Remember Minerva's Den vs Shadow Broker?

Jesus Christ! I've been reliving the goty podcasts from previous years and oh man. One fucking hour of Brad & Vinny going over Minerva's Den and Shadow Broker. It was exhausting as hell. Do you guys think they will hit something of this magnitude this year?

Also, Jeff's strong opposition to Limbo is infuriating. Even more than last year's LA Noire almost missing the top 10 list.

Walking Dead being GOTY is going to get strong opposition from Jeff. It might come down to Far Cry 3 versus Walking Dead but I think Journey might also make it into that discussion.

I hope they won't drag it out like they have done previous, cause honestly is annoying to listen to. And for something as insignificant as a GOTY there is no reason why to do it in the first place.

Haha good luck there. We all know that when it comes to GOTY then Brad just removes his ears and common sense and is literally like a wall. When he was pushing Skyrim for GOTY he would not acknowledge ANY shortcomings even when they were technical nuances that hundreds of people had experienced, he flat out denied them. I'm just curious what will Brad champion this year. Also wondering who will defend Journey to hell and back - the easy answer is Patrick but I might be surprised.

I love the huge GOTY podcasts. For something as trivial as GOTY they put so much effort into it, but it makes some interesting discussions. It's always good to hear about great games you might have missed in the year, especially about the time of Steam Sales.

From the sounds of it Patrick was exhausted by the end of it. So I'm thinking The Walking Dead got torn apart by the end of it. XCOM probably won, which sure that game was great but it's the safest choice.

I listened to all of the GOTY podcasts a few months ago and I didn't actually find it that bad. I don't know if it's because of some inherent bias I have towards Brad, but I felt like he was right to fillibuster for it. But then I also think that creating a story that stands alone is more impressive than adding onto an existing story.

Anyway, nothing will ever make up for Brad losing in 2008. It still hurts!

I love how they post the entire discussion as to how they came to the final decisions. As I think Ryan said they don't want people to just see a list and say "How the hell did this win?". It can get a little tedious to listen to at times but making it all available leaves no questions asked in their thought process.

It's like going to see how a sausage is made - I might not like some bits of the process, and one of the Bomb Squad might act like a tosser at some point, but in the end it's better to know.

@thabigred said:

From the sounds of it Patrick was exhausted by the end of it. So I'm thinking The Walking Dead got torn apart by the end of it. XCOM probably won, which sure that game was great but it's the safest choice.

I really hope Journey is in the final discussions. I think XCOM will be one of the last standing games too.

What? I think the entire appeal of the Game of the Year proceedings is listening to the insane, impossible discussions that come out of comparing two incomparable products!

I love it when two or three of the bombadeers go at it head on and I love it when insane twists happen (Ryan dropping his support of Saints Row The Third was chief among them) and there are the ridiculous joke categories which are rarely won by the purveyor of said joke. Man, Game of the Year is so much ridiculous fun.

If you think it's not significant and/or tedious, just stop listening, and stop whining (who am I kidding, this is the internet, people will whine)

@phuzzybunny: Well it kinda still does as last year Ryan all but opted out of the discussion when it came down to it. But yah I do like to hear the banter - only gets hard to listen to when someone starts saying things that clash with your own internal opinions so much it begins to anger you hah.

I loved that discussion.

I admire Brad's passion for the games he chooses, but when he has an idea about something, man will he not listen to anyyything else that anyone has to say.

People keep forgetting that pretty much the whole staff was laying praise on X-Com for several Bombcasts in a row, I would think that that would be the GOTY.

Anyway, I can't say that I remember that part of the podcasts. I should give them another listen.

Meh. I preferred the 2009 GOTY's, since I don't really remember it turning into a pissing match of some kind. To me it's less exciting and more annoying to listen, since most of the time it boils down to pushing fingers into ears and saying "it wasn't that good". I still remember Jeff's strong opposition to RDR and how he suddenly went silent when Brad said that he didn't like the game only because he failed to "get" the horse riding.

Who could forget? I have since played Minerva's Den and would agree that it deserved to win though. It's a fairly familiar romp through Rapture, but the story is great with an excellent payoff toward the end.

