Giant Bombcast Giant Bomb Game of the Year 2012: Day Five

I liked the contribution of Alex.  Called out some bullshit, too.
 
"ZombiU is unbelievably good."
"But you gave it 4 stars and said it has stuff wrong with it."

Just a heads up patrick walking dead on ps3 had more than zero problems on the ps3. The issues i had ruined the game for me, constant freezes and stutters.

@mrfluke: I tried to scroll down just enough to press play without seeing any comments, but went a little too far, just enough to see yours. *Sigh*

I got lucky with Walking Dead. Had no issues whatsoever.

However I had a bad glitch in X-Com that kept freezing my game so I stopped playing

With all the talk about how horrible Black Ops: Declassified is, I have to know something... In the commercial, you see the people playing the game holding their Vitas oddly and pulsing the systems slowly like the recoil of a gun or something, but way slower. Is that actually a mechanic of the game, or just something that was REALLY stupidly added the commercials?

@golguin said:

@Scottish_Sin said:

@golguin said:

Open question to everyone who put XCOM high on their list because I really feel that I am right on this...

Is XCOM your first trip into the SRPG rabbit hole?

It was for me, definitely.

Then I think there is hope for the genre. A good number of amazing SRPG titles have been lost to obscurity because people see the name or visual stylings of a Japanese studio and quickly dismiss it as some anime bullshit.

That happens a lot in the industry and it is a damn shame.

"Forza: Horizon is a racing game therefore it can't be GOTY!" Pretty much the weakest argument ever, and the fact that everyone agreed with it despite three people on the podcast really enjoying the game was really dumb.

@MiniPato said:

Glad Vinny fought for Sleepy Dogs.

Yeah I had so much fun with sleeping Dogs I'm glad Vinny fought for it to get it in the top ten.

@golguin said:

Open question to everyone who put XCOM high on their list because I really feel that I am right on this...

Is XCOM your first trip into the SRPG rabbit hole?

Not me. I've been playing turn based strategy for years now. My favorite being Front Mission 3, which is also one of my top 3 favorite games of all time. Still think X-COM is a fantastic game, especially on Classic Ironman.

@sawtooth said:

I cared more about the XCOM randomly generated characters than I cared about any of the Walking Dead's characters.

I had a medic. His name was Bruno. He had psychic powers. I gave him the nickname "Caboose" because he was always in cover about a half turn behind the rest of the group. He was killed on the second to last mission. Shotgun to the back of the head (crit for insta-KIA) by a teammate who had been mind controlled by the last enemy unit on the map, an Ethereal.

Goddamnit, Bruno. Goddamnit all to hell. :'(

@golguin said:

Open question to everyone who put XCOM high on their list because I really feel that I am right on this...

Is XCOM your first trip into the SRPG rabbit hole?

It wasn't for me, but it bears mentioning that I have only played maybe three or four others of a similar type in my lengthy gaming tenure. Notably FF: Tactics and Valkyria Chronicles. Never got hooked into Disgaea series despite liking Tactics a lot.

@zombie2011 said:

"Forza: Horizon is a racing game therefore it can't be GOTY!" Pretty much the weakest argument ever, and the fact that everyone agreed with it despite three people on the podcast really enjoying the game was really dumb.

Yeah it echos a lot of other year picks going from games that they loved to games they felt they had to choose. Forza should of been on there. 3 of them loved it, simple as that. Zombie U sucked.

@herb_roy_33 said:

@tourgen: XCOM = best game. The Walking Dead = best story. Far Cry 3 = neither of those.

I would say Far Cry 3 had a better story and gameplay than both those games.

Somewhat annoyed that Patrick rolled over so quickly on his #1 game of the year. But if it had to be anybody, I'm glad it was Xcom knocking out Walking Dead. Good on Alex for at least fighting for it.

Still... I have never had a video game make a real emotional impact on me before. Ever. I have never cried about a video game. Ever. That is just so incredibly significant to me that I can't even imagine a scenario where Walking Dead loses my personal #1 slot.

Forza horizon should've taken ZombiU's spot imo.

@gladspooky said:

@Psychohead said:

The point about XCOM isn't that it's THE GREATAST STRATERGY EVAR. The point is that it's really good and really accessible. Is there more tactical depth in something like Final Fantasy Tactics or Disgaea? Sure! But good luck getting any of these fuckers to play 'em. And that's the magic of this XCOM remake.

