The Escapist's Game of the Year 2012

[Thor Doomhammer]

Pretty chuffed to see probably my favorite 5 games of the year making up the top 5 of this poll (maybe I'd switch out Dishonored for Diablo III, but it's close enough), and super stoked to see Spec Ops in there. I called all the others making top 5, but I really didn't think Spec Ops would make a dent. I know it was raved about a lot, but I haven't actually met another person who's played it.

Personally went for ME3, because it was the best game I've played since the original Mass Effect. Ignore the ending, it was easily the best game I played all year, include the ending (the original one, not the extended) and it ranks as one of the best games I've played ever. Not going to flamebait by going into exactly why I liked it, but basically all the complaints about how the ending essentially negated every choice you made across 3 games and could actually be interpreted as causing the destruction of Earth and ultimate loss in the war, I felt exactly the same, and laughed my ass off for like 5 minutes straight.

 

[endplanets]

Yay, ME3 gets game of the year (the ending sucked, blah blah blah).

But the rest of the numbers are really weird. Black Ops, Panderia, and Diablo 3 got less than Hotline Miami? Just no. The Escapist needs to change their voting system because this is too off.

 

[orangeban]

Hmm, I'm not terribly surprised by this.

Not how I would have called it though, I probably would have said

1) The Walking Dead
2) Hotline Miami
3) Super Hexagon
4) Little Inferno

But y'know, whatevs, Little Inferno is for all intents and purposes a crap game since it's meant to be a meta-commentary on crap games, so I'm not surprised it wasn't mentioned.

But Super Hexagon deserves way more recognition.

Edit: And by "how I would have called it" I mean how I would have liked it.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

I didn't see much of Mass Effect 3 being discussed nor getting love in the thread as we were voting for top game, I guess many just put aside their disliking of the ME3 ending and just wanted to show their love for the game overall. If it wasn't for that ending, ME3 would hold up on it's own quite well.

As people have been saying, "Silent Majority".

It's not just people putting aside there dislike of ME3's ending aside. I guarantee that there are many people like me that neither disliked or liked the ending of the game. The ending was "meh" and that is middle ground for me.

I thought the other 99.5% of the game was phenomenal. It could also be chalked up to people like me, who don't see the ending as a major/linchpin part that holds the story together. I believe that the journey to the end is the most important part. I found that journey to be amazing, so that is why I voted for it. If the journey doesn't lead to something good or awesome, then that is life; in some cases, no matter what way something is approached, sometimes there will be no way to get a perfect end.

 

[DustyDrB]

This is nothing short of an OUTRAGE!....WHY IS FTL SO LOW ON THE LIST!? I guess it's a good thing I voted for the underdog because apparently it needed the freaking support.

As for ME3...eh...not really sure what to think about it. Haven't played the game in months and I recently deleted all of my save files for all three games because the ending disgusted me that much, but I'm not really angry that other people still like it. Maybe a little disappointed, but I really can't fault them for it.

Well, my Game of the Year got only .71% of the vote. Seriously, people. Play Mark of the Ninja. Such wonderful gameplay.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

Yay, ME3 gets game of the year (the ending sucked, blah blah blah).

But the rest of the numbers are really weird. Black Ops, Panderia, and Diablo 3 got less than Hotline Miami? Just no. The Escapist needs to change their voting system because this is too off.

It's a fair voting system. See list of games, vote for the one you think should get it. The only thing that you can think is too off, is people's opinions, because the system or set up of the vote had nothing to do with what games did better.

Besides, even though CoD games sell so well, they have never been of GOTY material. Also from much talk I have heard in many gaming sectors, Diablo 3 was a big meh of a game and didn't live up to the vast majority of expectations. And finally, considering most of the views of the community on WoW as being an old and dieing MMO, I'm not surprised by it not doing very well, and basically, unless the MMO is the only thing some people play that year, most people aren't going to pick an MMO as the winner, because let's face it, MMOs tend not to be of the quality for GOTY.

 

[FoolKiller]

Congrats to ME3. Personally I would have rather either of the three games after it take the prize. While I found ME3 to be a good game, I liked the better games and stories that Spec Ops, The Walking Dead, and Dishonored had.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Eh, ME3 wasn't all that bad up til the end.
...Well, apart from the multiplayer. That bit was Asshole Central.

Disappointing, and somewhat hypocritical choice, given how we had a solid month of bitching about the game.

 

[crazyrabbits]

Again, the polls made during the controversy proved that there was a majority of people that did not mind the ending, which if you compare it to the number of people who commented (that hated the ending) shows that the people who hated it felt much more compelled to express their outrage than those who didn't.

Oh, really?

http://social.bioware.com/633606/polls/28989

You call a 91% vote for "endings suck" evidence of a "majority of people that didn't mind the ending"? The debate has still raged over the last nine months, and it has no end in sight.

