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Dalai

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Dalai's 2008 awards thing... game of the year.

Hey, it's 2009 and we're all still here.

Well, it's finally over... 2008 has been a terrible year for some, but gamers embraced the year with open arms as the industry churned out several breakthrough hits and a slew of wonderful sequels.  Games of all shapes and sizes, from the biggest companies to the smallest indie developers, all had their chance to shine in 2008.  This year, many games were in the running for the best game of 2008... and I had a hard time choosing the winner up until recently.

So now, here are the nominees for the hell of it!


The "Game of the year." Award (Game of the year): World of Goo

World of Goo, Dalai's game of 2008.
World of Goo, Dalai's game of 2008.
In January, I predicted that Maxis would be connected to my personal game of the year.  And no surprise, that was actually true... the problem was that I chose the wrong game.  Spore was my early pick for the coveted GOTY award, which ended up as my most disappointing game, and as early as November, I was ready to give it to either Grand Theft Auto IV or Braid.  But somehow along the way, World of Goo managed to eclipse every game this year in terms of pure fun and enjoyment.  If I had to describe the game in one word, I'd go with flawless.

2D Boy, which consists of one guy who used to work for Maxis and another guy who also worked, did the unthinkable and created the most polished, most fun, most satisfying game this year.  Most people choose the big, epic games as their best game of the year, but I had to go with something that is perfect from start to finish, even if it's not as deep or as long as GTAIV, MGS4, or Fallout 3.  World of Goo became my game of the year for a variety of reasons: spectacular art direction, great game mechanics, stellar level design, plenty of variety, humorous commentary from the Sign Painter, excellent music, a heartwarming story, and an emotional ending... yes, I do know they're just simple goo balls, but there was a great message of hope and you're really pulling for those goo balls to break away from oppression.  World of Goo exceeded way beyond my expectations and there's a chance it exceeded yours if you gave the game a chance.

I know World of Goo isn't the popular choice for this category, but you can't deny the game's gooey charm.  And I'm prepared for anything you throw at me!
11 Comments

11 Comments

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daniel_beck_90

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Edited By daniel_beck_90

World of Goo is indeed a good game but I personally think  GTA IV was better , although it is all only matter of personal taste

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Kazona

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Edited By Kazona

After all the good things I've heard about it I'm definitely putting this on my wishlist. And I'm not going to throw anything at you simply because if you think the game deserves a GOTY award it deserves it, big or small.

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Claude

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Edited By Claude

I just finished Chapter 3 and yeah... it's pretty darn awesome. I play it in spurts, because after a while, my mind goes all gooey.

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Endogene

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Edited By Endogene
ahoodedfigure said:
"It seems Steam's still selling World of Goo, at least until the end of today.

I think I only heard about it today, so I'm in a bit of a pinch as to whether or not I'll invest myself in that game.  I wonder if there's a demo..."
There is a demo, but the game only get really great after a couple of chapters so the demo while representative of the game play does not represents de experience that well.
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PureRok

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Edited By PureRok

I found World of Goo really not very good.

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ahoodedfigure

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Edited By ahoodedfigure

It seems Steam's still selling World of Goo, at least until the end of today.

I think I only heard about it today, so I'm in a bit of a pinch as to whether or not I'll invest myself in that game.  I wonder if there's a demo...

EDIT:

I played the demo.  The music is fantastic, and the level design is adventuresome in its variation.  It's the kind of puzzle game that frustrates me a bit, I guess because I like the idea that I can sorta plunge in and figure things out, but felt a bit punished for MY being adventuresome.

The DESIGN, though, is wonderful, the humor is great, the meta references brought a smile to my face.  I can see puzzle people liking this, and I'm often a puzzle person but I guess I'm a bit spoiled by games like Thief, in that I like my multiple paths to have their own signature routes, instead of being variations on the one right route.

The controls were just fiddly enough that having to build a thing quickly was also frustrating, but the puzzles I did figure out I think were rewarding, especially the last one in the demo, although there were a few where I beat it, but kept playing because there was a chance for me to squeeze a few extra [points] out of the board before quitting.  If I really wanted to spend 20 minutes on a board trying to get that one last guy through the pipe, I could, and I almost wanted the game to boot me out to the menu for daring to do that.

I think it's great that Goo gets some play and makes a few bucks for the designers.  I'm not sure it'd be the right game for me in the long run, though if the demo is not representative of course, I can't be sure.  Looks like you got some attention for your article, which I think is grand :)

*sneaks back to Aquaria*

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brukaoru

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Edited By brukaoru

World of Goo is definitely on my wishlist. I am glad that it released on the Wii because for one, I don't have a PC and prefer controllers, but more importantly I'm glad it can actually make a profit instead of just relying on PC gamers. Really saddens me how much the game has been pirated.

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Gizmo

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Edited By Gizmo

Wii game of the year? Doesn't really take much does it... *sniggers*

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TheGreatGuero

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Edited By TheGreatGuero

Wii Game of the Year, eh? AND Dalai's Game of the Year?! This has been like the one WiiWare game I've been thinking about purchasing. I think it's time for me to make the plunge. HENSHIN A GOO-GOO, BABY!

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Red

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Edited By Red

Yeah....World of Goo's pretty awesome. Me and my siblings played the demo and we all agree: it's pretty awesome.

Not surprised it's someone's GoTY but I am surprised IGN gave it Wii Game of the Year.
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Dalai

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Edited By Dalai

Hey, it's 2009 and we're all still here.

Well, it's finally over... 2008 has been a terrible year for some, but gamers embraced the year with open arms as the industry churned out several breakthrough hits and a slew of wonderful sequels.  Games of all shapes and sizes, from the biggest companies to the smallest indie developers, all had their chance to shine in 2008.  This year, many games were in the running for the best game of 2008... and I had a hard time choosing the winner up until recently.

So now, here are the nominees for the hell of it!


The "Game of the year." Award (Game of the year): World of Goo

World of Goo, Dalai's game of 2008.
World of Goo, Dalai's game of 2008.
In January, I predicted that Maxis would be connected to my personal game of the year.  And no surprise, that was actually true... the problem was that I chose the wrong game.  Spore was my early pick for the coveted GOTY award, which ended up as my most disappointing game, and as early as November, I was ready to give it to either Grand Theft Auto IV or Braid.  But somehow along the way, World of Goo managed to eclipse every game this year in terms of pure fun and enjoyment.  If I had to describe the game in one word, I'd go with flawless.

2D Boy, which consists of one guy who used to work for Maxis and another guy who also worked, did the unthinkable and created the most polished, most fun, most satisfying game this year.  Most people choose the big, epic games as their best game of the year, but I had to go with something that is perfect from start to finish, even if it's not as deep or as long as GTAIV, MGS4, or Fallout 3.  World of Goo became my game of the year for a variety of reasons: spectacular art direction, great game mechanics, stellar level design, plenty of variety, humorous commentary from the Sign Painter, excellent music, a heartwarming story, and an emotional ending... yes, I do know they're just simple goo balls, but there was a great message of hope and you're really pulling for those goo balls to break away from oppression.  World of Goo exceeded way beyond my expectations and there's a chance it exceeded yours if you gave the game a chance.

I know World of Goo isn't the popular choice for this category, but you can't deny the game's gooey charm.  And I'm prepared for anything you throw at me!