. It's gonna be that or Persona or Horizon (if it's good). The only base on GAF that comes close to size with Sony are Nintendo fans and they are also crazy passionate
twilight princess and super mario galaxy both won their respective years. in each, the closest competition was gears of war and then bioshock and the orange box. twilight princess had botw/oot style hype going towards it, and super mario galaxy was reviewed incredibly well, but it's definitely one of the more cinematic mario games with a focus on spectacle.
2004: mgs3
2005: re4
2006: twilight princess
2007: smg
2008: mgs4
overall it's kind of spectacle/presentation heavy games that tend to win out. this is consistent outside of the forum, where it looks like it would have been half-life 2, re4, oblivion, bioshock, and gta iv in that order, but neogaf is a lot more accepting of japanese games versus the mainstream.
Eh I think Bloodborne is the better game personally but that's because I prefer its aesthetic and gameplay a lot more. Id like to hope others felt the same but yea I remember distinctly a lot of 1 vote ballots just voting for Bloodborne alone soooo clearly there were other motivations at play. *sigh* GAF I am disappoint.
Yoshi
Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
Does Uncharted really fit this? Because its genre, the "hoolywood shooter" was basically "invented" last gen, was it not? Also, Bayonetta 2, which won in "Nintendo's year" was a character action game, a subgenre that was only started on PS2 as far as I know. Of course you are still right that Nintendo and Sony exclusives do have a strong advantage and I can see this with my own voting as well, where in most years a Nintendo exclusive game tops my list.
I think an argument can be made about this audience being more home console centric vs. personal computer centric which is what Overwatch and DOOM are drawing from.
One could go back in time and find Syphon Filter and say that could've been the influence for Uncharted (most similar title for third person shooter on PS1 I can think of) but in general the PS1 was dominated by Final Fantasy and Gran Turismo and the SNES by isometric JRPG.
I question the use of cinematic as Bayonetta 2 is a pretty technical game, but it does have the auto-difficulty mode and is a singleplayer game.
Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. however are multiplayer first and still beat out other singleplayer games.
I don't know about that but that would require looking up tons of stuff. Suffice to say I think it didn't shit the bed, although I thought it was quite a disappointment.
(But then again I think Infamous 2 is one of the best games of last gen.)
It was a reply to Obliterator with his #truthfact take and how the mod status made it that, not about the content in particular.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
Bayonetta 2 barely broke 1,000 points when it won.
The Last fuckin' Guardian released the month of the voting, is super niche/artsy as hell, probably sold less than Bayonetta 2, and STILL got 1300+ points.
like it doesnt even matter what the metacritic on Horizon is, its 1500+ points is written is stone
The Last fuckin' Guardian released the month of the voting, is super niche/artsy as hell, probably sold less than Bayonetta 2, and STILL got 1300+ points.
like it doesnt even matter what the metacritic on Horizon is, its 1500+ points is written is stone
Oh come off it, nothing about this is observable or reproducible. It's a lazy post-hoc rationalization that doesn't even do you the courtesy of making some kind of intuitive sense. Like, people really think that The Witcher 3 would have won GOTY here if only fewer people had the chance to play it at all? This is ridiculous.
How do we do these affinity list things? I can't seem to figure out how. I'm on mobile if that makes a difference.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Glad Dark Souls III beat The Last Guardian (and more importantly, FFXV!). 
Pleasantly surprised to see it as high as it is.
Some mistakes (?)/inconsistencies:
- Where is Dragon's Dogma in the full list? It's there under "PC games" but not in the full list.
- Several of your lists are missing Salt and Sanctuary, which has 83 points. It should be in the Digital Distribution Awards, Best New IP list, and arguably in the Platformers too (if Shantae is in there why not S&S?), as several games on there have way less points.
