Saints Row is all kinds of broken on the PC, people with expensive rigs getting crap frame rates (myself included). I can look past the problems, It will most likely be game of the year.

Skyrim will probably get a lot of GOTY awards, but it really shouldn't, if only to make a statement. It really should be unacceptable to let a company get away with releasing a PS3 version of a game that is that broken. I'm playing the 360 version (and I can't really seem to get 'into' the game), but the way Bethesda treats their PS3 customers is appalling. And they will never learn if they end up with a billion GOTY awards.

@adz117 said:

Saints Row is all kinds of broken on the PC, people with expensive rigs getting crap frame rates (myself included). I can look past the problems, It will most likely be game of the year.

Can't really compare technical issues on an open platform where users are free to mix pieces of hardware as they wish to a closed system that has been using the same hardware for years.

And for the record, I played about 30 hours of SR3 without a single problem on my PC.

If I remember correctly Bayonetta was discredited for GotY contention due to it being unplayable on the PS3 by the majority of people. However, Skyrim does have its fair share of issues. I personally did not experience any on the 360 version, but that doesn't mean there aren't issues. My opinion on this matter is that, yes, a game should not count for GotY contention if it has bugs/errors that make the game unplayable for the majority of people on a platform. Therefore, since Skyrim is very playable for the majority, and is enjoyed by the majority as well, my opinion is that it should definitely be considered for GotY. Even though it has bugs in it, the simple rule of the majority out rules the minority has to be accounted for. I really do appreciate the OP's thought process behind this thread. Very thought provoking. :)

@Nottle: Oblivion and Fallout are dreadful when stacked against Skyrim.

EDIT- Just to state that I am a total Bethesda fanboy who spent 3 hours last night installing mods for Morrowind. /EDIT

I really enjoyed them at the time, but Skyrim by being so similar, but so superior holds an electron microscope to their imperfections.

The dungeons and the minute to minute gameplay in both is, after playing Skyrim for 70 hours, terrible.

The Perk system is refined from Fallout, magic is unrecognizable from Oblivion and is the way to play the game. Far better than melee combat.

Every gameplay problem Oblivion and Fallout had is fixed with the sad exception of melee combat(even though that is improved).Its the gameplay problems that people were talking about. What people are bitching about is bugs. Which are uncommon outside of the PS3 version. They're there, but up until this patch almost exclusively minor and not game breaking.

You are absolutely correct in your assertion that Skyrim on PS3 is a mess. It's still a mess on Xbox 360 and PC, just less of one, although that changed with the recent patch which graced us with backward dragons and non-functioning resistances.

But my GoTY, your GoTY and everyone else's GoTY will be different, because it's an opinion. Opinions are allowed to be different, and in the overall site GoTY that opinion is reached by consensus. Our experience with the product is exactly that, how we got on with it. I personally think that, aside from justifiably giving Bethesda shit over a broken game, we should still be giving them shit over flat-out broken quests and quest progression. Somehow, I managed to end up with -2 Crimson Nirnroot. No idea how that happened. But overall, this is my GoTY, simply because this year there has either been nothing like it, or nothing as memorable as it. As an aside, Portal 2 is my number 2, but only because it is a fixed experience.

Skyrim is GOTY material, but for delivering a PS3 version that should be pulled back, it should not, receive any GOTY award. They gave the 360 versions out for review for a good reason - the PC version started as a fucked up consolized disaster and was patched on launch to a little less of a consolized disaster and then got taken care of by mods, but the PS3 version even post-patch remains a disaster.
 
And you know what? This won't be the first time a game gets GOTYs all around despite a disastrously bad PS3 port of it being around and not getting any care.

@FunExplosions:

It can't have been Sigmund, it doesn't mention intercourse with your own mother, & that was his calling card. Must have been Jung

It's already done. GOTY Good god is it GOTY!

@thebazel said:

Saints Row have absolutely zero issues running on the platforms they were made for.

So when I jump into a vehicle and my health drains to zero because one of the tires clipped through the ground was a design choice? (This is captured during the TNT if you're looking for proof)

All games are going to have issues. The rest of the game has to be good enough to allow you to look past them. Skyrim is good enough.

As most said, the PS3 is crap, and I'm surprised that Sony wasn't the first to announce a new console. They should have buried the PS3 and moved on.

