The Games Are All Right.

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yukoasho

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Edited By yukoasho

As we approach the end of the year and look back, people would be forgiven for thinking that the gaming world was on fire.

The ongoing gamergate incident saw gamers facing off against political extremists, gaming press, developers, and ultimately one another in a war of words and absolutist ideologies that not only won't go away any time soon, but will almost certainly flare up into an all-consuming conflict again. High-profile releases like Assassin's Creed: Unity and Halo: The Master Chief Collection have had botched releases, and even more, like Watch Dogs and Driveclub, were massive disappointments. Of course, I can't forget Microsoft's $2 billion Minecraft purchase, which had people all over the Internet mourning the massively-popular block-building game's apparent demise.

It's easy to forget, then, that some pretty damned good stuff has come out. Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS, and Bayonetta 2 were enormous highlights, proving Nintendo still has a place in the industry. Not only that, but there have been some sweet titles outside of Nintendo's system as well. We have had arguably the freshest Call of Duty since Modern Warfare come out this year, a fantastic pair of Warriors games, a new Tales of RPG (Xilia 2), a host of sweet smaller games like Putty Squad and Trials Fusion, a masterful re-imagining of the classic run-and-gun FPS style with Wolfenstein: The New Order, and even - of all the left-field shit imaginable - a physical console release for last year's FPS slice-and-dice katana fest, Shadow Warrior. The PS4 has had a resounding success in retail, and even the Xbone has made something of a comeback, the two of them combining to prove that console gaming isn't anywhere near dead, and won't be any time soon. GoG got freaking Disney on board to re-release some of the most enduring LucasArts games of the nineties and oughts, and has grown into a legitimate alternative to Steam for many smaller titles. In fact, there's been plenty of reason to be a happy gamer this year, despite the issues that are catching all the headlines.

Obviously this industry has issues, and the sooner they're addressed, the better. However, let's not lose sight on the fact that, overall, it was a pretty good year, and with hope for more awesomeness on the horizon. Thus, while we rightly rage at the things going wrong, it's worth it to take a moment to think of stuff that's been good this year as well, and celebrate the triumphs as much as we decry the tragedies.

So how about it? What do you all think has been good from 2014? I'd love to hear what you guys think about the positives of the gaming year, so let's have some happy time, shall we?

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fisk0

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#1  Edited By fisk0  Moderator

Night Dive Studios just re-released Rogue Entertainment's Strife last week. It's pretty damn great.

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nickhead

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#2  Edited By nickhead

All I know is Shadow of Mordor got me to buy a game at launch, which I hadn't done in years.

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csl316

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#3  Edited By csl316

I liked 2014. There wasn't the stand out, top tier sort of game of the year that people judge years by. But there were a ton of cool games.

2013 had Tomb Raider, Bioshock, Last of Us, and a dozen other neat games. 2014 had stuff coming constantly and I wound up finishing even more stuff this year.

Of course, 2015 will trounce every year since '07.

Not to mention an amazing year at Giant Bomb.

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PrivodOtmenit

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Most Forgotten About Game: Titanfall

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Justin258

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#5  Edited By Justin258

You didn't mention Shovel Knight.

Everyone needs to play Shovel Knight.

I spent quite a bit of time over the past two days playing Dark Souls II and that was released earlier this year (wasn't it? I'm pretty sure I'm remembering that correctly).

EDIT: Yes, it was.

I also think that Wolfenstein is one of the best shooters released in a very long time.

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BeachThunder

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Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. A fantastic game that's even fantasic-er...

Honestly, it's a pretty great year for games (as long as you forget about the major publishers).

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ArbitraryWater

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I think it's been a great year for Kickstarter stuff. Divinity and Wasteland 2 both came out and were pretty great. Also the Banner Saga. Once you get all the griping out of the way, it's been an alright year for games, albeit one without a ton of exemplary big stuff.

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Mortuss_Zero

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It was a little weaker than last year, but it wasn't a terrible year. Binding of Issac is great, and I still like Dragon Age. Also, South Park proved someone other than Telltale and Rocksteady can do great licensed games.