You know how old I was when I played the original X-Com? Twelve. And I beat it. It's not some uber-complicated game only a madman could understand. All you have to do is take a glance at the manual. And how does Final Fantasy Tactics, or any of its sequels, not ease you into the gameplay? Hell, the reason I've never beaten Final Fantasy Tactics A2 is because it takes waaay too long setting all that stuff up.

That's not to say XCOM is a terrible game, but it really is a mile wide and an inch deep.

They dont like Final Fantasy... or they tolerate it.

Just like SR3, FC3 got gypped. But I'll live.

@Qlanth: you are a pretty cold person....

I'm pissed that FTL got shut out but Syndicate, a game only one person in the group played, got in. Love the order of the top 3 though. Super varied in the types of experiences offered.

Way too many cooks in the kitchen for GOTY. The whole "argument" fell flat as a result of everyone coming in with one or two statement games, they knew no one else would genuinely consider top ten, but would be willing to let in if their own pick was. The shark has been jumped.

In case you guys didn't know, The Walking Dead episode 1 is FREE on XBLA for a limited time. After playing it, I immediately bought the whole season.

Also, Journey is on sale for 7 bucks on the PS Store.

Play both. They are being talked about so much for a reason!

I can't believe _____ got in and _____ didn't. What the hell... GRRRR! In other news, Sleeping Dogs deserves better. :D

I completely disagree with the notion that discs are bullshit and we should go all digital.

I much prefer driving 8 minutes down the street at picking up the physical copy of a game and not having to download and wait for it.

In addition, I like having cases line the shelves in my room. I dont know why, I just do.

Maybe I am alone here but I never want to see physical games go away.

I enjoy you Jeff, but you shoehorned Syndicate.  They took a brilliant game and turned it into a generic FPS.  Also I think Farcry 3 is where it is just because of how new it is.  Look back on this list next year and you would probably not have Farcry in the top 10.  It's a shame FTL didn't make it because one of those two games.
 
Also everyone in these comments hating on Zombi U, you've probably just never played it.  Imagine, if you are old enough, playing resident evil over for the very first time again...  The game is a revival of what resident evil has lost.

‎"I don't leave my house to get pizza. I don't leave my house to get toilet paper. Why should I leave my house to get video games?" -- Jeff Gerstmann

great podcast guys. you guys are awesome

@Gaspatchosoup: Same here. I was playing it wondering how it was possible I hadn't heard of the problems when they talked about it on the bombcast, until I realized they must have been playing it on PC.

Edit: I'm really glad Alex was in on this, though wondering why he wasn't in on all of the awards. I felt the same as him on Hotline Miami and with the controls too, glad he defended it. Also if it wasn't for him I'm a little worried on where Journey would have ended up, seeing as it probably would have only been Brad on its side.

why is the top 3 games broken as hell ?

@xSeanZx said:

I completely disagree with the notion that discs are bullshit and we should go all digital.

I much prefer driving 8 minutes down the street at picking up the physical copy of a game and not having to download and wait for it.

In addition, I like having cases line the shelves in my room. I dont know why, I just do.

Maybe I am alone here but I never want to see physical games go away.

Most internet speeds absolutely make having physical discs still worth it for at least another generation. It doesn't help that the online speed services of both Live and PSN are not so hot. Live is 100x better than PSN, but it still doesn't mean it's super fast.

I do not want to download games that are more than 10GB in the near-future unless internet speeds go up along with it.

And about the "not leaving the house" bit, well, I order my games online at Amazon 98 percent of the time so they arrive without me going out anywhere to get them in the first place.

Enjoyable listen. More tame then last year. Would of liked a bit more of a Walking Dead push but it seems everyone liked XCOM and had their real fight was getting their favorite into the overall top 10.

Glad Sleeping Dogs got into the list. It may be the most pure fun I had with a game this year. Also glad that Alex was there to give props to Journey and allow it's top 5 spot. Was starting to think it would get dismissed.

@DeviTiffany said:

@golguin said:

Open question to everyone who put XCOM high on their list because I really feel that I am right on this...

Is XCOM your first trip into the SRPG rabbit hole?

Not me. I've been playing turn based strategy for years now. My favorite being Front Mission 3, which is also one of my top 3 favorite games of all time. Still think X-COM is a fantastic game, especially on Classic Ironman.

YES. Front Mission 3 is absolutely fantastic.

Feel like Journey got ignored in the game of the year awards a bit which disappoints me because that is my pick for game of the year. I'm sure X-Com is great but I don't have the time for a game like that when I'm doing a masters course. Only getting to Far Cry 3 now because I'm off the next week

WWE 13 IS THE GAME OF THE YEAR. FUCK YOU GUYS.