@SilverShadow: I like your logic but the problem in Skyrim's case is that the game breaking framerate issue triggers after a certain amount of time invested (triggered by size of save file) and not apparent before it hits. It's not a bug, it's the game gets too complex for the hardware as you get further in. Your first 50 hours could be great and then at 55 hours your game is stuck in the 0-15 fps range with no way to fix as nothing is technically wrong with the game. My point is that it's hard to tell if the game is playable for the majority as I'm guessing most people have not put enough time to trigger it. IMO this is almost worse than any bad port, I couldn't imagine sinking 60 hours into the game and then it becomes unplayable all of a sudden before you finish.

lol You haven't played the game, right? If you have then you simply shouldn't care about this. I mean, why do you care if this is game of the year? If you don't like it because you've read news about it being buggy or you've had a bad experience with the ps3 or 360 version then that's your loss man. Skyrim is one of the best RPG's I've played in recent memory and Bethesda deserves every award they get.

Your opinion is like saying that Saints Row doesn't deserve to be GOTY for being so shitty on the pc. It's a god damn good game and deserves to be a contender for GOTY in spite of me having so many issues with it.

You can say the same thing about Batman being 16GB and 11 of those dedicated to fuckin' video files and having like 10 layers of the stupidest DRM ever. Am I complaining about that? Yes I am. Am I saying the game isn't GOTY contender for that reason? Hell no!

Everyone should stop talking about the GOTY. Just enjoy reading the opinions of game reviewers and make your own desition about which game you think deserves that title.

I think you put too much weight on what a bunch of guys think about a single game.

I don't care if there are bugs (there are), I'm loving this game, and I absolutely hated Oblivion. It's fun, engaging, and I like to hunt deer.

Wassup, playing it on the PC,Skyrim is GOTY.

While not nearly as crazy as some of the numbers I've seen, I've put over 60 hours into Skyrim already and I'm not about to slow down. While I'm not sure why you (or I) should care about which game gets picked as Giant Bombs game of the year, it sure as hell is mine. No other game experience I had this year comes close to what Skyrim has offered me.

Look - for me it's between Skyrim, Dark Souls and Battlefield 3 - bugs and glitches come with pushing the envelope. If it was about doing the same shit over and over again with barely any innovation, it be Blizzard and Nintendo getting GotY's every year... oh wait...

The fuck would I care about other people's version of the game when considering my GOTY?

You're making this more complicated than it is. If Skyrim was the best/most favorite/most memorable game you've played in 2011, like it was for me, it's that persons GOTY. if the bugs/gameplay/other hang ups meant you did not enjoy it at that level, it isn't. And yes, Bayonetta did not have a flawless release across all platforms but I think you'd have a hard time arguing that it would have been this sites favorite game of that year, even if it did.

I feel sorry for PS3 owners that experienced slowdown with large save files or people that feel burned by Bethesda, but it simply had no bearing on my experience (PC and 360) so you won't see me raising pitchforks anytime soon. The Internet anger when Skyrim does begin to take multiple GOTY promises to be entertaining, at least.

The answer to the OP is yes.

I can be a GOTY contender and most likely will win.

After reading about the insane 60 hour bug for the poor PS3 owners there's no way it's my GOTY. I'm enjoying a relatively bug free XBOX version and I feel so sorry for PS3 owners. Poor bastards. I can forgive some bugs but that one makes the game totally unplayable and it should've been thoroughly tested before release.

Let's not give Bethesda a free pass just because the PC and 360 versions have less problems. They knowingly released a critically buggy game, and the PS3 owners who bought the game ended up looking like suckers. Sony shares some blame too because of the apparent lack of quality control that these platform holders are supposed to have.

I like how people straight up look past the part whee the PS3 version is pretty much broken. I understand that all games are not flawless, Batman had it's flaws, SR3 had them, but none of these games you could realistically say, the "X" version is broken, but Skyrim.

Does it take away that it's still a great game, no. But should people be wary of it, I dont see why not. I will take even as much as GB crew saying Skryim is their Game of the Year, but you should probably hold off on the PS3 version.

Some of you guys have to see that, people uses these lists as a guide for stuff they might want to pick up next year after the holidays, I dont see why the readers shouldn't be informed if their game on their console of choice is not worth getting.

The point is, when you get bugs in this game, they don't diminish your overall experience, they usually just keep you from doing a small part of a massive game. In the case of Bayonetta on the PS3, I believe that the framerate issues were so bad that you could barely enjoy playing through the game, that's drastically different than Skyrim's issues with some quest bugs, and just general glitchiness.