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hippie_genocide

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2014 was a great year for me to finish games in my backlog. That's about the best thing I can say for it.

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oldenglishc

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Mario Kart, Smash, Sports Friends, Nidhogg, and some oldies but goodies like Mount Your Friends,Towerfall, and Samurai Gun. 2014 was the year of a bunch of friends coming over every Saturday to huddle around a TV and play video games like we did when we were kids. If a room full of thirty-somethings squealing like idiots every time a guy with a swinging dong falls of a goat doesn't mean it was a great year for games, I don't know what does.

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coolarman

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Most Forgotten About Game: Titanfall

I would like to throw transistor in that mix.

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cornbredx

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Well said. It's been a pretty good year... for video games. A strange year (not the strangest, but strange), but still pretty good.

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ShadowSwordmaster

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It's been a rocky road for games this year but there were still games that were good.

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Aetheldod

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I agree this was a great year specially for RPGs of both the AAA and the indi side.

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deactivated-6050ef4074a17

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I think many of the people who complain about 2014 as a video game year probably rely on the AAA, big-budget, major releases, many of which this year did range from disappointing, to totally average, to outright busted. But there has been a treasure trove of smaller and more niche stuff that has definitely knocked it out of the park this year, and even an old staple or two (Call of Duty, for instance) that managed to be better than expected.

This has been a great year for fans of niche genres and series, a particularly great year if you're a Nintendo fan, but a not-so-great year for people who depend too much of EA/Activision/Ubisoft and even Sony and Microsoft's first party output for the most part. People who find themselves disappointed with their standard gaming go-tos should try broadening their horizons a bit and they will be surprised at the quality out there.

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Hunter5024

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@marokai said:

I think many of the people who complain about 2014 as a video game year probably rely on the AAA, big-budget, major releases, many of which this year did range from disappointing, to totally average, to outright busted. But there has been a treasure trove of smaller and more niche stuff that has definitely knocked it out of the park this year, and even an old staple or two (Call of Duty, for instance) that managed to be better than expected.

This has been a great year for fans of niche genres and series, a particularly great year if you're a Nintendo fan, but a not-so-great year for people who depend too much of EA/Activision/Ubisoft and even Sony and Microsoft's first party output for the most part. People who find themselves disappointed with their standard gaming go-tos should try broadening their horizons a bit and they will be surprised at the quality out there.

As someone who loves Indie and Nintendo stuff I could not disagree more.

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bluefish

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#18  Edited By bluefish

No, clearly things are not on fire but when the three best things I played this year (Metro Redux, P.T. and Far Cry 4) were: a re-release, a demo-thing, and a something-very-similar-to-Far-Cry-3-from-two-years-ago, I don't think it was a banner year.

I would LOVE to play Bayonetta 2 though. And it hurts that I can't.

I even feel like the indi scene failed to blow me away... Transistor was the only standout I did play and it fell short of what I was hoping for. Still pretty darn good though.

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SirFork

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While not the greatest year in gaming it was still pretty good, had some good Triple A games and tons of awesome indies. Looking forward to 2015.

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loafofgame

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#20  Edited By loafofgame

Pro tip: live in the past. Games from 2013 and further back are filthy cheap and with little investment come accordingly adjusted expectations. Besides, most bugs are fixed and all dlc is put together in GOTY editions for far less than the original price. Even mediocre games become good experiences, because they only cost a few dollars. I don't think I've played a 2014 game this year. Having friends that don't play videogames also helps. No peer pressure. I'll stop with the questionable logic now.

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GaspoweR

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I still don't get why people are saying this is a down year especially when there were great games that came out this year. Most of them weren't big budget releases though but it was still a pretty good year.

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Honkalot

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This year felt like the year of huge hype titles just popping and losing air. I still feel there were about as many good games released as is usual in a year though!

But for instance Titanfall - I thought it could be sort of a CoD killer. But it showed up and seemed to just disappear. Destiny too, massive hype, and then had huge flaws. Unity I never bothered to buy after all the problems became clear, had been looking forward to that for a long time before it got released. Watch Dogs seemed greatly disappointing in the end. Etc.

