A few thoughts, if it's worth anything (incidentally, I have nothing against either game—these are just things that occured to me during the episode):
I thought many of the arguments made in the Skyrim vs. Saints Row debate were more or less vacuous. As has been pointed out, Brad's points seemed fanboyish; moreover, they all hinged on the fact that Skyrim is yet another iteration in a long franchise. Yes, Skyrim does things that other games haven't done. Many games do things that other games haven't done. Consider the following: nobody will be playing Skyrim in four years, just as no one plays Oblivion now. Soon Elder Scrolls 6 will be out, and Skyrim will be defunct.
Conversely, Saints Row has certain qualities that will stand up for some time—its postmodern critique of video games; its criticism of many common video game tropes (both points went unmentioned by both Vinny and Jeff). I don't know if Volition was actually aiming to do some high-level, high-minded commentary, but that was the end result with its game. Saints Row is intelligent in a way that Skyrim, and most other games this year, simply aren't.
In five years, there is a very good chance I will want to revisit Saints Row: The Third. There is no chance I will revisit Skyrim.
Ryan's argument that he "ran out of things to do" in Saints Row surprised me. How long did Uncharted 2, Red Dead Redemption, and Mass Effect 2 last? Eight, fifteen, twenty hours (respectively)? Saints Row lasted longer than that and was relentless all the way through; Skyrim has too many troughs in its sixty hours of content. Are we really considering games based on their length now?
I would have no qualms if I could walk away from this year's deliberations saying, "well, they debated it, and they came out with a consensus based on their opinions." But there was no substantive debate to be had as in past years, and the reasons put forth for Skyrim were unsatisfying compared to all the great things Saints Row managed.
Also, somebody cut Brad's mic. That guy went on for thirty minutes talking about the semantics of the term "sequel fatigue." And also, I feel sorry for Jeff. Poor Jeff! He just wanted to be happy. :(
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