This game will never completely crash to the point where you can't play it, and it doesn't have consistent framerate issues that destroy the experience on any platform. The worst you'll get is not being able to finish a quest set because one of the quests bugged out. That isn't a major issue considering there are hundreds of quests to do and tons of areas to explore.

The fact of the matter is, Skyrim even with bugs is more enjoyable than any other game released this year, bug free or not. That is why it is GOTY for me.

@ADAMWD said:

The point is, when you get bugs in this game, they don't diminish your overall experience, they usually just keep you from doing a small part of a massive game. In the case of Bayonetta on the PS3, I believe that was a case of the framerate issues were so bad that you could barely enjoy playing through the game, that's drastically different than Skyrim's issues with some quest bugs, and just general glitchiness.

This game will never completely crash to the point where you can't play it, and it doesn't have consistent framerate issues that destroy the experience on any platform. The worst you'll get is not being able to finish a quest set because one of the quests bugged out. That isn't a major issue considering there are hundreds of quests to do and tons of areas to explore.

The fact of the matter is, Skyrim even with bugs is more enjoyable than any other game released this year, bug free or not. That is why it is GOTY for me.

Have you read any accounts of PS3 players' woes? The main complaint is the unplayable framerate when the save file is sufficiently large...

Game of the year? More like game of the GOD DAMN Century!

@artofwar420 said:

By golly. How dare they voice their opinions.

I know right, The guys have said, MANY times, that the GOTY's are as objective as they can possibly make them, but at the end of the day they still have to use their emotions and thoughts to decide which game gets GOTY.

They can argue over which game deserves what for as long as they want, but they will ultimately decide, one way or the other, based on oppinions and how strong whoever's points were for another game/their own game.

And if their own experiences of said games weren't bothered by many or any bugs then I feel like they're allowed and should go with whatever they think anyway, It's like Jeff says: "If you can't remember to mention something about a game then it probably isn't worth mentioning in your review".

Hey you can make anything as official as you want it, but at the end of the day any official thing/activity is governed by people, and people are governed by emotions, thoughts and oppinions. Stop getting your panties in a bunch over something so trivial, it really isn't worth... Might as well just relax and let the cards fall where they may.

If they played the game and the game was by far one of the games that they enjoyed the most, despite any faults it might have, then why shouldn't it be a, or even the, game of the year?

@TorMasturba said:

@artofwar420 said:

By golly. How dare they voice their opinions.

I know right, The guys have said, MANY times, that the GOTY's are as objective as they can possibly make them, but at the end of the day they still have to use their emotions and thoughts to decide which game gets GOTY.

They can argue over which game deserves what for as long as they want, but they will ultimately decide one way or the other based on oppinions and how strong whoever's points were for another game/their own game.

And if their own experiences of said games weren't bothered by many or any bugs then I feel like they're allowed and should go with whatever they think.

Hey you can make anything as official as you want it, but at the end of the day any official thing/activity is governed by people, and people are governed by emotions, thoughts and oppinions. Stop getting your panties in a bunch over something so trivial, it really isn't worth... Might as well just relax and let the cards fall where they may.

No one wants any one to change their opinions. No one's panties are in a bunch. Perhaps try reading the posts in this thread, In the end the site's staff are critics. It's their jobs to be objective when it comes to critique. If they want to give Skyrim GOTY on their personal lists, that's great. I'm asking if as a publication (site) they should endorse this product as the best of the year when it has such a glaring fault(s). Not whether or not Jeff or you or me are allowed to think of the game for GOTY. Of course if you enjoyed the game its your GOTY, why wouldn't it be.

Dude....game of the year on a video game website is not the nobel peace prize, no need to get up in arms about them it's all just for good fun, it's not like they are giving away a million dollars with it or anything.

It doesn't help that most reviews don't address the issue. Here at Giant Bomb, they didn't review the PS3 version so an unsuspecting reader won't know of the issue. GameSpot and IGN have reviews for the PS3 version, but they say nothing about the problem. I'm sure none of these sites have even made a news story about it (just guessing, I haven't checked). I can't trust reviews to give me complete or honest information anymore.

@AlexW00d said:

The fuck would I care about other people's version of the game when considering my GOTY?

YOU don't work for a gaming review website, so, you wouldn't. The GB crew does, so, they should. Understand?

