Poll: 2011 GOTY?

[tigermilk]

LA Noire. Well I am hoping that it turns out to be another GTA IV not another RDR (such a fucking dissapointment).

Interesting. I'm at least as excited for the game as you are no doubt, but I would flip flop the two games there.

But opinionslol am I right?

Yes, I think I am in a minority preferring GTA IV to RDR, different strokes for different folks I suppose. I think LA Noire may push me over the edge and I will no longer be a Rockstar fanboi and just a GTA fanboy (or "canonised" GTA fanboi) as I didn't like TLaTD, TBoGT or Chinatown Wars anywhere as near as much as GTA IV.

 

[Spencer Petersen]

Your point is broken.
I am part of that consumer base, am I the only one that wants something interesting in a game?

Does it bother you that 90% of all the games available on the 360 can be described as either "sequel" or "clone" or "rushed out cash-in"

I Mean look at the quarter 1 predictions for Game of the Year

Portal 2=Sequel
Minecraft=knockoff
Mass Effect 3=knockoff and sequel
Uncharted 3=knockoff and sequel of a knockoff
Killzone 3=knockoff and sequel
Dragon Age 2=sequel and rushed out cash-in
Battlefield 3=sequel and knockoff

even the more popular wright-ins

L.A. Noire= knockoff
Skyrim= sequel
Batman Arkham City= Sequel
All of them are sequels except for Catherine and I honestly couldn't tell you what that game's about. I'm looking forward to playing it.

Do you get what I'm saying?
The games industry has stagnated and lots of the blame lies on the CoD's and the GTA's and the GoW's.
I just want to see something new for fucks sake!

Some of the best games out there are sequels, as they have the benefit of refined gameplay and already defined world and characters.
Super Mario Bros 3, Legend of Zelda: OoT, Fallout 2, Morrowind, COD4, Diablo 2, Warcraft 3, Street Fighter 2 (I think), Metal Gear 3, Final Fantasy 7 etc.
If you want a new IP, expect a lot of trial and error and blind faith before its gameplay can stand up to the other stuff.

The problem is when you judge the games industry like the movie industry. The more franchise oriented setup has its benefits, as the studios don't have to keep reinventing the wheel when they make their new idea. A lot of modern movies are spiritual sequels, which siphon the originality and get none of the established characters and world that accelerates the pacing.

Who's talking about movies?

The sequels I'm ripping on are the identical sequels.
Wasn't OoT the first 3D Zelda game?
Plus I'm reluctant to call anything with an engaging story a knockoff. For instance Mass Effect and Gears of War play similarly if they're muted. But the writing and story in Mass Effect keep it interesting while the writing and story in Gears of War induce vomiting.

If one of those CoD knockoffs had writing worth giving a shit about it would be worth playing.
But for all the thought those devs put in to their game's story you might as well just mute the dialog and play "America Fuck Yeah!" in the background.

Some of the best games are sequels. Technically Prince of Persia Sands of Time is just a reboot.
I don't care about how recycled any particular IP is just so long as there's INNOVATION or IMPROVEMENT

There is none of either in any of the myriad of CoD knockoffs and sequels that have ever come out. and yet they consistently make more money than god.

I'm just saying that its not absurd that GOTY contenders are mostly sequels. Yes a lot of clones do well in the market but its not a viable long term strategy for a franchise. Im just saying don't write off a game just because of its sequel status.

And the fact that OoT was a sequel made it stronger as a game. It didn't have to go in depth about the mythology of the world characters and items, because people were familiar with the similar style of the previous games. The combat also drew from the earlier games with the hack n slashing with various ranged weapons and items, just in a 3rd dimension. If OoT was the first in the series then people would feel alienated by the strange world and people without the benefit of previous experience to help them.

And about CoD ripoffs they never win GOTY because they never develop a devoted fanbase. Strong games win GOTY because they distinguish themselves from the pack. Remember that the core of an industry has never really pushed for innovation, regardless of what that industry is. The companies that make games that push the bar higher and go further than what was thought possible lead the industry, and I don't think we need to worry about them.