I hope they totally do drag it out and argue about it, like Skyrim vs Saints Row 3. 
They come out with some annoying reasons, but whatever, it's still really cool to hear them all disagree and argue about something.
 
Minerva's Den won, right?

@I_smell said:

Minerva's Den won, right?

Yep.

2013 game of the year discussions are knife fights.

I am in strong opposition to Limbo. Not conceptually, I just didn't think it was very good.

Also, Jeff's strong opposition to Limbo is infuriating. Even more than last year's LA Noire almost missing the top 10 list.

@Drebin_893: Oh, I thought it was great. But, goddamn that was one full hour of back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And if you're like me, who gets involved in the discussions and the arguments, I mean, I was tired at the end of that.

@mnzy: you're as crazy as Jeff.

I actually do like the long GOTY discussions. I don't have time for the bombcast anymore, but I quite enjoy curling up with some long-winded GOTY debate during the holidays.

Also, considering BioShock 2 is on playstation plus now, I should probably pick up Minerva's den.

I actually like these really heated discussions that come with the GoTYs. I wouldn't be surprised if we got another one or two this year.

@DizzyMedal said:

@I_smell said:

Minerva's Den won, right?

Yep.

Which is still bullshit in my opinion, because Shadow Broker actually ADDS ON significantly to the world of Mass Effect while Minerva's Den doesn't too a whole lot for BioShock. They need to have their categories better defined.

@Liquidus said:

@DizzyMedal said:

@I_smell said:

Minerva's Den won, right?

Yep.

Which is still bullshit in my opinion, because Shadow Broker actually ADDS ON significantly to the world of Mass Effect while Minerva's Den doesn't too a whole lot for BioShock. They need to have their categories better defined.

Dude, don't even. I'm having fashbacks to that discussion just by reading this.

@Winternet: Haha, sorry. But I do think they should just properly define these categories before heading in and wasting so much time. I mean, I loved that discussion but towards the end it was just tiring and repetitive and I feel Brad only won because pure endurance and Vinny just wanting to move on.

@Ghostiet said:

Meh. I preferred the 2009 GOTY's, since I don't really remember it turning into a pissing match of some kind. To me it's less exciting and more annoying to listen, since most of the time it boils down to pushing fingers into ears and saying "it wasn't that good". I still remember Jeff's strong opposition to RDR and how he suddenly went silent when Brad said that he didn't like the game only because he failed to "get" the horse riding.

Yeah, Brad gets extremely devilish in the deliberations. I love it.

@Liquidus: Their discussions are pretty non-mathematical. They are very subjective and endurance is a factor. I mean, on Best Debut there's a discussion over Limbo and VVVVVV and Limbo comes out on top and then for Best Download-Only Game VVVVVV gets ahead of Limbo just like that.

@Winternet said:

@Liquidus said:

@DizzyMedal said:

@I_smell said:

Minerva's Den won, right?

Yep.

Which is still bullshit in my opinion, because Shadow Broker actually ADDS ON significantly to the world of Mass Effect while Minerva's Den doesn't too a whole lot for BioShock. They need to have their categories better defined.

Dude, don't even. I'm having fashbacks to that discussion just by reading this.

*eyes roll back in head*

I love the GOTY podcasts. Yes, they can get annoying but I like that the crew cares enough to slug it out.

I just went back and listened to the final GOTY podcast and man, that final battle between Skyrim and SR3 was intense. Back and forth, back and forth. I wanted Skyrim to win because I enjoyed it way more then SR3, but man I thought Jeff was presenting the better argument over Brad.

@Breadfan said:

2013 game of the year discussions are knife fights.

That's how they should deal with stalemates in discussions. They should do it like the "Beat It" music video where they tie their wrists together then go at it. Except instead of knives they use Wii remotes with no plastic cover.

@Winternet said:

@Liquidus said:

@DizzyMedal said:

@I_smell said:

Minerva's Den won, right?

Yep.

Which is still bullshit in my opinion, because Shadow Broker actually ADDS ON significantly to the world of Mass Effect while Minerva's Den doesn't too a whole lot for BioShock. They need to have their categories better defined.

Dude, don't even. I'm having fashbacks to that discussion just by reading this.