Also just to point out for everyone else, Uncharted, Batman, and Saints Row weren't my THESE OTHER GAMES SHOULD GET GOTY INSTEAD list. They were examples of multiplatform and single platform games (PS3) that don't have technical issues rendering them unplayable (not that they too don't have bugs, what game doesn't). You can add 10 other games to the GOTY discussion. Skyrim doesn't even come close for me, if it matters, Dark Souls takes it followed by Radiant Historia.

@thebazel said:

@AlexW00d said:

The fuck would I care about other people's version of the game when considering my GOTY?

YOU don't work for a gaming review website, so, you wouldn't. The GB crew does, so, they should. Understand?

Nope. That's what reviews are for, not personal GOTYs.

@thebazel: anyway the consenus is that Skyrim should be a contender and in fact will win easily.

You got what you came for.

/thread

I think the main point @thebazel:is trying to make is that if the issue that PS3 gamers are experiencing also occured on the Xbox 360, the GotY discussion would be quite different.

@thebazel said:

@AlexW00d said:

The fuck would I care about other people's version of the game when considering my GOTY?

YOU don't work for a gaming review website, so, you wouldn't. The GB crew does, so, they should. Understand?

Also just to point out for everyone else, Uncharted, Batman, and Saints Row weren't my THESE OTHER GAMES SHOULD GET GOTY INSTEAD list. They were examples of multiplatform and single platform games (PS3) that don't have technical issues rendering them unplayable (not that they too don't have bugs, what game doesn't). You can add 10 other games to the GOTY discussion. Skyrim doesn't even come close for me, if it matters, Dark Souls takes it followed by Radiant Historia.

We get it, you don't think it should be game of the year.

However, it most likely will be, because most people (including the bomb squad) found it the best game they played this year.

@EdIsCool said:

@thebazel: anyway the consenus is that Skyrim should be a contender and in fact will win easily.

You got what you came for.

/thread

I got discussion. That's what I came for. No, not /thread. The discussion continues, whether you want it to or not. You can watch from the side though.

I think the main point @thebazel:is trying to make is that if the issue that PS3 gamers are experiencing also occured on the Xbox 360, the GotY discussion would be quite different.

I didn't even try to make this point because I made it in a similar thread I made about the PS3 bugs not getting exposure. The 360's texture issues got front page news on this very site. It's no secret that if the 360 version of this game didn't work like the PS3 version this site would have a much different reaction. Still, I'm not even going to try and fight the Skyrim AND Xbot collective at the same time.

I think Skyrim could still easily be an overall GOTY, because usually that comes down to the quality of the game's experience itself, rather than platform-specific issues. Like you mentioned, maybe it shouldn't take Best multiplatform release because of the issues with the PS3 version - a precedent already set in GB GOTY awards past by Bayonetta -  but that doesn't stop it from being a more than valid (and at this point, most likely) overall Game of the Year winner on Giant Bomb. Whether you like it or not, the general opinion on Skyrim both critically and publicly is that it's a completely fantastic game - regardless of a single platform's issues, to many that's more than enough for it to be their Game of the Year.
 
But then what do I know? My personal GOTY probably goes to Dragon Age II, an opinion I imagine very few others on here share!

@usgrovers: That's why I said consistent framerate issues. Not 100% of all people playing Skyrim on the PS3 are having significant framerate issues.

@thebazel said:

@EdIsCool said:

@thebazel: anyway the consenus is that Skyrim should be a contender and in fact will win easily.

You got what you came for.

/thread

I got discussion. That's what I came for. No, not /thread. The discussion continues, whether you want it to or not. You can watch from the side though.

I think the main point @thebazel:is trying to make is that if the issue that PS3 gamers are experiencing also occured on the Xbox 360, the GotY discussion would be quite different.

I didn't even try to make this point because I made it in a similar thread I made about the PS3 bugs not getting exposure. The 360's texture issues got front page news on this very site. It's no secret that if the 360 version of this game didn't work like the PS3 version this site would have a much different reaction. Still, I'm not even going to try and fight the Skyrim AND Xbot collective at the same time.

You don't seem to want discussion. At least not two-sided discussion.

You just keep telling everyone who disagrees with you how wrong they are, without conceding a single point.

That's not a discussion.