Zombie U sucks.

Hotline Miami should be there instead of Syndicate. Definitely.

But it's their list, so if Big Boss Rap Man digs it, I suppose it's fine.

@Katkillad said:

I enjoy you Jeff, but you shoehorned Syndicate. They took a brilliant game and turned it into a generic FPS.

But they renamed all the powers you get in those types of games "hacking," that's gotta count for something!!!

@dropabombonit said:

Feel like Journey got ignored in the game of the year awards a bit which disappoints me because that is my pick for game of the year. I'm sure X-Com is great but I don't have the time for a game like that when I'm doing a masters course. Only getting to Far Cry 3 now because I'm off the next week

You're joking aren't you? Every GOTY award show on every website I've watched has been gushing over Fez and Journey ad nauseum. Just kidding: I'm sure they're great games but as a member of the "master race" I haven't had any exposure to them at all until now, and suddenly it seems like they're all anyone is talking about. It's probably just confirmation bias. I've read similar comments about walking dead and Xcom, to which I thought "they aren't talked bout enough" but that's a mistaken thought on my part too.

I'm glad they finally put an end to that Hotline Miami mess. Its a good game but doesnt stand up to any of the final 10. Props to Vinny for holding his ground on Sleeping Dogs and to both Vinny and Brad for bringing in ME3

Happy that Brad and Vinny got ME3 in at 8 but Syndicate had no place being there. It should have been replaced by Dishonored which got robbed out of the top 10.

Well deserved winner.

Collusion!

So uneventful, pretty much somes up the year. That was ok, this was ok lets give GOTY to that one I guess.

@xSeanZx said:

I completely disagree with the notion that discs are bullshit and we should go all digital.

I much prefer driving 8 minutes down the street at picking up the physical copy of a game and not having to download and wait for it.

In addition, I like having cases line the shelves in my room. I dont know why, I just do.

Maybe I am alone here but I never want to see physical games go away.

But what if you downloaded it a few days before release and could finally open it on 12:01.

The whole series of game of the year arguments was great, and the best part? Spoilers. No seriously, asking people to discuss games without discussing what is it the game is insane and destructive to real talk about the medium.

@golguin said:

@Lelcar said:

@golguin said:

@IntoTheN1ght said:

Really guys? Xcom? You know there were these games called Advance Wars on GBA and DS, they did turn based strategy better than Xcom both original and current. Walking Dead felt like a once in a generation experience, when this gen ends we will remember Super Mario Galaxy, Uncharted 2 and Walking Dead.

Oh well, good show and i wish Vinny would press his case more he just accepts being pushed around =P, tough it was great having Alex there, i hope you have him next year too.

How about Final Fantasy Tactics, Disgaea, and Devil Survivor? I feel like I was lied to when people were talking about how XCOM was one the greatest strategy rpg. The game was best in the beginning and got progressively worst as the story dried up and the combat became stale. The game was essentially over for me by the time you had to build the hyperwave relay thing. The biggest enemies (etherials, sectopods, cyberdisks) went down before they had a chance to do anything and I did it using half the fire power (ending stats screen) that the majority of people had.

In the end I feel like you had to be bad, like literally bad at the game, to feel the tension or get any satisfaction from the combat, which is all the game had going for it. The game was over once I had my trio of sniper ladies with squadsight.

Yeah, and you're forgetting Valkyria Chronicles which is probably the closest thing to XCOM and that came out years ago and modernized the SRPG genre in a huge way (with a good story).

Hearing people talk about XCOM for any length of time on the various site and it becomes painfully obvious that people didn't really play any SRPGs. I am fairly certain that all the good will is coming from the fact that XCOM is a first for a bunch of people.

Open question to everyone who put XCOM high on their list because I really feel that I am right on this...

Is XCOM your first trip into the SRPG rabbit hole?

Really ought'a try and avoid the old 'I played it before it was cool!' trap. Otherwise, I guess your levels of fondness for FFT, the Disgaeas, Valkyrias, Advance Wars, and the other such games are all invalid, 'cause I was playing Strategic Conquest before most of y'all were likely even born. You whippersnappers ain't got no authority in this conversation!! Come back when you've played a real turn-based strategy game!!

Of course I'm joking. I loved strategy games back then, and I still love them today -- I play every Fire Emblem, Tactics, Disgaea, or whatever I can get my hands on. But, what if I had instead chose to get all huffy and elitist about it? I could scoff at Final Fantasy Tactics for being a 'game for babies who can't handle a real challenge', ... I could roll my eyes at it and everyone who acts like turn-based games didn't exist before it ... OR I could just friggin' enjoy it, on account of it being a good game that serves the genre well.