*eyes roll back in head*

@Breadfan said:

2013 game of the year discussions are knife fights.

...which is why Brad is bringing a baseball bat this year.

2013 game of the year discussions are knife fights.

I tend to listen to these for the weird psychological aspect of it. Game of the year is trivial and all the game websites hype it up like it actually matters. But these discussions start out with dread, bring out the worst in them, demonstrate how friends can get into huge arguments, and then they try to make up at the end.

The silliness of the whole thing, the mind games, that's what makes it entertaining to me. I loved Rayman: Origins, but does its placement on the collective top ten mean anything? Nah.

The individual videos are more interesting to me since it gives each of them a chance to talk about their favorite games in a straightforward, rational manner.

When an unstoppable force (Jeff) meets an immovable object (Brad) for GOTY discussions I swear The Walking Dead better not win the award. I really liked the game too but compared to other games that play a hell of a lot better all TWD has going for it is characters and story and that's not good enough in my eyes. Jeff will definitely make sure it won't even with Alex, Patrick and Brad who all are goo goo eyed for it.

@Cold_Wolven said:

When an unstoppable force (Jeff) meets an immovable object (Brad) for GOTY discussions I swear The Walking Dead better not win the award. I really liked the game too but compared to other games that play a hell of a lot better all TWD has going for it is characters and story and that's not good enough in my eyes. Jeff will definitely make sure it won't even with Alex, Patrick and Brad who all are goo goo eyed for it.

Having Alex in there definitely boosts TWD chances, since I think only Patrick would really go for it. Maybe Vinny as well? Brad, Jeff and Ryan will have other games higher in their top 10 lists than TWD (Journey, XCOM, Far Cry 3) so they'll go for those 3 in detriment of TWD. Vinny is the unknown quantity here. I think he loves all of these games, but he won't make a very strong stance for one particular game.

At least, these are my predictions. Man, I can't wait for it.

@Cold_Wolven said:

When an unstoppable force (Jeff) meets an immovable object (Brad) for GOTY discussions I swear The Walking Dead better not win the award. I really liked the game too but compared to other games that play a hell of a lot better all TWD has going for it is characters and story and that's not good enough in my eyes. Jeff will definitely make sure it won't even with Alex, Patrick and Brad who all are goo goo eyed for it.

What Walking Dead has done in terms of story telling in a video game makes it deserve at least a consideration for GOTY. Saying it plays worse then some games is kind of moot when very few, if any, games told a story as well as it. It's all a matter of give and take, and I can think of very few games this year that I would consider better then WD in terms of complete package. It should be a good discussion this year.

I love these podcasts but the main thing for me is going to be the videos that they make. Last years GOTY vids were incredible. I want more of that stuff.

I'm really looking forward to the Bioshock Infinite vs. GTA V beatdown next year. It's going to be legendary.

@Winternet said:

Jesus Christ! I've been reliving the goty podcasts from previous years and oh man. One fucking hour of Brad & Vinny going over Minerva's Den and Shadow Broker. It was exhausting as hell. Do you guys think they will hit something of this magnitude this year?

Also, Jeff's strong opposition to Limbo is infuriating. Even more than last year's LA Noire almost missing the top 10 list.

Limbo kind of sucks, some cool art design, but terrible gameplay.

@Ghostiet said:

Meh. I preferred the 2009 GOTY's, since I don't really remember it turning into a pissing match of some kind. To me it's less exciting and more annoying to listen, since most of the time it boils down to pushing fingers into ears and saying "it wasn't that good". I still remember Jeff's strong opposition to RDR and how he suddenly went silent when Brad said that he didn't like the game only because he failed to "get" the horse riding.

Thats part of the reason I can't take Jeffs taste in games seriously, writing off Red Dead Redemption after the opening scene is criminal, easily one of the best games ever made. Also it would of been 2010.

I hope Brad defends Walking Dead like he did Minerva's Den (And Skyrim), it will surely win then, Brad is the ultimate stubborn asshole. (In a good way.)

Thing about Giant Bomb, I do not always see eye to eye with them, but at the very least their reasons for saying what they say are typically well-founded. The GOTY podcasts are always my favorite.