Also just wanted to quote this post from another internet forum on the opinion of why GB or any gaming site should care about this issue. Even if it took 300 hours total to review all 3 versions, isn't that what these places are paid to do? Now I personally know the GB crew talked about these issues on their podcast, and that's great, but it still doesn't change the fact if someone comes to this site for an opinion on Skyrim the first thing they're hit with is 5 big stars. They're not digging into old podcasts to know if the version they want to buy works.

Gaming journalists get paid to do gaming journalism. If they are not doing gaming journalism they have no reason to exist, and get paid for that matter. This is a massive story and how many sites drew attention to it? How quick did they do so?
The answer is that very few places are pushing this let alone making it an actual issue. Hell, most of the sites just copy and pasted their 360 reviews into the ps3 section thus adding to the problem. When they do shit like that they hurt the consumers that they claim to protect. Actively leading people off a cliff if you will.

@thebazel: you can have a discussion it just isnt worthwhile because almost no one agrees with you. If the point was to discuss the issue and come to a conclusion the current sample size is large enough.The outcome is not going to change.You'll just get the same talking points over and over again.Which seems to be what you want.

@Catarrhal said:

@Doctorchimp said:

I can't pick it for GotY because your console of choice is a fucked up mess? Nah son, it doesn't work that way.

According to Ryan Davis, that's exactly how it works. During last year's GOTY podcast, he brusquely ignored Bayonetta (despite his earlier, overwhelming praise), simply "because the PS3 version is garbage."

If that's the case then the same should hold true for Skyrim. If one game get's disqualified because of technical issues on one platform, then a game in a similar situation should as well. If Skyrim is considered, some of the respect I have for this site will be lost due to a lack of intellectual consistency.

@EdIsCool said:

@thebazel: you can have a discussion it just isnt worthwhile because almost no one agrees with you. If the point was to discuss the issue and come to a conclusion the current sample size is large enough.The outcome is not going to change.You'll just get the same talking points over and over again.Which seems to be what you want.

I don't have any points to concede. I stand by my points. People don't have to agree with me. I also don't expect anyone to change their mind or some how see the light and come running into my arms. I'm stating my opinions, you're stating your's. I enjoy reading everyone's posts. That's all. If at least one person reads this thread and learns something they didn't know before, whether from my post or your's, that's great. This is just a thread on a forum. It doesn't have some deeper meaning. Read, think, talk. I know very well no one here, including me, worries about whether Skyrim will get GOTY once they close this browser. Just enjoy talking about video games. =)

It is the best game I've played that has come out this year.

Seems enough for GOTY to me.

That sucks for PS3 owners and other who have been experiencing game breaking bugs.

As for me, i'm playing the PC version and have experienced no such bugs, like at all. Skyrim will be my personal game of the year.

Not enough people realize that game of the year awards don't matter.

@thebazel said:

Also just wanted to quote this post from another internet forum on the opinion of why GB or any gaming site should care about this issue. Even if it took 300 hours total to review all 3 versions, isn't that what these places are paid to do? Now I personally know the GB crew talked about these issues on their podcast, and that's great, but it still doesn't change the fact if someone comes to this site for an opinion on Skyrim the first thing they're hit with is 5 big stars. They're not digging into old podcasts to know if the version they want to buy works.

Gaming journalists get paid to do gaming journalism. If they are not doing gaming journalism they have no reason to exist, and get paid for that matter. This is a massive story and how many sites drew attention to it? How quick did they do so?
The answer is that very few places are pushing this let alone making it an actual issue. Hell, most of the sites just copy and pasted their 360 reviews into the ps3 section thus adding to the problem. When they do shit like that they hurt the consumers that they claim to protect. Actively leading people off a cliff if you will.

It's probably been mentioned, but Brad did not review the PS3 game here. http://www.giantbomb.com/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/61-33394/reviews/ Clearly stated that the review is for the 360 and PC versions of the game, and the score does not show up in the PS3 Metacritic listing for Skyrim. Now whether this makes him lazy or honest, well, that's for readers to decide. They did post multiple articles articulating issues across the platforms, focusing on PS3, as well as talking about it on the podcast as you noted.

In a perfect world yes, Brad sits through 50 hours of the PS3 version after it arrives on release day and reviews that version accordingly. But I understand that Giant Bomb has limited resources and makes editorial decisions on what they can and can't cover, and a release like Skyrim is time consuming to the point of shutting down an editor for a week. Again, up to us to decide if this equates to fair opinions or not.