It seems like in order to have a game of the year edition, they would need to receive a game of the year edition. So how do games such as Two worlds 1 & 2, and Dead Island justify their GOTY editions?

By earning them?

It seems like in order to have a game of the year edition, they would need to receive a game of the year edition. So how do games such as Two worlds 1 & 2, and Dead Island justify their GOTY editions?

You mean a game of the year award or something like that? I don't know. They are games and they did come out during a year. The truth is they probably just want to resell the the game with DLC included and decided to just pick that title since people know what it means and it sounds prestigious.

I think pretty much every game released has been considered by at least a few people to be their game of the year.

There are enough smaller gaming sites/blogs that chances are, somewhere out there, their game received "Game of the Year". It's usually nothing more than a convenient excuse to repackage the same game they previously sold and include any DLC they released.

They receive GOTY editions because the publisher decided the game needs another print cycle to sell more copies, but with something to differentiate it from the original version.

Because who the hell really checks if this game truly was a GOTY at any publication? It's not like you scrutinize a bottle of Heinz when it says "Best Ketchup in the World".

Its original meaning has been lost. At this point Game of the Year Edition is just the term for a release with all the DLC on disc.

@tankintheair315 said:

It seems like in order to have a game of the year edition, they would need to receive a game of the year edition. So how do games such as Two worlds 1 & 2, and Dead Island justify their GOTY editions?

GotY edition is just a better name for them to use over the "We Want More Money" Edition.

@wemibelec90 said:

@tankintheair315 said:

It seems like in order to have a game of the year edition, they would need to receive a game of the year edition. So how do games such as Two worlds 1 & 2, and Dead Island justify their GOTY editions?

GotY edition is just a better name for them to use over the "We Want More Money" Edition.

I guess, but at least in my head it sounds like you're being overly cynical. It kinda sucks for games, when movies get multiple releases (theater, DVD, cable) to make money, whereas games are often at the mercy of the sales of the first month and that's it. GOTY editions allow video games the chance to get another crack at bat (I've bought a few GOTY releases I might have not thought of otherwise). I ended up saying exactly what you did, but you're version sounded more demeaning :P

I think it is to avoid using the term "complete" edition because you are not certain you are absolutely not going to put out more DLC. And in some cases you need something to throw in to make a more attractive product SKU (maybe a straight price drop is unattractive) or leaving an overtly intimidating amount of DLC at time of initial purchase.

In this case GOTY editions work for that, and if someone does not know any better maybe it fools people who believe marketing quotes. There is sort of a lack of better words to use for it. "Some of the DLC", "This Feels Like a Convenient Increment" and "We Screwed Up the Box Art the First Time" do not exactly roll off the tongue.

What I have always wanted to know is, at a grammatical level, what the hell does that even mean. Is this edition the game of the year, as compared to the first release which was bunk?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't GOTYs entirely unofficial awards? It's not like other media awards, which are far more formal and controlled.

I'm not entirely sure what the story is on that, though. I'm just under the impression that anybody can use the phrase "Game of the Year", even if it's just some basement blog that awarded it, or even if nobody did.

I just take it as shorthand for "Here's the game and some/all of the DLC".

Fallout New Vegas has an "Ultimate Edition" instead of a "GOTY Edition"
I'm really surprised Two World's has a GOTY edition though

@Brendan said:

I guess, but at least in my head it sounds like you're being overly cynical. It kinda sucks for games, when movies get multiple releases (theater, DVD, cable) to make money, whereas games are often at the mercy of the sales of the first month and that's it. GOTY editions allow video games the chance to get another crack at bat (I've bought a few GOTY releases I might have not thought of otherwise). I ended up saying exactly what you did, but you're version sounded more demeaning :P

Not all of them are like that. It just seems like a lot of them come out really quickly nowadays with the pure intent of money-grabbing instead of just being convenient for their customers. I can't really blame them for that mentality, but it still can seem a little sleazy at times.

Most publishers avoid the negative attention by just releasing a "Complete" or "Ultimate" version. Slapping an unmerited GOTY on it is pretty ballsy, but no one is really going to do anything about it.

It's not like an Academy Award where there is only one source to receive one. A Game of the Year award is too nebulous to matter because it's not some kind of standard. Anyone can give one out. I can. Right now. Congratulations Two Worlds 2, you did it.

Alien Ant Farm (remember them?) called their first album Greatest Hits and the second album Anthology. It's a name. Who cares? And secondly, as people have said, those games probably did get GOTY somewhere, or at least are the GOTY to someone. It's not an official title.

"Complete" or "Ultimate" sounds better to me anyway...

Am I just misunderstanding how things work? No game ever "earned" a Goty edition. The company simply chose to release one. "Game of the Year edition" is just part of the product name, nothing more.

Game of the Year edition is such a terrible term that even games who get 50 GOTY awards should find something better to call their repacking editions of games.

A while back I was so infuriated that Dead Island had the nerve to put out a GOTY edition I actually looked up who the hell thought that of all the amazing games that we saw in 2011(Possibly the best year in gaming since '98) that fucking Dead Island sat above them. Turns out it was 'Nuts' and 'Zoo' magazine. If you live in the UK this all suddenly starts to make sense, of course they would.

@TruthTellah: Come on now. Most special edition cases/box art are quite lovely.

@Oldirtybearon said:

@TruthTellah: Come on now. Most special edition cases/box art are quite lovely.

Special editions around release, perhaps, but GOTY editions tend to either be lame or outright atrocious.

I always thought Game of the Year Edition sounded extremely bad, would rather see games use titles like Complete Edition or Ultimate Edition. A lot of games get GOTY rewards from somewhere so it barely means anything anyway.

Money.

@SomeDeliCook said:

Fallout New Vegas has an "Ultimate Edition" instead of a "GOTY Edition"

That's a shame, because Fallout: New Vegas was better than Fallout 3 and should of been somebody's GOTY.

BOOM! *drops mic*

Would you guys have preferred Dead Island re-release to be called "Dave's Eastern Bloc Game Of The Year Edition"?