The only thing this poll proved is that there are slightly more people who were willing to overlook the myriad number of flaws throughout the game and upvote it based on a misplaced sense of fan loyalty.

If anything, the controversy has permeated the small number of outlets that (non-ironically) voted ME3 as their GOTY. They (like the other blinded fans) still try to qualify it with the same old "the ending sucked, but the rest of it was brilliant!" response, overlooking the broken fetch quests, borked journal system, bugs and glitches, terrible story beats, etc. I'm happy that Walking Dead got as high as it did - for a new IP, it set the benchmark for moral choices in video games this year.

 

[AnarchistFish]

Predicted this would happen.

Happy this happened.

Brilliant game.

 

[AnarchistFish]

Again, the polls made during the controversy proved that there was a majority of people that did not mind the ending, which if you compare it to the number of people who commented (that hated the ending) shows that the people who hated it felt much more compelled to express their outrage than those who didn't.

Oh, really?

http://social.bioware.com/633606/polls/28989

You call a 91% vote for "endings suck" evidence of a "majority of people that didn't mind the ending"? The debate has still raged over the last nine months, and it has no end in sight.

That doesn't really counter his point. People who disliked the ending are gonna be the ones who both comment over and over about it and the ones who vote in these polls.

And criticising the endings for not being "bright" enough is just dumb. They attempted something different, they didn't completely pull it off, but at least they looked to challenge boundaries and try something new rather than conform to the happily ever after model.

 

[veloper]

Ugh. It could have been worse, ME3 was atleast functional as a third person cover shooter.

It's amusing how the game that helped EA to be called the worst american company, also wins this GOTY. The result is ironic enough to let everything else slide.

TWD did not win and there's actually 3 decent entries in the top 5, so the Escapist community gets a pass.

 

[crazyrabbits]

That doesn't really counter his point. People who disliked the ending are gonna be the ones who both comment over and over about it and the ones who vote in these polls.

We've already had this argument innumerable times, and each time, the people who defend the game come up with the same nonsensical arguments. 65,000 votes in favor of anything, regardless of whether it's right or wrong, and especially when it's the clear majority by a long shot, is a definite indicator where the tastes of the fanbase at large lie.

This was during the time of the "Bioware defense force" - you can bet that if there were such a "majority" of people who liked the game, they would have changed the tide and voted that the endings/game were fine. No such thing happened.

Aside from these scant few GOTY awards (not even from the outlets who really counted in terms of opinion - that is, if people didn't already perceive gaming journalism as a joke), the largest response to the game over the last nine months has been incredibly negative, even from people who liked the game in the first place. You can see it in this topic as well (as I posted before) - even the people who liked the game have to qualify it by saying one part of it was terrible.

They attempted something different, they didn't completely pull it off, but at least they looked to challenge boundaries and try something new rather than conform to the happily ever after model.

Again with the nonsensical "it can't be a happy ending" nonsense. There's nothing wrong with killing the protagonist or destroying the universe - provided it makes sense. There's a reason why story conventions that have been in use for hundreds of years are still regurgitated ad nauseum - they work.

Throwing all of your characterization and plot out the door so you can create an entirely new conflict in the last 15 minutes of the series is objectively bad writing. Creating a story (even a third installment) where the material doesn't give you a clear sense of what's going on, who's who and why any of this is important makes a work muddled. There are numerous other problems with the game beyond the ending, which most fans (if the response online is any indication, and not just this forum) have realized.

It has nothing to do with "challenging boundaries" and everything to do with ending a story in a way that makes sense.

 

[KrystelCandy]

ME3 wasn't even that good... gameplay was okay, but tedious and samey from beginning to end (especially on hardest difficulty), and the writing was downright terrible all the way through, with as usual, the companions being the really interesting part of the game rather than the story itself.

I don't even understand how it got first over Walking Dead... ah well.

That doesn't really counter his point. People who disliked the ending are gonna be the ones who both comment over and over about it and the ones who vote in these polls.

And criticising the endings for not being "bright" enough is just dumb. They attempted something different, they didn't completely pull it off, but at least they looked to challenge boundaries and try something new rather than conform to the happily ever after model.

Most people didn't complain about the endings being bright, it's that the endings were horrifically dark. Bioware was aiming for bittersweet and ended up with a "universe is ruined, everyone is dead" scenario... at least for the stuff before the ending DLC. I wouldn't call bad writing challenging boundaries is all.

 

[AnarchistFish]

That doesn't really counter his point. People who disliked the ending are gonna be the ones who both comment over and over about it and the ones who vote in these polls.

We've already had this argument innumerable times, and each time, the people who defend the game come up with the same nonsensical arguments. 65,000 votes in favor of anything, regardless of whether it's right or wrong, and especially when it's the clear majority by a long shot, is a definite indicator where the tastes of the fanbase at large lie.

yeah no. All it shows is that there was a large backlash. Not whether it was a majority or not. How is that a nonsensical argument?