I think Dragon Age: Inquisition is the only big title this year that I actually liked a great deal in the end, despite its flaws.

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Sanryd

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Overall I can't tell if this year being disappointing was the games or me, but in between the games I absolutely adored (Hearthstone, Dark Souls II, Dragon Age) it's been so dry.

I was pumped for Shadows of Mordor, but it was such a let down that I reeeally wish Steam had a return policy. Also I just started The Crew, but all that resulted in was a re-download of Burnout: Paradise. At least that was free with my new video card.

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lordwafflemoose

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#24  Edited By lordwafflemoose

I know theres people feeling a lot of sour grapes but I felt this year had some pretty awesome games. I didn't get to play all of then but the ones I did where fun and brilliant at what they did.To name a few

  1. Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor- The new fresh Assassins Creed game I was looking for and then some!
  2. Alien: Isolation- A good Alien game, A GOOD Alien game, A GOOD EFFIN ALIEN GAME!
  3. Dragon Age: Inquistion - Bioware GOTY
  4. Bayonetta 2- Oh man, theres some crazy shit going on in that game. if only I a Wii U
  5. South Park: The Stick of Truth - The funniest game I've played in a decade. Also some things can never be unseen. Never summon Mr. Slave!
  6. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare- It had a surprisingly good dumb explosive campaign and fun multiplayer.
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Oldirtybearon

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#25  Edited By Oldirtybearon

@marokai said:

I think many of the people who complain about 2014 as a video game year probably rely on the AAA, big-budget, major releases, many of which this year did range from disappointing, to totally average, to outright busted. But there has been a treasure trove of smaller and more niche stuff that has definitely knocked it out of the park this year, and even an old staple or two (Call of Duty, for instance) that managed to be better than expected.

This has been a great year for fans of niche genres and series, a particularly great year if you're a Nintendo fan, but a not-so-great year for people who depend too much of EA/Activision/Ubisoft and even Sony and Microsoft's first party output for the most part. People who find themselves disappointed with their standard gaming go-tos should try broadening their horizons a bit and they will be surprised at the quality out there.

I understand the sentiment, but I have to disagree with it. I thought there were a lot of quality releases this year in the AAA field including Dark Souls 2, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Dragon Age 3, and Thief. I'm probably forgetting a lot of other games but there were definitely gems out there this year.

Also I agree that smaller titles like Shadowrun Dragonfall and Wasteland 2 deserve a ton of recognition for their contributions this year. I just don't think AAA gaming is all doom and gloom when they're becoming more specialized instead of broad-appeal juggernauts. Thief is probably the biggest reason I say this. Fans of stealth games love it, everyone else hated it. As it should be.

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schlorgan

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theacidskull

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@marokai said:

I think many of the people who complain about 2014 as a video game year probably rely on the AAA, big-budget, major releases, many of which this year did range from disappointing, to totally average, to outright busted. But there has been a treasure trove of smaller and more niche stuff that has definitely knocked it out of the park this year, and even an old staple or two (Call of Duty, for instance) that managed to be better than expected.

This has been a great year for fans of niche genres and series, a particularly great year if you're a Nintendo fan, but a not-so-great year for people who depend too much of EA/Activision/Ubisoft and even Sony and Microsoft's first party output for the most part. People who find themselves disappointed with their standard gaming go-tos should try broadening their horizons a bit and they will be surprised at the quality out there.

I understand the sentiment, but I have to disagree with it. I thought there were a lot of quality releases this year in the AAA field including Dark Souls 2, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Dragon Age 3, and Thief. I'm probably forgetting a lot of other games but there were definitely gems out there this year.

Also I agree that smaller titles like Shadowrun Dragonfall and Wasteland 2 deserve a ton of recognition for their contributions this year. I just don't think AAA gaming is all doom and gloom when they're becoming more specialized instead of broad-appeal juggernauts. Thief is probably the biggest reason I say this. Fans of stealth games love it, everyone else hated it. As it should be.

