Game Overdose: Video Game Awards (w/ Comments)
Hi all! God it feels like forever since I did one of these…
I apologise for the extreme levels of silence. A near-full-time job, coursework deadlines (of which I still have one in for… tomorrow, procrastination ahoy!) and general life stuff has kept me away the last few weeks, though I hope to remedy that come the new year!
Now, as you may or may not be aware, Spike.Tv does a yearly Video Game Awards, celebrating the best games in various fields at various times. It’s probably about as close as you’re going to get to seeing Video Game oscars. I figured seeing as it (hopefully) wouldn’t take too much time I’d list them all and make comments. These aren’t really meant to be serious, I’m going to try to entertain as much as inform, but it should be a touch interesting…
Taken from http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/4039/article/the-vgas—video-game-awards-2011-winners/
My comments in italics
Best Xbox 360 Game:
Batman: Arkham City [Winner]
Forza Motorsport 4
Gears of War 3
Portal 2
It’s been a bit of a bad year for Xbox then, seeing as the game that won isn’t even a Xbox exclusive.
Best PS3 Game:
Infamous 2
Killzone 3
LittleBigPlanet 2
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception [Winner]
I feel it’s a bit unfair to call Uncharted 3 a “game”. It’s a visual spectacle but game implies interaction, and while yes you can press some buttons to make some stuff happen, the actual scope for interaction or even enjoyment (games are meant to be “fun”) is severly limited by the fact that Naughty Dog seem to want to make movies over fun experiences. Actually, not even movies, more like big, grandiose action sequences… Infamous 2 by comparison was a fun game, and at least Killzone 3 had the decency to try and be like Half-Life, a genuinely good series…
Best Wii Game:
Disney’s Epic Mickey
Kirby’s Return To Dream Land
Lost In Shadow
The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword [Winner]
Not too surprised here. LoZ is one of the few Nintendo games that really translates across. You’re not some plumber jumping on peoples heads or a pink marshamallow (Kirby) sucking/eating/whacking/yarning/multiplying in an oh-so japan-oscentric fashion, you’re an efeminet young man in tights swinging a sword around to try and save a princess (that frequently is actually more capable than you…) and who hasn’t imagined such a thing with gleeful abaddon at some point in their life?
Seriously though, I really need to pick up a cope of Skyward Swords. Didn’t get on too well with Twilight Princess, felt it was a bit too “young” on the Wii, but Skyward Sword by all accounts is a vast improvement.
Best PC Game:
Battlefield 3
Minecraft
The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings
Portal 2 [Winner]
Again, not a PC exclusive but lets be honest, first person games are always more tailored towards keyboard and mouse, and Valve would have almost certainly created P2 with that in mind. Strange to See BF3 without its near-homoerotic rival of CoD though, could it be that one was actually better than the other this year? Personally I’m seeing a coin-flip…
Also, I feel having Minecraft is a bit of a cheat, because while it’s not been officially released until this year, it’s been played for close to 2 in the open paid-for Beta. At least Notch has the decency to admit that a buggy game isn’t completed though… Unlike some people…
Best Handheld/Mobile Game:
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Infinity Blade
Super Mario 3D Land [Winner]
Jetpack Joyride
2 DS games and 2 iPhone games… I’m happy to see Infinity Blade made it here, as it’s a truly remarkable and impressive use of the platform and technology, but when it comes to hand-held device, how can you beat the father of the medium with Mario?
Best Shooter:
Battlefield 3
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 [Winner]
Gears of War 3
Rage
Ah, there you are Cod. Well… Yeah, I’ll admit I was thoroughly unimpressed with the gameplay potential of most of the shooters this year, with only the army-wank twins of BF and CoD to really show up anything at the end. I really wish they’d differentiate between First person and Third Person though. Rage looked good too, I like their useage of textures to basically make things really.. big.
Best Action Adventure Game:
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
Batman: Arkham City [Winner]
The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
“Action Adventure” is basically the miscellaneous bin of gaming, and it really shows why trying to label some games is pointless, but we feel the need to pigeon-hole everything. All modern games will probably have some action and adventure… I mean, the only thing really that any of these games have in common is a slightly douchey protagonist that either shouldn’t speak or doesn’t.
Best RPG:
Dark Souls
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Dragon Age 2
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [Winner]
Skyrim was almost always going to win this, because Skyrim. It’s so massive in scope it’d almost be rude not to give it this. It’s a bit of a twist on the more traditional RPG idea, being more gameplay-influences-stats and all, but it’s a thoroughly enjoyable experience… I just wish it had a bit more heart and soul with its characters. Great world, crappy people.