OP: If Valve keeps Portal 2 updated with new levels and features then it is a strong contender.
ME3 isn't impressing me so far. If they can shed the antiquated 2 bar morality system, find a way to tell a story without taking a text dump on you and develop a combat system that actually evolves over the course of the game it might be worth trying.
Minecraft shouldn't get GOTY as its essentially a level editor without a game but it deserves an honorable mention (if it gets released this year). Probably LEOTY material
Uncharted3: No PS3, cant play
Killzone3: Absolutely average Fps from the looks of it. But alas, no PS3
DragonAge2: Average Bioware game with the story and gameplay segregated into completely different games as usual, just with less options. An improvement over DA:O, but only because that game sucked.
Battlefeild3: A game being marketed as a CoD killer that looks to subscribe to the same faults that plague that franchise. BFBC2 was essentially CoD with big maps, clunky movement and dirty visuals. Maybe worthwhile if it harkens back to the BF2 and BF:Vietnam days, Start by axing the inevitably awful single player.
LA:Noire: Awesome looking so far, but will make or break depending on how well it plays and how rewarding the gameplay is. Looks really fun, but I'm reserving my judgement.
Skyrim: Probably the more attractive of the options. Oblivion was a load of fun and had a lot of room for improvement. I would consider it an unpolished diamond. Looks average on the outside but it has a solid core with great depth (as opposed to Bioware's proverbial polished turd). Bethesda always focuses on core gameplay and leaves room for modding, another thing which is in short supply these days.
Arkham City: If they fix the problems with Arkham Asylum (mainly the boss fights) then this is a solid niche stealth-beat-em-up winner here.
Other contenders:
Brink: Looks to recapture the more floaty and smooth running FPS days with a focus on teamwork and objectives over just deathmatch and its variants. Great customization, cool art style, great premise. But what will make or break is how balanced it is and if the community can get a foothold.
Diablo3: If its released this year (I would bet on a Christmas release). It looks great, and if it can capture the fun action and pillaging feel of the second game with the smooth flow and control of modern technology it could very well be the most addictive and fun to play game of our time.

 

[Spencer Petersen]

There is a reason the Call of Duty formula is so successful - it's incredibly popular and addictive. I agree with you that most modern shooters feel too similar but there is a reason for it. It pretty much guarantees good sales and reviews (note I said good not great).

And fair enough if you don't like GTA but you have to admit that they must be doing something right if they have been successful enough to spawn as many games as they have

It's successful because it's popular, and that makes it okay?
It's fraud.

I do admit that my dislike for Modern Warfare was personal.
My dislike for all the IDENTICAL FUCKING CLONES are objective and unbiased.

You payed $60 for Modern Warfare. Fine.
Then you (maybe not you but somebody) payed $60 for MW 2, Battlefield Bad Company, Home-front, Black Ops, Killzone, Metal of Honor and a million others that I'm forgetting.
Those games are all identical down to the chest high walls, the five hour campaign, the rail shooter vehicle sections, the linear level design, the pop-up-shooting-gallery levels, the broken multyplayer.

And no one notices this!
Or if they do they don't do anything about it.

Developer: "You like Modern Warfare. Can I have $60?"
Player: "Do I have to pay you to keep playing Modern Warfare?"
Developer: "No, but I do want your money."
Player: "Well...okay."
Developer: "Can we charge you again every year from now on?"
Player: "That sounds fair."

The Call of Duty franchise and all of it's bastard clones need to die and you know what?
That won't effect your ability to play Modern Warfare in the slightest.

I will say that the worst game so far has to be Homefront. No other game subscribes to that absolutely most average and soul-crushing blandness as much as Homefront, and no one has been more bitchy about its sub-par reception than its creators. Maybe not the worst technically, but the worst precedent for modern gaming.