- The genre division is confusing. Action, FPS, shooter, adventure... I get that a lot of games are hybrids of those, but it's really weird to see Hitman in the same category as... Hyrule Warriors Legends and... Senran Kagura? xD But not Uncharted or Watch Dogs? What makes Ori and the Blind Forest and Shantae platformers, but S&S and Momodora adventure? Why is Odin Sphere an adventure game rather than the RPG it clearly is? Weirdest of all: Battleborn is in action, but not FPS? It's the same genre as Overwatch, not Hitman or Hyrule Warriors! I get that it's not easy and there's gonna be some inevitable arbitrariness but sometimes it's just a bit... weird.
Thanks for the otherwise good work on the thread!
Pleasantly surprised to see it as high as it is. Some mistakes (?)/inconsistencies:
- Where is Dragon's Dogma in the full list? It's there under "PC games" but not in the full list.
- Several of your lists are missing Salt and Sanctuary, which has 83 points. It should be in the Digital Distribution Awards, Best New IP list, and arguably in the Platformers too (if Shantae is in there why not S&S?), as several games on there have way less points.
- The genre division is confusing. Action, FPS, shooter, adventure... I get that a lot of games are hybrids of those, but it's really weird to see Hitman in the same category as... Hyrule Warriors Legends and... Senran Kagura? xD But not Uncharted or Watch Dogs? What makes Ori and the Blind Forest and Shantae platformers, but S&S and Momodora adventure? Why is Odin Sphere an adventure game rather than the RPG it clearly is? Weirdest of all: Battleborn is in action, but not FPS? It's the same genre as Overwatch, not Hitman or Hyrule Warriors! I get that it's not easy and there's gonna be some inevitable arbitrariness but sometimes it's just a bit... weird.
Thanks for the otherwise good work on the thread!
Yes actually. That's why it was a major upset first when The Walking Dead won the critic award (due to being non-AAA, which was a huge barrier even if it was "the right type of game"), and then Overwatch this year (due to being the wrong type of game).
However, I think some of that is that some younger critics are now old enough to influence the vote pool, while notably older critics are voting things like INSIDE, splitting off votes from the cinematic/traditional choice of the year.
I don't know if it's likely that TLG sold less then Bayo 2. Bayo 2 is a sequel to a niche game on a console with 13 million owners whereas TLG is a game that has been anticipated for a decade on a console with 53 million owners.
Obliterator
Member
I mean I agree Bloodborne is fantastic. If I remember correctly it was my number 2. But again looking at the broad industry Witcher crushed it on both critic and user voting choice. That's a pretty clear indicator GAF is a major outlier.
Then why is Dark Souls 3, a game available on far more platforms which should be able to generate it more points nowhere near Bloodborne in votes
pretty done
Member
Well the PS4 has sold 5x more than the Wii U. It's not shocking to think more people have played the games on it.
Also people that like those walking around doing nothing Ueda games really like them, so they probably all voted it #1
Unless Zelda is really awful (it'd fall to like 2nd in this scenario), I think it'll easily win. Though if really good (and this year) Destiny 2 might surprise and take it, Destiny-gaf is huge. I think RDR 2 will be delayed and Persona 5 and Horizon don't stand a chance against a good Zelda.
Bayonetta 2 sold 68K in its launch month. The Last Guardian did 250K.
It's not so much a Sony bias as it is not a lot of people played Bayonetta 2, but those that did voted it at #1.
SplitYourInfinities
Member
This doesn't make sense, considering that more than half of the DS fan base cannot play Bloodborne.
There is an obvious Sony bias on GAF, nothing wrong with it, it just makes this GOTY election unfair.
Install base is meaningless for those kind of games though.
Install base is the ceiling for huge successful games like FIFA, GTA, COD but for japanese games in niche genre or whatever The Last Guardian is I don't think it matters.
Relax, this is just day 1. We get to the what-if results soon where certain voters are excluded so someone can exclaim they found the rightful GOTY by eliminating the loons.
LifeBrandRobot
Member
Really happy with my GOTY FFXV being as high as it is.
Blackleg-sanji1
Banned
Lol right! #6 baby!!!