Best Multi-Player:
Battlefield 3
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Gears Of War 3
Portal 2 [Winner]
HAHAHAHA.HAHAHAHA… *SNORT*… HAHAHA. *gasp*, *wheeze*, *dies*.
3 games, 3 SHOOTERS, that all pride themselves on their visceral multiplayer experience have lost out to basically a bunch of nerds building 2-player puzzles.
Made my fucking YEAR.
Best Individual Sports Game:
Fight Night Champion [Winner]
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters
Top Spin 4
Virtua Tennis 4
Can’t really comment on these, but I do always get scared by the continuously rising numbers besides sports games… It’s almost as if they’re basically re-releasing the same thing every year!
Best Team Sports Game:
FIFA Soccer 12
NBA 2K12 [Winner]
NHL 12
MLB ’11: The Show
OH MY GOD… THEY’RE RE-RELEASING THE SAME THING EVERY YEAR!
Best Driving Game:
Dirt 3
Driver: San Francisco
Forza Motorsport 4 [Winner]
Need For Speed: The Run
Again, can’t really comment. Dirt 3 looked cool though.
Best Fighting Game:
The King Of Fighters XIII
Marvel Vs. Capcom 3
Mortal Kombat [Winner]
WWE All Stars
Must have been a fairly dire year if a WWE title made it in. I’ve played a bit of the new MK and can happily say that it’s almost exactly like the original with one or two new bells and whistles and better graphics (with porn-like x-ray moves… creepy). So… yeah, I guess it deserves to win because it’s the same as a game from nearly a quarter of a century ago?
Best Motion Game:
Child Of Eden
Dance Central 2
The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword [Winner]
The Gunstringer
I actually liked the look of the Gunstringer… Seemed unique and interesting, but it’s a Kinect game so everyone probably hated it. Skyward Sword seems to have been Nintendo’s “ace in the hole” for this year, with the Mario games as a decent backup.
Best Independent Game:
Bastion
Minecraft [Winner]
Superbrothers: Sword And Sworcery EP
The Binding Of Isaac
Again, same issue as above that Minecraft has been being played for ages. Personally I would have chosen Bastion, though I do find it hillarious that someone actually had the Isaac game in the top 4, which looks a lot like a foetus running around and being bullied by other foetuses.
Best Adapted Video Game:
Back To The Future: The Game
Batman: Arkham City [Winner]
Captain America: Super Soldier
Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
Bit of a non-contest here. the Back to the Futures are point-and-click games, and were pretty awful (past episode 2 or 3). Captain America is an adapted game directly from a movie, Lego Star Wars has kind of lost its way, and basically Arkham City is the only game that 100% been made from the ground up as a video game. The rest are based on movies or bad ideas, so have those inherent problems.
Best Song In A Game:
Bastion: “Build that Wall (Zia’s Theme)” by Darren Korb [Winner]
Portal 2: “Exile Vilify” by The National
Dragon Age 2: “I’m Not Calling You a Liar” by Florence + the Machine
Bastion: “Setting Sail, Coming Home (End Theme)” by Darren Korb
Well, Bastion got 2 plugs at this so it’s not surprising it won. Absolutely love its soundtrack so not surprised!
Best Original Score:
Bastion [Winner]
Batman: Arkham City
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Portal 2
Again, not surprised Bastion won, it had actual songs and listen-able-to tracks. All the others use their score to invoke a sense of something and add to the atmosphere to the game. Bastion did this and had good easy-to-listen to music by itself, so no doubt made it easier to decide the winner!
Best Graphics:
Batman: Arkham City
L.A. Noire
Rage
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception [Winner]
I said it was dumb, I never said it wasn’t pretty.
Best Performance By A Human Male:
Portal 2: J.K. Simmons as Cave Johnson [Winner]
Batman: Arkham City: Mark Hamill as The Joker
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception: Nolan North as Nathan Drake
Portal 2: Stephen Merchant as Wheatley
If Drake had won I would have shot myself in the foot. Really the problem with this is writing, not the actor themselves. Cave Johnson is a beautifully written character, steeped in irony, satire and self-aware humour. Drake by contrast is a bad action hero, and if you actually listen to the dialogue in the Roksteddy’s Batman games (Batmen games?) it’s rock solid cheese.
Wheatley’s a bit annoying though.
Best Performance By A Human Female:
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception: Claudia Black as Chloe Frazer
Portal 2: Ellen McLain as GLaDOS [Winner]
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception: Emily Rose as Elena Fisher
Batman: Arkham City: Tara Strong as Harley Quinn
Chloe is a good character, but not in it long enough. Elena’s in the game for all of about 10 minutes. Tara Strong is easily the strongest voice talent here, but Harley suffers from the same problem that Joker did, bad writing, or at least uninteresting writing, based on comic book tropes and cheese. Ellen McLain however has the benefit of great, intelligent and funny writing, and being a genuinely good voice actor herself.
