Games you think will be in the debate for 2011 Game of the Year?

This is mainly for Giant Bomb's (non intern) Game of the year. Remember 2008, the battle of Metal Gear Solid 4 vs GTA IV? Or 2009 with Uncharted 2 vs Batman Arkham Asylum. 2010 didn't really have a heated debate between the guys. They all just agreed that Mass Effect 2 was simply the best game of 2010 without having to argue for 3+ hours. Personally I think LA Noire, Skyrim and Portal 2 will be in the discussion but similar to 2010 with Mass Effect 2, Skyrim will be the unanimous victor just like Alistair Overeem will be at UFC 141.

I think it's going to be a duel between Skyrim and Saints Row The Third.

Skyrim vs. Bastion would be my guess.

Dark Souls and Rayman Origins! Yeah!

No. Batman, Skyrim and Bastion.

At a guess I'd say something between Batman, Uncharted and Skyrim.

Skyrim, Bastion/Portal 2, and Saint's Row The Third.

They seemed to have soured on LA Noire some after the fact.

@Doctorchimp: You could be right. Saints Row and Bastion will be up their also.

skyrim maybe LA noire only thing bring that down i dont thing has played it..and the ending is not great

I really hope Vinny pushes hard for Dark Souls or Witcher 2.

Trackmania 2

Well... maybe there'll be a most dubsteppiest game award and it'll get that.

@Doctorchimp said:

Skyrim, Bastion/Portal 2, and Saint's Row The Third.

They seemed to have soured on LA Noire some after the fact.

this is my guess too. we already know that bastion is #1 on brads list. so he'll probably fight for it.

skyrim, portal 2 and saints row.

portal 2 is probably just me thinking it has a chance.

Well, technically they say they'll discuss almost every game... but realistically we know that it'll come down to these:

1. Skyrim (Duh)
2. Batman Arkham City
3. Portal 2
4. Uncharted 3 (it has a shot, but not a good one)
5. Saint's Row The Third
6. Bastion (It's just a really, really good game. Jeff and Brad loved it, so they'll be sure to at least mention it).
7. Gears of War 3 (don't get your hopes up for this one)
8. Modern Warfare 3 (almost certainly won't win)
9. Battlefield 3 (ditto)
10. L.A Noire (won't win - don't get me wrong, I loved the game, but it won't win)
11. Infamous 2

Don't even bother asking about Dragon Age II or Killzone 3, both of which I enjoyed. Killzone 3 came out way too early and didn't do anything radically better than Killzone 2 and Dragon Age 2 was disappointing, even if it was a good game. It was just so much worse than Origins. Also, only Vinny played DAII - and he didn't care about it that much.

My money is on Skyrim being GB's game of the year. Personally, mine is Portal 2, with Skyrim being my 2nd favourite of this year. Jeff, Ryan, Vinny and Brad have all played it, and have all agreed on it being pretty damn excellent. Jeff didn't like LA Noire all that much, and even he was kinda cool on Arkham City, which was a great game, but not as exciting as Asylum, mostly because you know largely what it's like going into it. Bastion was great... absolutely great.... wonderful, in fact. But I just don't think they are going to give a downloadable game the GOTY award. I wish they would! But they probably won't.

It'll come down to a fight between Skyrim, Arkham City, Bastion and maybe Portal 2, with a very distant mention of Uncharted 3 (which was also a good game). Out of all the games released this year, Skyrim has undoubtedly made the biggest public impact and it's about the only game all four of them really, really like. It'll be Skyrim.

If they have the same rules as last year it will be between Skyrim, Bastion and Zelda. There is no way Batman will win Multiplatfom GOTY over Skyrim, Bastion will win DLG GOTY. UC 3 will win PS 3 so it gets mentioned, and Zelda wins the Wii.

@Korolev said:

Well, technically they say they'll discuss almost every game... but realistically we know that it'll come down to these:

1. Skyrim (Duh)
2. Batman Arkham City
3. Portal 2
4. Uncharted 3 (it has a shot, but not a good one)
5. Saint's Row The Third
6. Bastion (It's just a really, really good game. Jeff and Brad loved it, so they'll be sure to at least mention it).
7. Gears of War 3 (don't get your hopes up for this one)
8. Modern Warfare 3 (almost certainly won't win)
9. Battlefield 3 (ditto)
10. L.A Noire (won't win - don't get me wrong, I loved the game, but it won't win)
11. Infamous 2

Don't even bother asking about Dragon Age II or Killzone 3, both of which I enjoyed. Killzone 3 came out way too early and didn't do anything radically better than Killzone 2 and Dragon Age 2 was disappointing, even if it was a good game. It was just so much worse than Origins. Also, only Vinny played DAII - and he didn't care about it that much.