I loved Thief in terms of gameplay but I really thought the performance and story was horrible.

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Oldirtybearon

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@theacidskull: The story is absolutely forgettable and the performances elicit a big old shrug from me.

But man, trying to pick the lock on a safe while the homeowner is walking around the room without getting seen? That's a hell of a rush.

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theacidskull

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@theacidskull: The story is absolutely forgettable and the performances elicit a big old shrug from me.

But man, trying to pick the lock on a safe while the homeowner is walking around the room without getting seen? That's a hell of a rush.

Definitely agreed on that front, I found the gameplay to be an absolute blast. I specifically found the catacomb/cave parts with the PRIMAL monsters intense, especially since these freaks are indestructible unless you have some fire related weapon.

I just wish the story had been better.

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deactivated-6050ef4074a17

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@oldirtybearon: I loved Dark Souls 2 as much as anyone, but I'm not sure how "AAA, big budget, major release" it really is. I'm sure Bandai Namco would like us to think it is, considering their bigger marketing campaign for it, but let's not get crazy. I mean, I don't really think our sentiments are all that irreconcilable. South Park was developed by Obsidian, and Thief sort of slipped in to a tepid critical and sales response. I mean, you even sort of implied that it was niche "as it should be."

Like I said, I think it was a pretty middling year for the major players in the biz. A good year for the rainbow coalition of folks with niche interests, not so much for the folks who were really looking forward to Watch Dogs and Destiny knocking it out of the park.

Obviously at some point all of this is subjective, but I think it's fair to say the folks who come out of this year happy were happy with the games that aren't exactly multi-million sellers, and the Jeffs of the world are bummed out because the first person shooters and open world games this year were totally rote.

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Bollard

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You didn't mention Shovel Knight.

Everyone needs to play Shovel Knight.

This. Apart from that, this year sucked. It sucked so much I started playing card games. Physical card games. #thanksvideogames

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ateatree

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#32  Edited By ateatree

Calling out Xillia 2, Putty Squad, and Trials Fusion in the OP left me wondering if this thread was meant to be a joke, but I'm going to assume the answer is no and address the topic.

The major publishers stumbled this year. The hardware manufacturers and their first party divisions had pretty up-and-down years. If you get most of your news about what's coming out from release calendars on sites like this one, then yes - you were probably disappointed with "most" of what came out this year.

On the other hand, the overall output of the industry remains higher than ever, since this relative effort and absolute costs of entry are as low as ever (just don't expect to make a million dollars back if you don't have that much to put in in the first place.) Some of my favorite games of the year were Steam joints that hit to little fanfare: Roundabout, Wings of Vi, and Jazzpunk are good exemplars of that category, to my mind. I don't know if the PC port of Dead Rising 3 counts in that way, but I also had a lot of fun with that and am glad it's not an Xbox One exclusive anymore (even if I did end up buying one of those this year.)

Some thoughts on the recommendations made so far:

Shovel Knight: Yup, absolutely. Play it now.

Transistor: I feel like one of the things that made Bastion's reach so large (aside from the fact that it came out of "nowhere" and was amazing) was how many platforms it was released on. Transistor hasn't tried to do this yet - is there an exclusivity deal with Sony for non-computer releases at the moment? Nevertheless, great game.

Dragon Age: Inquisition: I feel very strangely about this game. I haven't finished it yet, so my thoughts aren't so conclusive, but I enjoyed DA:O *and* 2 (I know, I know) -- so the fact that I haven't really enjoyed DA:I yet fifteen-to-twenty hours in is disquieting to me. That said, the MMO structure of the game just feels weird for a franchise that has historically been so strongly dictated by plot and character progression.

Bayonetta 2: Yuuuuup. Brought back all the wonderful feelings I had playing Bayonetta several times in a row back at release. Probably my GOTY, even if I don't like it *quite* as much as the first one.