Best Downloadable Game:
Bastion [Winner]
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Stacking
Trenched
What an odd award. I guess this is their way of saying “best indie game for under 10 gigs” because if you’re on Steam or any other direct-to-drive platform then nearly every title would be included.
Best DLC:
Fallout: New Vegas – Old World Blues
Mass Effect 2: Arrival
Mortal Kombat: Freddy Krueger
Portal 2 Peer Review [Winner]
I’m glad to see Old World Blues here, as it’d be my best of the year. However a free Portal 2 DLC is very difficult to beat.
Most Anticipated Game:
BioShock: Infinite
Diablo III
Halo 4
Mass Effect 3 [Winner]
The Last Guardian
Aka “game with the greatest hype”. Ironically Skyrim would have won this if it was released in January! Mass Effect 3 was almost always going to win this. It’s the final instalment of an incredibly good series, with an overarching story that’ll see its conclusion, with lovable characters people genuinely care about and player choices that’ll “pay off” in the 3rd game. It’s also got the advantage(?) of EA and their goddam insane marketing, so I doubt any of the leaks of “accidentally released” bits of information, game demos etc as ever been an accident.
Game Of The Year:
Batman: Arkham City
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [Winner]
The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Portal 2
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
Yeah… Just… Yeah. It’s a bit of a shame as I was thoroughly underwhelmed by all these games (excluding Skyward Sword which I don’t have). Skyrim’s good but lacks heart, and is really just a slightly improved version of Oblivion. Portal 2 is great fun, but lacked some of the intelligence uniqueness and atmosphere of the first. Arkham City seems to have suffered slightly in being a sandbox, and was apparently spread a little too thing, it didn’t hold my interest enough to get me to buy it in the end! Uncharted 3 is a genuinely bad game, but a good spectacle, dissappointing seeing as the previous game managed both.
I mean really, it’s like winning a race as a fat man because the rest of the contestants are in wheelchairs due to self-inflicted knee-capping.
Studio Of The Year:
Bethesda Game Studios [Winner]
Naughty Dog
Rocksteady
Valve
Bethesda pretty much ensured they’d win this by somehow and rather impressively having trasformed into a super-publisher in the space of a year. Brink, Rage, All the Fallout New Vegas DLC, and a few more that are on the tip of my tongue, plus their own Skyrim! Very impressive.
Character of the Year:
The Joker [Winner]
Nathan Drake
Marcus Fenix
Wheatley
Well, when compared to the other 3 of course the Joker would win, he’s the only one that’s truly interesting. Wheatley was cute but lacked depth beyond “power-hungry moron”. Drake and Fenix are both bad movie-tropes. Really I’m surprised no Dragon Age 2 characters made it, as though I can fault the game for being a game, I can’t fault its story or characters.
However, note there’s no female characters… I’ll talk about this further down.
Gamer God Award
Blizzard Entertainment
I guess this reward is based on “how much cataclysmic damage could be caused on a whim” because Blizzard and their army of Wow-zombies could manage that easily.
Video Game Hall of Fame
The Legend of Zelda
One of the longest-running and most successful game series, with numerous impressive titles. Deserved.
Female Issue
Me again: I’d also like to point at that the “Cyber Vixens” award has been missing since 2006. Now, I’d like to believe that that’s because the term “Cyber Vixen” is steeped in all sorts of “boys-club only” titillating teenage pandering, and that the industry as a whole is becoming more open and equal for everyone but sadly I’m more inclined to believe it’s for another reason.
First of all, take into account that “Character of the Year” contains no female characters. There have been female characters this year, Catwoman, GLaDOS, etc. Well, now take a look at the previous Cyber Vixens…
2006 : Winner: Alyx Vance
Ok, I can appreciate Alyx, though calling her a “vixen” is a little bit… Insulting? Implies coy, playful, sexy etc. Not y’know, a good well-rounded female character…
- Charlize Theron as Æon Flux, Æon Flux
- Jessica Alba as Invisible Woman, Fantastic 4
- Traci Lords as Cassandra Hartz, True Crime: New York City
- Joanna Dark, Perfect Dark Zero
- Sgt. Frank Woods, Call of Duty: Black ops WINNER
- Ezio Auditore da Firenze, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
- Kratos, God of War III
- John Marston, Red Dead Redemption
Again, all guys. Don’t get me wrong, Ezio and Marston are both beautifully well written and deserve their seats here.
And I don’t blame Spike TV, it just shows how bad the industry is with Female Characters. I really hope we address this problem soon.
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