Well, at least it's not G-Phoria -- MW2 would win the award for best RPG on the DS if it were nominated. And best fitness mini-collection. If the G-Phoria awards were given out two months before MW2 were released, it would still win GOTY.
I posted it further down in a reply, but I want to post it in its own message. For anyone against the Spike awards, write your local TV producer and get these televised.
I hope Blazblue gets the best fighter award. Such a refreshing fighter it was.Demon's Souls is now like my favorite game ever. I haven't played Dragon Age yet, but from what I heard about it, it may win the award. Demon's Souls may have been to off putting to some. I didn't realize that Borderlands was an rpg.
With that said Demon's Souls is my personal game of the year.
i wont argue any lists, because half of them on here will give me a brain aneurysm.
all i know is Batman AA and Uncharted 2 better rake in a boatload of awards. everything else not on the list with either of these 2 games is up for grabs imho.
Are handheld games confined into the single handheld category? Because I find the lack of Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride and Rhythm Heaven disturbing.
I think inFamous deserves a little more credit. The graphics could've used some work here and there, but the gameplay was incredible. I've never had so much fun simply running around.
@bangbangblah: I only finished playing inFamous a bit over a week ago. If it wasn't for R&C coming out, I'd probably have found the last couple of shards by now. Definitely an under-rated game.
While the game-play was awesome (as you said, even just getting around was fun), the graphics did need quite a bit of work. I'm really looking forward to seeing what they do in the sequel.
@Doshu: Totally. After I get through the current games I'm stuck on, I plan on going through it again on evil mode. I can't wait to see a sequel . . . or even another game with similar mechanics.
@starscar.exe: Agreed, especially when I get the feeling a certain game I am none too fond of which just recently came out is going to win a lot of the more "prestigious" awards despite a total lack of innovation on its creator's part.
Giving the staff at Kotaku a vote further reinforces my belief that so will be the case.
@starscar.exe: Well, it's not like these awards actually mean anything or are important to anyone but the industry and nerds. The Academy Awards are just a pinch more important, though still pretty useless.
@Steinin: Many award shows have deadlines to allow time for that product/movie/TV show/song to get the rounds and allow people the experience it provides before casting their votes.
I'm guessing since games are usually finished well before their release date, they've been played to hell and back between media outlets. If Spike are allowing votes, then they are allowing people to vote purely on hype and speculation.
@Hamster Poop: I agree wholeheartedly. I just figured, 'if you're going to be an awards show, then at least have some sort of legitimacy to it' but it's Spike, so I guess that's asking for too much.
@starscar.exe: Quite so, however I've always wondered if the timing of these awards really is beneficial for the industry. Seeing as many titles often come out within a short interval at certain times of the year often before a major holiday or similar I can't help but wonder if any awards would be better held off until the very end of the year. I think a good time to host any awards of this type would be the first weeks of January after the year has passed. No more games can qualify for awards and any games rushed has had the chance to get patched up, extra content released, communities sprung up and people made up their minds better about a title rather than mindlessly following launch hype.
But I can also see publishers and marketing pushing for these awards to be held as fast as possible while their titles' popularity may be at their peaks. Which is very sad if that is the case because it reveals the extent of these awards just being a PR event instead of actually promoting outstanding creations in the industry. #speakup
@Steinin: It makes sense to hold award shows after releases have had time to garner attention. I think the deadline for the Oscars is November the previous year, but I'm not sure.
And what you said about publishers pushing their games while they're popular couldn't be any farther from the truth about marketing in the gaming world. It's about money and now that devs see how much they can make off of console-based games alone, they'll definitely keep pushing.
But, award shows like any MTV award show (which MTV owns Spike TV) always tend to cater to what's more popular and usually vote based towards the majority. Which very much is unfair and unjust. It's like watching a movie and knowing the good guy wins. Very predictable.
Not like my opinion matters to you guys ( =[ Damn self-esteem issues) but my picks are...
