Congrats to The Walking Dead for taking the top spot on Paste's (truly outstanding) list of the 30 best games of 2012.
Congrats to FIFA 13 for being AbleGamers' 2012 Accessible Mainstream Game of the Year! Noble work, rightly recognized.
Congratulations to Journey for being Journey developer Jenova Chen's Game of the Year! (According to an Edge round-up.)
Portal 2 Beats Out a Lot of Other Games for Kill Screen's Game of the…
], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--dqMcHL0o--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_358,q_80,w_636/18j0xo51b7eksjpg.jpg, (small)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--yPHAwVy1--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_180,q_80,w_320/18j0xo51b7eksjpg.jpg, (medium)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--E3Wu2b12--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_77,q_80,w_137/18j0xo51b7eksjpg.jpg, (large)])
Over at Kill Screen, they've done their yearly "High Scores" poll in which each of their contributors send in a ballot of games, assigning points to any game from 2011. The results of the vote are in, and Portal 2 is the clear winner.
Time Magazine Digs Minecraft Enough to Call It Game Of The Year
], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--cfAY_W_u--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_358,q_80,w_636/18j0yl8rsdu5hjpg.jpg, (small)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--xXmmRXyN--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_180,q_80,w_320/18j0yl8rsdu5hjpg.jpg, (medium)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--me0Xxnd---/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_77,q_80,w_137/18j0yl8rsdu5hjpg.jpg, (large)])
It's been an incredible year for Mojang's sandbox construction game, with mobile versions out in the wild, an ever-growing fanbase and their very own convention. To top all of that off, Notch and crew had Minecraft deemed as the past year's best game by one of the world's oldest newsmagazines.
Area Man Selects Skyrim as The Onion's Game of the Year
], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--496FggOu--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_358,q_80,w_636/18j0yqs21xcbfjpg.jpg, (small)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--uGHgu3to--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_180,q_80,w_320/18j0yqs21xcbfjpg.jpg, (medium)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--lAL2cMsX--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_77,q_80,w_137/18j0yqs21xcbfjpg.jpg, (large)])
The people who brought you such fantastic headlines as "Burrito Eaten As If Someone In The Room Wasn't Crying" and "Brief Reprieve From Mariah Carey's Christmas Song Comes To Resounding End" have selected their Game of The Year, and it's not ironic at all: Bethesda's Skyrim has edged out the competition to take top…
The New York Times Offers Two Round-Ups, But Doesn't Name a Game of the…
], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--1JetPMVk--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_358,q_80,w_636/18j0yxwjy2sgwjpg.jpg, (small)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--ItItZ9uT--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_180,q_80,w_320/18j0yxwjy2sgwjpg.jpg, (medium)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--xD8FlQeo--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_77,q_80,w_137/18j0yxwjy2sgwjpg.jpg, (large)])
The end of 2011 brings with it an implicit deadline for those inescapable year-end wrap-ups. Yet, the Paper of Record doesn't really pony up a traditional countdown-to-the-best list.
Portal 2 Teleports into Gamasutra's Hearts, Snags Their Game of the Year
], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--AyCa-NM5--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_358,q_80,w_636/18j0z7zlu0gbmjpg.jpg, (small)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--MiM9IeJY--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_180,q_80,w_320/18j0z7zlu0gbmjpg.jpg, (medium)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--eYNI9tC1--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_77,q_80,w_137/18j0z7zlu0gbmjpg.jpg, (large)])
The industry- and design-focused publication Gamasutra has released their list of the top ten games of the year, with Valve's Portal 2 coming in at the top.
Skyrim Isn't Forbes’ Game of the Year. (Deus Ex: Human Revolution Is)
], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--y1SMiUSW--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_358,q_80,w_636/18j0z9cxepie2jpg.jpg, (small)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--zXtFXtlB--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_180,q_80,w_320/18j0z9cxepie2jpg.jpg, (medium)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--is7yPsar--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_77,q_80,w_137/18j0z9cxepie2jpg.jpg, (large)])
It may be notching up top honors at outlets like GameSpot and The Wall Street Journal, but Skyrim doesn't quite what it takes to be Forbes' Game of the Year.
Nose-Pinched, The Wall Street Journal's Entertainment Blog Names Skyrim…
], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--tPX5MXeA--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_358,q_80,w_636/18j0zduq05x7qjpg.jpg, (small)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--Kqcp0HfW--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_180,q_80,w_320/18j0zduq05x7qjpg.jpg, (medium)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--QIyCFmGg--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_77,q_80,w_137/18j0zduq05x7qjpg.jpg, (large)])
The Wall Street Journal's Adam Najberg likes playing some video games, which gives him a leg up on some of his colleagues, one of whom "despises all of them." (The love and hate is explained in this WSJ clip.) He's picked Skyrim as Game of the Year. "No detail was too small for the developers of this game," he raves.
Portal 2 is Games Radar's Most Favorite 2011 Video Game
], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--iwVSxrnl--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_358,q_80,w_636/18j0zjtsee46xjpg.jpg, (small)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--QKDrxgdj--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_180,q_80,w_320/18j0zjtsee46xjpg.jpg, (medium)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--RA907Sxr--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_77,q_80,w_137/18j0zjtsee46xjpg.jpg, (large)])
Their readers thought the best video game of 2011 was Skyrim, but the editors of Games Radar have picked Portal 2. It's their top game of the year.
Rift Posts a Massive Win as MMORPG.com's Game of the Year
], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--gKXwGZ9X--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_358,q_80,w_636/18j0zph0g9txtjpg.jpg, (small)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--CZyejNkO--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_180,q_80,w_320/18j0zph0g9txtjpg.jpg, (medium)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--pjhotqvl--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_77,q_80,w_137/18j0zph0g9txtjpg.jpg, (large)])
"What is Kotaku's game of the year?" you may be asking yourself. Well, I'm certainly not going to spoil the surprise. But in the meantime, we're sharing the GOTY winners from other sites around the web.
Skyrim Gets Shouted Out as GameSpot’s Game of the Year
], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--6XwZH5U3--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_358,q_80,w_636/17n8gq0n85qkgjpg.jpg, (small)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--Zjy5cBG5--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_180,q_80,w_320/17n8gq0n85qkgjpg.jpg, (medium)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--jEay25Qi--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_77,q_80,w_137/17n8gq0n85qkgjpg.jpg, (large)])
The Oscars have them. March Madness has them. But, numerous outlets start announcing their year-end picks, I'm wondering if anyone does Game of the Year betting pools?
Batman: Arkham City is E Online's Game of the Year
], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--1gSYUOKp--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_358,q_80,w_636/18j0zsxbevcalpng.png, (small)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--wdRFvqXG--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_180,q_80,w_320/18j0zsxbevcalpng.png, (medium)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--J0HtDFfJ--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_77,q_80,w_137/18j0zsxbevcalpng.png, (large)])
What's our game of the year? We're not telling... yet. But E Online has gone with Batman: Arkham City. Portal 2 was second. Uncharted 3 came in third. Breaking the pattern, The Elder Scrolls V came in fourth, not fifth.