And same for X-COM. Who cares if its anyone's first? They like it, and it's introduced them to the genre. Those are both good things.

(also, X-COM isn't exactly a game without respectable roots here...)

@Gaspatchosoup said:

Just a heads up patrick walking dead on ps3 had more than zero problems on the ps3. The issues i had ruined the game for me, constant freezes and stutters.

This. I also still don't think that FC3 holds up as this horrible racist piece of shit that some accuse it of being, especially seeing how the story unfolds, and hearing Patrick start to wax on about this for a bit was a little frustrating.

That said, I really think that Hotline Miami got robbed out of a top spot. That game engaged people way more than I feel they actually remember and they seemed 30 times more excited in the past than they do now. Hearing Alex argue for it made me sit here and just pump my fist going YEAH!!!

I didn't think I would but I mostly stand by Alex's choices for top 10. I'm more annoyed with developers than I am with these guys that the top 3 GOTY candidates are fucking broken.

@Superkenon said:

@golguin said:

@Lelcar said:

@golguin said:

@IntoTheN1ght said:

Really guys? Xcom? You know there were these games called Advance Wars on GBA and DS, they did turn based strategy better than Xcom both original and current. Walking Dead felt like a once in a generation experience, when this gen ends we will remember Super Mario Galaxy, Uncharted 2 and Walking Dead.

Oh well, good show and i wish Vinny would press his case more he just accepts being pushed around =P, tough it was great having Alex there, i hope you have him next year too.

How about Final Fantasy Tactics, Disgaea, and Devil Survivor? I feel like I was lied to when people were talking about how XCOM was one the greatest strategy rpg. The game was best in the beginning and got progressively worst as the story dried up and the combat became stale. The game was essentially over for me by the time you had to build the hyperwave relay thing. The biggest enemies (etherials, sectopods, cyberdisks) went down before they had a chance to do anything and I did it using half the fire power (ending stats screen) that the majority of people had.

In the end I feel like you had to be bad, like literally bad at the game, to feel the tension or get any satisfaction from the combat, which is all the game had going for it. The game was over once I had my trio of sniper ladies with squadsight.

Yeah, and you're forgetting Valkyria Chronicles which is probably the closest thing to XCOM and that came out years ago and modernized the SRPG genre in a huge way (with a good story).

Hearing people talk about XCOM for any length of time on the various site and it becomes painfully obvious that people didn't really play any SRPGs. I am fairly certain that all the good will is coming from the fact that XCOM is a first for a bunch of people.

Open question to everyone who put XCOM high on their list because I really feel that I am right on this...

Is XCOM your first trip into the SRPG rabbit hole?

Really ought'a try and avoid the old 'I played it before it was cool!' trap. Otherwise, I guess your levels of fondness for FFT, the Disgaeas, Valkyrias, Advance Wars, and the other such games are all invalid, 'cause I was playing Strategic Conquest before most of y'all were likely even born. You whippersnappers ain't got no authority in this conversation!! Come back when you've played a real turn-based strategy game!!

Of course I'm joking. I loved strategy games back then, and I still love them today -- I play every Fire Emblem, Tactics, Disgaea, or whatever I can get my hands on. But, what if I had instead chose to get all huffy and elitist about it? I could scoff at Final Fantasy Tactics for being a 'game for babies who can't handle a real challenge', ... I could roll my eyes at it and everyone who acts like turn-based games didn't exist before it ... OR I could just friggin' enjoy it, on account of it being a good game that serves the genre well.

And same for X-COM. Who cares if its anyone's first? They like it, and it's introduced them to the genre. Those are both good things.

(also, X-COM isn't exactly a game without respectable roots here...)

Yeah, and we could have all gotten real lovey-dovey over Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, and they could have made a zillion sequels for that game, and we could have never gotten Fallout 3.

Dishonored should have been in there, but otherwise, another great round of GOTY content. See you all next year!

@Terramagi said:

@MstrMnyBgs said:

Does Brad ever not have technical issues with games? Sounds like he breaks whatever he plays.

He apparently got along fine with Skyrim.

Which is weird.

Because within 5 minutes of starting that game I'm seeing rotating heads and, within 5 hours, the main quest has become irrevocably bugged because an NPC ran through a wall.

I played through all of Skyrim on the Xbox 360 and never had any serious issues.

Or you could just believe that Brad's a liar if that makes you feel better.

GOTY Brad is the deadliest Brad... dude is Cutthroat.