 

[Drummodino]

The games you cited are generally successful(or in the case of the non-released come from successful lines) and what people want.

The games I cited are all similar to one game that was popular and people are stupid enough to pay for it every single time it's offered.
Is Battlefield Bad Company 2 better than Modern Warfare? No. Did everyone buy B:BC 2 anyway? Yes.
Guaranteed profits for minimum effort inevitably leads to stagnation, which is what we're seeing now.

Just because it's not what you or your minority like doesn't make it bad.

I think it's bad for the entire human race when only a minority wants innovation.
I know we're only talking about videogames but if an entire generation gets programed to seek out repetition and stagnation for the sake of entertainment human evolution is doomed.

find a source that is putting out the games you like, Going off on the industry and painting them as bad people, and by extension the consumers too, just makes you look bad.

Yes bashing someone for heartless profiteering is ridiculous.
Those poor misunderstood Enron executives.

I will admit that I've been spoiled by high production values. Seeking out independently developed games just doesn't seem all that appealing to me. I like high resolution graphics and Dolby sound and that third dimension thing.

Epic Games or Infinity Ward should just give some Indy developers $1,000,000,000 and tell them to spruce up their games. I mean they can afford it.

They are here to please as many people as possible. You aren't always going to be in that group.

You honestly believe that they're trying to please anyone?
They're not just trying to make as much money as possible?

What is the point of a business? I'm pretty sure it's to make money, not to please people.

Oh and btw I bought Bad Company and loved it. Did I buy BC2? No but I believe that I would still enjoy it immensely. The studios cater to the mainstream audience, who will buy and love these games even if they are very similar to the previous editions. They aren't gonna care about the minority like you who rage just because they fail to innovate sufficiently for you. I would love it if they did but it just isn't gonna happen so stop whining.

 

[Raistlinhawke]

I hope for LA Noire
I expect Uncharted 3
I dread Dragon Age 2

 

[Mikeyfell]

Oh and btw I bought Bad Company and loved it. Did I buy BC2? No but I believe that I would still enjoy it immensely. The studios cater to the mainstream audience, who will buy and love these games even if they are very similar to the previous editions. They aren't gonna care about the minority like you who rage just because they fail to innovate sufficiently for you. I would love it if they did but it just isn't gonna happen so stop whining.

But you don't see a problem with that?
I find it impossible to believe that people everywhere can't see that this is a bad thing.
It's not only lack of innovation they're not improving anything either.
They have looking and shooting down perfectly.
But they never moved on to improve other things, the obvious ones are tings like story and level design, but they never update that stuff.

How long will it be before this blows over, 5 years? 10 years? Will Modern Warfare 26 break all previously held sales records? How long until the only games left are WoW and COD?

 

[Aptspire]

Considering that only 3 of those are already out, and that no one yet knows how ME3 will play out, Portal 2 wins it so far

 

[LetalisK]

The games I cited are all similar to one game that was popular and people are stupid enough to pay for it every single time it's offered.
Is Battlefield Bad Company 2 better than Modern Warfare? No. Did everyone buy B:BC 2 anyway? Yes.
Guaranteed profits for minimum effort inevitably leads to stagnation, which is what we're seeing now.

You mean people who enjoyed one game enjoyed another game that was similar to it? Clearly those people are stooges, because, after all, why would people seek out a formula they know they enjoy? It makes as little sense as people liking certain kinds of music. It's crazy.

I think it's bad for the entire human race when only a minority wants innovation.
I know we're only talking about videogames but if an entire generation gets programed to seek out repetition and stagnation for the sake of entertainment human evolution is doomed.

Again, you're assuming that people who enjoy these games wouldn't also welcome innovation.

Yes bashing someone for heartless profiteering is ridiculous.
Those poor misunderstood Enron executives.

False equivilency, try again.

You honestly believe that they're trying to please anyone?
They're not just trying to make as much money as possible?

Uh....both? Those two things kind of feed into each other.