Divinity: Original Sin: Maybe DA:I bummed me out because this game was so good as a traditional CRPG, much like Dragon Age Origins was. It did most of the things DA:O did even better, with a strong focus on player choice, multiple ways to finish/fail most quests, and highly tactical and rewarding combat. Top 3 game of the year for me, for sure.

And a quick bonus, since I now own every console/handheld for this generation -- here's the best exclusive/semi-exclusive title I played on every platform this year:

3DS: Bravely Default (runner-up: Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth)

Vita: Freedom Wars (runner-up: Tales of Hearts R (I liked it a lot better than Xillia 2, I'll say that much.))

X1: Sunset Overdrive (runner-up: D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die (and come on, if you have an X1 and DON'T own this game... what're you doing? Shame on you.), Forza Horizon 2)

PS4: inFamous: Second Son (runner-up: MLB 14: The Show. Yup, slow year for PS4 exclusives. I spent way too much time playing Destiny on PS4, though.)

WiiU: the aforementioned Bayonetta 2 (runner-up: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. Runner-up-runner-up: Super Smash Bros. Wii U)

PC: Divinity: Original Sin (runner-up: Massive Chalice or Crypt of the NecroDancer)

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PrivodOtmenit

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@privodotmenit: Nope. Thief.

No way. Thief wasn't hyped as the big almighty COD killer and the revolution of FPS. That didn't turn out very well for Titanfall and all the press called it quits after 2 weeks as well.

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ShaggE

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Sure, the games are alright... but what about the kids? (whoa-oh!)

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ateatree

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@shagge said:

Sure, the games are alright... but what about the kids? (whoa-oh!)

Jamie had a chance, man I thought she'd see/

instead she ran out and bought Destiny/

paid a fortune for the Season Pass/

and played in bed until her ass was grass

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ShaggE

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@ateatree: Oh man, now I have to do it:

In January the future was so bright

The release calendar was looking really tight

And the new consoles looked so damn neat

Tomb Raider's re-release could not be beat

Now the game landscape is cracked and torn

We're all just looking forward to Bloodborne

How can one French studio

Fuck up so many times?

Yves Guillemot

Fix Assassins Creed

Do we all

Have to plead

It is hard

Hard to see

Putting trust

In Ubi

GO!

Destiny had a chance

Well, it really did

A loot driven FPS to please the kids

As for Titanfall

It only had one job

To be Call of Duty but with big robots

Destiny had no content to make it shine

People dropped Titanfall in record time

What the hell is going on?

Can't blame those failures on Ubi

Not to keep

On Ubi

But seriously

Fix AC

That's fucked up

Remember 3?

At least Far Cry

Is nifty

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yukoasho

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@marokai said:

@oldirtybearon: I loved Dark Souls 2 as much as anyone, but I'm not sure how "AAA, big budget, major release" it really is. I'm sure Bandai Namco would like us to think it is, considering their bigger marketing campaign for it, but let's not get crazy. I mean, I don't really think our sentiments are all that irreconcilable. South Park was developed by Obsidian, and Thief sort of slipped in to a tepid critical and sales response. I mean, you even sort of implied that it was niche "as it should be."

Like I said, I think it was a pretty middling year for the major players in the biz. A good year for the rainbow coalition of folks with niche interests, not so much for the folks who were really looking forward to Watch Dogs and Destiny knocking it out of the park.

Obviously at some point all of this is subjective, but I think it's fair to say the folks who come out of this year happy were happy with the games that aren't exactly multi-million sellers, and the Jeffs of the world are bummed out because the first person shooters and open world games this year were totally rote.

I think this is more a question of "what the fuck does AAA even mean?" It's obvious that a lot of time, effort and money went into Dark Souls 2, but there are as many people who will or won't call it "AAA." Honestly, I think the phrase is loaded, and I grow more and more loathe to use it, as it doesn't seem to have a meaning to anyone anymore, other than "games the hipsters like to bash."

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JamMasterMango

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#38  Edited By JamMasterMango

I'm also glad we got (arguably) the best produced video game award show, to date, this year. Here's to hoping we model 'the Keighley's' for next year's show, and beyond..