They attempted something different, they didn't completely pull it off, but at least they looked to challenge boundaries and try something new rather than conform to the happily ever after model.

Again with the nonsensical "it can't be a happy ending" nonsense. There's nothing wrong with killing the protagonist or destroying the universe - provided it makes sense. There's a reason why story conventions that have been in use for hundreds of years are still regurgitated ad nauseum - they work.

Throwing all of your characterization and plot out the door so you can create an entirely new conflict in the last 15 minutes of the series is objectively bad writing. Creating a story (even a third installment) where the material doesn't give you a clear sense of what's going on, who's who and why any of this is important makes a work muddled. There are numerous other problems with the game beyond the ending, which most fans (if the response online is any indication, and not just this forum) have realized.

It has nothing to do with "challenging boundaries" and everything to do with ending a story in a way that makes sense.

I agree. But that's not what the poll said.

 

[tyriless]

Eh, ME3 wasn't all that bad up til the end.
...Well, apart from the multiplayer. That bit was Asshole Central.

Disappointing, and somewhat hypocritical choice, given how we had a solid month of bitching about the game.

I have a theory or two about this. The bitching you are refering to occured throughout the year (which includes that forum that came right at December), and it kept Mass Effect 3 in the forthought of everyone's mind. Those that hated it continued to complain about it, however, for those of us who loved or liked it, we had to put up with the complaints which would come at every single turn. Want to discuss a film on one of Moviebob's forums? There was a nine in ten chance someone was going to crack a joke with ME3 as a punchline. It got old after the first month, and got really old when December came around. Apparenlty, we who enoyed the game couldn't be brow beaten into thinking that it was somehow subpar or mediocre just by tired out memes and the same "the ending sucks" rhetoric. All the negative deconstruction of the internet couldn't erase our favorite moments.

When voting came around, I personally thought it was best game of the year. However, I suspect some, but not all, thought the game got a bad rap, and though they may of liked other games more, these folks wanted to shine off the haters and say, "Yeah, we people liked this game, deal with it,".

As far as ME 3 GOTY win coming from no where, remember the old adage that those costumers who dislike a product are going to complain to five people, while those that enjoyed it are only going to recommend it to two.

 

[Atmos Duality]

I have a theory or two about this. The bitching you are refering to occured throughout the year (which includes that forum that came right at December)...

I'm referring to the most intense bitching, and when most of the arguments were still being made, rather than retread.

...and it kept Mass Effect 3 in the forthought of everyone's mind.

*snip*

As far as ME 3 GOTY win coming from no where, remember the old adage that those costumers who dislike a product are going to complain to five people, while those that enjoyed it are only going to recommend it to two.

You know what, I think you're onto something there.

Summarily:
I guess one could say..."The whining reached critical mass."
How ironic.

 

[Hargrimm]

Seems like a lot of people can't do basic math.

Mass Effect 3 got less that 14% of the vote. That's less than one out of seven.

That means that six out of seven people didn't vote for it.

So how can you in good conscience call it Game of the year, when the grand majority didn't vote for it?

That's just bullshit. This entire poll is bullshit, since none of these games have enough of the vote to be truly called GOTY of the Escapist community. A different system would have made more sense.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Seems like a lot of people can't do basic math.

Mass Effect 3 got less that 14% of the vote. That's less than one out of seven.

That means that six out of seven people didn't vote for it.

So how can you in good conscience call it Game of the year, when the grand majority didn't vote for it?

That's just bullshit. This entire poll is bullshit, since none of these games have enough of the vote to be truly called GOTY of the Escapist community. A different system would have made more sense.

What other kind of system?
This is basic popular vote with no weighting.

That is, unless you want to rig the polls into brackets, which creates its own set of problems.

What you have here is statistically, the more realistic sample you're going to get, love it or hate it.

 

[Hargrimm]

Seems like a lot of people can't do basic math.

Mass Effect 3 got less that 14% of the vote. That's less than one out of seven.

That means that six out of seven people didn't vote for it.

So how can you in good conscience call it Game of the year, when the grand majority didn't vote for it?

That's just bullshit. This entire poll is bullshit, since none of these games have enough of the vote to be truly called GOTY of the Escapist community. A different system would have made more sense.

What other kind of system?
This is basic popular vote with no weighting.

That is, unless you want to rig the polls into brackets, which creates its own set of problems.

What you have here is statistically, the more realistic sample you're going to get, love it or hate it.

How about a ranked system? What about more than one round with elimination?

It is weighted, just not in an obvious way. Most people aren't going to vote for a game they haven't played, so the poll is skewed in favour of the most played games, which tend to be AAA games.
PLaying all or even most of the games on that list would cost more money than most people are willing or able to spend on video games in a single year.

First off, what does "the more realistic sample"[sic] even mean in this context? What measure is "realistic" in this context?
Secondly, what this sample tells us is that there is no one game that could honestly be called GOTY, since even the one with the most votes got less than one out of seven.