Well, why not add my $0.02.
I'll echo the mild disappointment. Doesn't affect my plans to stay premium or anything like that, but I definitely am feeling less engaged with these GOTY casts.
I think the big thing for me is that the 3 days of recaps is a bit too much, and a bit too full of games that people don't really have too much to say about. This is compounded because everyone is (understandably) feeling the time crunch of only a week of deliberations, and there's a pressure to "get through the list" of the games. Unfortunately, this both gives some games short shrift (per Marino's recap, 10 games got a minute or less of talk), and in a lot of cases it's very repetitive of the discussions that have happened on the weekly podcasts, which go into far more depth anyways.
Hell, I didn't even realize they talked about River City Girls in the recaps, but Jason getting time to go on in on the music category was fantastic! I will say the decision to remove the nominations part was smart - it didn't really add too much, since there wasn't much discussion about nominations.
On the flip, and fully cognizant the last day isn't out yet, the awards categories have evolved in a great way. The best multiplayer "thing" is immensely more interesting than "best multiplayer" and opens up discussion for trends in the industry. I'm a bit sad to see best styyyyyyle leave, but I think that change was ultimately sharp - it's a bit more inclusive of different game styles now. These are where the discussion really shines, and I think are ripe for doing fun stuff - and it's been where some of the best conversations in the past have happened (the "best console" discussion a few years back was a great discussion on the future of the industry).
My unsolicited advice - I'd cut those 3 days of recaps down to 2. Maybe don't do every game that came out, have each staff member talk about 2-3 games that were influential for them, maybe a big AAA and an overlooked gem. So you could have Jan talking a ton about Pokemon, but also Indivisible (which I really wanted to hear more about!)
Regardless, I really appreciate the work you all put into these. It's a highlight of my year.
Log in to comment