GOTY: Batman: Arkham Asylumor Uncharted 2 (Although MW2 will somehow win.) Studio of the Year: Naughty Dog Best Shooter: MW2 Best RPG: Demon's Souls (But Dragon Age: Origins will probably win) Fighting: Street Fighter IV Sports: Fight Night Round 4 (Although there are more UFC lovers out there =/) Handheld: Chinatown Wars
Graphics: Uncharted 2 (But KZ2 or MW2 will probably win =/) Best Game based on a...: Ghostbusters (Although Wolverine was more fun for me... Ghostbusters was the better experience)
Music: NaN Driving: Forza 3 (Are the other 3 even real contenders? :D) Action Adventure: Arkahm Asylum...I mean really, it's the same acronym as the category... but I'm really digging Assassin's Creed 2. Didn't finish it yet so it can't by my GOTY for Action Adventure Team Sports: FIFA 10 Soundtrack: DJ Hero 360: Forza 3 Wii: New Super Mario Bros Wii PS3: Uncharted 2 PC: Dragon Age
Score: NaN Multiplayer: MW2
Human Male: NaN Human Female: Megan Fox... just for some controversy
Cast: NaN Voice: Nolan North DLG: Shadow Complex DLC:WHAT? NO VALKYRIA or BURNOUT? THIS IS MADNESS oh well... Broken Steel Most Anticipated: Mass Effect 2 or GoWIII. No Idea on this one.
@ph15h: I thought you had a pretty good list man. Maybe if I had played Demons souls it would get my vote but I'm waiting for the european release and I just love borderlands. Other than that we had pretty similar stuff with me just chucking a lot of the FPS and original scores Halo 3's way (can't help loving it).
@ph15h: I'm practically the same as you...best game definately to U2...best action/adventure to Batman...U2 as an experience completely blew me away compared to Batman which I just thought was a really really great game...MW2...I'm playing it right now, the campaign is a bit shit...it just kinda goes all over the place and all the best bits so far were spoilt from trailers....I actually prefered Killzone 2 (from what I've played so far, haven't touched multiplayer yet) as it's got more of a grounded solid feel to it. But yeah like you said before...MW2 will end up winning game of the year, as it's multiplatform and everyone sucks off MW2. At least I bought it on discount.
@Griefy: I'm not sure if they have either yet but if they don't release it in europe I'll just miss out on it. I'm already not happy with Atlus giving americans preorder incentives and ignoring europe so if they left this game out completely I'd just say screw you to them. If it comes to europe I'll buy it and love them though ofcourse. Not sure about an actual date but I am just waiting blindly for now.
@xxXX_Insanities_Birth_XXxx: I thought Ghostlight published atlus games in Europe, not Atlus themselves. As far as I know, the SMT Series has been published by Ghostlight, think you should take it up with them.
@Griefy: Well they did the Shin megami tensei digital devil saga ones but not the persona ones, and I don't know if they'll do demons souls or whether Square enix may pick it up as they do some european releases like persona 4 and Disgaea 3.
@xxXX_Insanities_Birth_XXxx: God, sounds like you guys are in a horrible boat. :/ I'd share if we had room but my only suggestion is to import the american version. You dont need the deluxe stuff since there's 2 wikis you can use and if you want I can zip the soundtrack and send it. :D
These lists look okay. I'm glad Brutal Legend is getting a few nods and I think Uncharted 2 deserves to win everything it's nominated for.
But I do find it weird Uncharted didn't make it on the "Best Cast" list. I mean, maybe I'm misunderstanding the category as it relates to games, but I thought the entire cast of Uncharted 2 did a phenomenal job.
Game of the Year:
Uncharted 2
Studio of the Year:
Rocksteady
Best Shooter:
Killzone 2
Best RPG:
Demons Souls
Best Fighting Game:
Street Fighter 4
Best Individual Sports Game:
Fight Night Round 4
Best handheld:
GTA-China Town Wars
Best Graphics:
Uncharted 2
Best Game based on Movie/TV:
Ghostbusters
Best Music Game:
The Beatles Rockband
Best Driving Game:
Forza
Best Action Adventure Game:
Uncharted 2
Best Team Sports Game:
Madden
Best Soundtrack:
Brutal Legend fuck yeah!