Christ, I really hope the the GOTY bombcast isn't like last years. If they want to have a discussion and a disagreement about things - fucking grand. But this thing of sticking your fingers in your ears and shouting nonsense at the other person is just childish. I agreed with Brad that Minerva's Den was much better than the Shadow Broker (which i thought was mediocre). But Jesus Christ above, Brad did the whole thing a fucking disservice. The same for Skyrim, although in that case, I thought Skyrim was pretty boring and SR3 was awesome. Listening to Brad's fairly incoherent and childish whining about it for an hour made me fucking hate Skyrim and him with the white hot rage of a thousand exploding suns. It's awful, cause he's obviously an articualte guy with a passion for what he's talking about but he argues like my three year old fucking nephew. I hope for more discussion and less "Game A is great an Game B is not as great" repeated til the end of days. Anyway, XCOM'll win it. The Walking Dead was fucking awesome, and the only game I've ever played that actually elicited an emotional response from me the way a TV show or book would. However, it's not very much of a game and Jeff will beat them over the head with that until they concede.

Man, I can't wait at all. I'm super-excited. It helps that their actual GOTY episode is probably going to come out the day or day after I record my own with Nerf'd. Unlike Skyrim vs. Saints Row, which was less philosophical and more drag-down and roughhouse, Minerva's Den vs. Shadow Broker was a legitimate treat. I loooooved MD v. SB. And I haven't played MD, but Shadow Broker was a near-essential part of my very Liara-focused Mass Effect experience, so it's hard for me to imagine liking Minerva's Den more. But, again, the argument was so good, all the same.

But, I'm missing something. Why is everybody suddenly convinced that Jeff hates The Walking Dead? I haven't gotten that vibe at all. From everything I've heard, he just hadn't played it as of a couple weeks ago. To be fair, that usually does mean it won't get GOTY support from him, and he likes a couple of the nominees quite a bit, but I've gotten no vibe that Jeff is definitively against The Walking Dead.

I agree that the '09 deliberations were probably the strongest. Though I think the better game lost out (Uncharted 2's back 9 chapters are pretty weak, IMO) it was still a fantastic conversation that didn't involve nearly as much constructed rhetoric. I really liked MGS4 vs. GTAIV as well, though, and the Russian Roulette style from last year's show was so good we're stealing it for Nerf'd.

Haha good luck there. We all know that when it comes to GOTY then Brad just removes his ears and common sense and is literally like a wall. When he was pushing Skyrim for GOTY he would not acknowledge ANY shortcomings even when they were technical nuances that hundreds of people had experienced, he flat out denied them. I'm just curious what will Brad champion this year. Also wondering who will defend Journey to hell and back - the easy answer is Patrick but I might be surprised.

I admire Brad's passion for the games he chooses, but when he has an idea about something, man will he not listen to anyyything else that anyone has to say.

Christ, I really hope the the GOTY bombcast isn't like last years. If they want to have a discussion and a disagreement about things - fucking grand. But this thing of sticking your fingers in your ears and shouting nonsense at the other person is just childish. I agreed with Brad that Minerva's Den was much better than the Shadow Broker (which i thought was mediocre). But Jesus Christ above, Brad did the whole thing a fucking disservice. The same for Skyrim, although in that case, I thought Skyrim was pretty boring and SR3 was awesome. Listening to Brad's fairly incoherent and childish whining about it for an hour made me fucking hate Skyrim and him with the white hot rage of a thousand exploding suns. It's awful, cause he's obviously an articualte guy with a passion for what he's talking about but he argues like my three year old fucking nephew. I hope for more discussion and less "Game A is great an Game B is not as great" repeated til the end of days. Anyway, XCOM'll win it. The Walking Dead was fucking awesome, and the only game I've ever played that actually elicited an emotional response from me the way a TV show or book would. However, it's not very much of a game and Jeff will beat them over the head with that until they concede.

I can't wait. Love the GOTY podcasts.

I think XCOM is going to win, but there will be a big push for Walking Dead and Journey. I'm just curious what cards Jeff is going to play against Walking Dead since he has barely touched it it seems. I suspect the "it's barely a game" argument will be his goto.