ThePhantomStranger

I feel like a "quicklook" at the wiki pages for these kinds of games would be sufficient.

Worst game? not sure.

Most disappointing to the majority? Bioshock Infinite.

It'll probably be a great game with a lot care given to character moments but the majority will be disappointed that it isn't a landmark game in storytelling like Journey, Walking Dead, etc. are considered as.

@Video_Game_King said:

• Batman mostly anything

I'm guessing this ignores Arkham City.

I kind of want Journey's co-op mechanics but that's asking for to much I guess.

I kind of like the idea of crazy long respawn times in a game as a neat mechanic for consequences. Hell monetizing it still works if you do it well but from what's indicated here the game is crap and it's all done poorly.

This is amazing. Wish I could help but not a sound/visuals guy...

Interested to see how far you'll take this seeing as you're indicating it won't be very far.

As much as I love the Dark Knight Rises and the level of rewatchability that movie has I'm going to say Looper.

So Nintendo finally gets one up on Apple....

OT: I wonder what Wii Fit U means for Wii Sports and such.

Hopefully this isn't considered a useless bump:

Paradoxically I agree with what everyone said:

@Gamer_152 said:

I think most fans of Giant Bomb are aware that here at least, a large part of the enjoyment from the GoTYs is us and the staff exploring the strengths and weaknesses of various games, and generally doing a whole "Year in review" type process.

I very much agree with this and is why I attempted this satire. What wasn't satire was disclaimer at the beginning. As 2am I forgot that associating the post with the Satire Concept wouldn't appear on the forum.

I've definitely never heard anyone say we shouldn't enjoy the GoTYs in that fashion because it was too "new" an idea. GoTY also isn't about finding a perfect game;

I was mostly trying to make reference to new games journalism but again I didn't make it clear enough so people not understanding the satire and not getting that throw in is on me.

I think a lot of your assessments of the games that have come out are reductionist and overly cynical, but nobody has ever said that GoTY was about finding the game with zero flaws, the end result is just deciding on the best game that was released this year, and even if you think it was a bit of a bum year, there are always games that stand out above others in terms of quality.

I started the post trying to think of as many bad games, from the "Important games list", but was surprised to find so little to leverage. In all honesty I finished this post with a brighter opinion of this year and previously I didn't think much about the year negatively mostly just an average year.

@Dynablade said:

@ThePhantomStranger: Are you just a fascist by nature or do you inadvertently love people to read your stupidity? Saying no game is a contender for Game of The Year is like eating a chimichanga without cheese, dull, empty, and unsatisfying. Sure there maybe a flaw with the chimichanga that doesn't make it taste as great as the last one, but that doesn't mean we can discount it because it gave you an upset stomach. Duder you got to raise beyond the beef, way beyond those beans, and experience the whole hearten goodness without concerning yourself with petty inconveniences.

I really like this metaphor for some reason. One quick question: does the fact that the previous chimichanga tasted better mean anything or was that just framing for the metaphor?

@RPGee said:

Provocative title and content?

Little to no actual reasoning and thought, and really just reduction out the arse?

I'm calling this as a troll. Or a trawl for hits. In either case, this has minimal actual discussion value through its framing. I think the idea of "Hey, maybe we don't need a GOTY" is interesting, but not like this.

I'm sorry that this ended up looking like trolling. Once more my fault entirely for not making the satire more clear by the end and prompting proper discussion.

@Animasta said:

you know OP I thought your point wasn't a great point, and I thought it was pretty obvious, but it obviously went over a lot of people's heads here (probably because your thread title was misleading but OH WELL):

guys he is arguing that he'd rather just hear discussions of games against other games without making one of them better than the rest.

which is a dumb point, because there's no real difference between the two and may invite more in depth discussion, but dang, it's like people don't read the entire post before saying NURP.

That would be a dumb point and take the legs out of a discussion. Competition is useful. I was mostly poking fun at the level of crazy importance some, perhaps just a few in retrospect, people put on GOTY discussion. So I agree with your post in general.

@Scottish_Sin said:

You're trying WAY too hard.

Yeah it was a bit difficult to actually come up with clever slights against all the games that came out this year...had to resort to nonsense at times.