Best XBOX Game:
Forza
Best Wii Game:
NSMB Wii
Best PS3 Game:
Uncharted 2
Best PC Game:
L4D2
Best Original Score:
Uncharted 2
Best Multiplayer Game:
COD
Best Male Performance:
Samuel L Jackson
Best Female Performance:
Kristen Bell
Best Cast:
Brutal legend
Best Voice:
Nolan North-Mark Hamil is unfair cause he's been doing it for years. I'm going for the underdogs here.
Best DL:
Shadow Complex
Best Independent Game:
Flower
Most Anticipated:
God of War 3
GOTY: Uncharted 2
Studio of the year: Naughty Dog
Best indie game: Flower
Best Xbox 360 game: Arkham Asylum
Best PS3 game: Uncharted 2
Best Wii game: Madworld
Best PC game: Dragon Age
Best Handheld game: Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
Best Shooter: Killzone 2
Best Fighting game: Blazblue
Best Action-adventure: Uncharted 2
Best RPG: Demon's Souls
Best Multiplayer: L4D2
Best individual sports game: Fight Night Round 4
Best team sports game: FIFA 10
Best driving game: Forza 3
Best music game: Beatles Rock Band
Best soundtrack: Brutal Legend
Best original score: Uncharted 2
Best graphics: Uncharted 2
Best game based on a movie/TV show: Chronicles of Riddick
Best performance by a human female: Eliza Dushku (WET)
Best performance by a human male: Bill Murray (Ghostbusters)
Best cast: Brutal Legend
Best voice: Nolan North- Nathan Drake
Best downloadable game: Plants vs. Zombies
Best DLC: GTAIV: The Lost and the Damned
Most anticipated game: God of War 3
I still don't understand how ODST got nominated for best multiplayer. Is Firefight, as the only new mode, enough to justify it earning an award?
@electroshockwave: its all about credibility and how famous the franchise is. movie fans are not like video game fans so if the awards don't put in big titles for a category, fan boys will go ape shit.
WTF, those male performance nominees are complete hacks, where are the real voice actors for this year??? Where's my sexy Nolan North for Uncharted 2 (also voiced for Assassin's Creed 2 and Shadow Complex), where's my Kevin Conroy Batman and Mark Hamill Joker??? Hell, I'm shocked Jack Black isn't listed for Brutal Legend.
@Sharkey1337: I was going to post the same thing but if you check the list there's a Best Voice category for actual voice acting rather than the Best Actor/Actress which is just there for the name dropping of well known actors.
The Game of the Year category will be interesting, but I think that in the end, Uncharted 2 will win that one. It might not have the sales or online capacity that MW2 has, or perhaps even the staying power, but when you mention U2, you hear nothing but good things. Even Kotaku had nothing bad to say about it(that exists anymore, anyways).
Even I, who doesn't own U2, or even a PS3, can vouch that it was a very great gaming experience.
MW2 has the Shooter category on lock, however. I may love me some Halo, but far too many people view ODST as nothing but an add-on to a two year old game. MW2 is the new hot chick on the block.
Killzone 2 has fizzled, and by all accounts, did nothing to parlay a surprise win. It's a solid shooter, but whatever it brings to the table was brought years ago by the likes of CoD or Halo. L4D2 also is on the outside looking in, being questioned by the gaming community at large about its legitimacy of being a full sequel.
The RPG category is a DA: O and Demon's Souls battleground. Borderlands sates a shooter's hunger moreso than an RPG enthusiast's, and I can't really imagine the plumbing duo to pull out the carpet from underneath those juggernaut games.
