My Game of the Year

[Virgil]

Best soundtrack? For a game that uses rock songs, I would probably have omitted it. Why not best score instead? Plus the juvenile bullshit that went on in the show was just insulting to pretty much everyone.

Agreed on both counts.

I also think they're fine games, but are they the best games of the entire year, or simply the best games that happen to still be within the narrow window of awareness sported by hardcore gamers like us?

Yes, they are the best games within their respective categories for the entire year. The fact that they happen to have been released the most recently is probably a symptom of the industry release schedule and the inclination to hold the best games back until the holiday season. Here's why:

As far as RPGs go, this was a pretty good year. Odin Sphere and Persona 3 would be my runners up, but they just don't have the same epic feel that Mass Effect does. Eternal Sonata and Blue Dragon were decent games, and high profile, but ultimately a disappointment (hopefully Lost Odyssey makes up for it). And of the other half dozen original games, none really stand out. Mass Effect isn't perfect by any means, but it is a new level of comparison that I will use to measure future games.

The only game that might adjust my ratings that I haven't played is The Witcher - it's on my list, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. My track record with eastern european games is generally pretty poor though, so I feel pretty comfortable even having missed it.

Nomination rules also stipulate that ports and re-releases aren't eligible, but if they were, FFT: War of the Lions would also be fighting for my top choice. It's just that awesome.

Rhythm is even easier. The only real contenders for 2007 are Rock Band, Guitar Hero III, SingStar, DDR Universe, and Boom Boom Rocket. Rock Band easily trumps Guitar Hero III in the guitar area (I'm contemplating dumping my copy on EB at this point), and the overall content and expandability make it better than SingStar. Boom Boom Rocket, though a fun diversion, isn't even in the same league.

That leaves DDR Universe, which is a very difficult comparison (apples to oranges, even) but I'm going to stick with Rock Band simply because it's a) not a complete rehash of previously released titles, and b) rock is better than jpop and techno.

 

[Ian Dorsch]

Nomination rules also stipulate that ports and re-releases aren't eligible, but if they were, FFT: War of the Lions would also be fighting for my top choice. It's just that awesome.

I'd think Jeanne D'Arc would be a pretty competitive choice as well.

 

[Logan Frederick]

Looking at the awards, I'm happy with the outcome of the selection process. The real problem with the Spike TV VGAs is the ceremony and displaying of said awards. I want more David Jaffe and Cliffy B and a little less Tila Tequila.

 

[Virgil]

I'd think Jeanne D'Arc would be a pretty competitive choice as well.

It's not a terrible game, and is definitely one of the better PSP games, but I found the game to wear thin pretty quickly. I think the lack of character development was the biggest thing I missed - I just didn't enjoy their game mechanics.

I might be biased in this area though, just because tactical strategy RPGs are my favorite genre. The direct comparison to the FFT and Disgaea re-releases didn't help - I just can't give much praise to a game when I find several older games in the same genre so much better.

 

[Katana314]

I'm wondering...if I make an utterly tear-dropping, brilliant, incredible, unbeatable game on December 31st, is there any conceivable way for it to win a VGA?

There are a million ways I can think of to fix the awards; not all of them good, but for instance: Say they added a "Runner up" that was always awarded to an underdog game such as Psychonauts or Okami.
Also, I feel they should do away with a SINGULAR game of the year, and just hand it out to each of the genres. Video games aren't quite as easy to compare to each other as movies or music, so I sort of feel that's a bit of an unfair point.
Spike aren't the only ones to do this sort of GOTY stuff, so I'm also anticipating the results of other websites.

 

[ilves7]

Best soundtrack? For a game that uses rock songs, I would probably have omitted it. Why not best score instead? Plus the juvenile bullshit that went on in the show was just insulting to pretty much everyone.

quote]

They just need to make it best ORIGINAL sountrack... solves that problem. I agree giving it to rock band is a cop out.

They should move the awards (as well as making it actually serious) sometime in the new year, that way they can review all games from a calendar year and actually have time to play the ones that were complete at the end of the year.

 

[ErinHoffman]

Must remember to put Russ on the list for GoPets [http://www.gopets.net] DS...

Spike is Spike, and I think it's a good thing for the gaming community that it finds Spike less than palatable. But it's a reality, if a sad one, that by the numbers in terms of console games a lot of people like to a) kill people and b) play football with their gaming consoles. Strangely these aren't gamers. But it's going to get a TV audience specced to that market. The addition of Guitar Heroesque games to that lineup is somewhat of an improvement but still within the same general vicinity.

But at least it bore little resemblance to the Country Music Awards...

 

[Zera]

Wow Russ your a bit bold for proclaiming Viva Pinata. But then again my game of the year was Odin Sphere.

 

[Sylocat]

Still, If we're going to advance the medium, or be taken seriously by the folks who think we're all slavering adolescents, hype-based nomination is going to have to be addressed.

I don't see a difference between hype-based nomination in VGAs and hype-based winning in music awards. Winning any of the flashy pop-music circlejerk awards is ALL about hype and whoring out, it's got nothing to do with talent or luck or anything. I don't see why music is looked on as "a real art form" and games are not.

 

[laikenf]

Come to think of it: F...k those stupid awards! Video games should be a cult thing (like it has always been). I never really had a problem with the gaming industry being low profile, it made gamers feel special ; it's like we had our own "thing" nobody really cared about. Now it's all over the place; what used to be a refuge for some is now a multi million dollar industry with TELEVISED AWARDS and all... I FEEL SO EXPOSED!!!