 

[Zergadooful]

Deus Ex or Skyrim IMO.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

SKYRIM MUTHA FUCKA!!!

WEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAH!!!!!

.......

Ok, I'm calm now.

I really, really think it's going to be TES 5. The trailer just looks so monumentally incredible.

Mass Effect 3 is very possible, but let's see how Bioware does after DA2.

 

[LetalisK]

Edit2: Meh, I wouldn't feel right not answering the rest of your post.

Mario games are a stile but only Galaxy 2 and New Mario Bros Wii are copies.
Homefront, BC 2, Black Ops those are copies of Modern Warfare.

They have similar control structures, environments, color palettes, etc, but they are not copies. I'm beginning to doubt you've even played these games, which, really, if you did it would be very hypocritical for supporting an industry that makes the "garbage" you rage against. You'd be part of your problem.

Read your own comment before you post it. What was the last innovative title that sold well.
Was it on the PS2? Was it Limbo? Did it come out in Japan? The majority of the gamer market resist innovation like the plague.

Or maybe they're looking for innovation that is actually fun instead of innovation for innovation's sake.

Have you not read the news about Activision? Their business model for producing sequels is called "Hit it and quit it" They followed that up by saying that CoD is too popular to die out the same way that Guitar Hero did. They're cheating you and they're not even trying to hide it.

........

So on what ever planet you live on the purpose of Homefront was to make people happy?
It wasn't to hitch a ride on the Modern Warfare gravy train?

Again, for the millionth time, if those games don't end up making enough people happy, they do not sell well enough. If they don't sell well enough, then their line is killed and the company moves on to something else(Guitar Hero, for example). The fact that games of a certain theme keep selling decently shows that enough people are enjoying them to continue production on them, for the time being.

"False equivalency, try again." is a sentence fragment and it's spelled wrong. So you're dumb on top of being wrong.

You have granted me much laughter. Edit: Actually, you're right, it was a typo. Though, the fact that you use that and your insult in a desperate attempt to grasp at straws to try to appear correct just proves to me that you know you're wrong since you evidently have nothing better to say. I can see now that you are chained to a narcissistic sense of entitlement and any further discussion is pointless. I hope for your sake you free yourself one day and expand your considerations beyond just yourself. Other gamers do exist and the industry doesn't revolve around you or your minority opinion. I'll leave you to your futile raging while myself and the rest of the gamers go enjoy ourselves.

Edit: Oh no, I made another typo! What ever shall I do?

 

[brunothepig]

So far I'd say Portal 2, and I don't see that changing... But I suppose if Skyrim is mind-blowingly amazing. I doubt it, but you never know.
Oh, no Crysis 2? That was my GOTY until Portal 2, and it's still my runner up, and one of my favourite games.

 

[Mikeyfell]

It may be disheartening to you to learn that I'm actually enjoying this little exchange

Edit2: Meh, I wouldn't feel right not answering the rest of your post.

Mario games are a stile but only Galaxy 2 and New Mario Bros Wii are copies.
Homefront, BC 2, Black Ops those are copies of Modern Warfare.

They have similar control structures, environments, color palettes, etc, but they are not copies. I'm beginning to doubt you've even played these games, which, really, if you did it would be very hypocritical for supporting an industry that makes the "garbage" you rage against. You'd be part of your problem.

I actually have a friend who's part of the problem and he basically forced me to play them all back to back. So I have played them all without buying any of them.

Read your own comment before you post it. What was the last innovative title that sold well.
Was it on the PS2? Was it Limbo? Did it come out in Japan? The majority of the gamer market resist innovation like the plague.

Or maybe they're looking for innovation that is actually fun instead of innovation for innovation's sake.

How would they know if they don't buy it?
Innovation doesn't sell so developers don't innovate. It's like the chicken or the egg puzzle.

Have you not read the news about Activision? Their business model for producing sequels is called "Hit it and quit it" They followed that up by saying that CoD is too popular to die out the same way that Guitar Hero did. They're cheating you and they're not even trying to hide it.