Original Score should definitely go to ODST, however, and I think it will. It may be my bias speaking, but Marty O'Donnell is a genius when it comes to making riveting scores that accentuate the gameplay. His score absolutely makes the entire atmosphere of ODST. By itself.
This one shouldn't even be close.
The other categories don't really interest me that much, or I don't have an opinion. Do we really need a "Best Graphics" award?
Best game based on a movie or TV show? What kind of category is that?
Sounds to me like the kind of category corporate sponsors would insist upon. I get the idea of carrying a brand across media, it just has nothing to do with making a game good.
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[www.interactive.org]
[www.gamechoiceawards.com]
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With that said Demon's Souls is my personal game of the year.
11/18/09
all i know is Batman AA and Uncharted 2 better rake in a boatload of awards. everything else not on the list with either of these 2 games is up for grabs imho.
11/18/09
D. E. M. O. N. S.
S.O.U.L.S.
11/18/09
i have to call it the Sleeper Hit of 2009.
i never thought that it would catch on like it has here.
good year for gaming i tells ya.
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While the game-play was awesome (as you said, even just getting around was fun), the graphics did need quite a bit of work. I'm really looking forward to seeing what they do in the sequel.
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At least the Academy Awards has a deadline for submitting nominees, but this is just retarded.
11/18/09
Giving the staff at Kotaku a vote further reinforces my belief that so will be the case.
11/18/09
But I agree, the games haven't been out long enough to get any feedback. Yet, I am sure some games will still win. Like MW2, for example.
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I'm guessing since games are usually finished well before their release date, they've been played to hell and back between media outlets. If Spike are allowing votes, then they are allowing people to vote purely on hype and speculation.
11/18/09
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But I can also see publishers and marketing pushing for these awards to be held as fast as possible while their titles' popularity may be at their peaks. Which is very sad if that is the case because it reveals the extent of these awards just being a PR event instead of actually promoting outstanding creations in the industry.
#speakup
11/18/09
And what you said about publishers pushing their games while they're popular couldn't be any farther from the truth about marketing in the gaming world. It's about money and now that devs see how much they can make off of console-based games alone, they'll definitely keep pushing.
But, award shows like any MTV award show (which MTV owns Spike TV) always tend to cater to what's more popular and usually vote based towards the majority. Which very much is unfair and unjust. It's like watching a movie and knowing the good guy wins. Very predictable.
11/18/09
GOTY: Batman: Arkham Asylumor Uncharted 2 (Although MW2 will somehow win.)
Studio of the Year: Naughty Dog
Best Shooter: MW2
Best RPG: Demon's Souls (But Dragon Age: Origins will probably win)
Fighting: Street Fighter IV
Sports: Fight Night Round 4 (Although there are more UFC lovers out there =/)
Handheld: Chinatown Wars
Graphics: Uncharted 2 (But KZ2 or MW2 will probably win =/)
Best Game based on a...: Ghostbusters (Although Wolverine was more fun for me... Ghostbusters was the better experience)
Music: NaN
Driving: Forza 3 (Are the other 3 even real contenders? :D)
Action Adventure: Arkahm Asylum...I mean really, it's the same acronym as the category... but I'm really digging Assassin's Creed 2. Didn't finish it yet so it can't by my GOTY for Action Adventure
Team Sports: FIFA 10
Soundtrack: DJ Hero
360: Forza 3
Wii: New Super Mario Bros Wii
PS3: Uncharted 2
PC: Dragon Age
Score: NaN
Multiplayer: MW2
Human Male: NaN
Human Female: Megan Fox... just for some controversy
Cast: NaN
Voice: Nolan North
DLG: Shadow Complex
DLC: WHAT? NO VALKYRIA or BURNOUT? THIS IS MADNESS oh well... Broken Steel
Most Anticipated: Mass Effect 2 or GoWIII. No Idea on this one.
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#speakup
11/19/09
11/18/09
But I do find it weird Uncharted didn't make it on the "Best Cast" list. I mean, maybe I'm misunderstanding the category as it relates to games, but I thought the entire cast of Uncharted 2 did a phenomenal job.