My money is on Skyrim being GB's game of the year. Personally, mine is Portal 2, with Skyrim being my 2nd favourite of this year. Jeff, Ryan, Vinny and Brad have all played it, and have all agreed on it being pretty damn excellent. Jeff didn't like LA Noire all that much, and even he was kinda cool on Arkham City, which was a great game, but not as exciting as Asylum, mostly because you know largely what it's like going into it. Bastion was great... absolutely great.... wonderful, in fact. But I just don't think they are going to give a downloadable game the GOTY award. I wish they would! But they probably won't.

It'll come down to a fight between Skyrim, Arkham City, Bastion and maybe Portal 2, with a very distant mention of Uncharted 3 (which was also a good game). Out of all the games released this year, Skyrim has undoubtedly made the biggest public impact and it's about the only game all four of them really, really like. It'll be Skyrim.

I agree. I think it should be Skyrim.

Skyrim, Batman, or Portal 2.

I don't think there could be too much of a debate in terms of the actual game of the year this time around, because all the biggest contenders are in the multiplatform category. Uncharted and Infamous are sony's biggest hitters this year and the general consensus among giantbomb is that they didnt live up to their predecessors. Xboxs most likely candidates are gears 3 and Bastion, but Jeff's the only one who cared for gears, and Bastion will probably be considered multiplatform because of its PC release. For Multiplatform it will probably come down to Saints Row The Third, Skyrim, and (hopefully) Bastion.

Killzone 3 came out this year?!? Fuck.

No chance LA Noire

It should be really close this year. There doesn't seem to have really been any games that totally stand out from the crowd. Skyrim is the only one that sort of does that, but the bugs and things pull it right back into the mix with the rest of the games.

Mine was between Skyrim and Bastion, however, i went back to playing Gears 3 and thats now taken the top spot.

I haven't had any problems with Skyrim, but with what happens on the PS3 i kinda don't want it to win GOTY.

I wish someone would mention Rayman Origins. Others may be, Skyrim, Batman and Saints Row The Third.

I have a feeling that Brad is going to throw Dead Space 2 into the mix (I think he reviewed it).

I'd say Skyrim for multiplatform. I haven't played Saints Row: The third so I can't say much about that. Batman will probably get Xbox GOTY and Uncharted 3 for PS3 GOTY. Dead Space 2 will get some recognition and LA Noir doesn't stand a chance.
As for Bastion, I don't know if they will even consider it for the same reasons try didn't do a review. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see that game get it, but I just don't see it happening. Skyward Sword will win for Wii and I hope to god The Witcher 2 get it for PC. All in all, I'm looking forward to the GOTY Bombcast and hearing what they hv to say on the matter.

Skyrim, Portal 2, Saints Row: The Third, and dark horse Bastion.

The crew as a whole really liked Batman and Uncharted, but both games left them not wanting more. I'd say that is enough to take them out of the running.

Witcher 2 and Dead Space 2 will be there.

Skyrim or Portal 2 are really the only games that are in a true GOTY tier this year, with the exception of Witcher 2, which only Vinny played.

Possible other candidates would be Saints Row 3, Bastion, or Mortal Kombat.

Anyone saying Batman or Uncharted (both fantastic, but flawed games) clearly hasn't been paying attention. I also wouldn't expect any real discussion for Gears 3, Deus Ex, LittleBigPlanet 2, LA Noire, or Dead Space 2 beyond "these are the games that round out the truly fantastic games of the year".

I think it is going to be an interesting discussion on whether or not Skyrim's issues on PS3 should be held against it. On one hand, from a purely rational standpoint, you can only really fairly judge a game based on the experience you had with it. However on the other hand there are millions of gamers who bought the game of PS3 and its totally unplayable for them? So where do you draw that line where you have to take into account those kind of issues. I fully expect a long and grueling discussion around that topic.