........

So on what ever planet you live on the purpose of Homefront was to make people happy?
It wasn't to hitch a ride on the Modern Warfare gravy train?

Again, for the millionth time, if those games don't end up making enough people happy, they do not sell well enough. If they don't sell well enough, then their line is killed and the company moves on to something else(Guitar Hero, for example). The fact that games of a certain theme keep selling decently shows that enough people are enjoying them to continue production on them, for the time being.

Trust me, I would love to believe that, but Modern Warfare gets sales so that's what every developer and their dog is making. Then the people who buy it find out it's a worse version of Modern Warfare but they already payed for it.

If you added up all the points against the Modern Warfare clones it would definitely out way the good points, but people still buy it, no matter what it's called.

"False equivalency, try again." is a sentence fragment and it's spelled wrong. So you're dumb on top of being wrong.

You have granted me much laughter. Edit: Actually, you're right, it was a typo. Though, the fact that you use that and your insult in a desperate attempt to grasp at straws to try to appear correct just proves to me that you know you're wrong since you evidently have nothing better to say. I can see now that you are chained to a narcissistic sense of entitlement and any further discussion is pointless. I hope for your sake you free yourself one day and expand your considerations beyond just yourself. Other gamers do exist and the industry doesn't revolve around you or your minority opinion. I'll leave you to your futile raging while myself and the rest of the gamers go enjoy ourselves.

Edit: Oh no, I made another typo! What ever shall I do?

I love the Escapist.
It's trolls beat out the trolls on 4chan any day of the week.
They do this really fun thing where part of their argument is so FUCKING stupid, invalid, wrong and annoying that you just can't help but troll right back by pointing out their idiocy to them and/or throwing in an insult for good measure.

Then inevitably, when they re-quote you they'll snip out as much context as humanly possible so no third parties know what's going on. and they'll use some big words just to make them selves seem all edumicated.

Don't get discouraged I've done it too.

So yes perhaps comparing people who commit fraud to people who famously committed fraud on a massive scale may have been harsh. The comparison I was trying to make between the people who sell the same game over and over, and the people who artificially inflated the price of electricity is this: they both tried to make as much money as possible with out any empathy for the people they're getting it from.

So there was no "Grasping at straws" happening there. I did have something better to say (which was snipped from the comment).

just proves to me that you know you're wrong

This is my personal favorite.
"You said I was wrong after I said you were wrong, which proves to me that you know you're wrong."
Dude, I love it. I consider this a success.

 

[LetalisK]

edit: NM. There's no point anymore. Moving on.

 

[waive]

Skyrim, in every way.

 

[Kayhoff]

Brink for sure, if its half as good as it looks like it will be.

 

[Racecarlock]

Well, my favorite released title so far is portal 2. Best dialogue, best learning curve, best combat style (remember when you poured repulsion gel on the turrets?), and best ending i've seen in a game yet. It retains its style and at the same time keeps it fresh and takes it to the best it can ever get. Keep your skyrims and your massive effects and your battlefields and your cop dramas. All I need is Glados.

 

[Rishtaka]

Either Heroes of Might and Magic VI or DOTA 2.

I've got high hopes for both of them so as long as one is good I'll be happy this year. Also pre-ordering on Steam has never been cheaper, loving this Australian dollar buying $1.10 American.

 

[Aphex Demon]

Battlefield 3 or Skyrim, they both look fucking awesome.

 

[Still Life]

My GOTY for 2010 was Amnesia, followed closely by Mass Effect 2.

Portal 2 is a pretty solid contender this year. I'm also looking at ME3 (my most anticipated), Rage (new id IP) and BF3. I think a worthy mention should go to the new Elder Scrolls as it looks fantastic. I thought Crysis 2 was a great game, but wasted some potential in certain areas.

Another title that people should keep their eyes on is Sword of the Stars 2.