11/18/09
Uncharted 2
Studio of the Year:
Rocksteady
Best Shooter:
Killzone 2
Best RPG:
Demons Souls
Best Fighting Game:
Street Fighter 4
Best Individual Sports Game:
Fight Night Round 4
Best handheld:
GTA-China Town Wars
Best Graphics:
Uncharted 2
Best Game based on Movie/TV:
Ghostbusters
Best Music Game:
The Beatles Rockband
Best Driving Game:
Forza
Best Action Adventure Game:
Uncharted 2
Best Team Sports Game:
Madden
Best Soundtrack:
Brutal Legend fuck yeah!
Best XBOX Game:
Forza
Best Wii Game:
NSMB Wii
Best PS3 Game:
Uncharted 2
Best PC Game:
L4D2
Best Original Score:
Uncharted 2
Best Multiplayer Game:
COD
Best Male Performance:
Samuel L Jackson
Best Female Performance:
Kristen Bell
Best Cast:
Brutal legend
Best Voice:
Nolan North-Mark Hamil is unfair cause he's been doing it for years. I'm going for the underdogs here.
Best DL:
Shadow Complex
Best Independent Game:
Flower
Most Anticipated:
God of War 3
11/18/09
GOTY: Uncharted 2
Studio of the year: Naughty Dog
Best indie game: Flower
Best Xbox 360 game: Arkham Asylum
Best PS3 game: Uncharted 2
Best Wii game: Madworld
Best PC game: Dragon Age
Best Handheld game: Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
Best Shooter: Killzone 2
Best Fighting game: Blazblue
Best Action-adventure: Uncharted 2
Best RPG: Demon's Souls
Best Multiplayer: L4D2
Best individual sports game: Fight Night Round 4
Best team sports game: FIFA 10
Best driving game: Forza 3
Best music game: Beatles Rock Band
Best soundtrack: Brutal Legend
Best original score: Uncharted 2
Best graphics: Uncharted 2
Best game based on a movie/TV show: Chronicles of Riddick
Best performance by a human female: Eliza Dushku (WET)
Best performance by a human male: Bill Murray (Ghostbusters)
Best cast: Brutal Legend
Best voice: Nolan North- Nathan Drake
Best downloadable game: Plants vs. Zombies
Best DLC: GTAIV: The Lost and the Damned
Most anticipated game: God of War 3
I still don't understand how ODST got nominated for best multiplayer. Is Firefight, as the only new mode, enough to justify it earning an award?
11/18/09
#speakup
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(I don't recall seeing the real Bill Murray in Ghostbusters, I only heard his voice)
11/18/09
Even I, who doesn't own U2, or even a PS3, can vouch that it was a very great gaming experience.
MW2 has the Shooter category on lock, however. I may love me some Halo, but far too many people view ODST as nothing but an add-on to a two year old game. MW2 is the new hot chick on the block.
Killzone 2 has fizzled, and by all accounts, did nothing to parlay a surprise win. It's a solid shooter, but whatever it brings to the table was brought years ago by the likes of CoD or Halo. L4D2 also is on the outside looking in, being questioned by the gaming community at large about its legitimacy of being a full sequel.
The RPG category is a DA: O and Demon's Souls battleground. Borderlands sates a shooter's hunger moreso than an RPG enthusiast's, and I can't really imagine the plumbing duo to pull out the carpet from underneath those juggernaut games.
Original Score should definitely go to ODST, however, and I think it will. It may be my bias speaking, but Marty O'Donnell is a genius when it comes to making riveting scores that accentuate the gameplay. His score absolutely makes the entire atmosphere of ODST. By itself.
This one shouldn't even be close.
The other categories don't really interest me that much, or I don't have an opinion. Do we really need a "Best Graphics" award?
11/18/09
Sounds to me like the kind of category corporate sponsors would insist upon. I get the idea of carrying a brand across media, it just has nothing to do with making a game good.