To ensure that I have a concrete, non-satire, version of my point: I felt a great many people put a bit to much importance on GOTY in a similar way that review scores and those gosh darn 8.8s get tagged with. I absolutely love the GOTY discussions on the bombcast every year and love when the community engages in thoughtful discussion about the year's releases because it helps people learn and improve the medium.

Disclaimer: One Draft + 2AM = this long ass post

Let's be honest here Game of the Year is the most important annual event in gaming. It is of incredible importance that each gaming publication take great time to decide upon this life or death decision. It is actually life and death when you think about it. Will giantbomb.ru starve the family's of Gearbox employees because they didn't name Borderlands 2 GOTY? I don't know but if they don't name Borderlands 2 GOTY then they wont be able to release a GOTY edition of the game down the road thus preventing little jimmy from buying all that dlc on one disc. If little jimmy doesn't give gearbox his cash then who is to put food on the table for the family's at Gearbox? Not Aliens: Colonial Marine that's for sure.

Game of the Year is serious business the publications have to be absolutely right in their individual judgement. With the full of weight of the situation their is only one solution: No GOTY this year. Be honest with yourself: does any game deserve GOTY this year?

Syndicate?

The value wasn't there even when the multiplayer was active. Also Deus Ex came out last year.

SSX?

It's a snowboarding game and thus is disqualified for being sports related.

Mass Effect 3

More like Ass EffectMass Erect Ass Erect? Ending. Jeez guys even I know the ending was horriable and murders babies without even having to play the game.

Diablo III

Had a crappy mmo launch without being an mmo but it's OK because that's how mmo's launch anyway. Those darn devs never know how many people want their game. Also the late game is bad which means the whole game is retroactively ruined, also known as the Ass Erect effect.

Persona 4 Arena

Is a visual novel like The Walking Dead and thus not a game except for when it's a fighting game but that doesn't count because I don't understand fighting games.

Sound Shapes

Was meant to sell the me and you on a Vita and can't be a GOTY because it's related to the Vita.

Darksiders II

Was padded out and Patrick didn't like it and Patrick is some sort of authority on heavy metal things like death or rock and roll...

Guild Wars 2

Is an mmo. Sorry.

Borderlands 2

Has Tiny Tina and decade old internet memes.

Torchlight II

Is just another Fate clone. What? I call it like I see it.

Resident Evil 6

Camera, shooting, bland supporting characters that aren't Sherry, and co-op. Also your decisions in past resident evil games aren't reflected in this one. What happened when I took that shotgun back in Raccoon City!

Dishonored

Is the greatest Has a crap story, terrible stealth in comparison to Mark the Ninja, and a binary morality system.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Refuses to inform the player of the actual chance that you'll hit with that shot.

Forza Horizon

A console exclusive for the 360. It can't be GOTY because no one played the superior PC version.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted

Had a Vita release. End of story. VITA BAD I OWN A PSP.

Assassin's Creed 3

Had frame rate issues and was generally aimless having no coherency with it's systems.

Halo 4

Console exclusive. Change of scenery, story, and guns was true for about five seconds.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Ollie North, decapitation, and left trigger right trigger.

New Super Mario Bros. U

It ain't so new and something about the WiiU sucking or something...

Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale

The title is to long and unweildy to be considered for GOTY. Those physical playstation trophies cost a lot to get engraved.

Hitman: Absolution

I heard it was misogynistic and homophobic and linear to some effect. To be honest I haven't played many of the games on the list...

Far Cry 3

PC version is better! Suck it! Ash is a loser!

Journey

Doesn't count becuase it came from thatgamecompany

The Walking Dead

Is a visual novel and doesn't count and also please for the love of god don't spoil that game I haven't played it have mercy!

Awesomenauts

Eh...yeah OK it's a contender I guess

All those games aren't GOTY material as each has at least one flaw that will be used to judge them till total damnation is upon them. Wouldn't it be simpler to do away with GOTY this year then to muck about the life and death choice of it? Wouldn't it be easier to just take GOTY less seriously and simply see it as what it is? An excuse to think critically about the year's releases and see the good and the bad of games this year?

No? Too new wave for you? Enjoy Batman vs Superman then.

So what was negative about this year's releases and what was positive?

Second, much more minor, question: can you see a moba or rougelike being a popular GOTY for even this site?