Giant Bomb Has Chosen Its GOTY, But We're All Winners!

Ms Dapper

Are you ready for a week of some of the most intense video game related debates this side of the Mississippi? I don't think so mister! Here at the Giant Bomb Arena we are ready to provide the most exciting thrills legal in the U.S. of A. They'll be pacts made, back stabbing and one game that will make it to the top with the help of our competitors.

Ryan "Hummingbird" Davis



Jeff "The Mann" Gerstmann



The Unstoppable Brad Shoemaker



Mr. America Himself Vinny Caravella



And Patrick "Chicago Wind" Klepek



Need catching up on all the twists and turns? Check out the rest of the season here.

New Super Mario Bros.
Kerbal Space Program
Story Hour Adventures
Double Fine Happy Action Theater Sequel
Train Simulator 2012: Trains vs Zombies
Wipeout: The Game
Multimedia Celebrity Poker
Binary Domain
Rouge Warrior
Rollar Coaster Rampage
Motion Sports
Family Feud 2012
Digital Combat Simulator: A 10c Warthog
Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav
Tokyo Jungle
#TEAMBRAD
Intel Discovered
Farming Simulator 2013
Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!

HugmasterGeneral

I wonder if they're gonna archive "The "No, This Won't Be Archived" Final Live Free-For-All of 2012!"

-Tal

Video games are alright.

YaYa

rfilyaw wrote: »

I wonder if they're gonna archive "The "No, This Won't Be Archived" Final Live Free-For-All of 2012!"

probably

Cilla Black

It won't be archived on the site but it'll likely be on twitch.

I'm pretty pissed regardless 'cause I'll be at work

miscellaneousinsanity

-Tal wrote: »

Video games are alright.

Bull shit

YaYa

@-Tal

bullshit

miscellaneousinsanity

Two against one, I think we win this one.

YaYa

aaaaaarrrrrrgggggghhhh misc

you have vanquished me

Zandracon

premium sale! holiday themed!
https://auth.giantbomb.com/endofyear/

YaYa

dammit I re-upped and then immediately had a heart attack

how did I not remember that that happens

miscellaneousinsanity

GOD DAMN IT! WHAT DID I SAY

Zen Vulgarity

How much is a sub again

Der Waffle Mous

$35 for the year with the above deal, or like $5 monthly.

PaperLuigi44

I'm glad I noticed the singing on that sale page as I closed the window.

Tommy2Hands

just finished the persona 4 endurance run after starting a week ago or so and just watching videos nonstop

i feel empty

Ms Dapper

Watch it again.

The Betgirl

Man, I was gonna buy that $35 premium promotion, but I also want the coupon for a shirt. Guess I'll see if I can just get a premium year when I get paid again!

Melding

oh man, someone give me forty dollars!

Balefuego

oh my god I've never seen the Ryan Davis hummingbird mask picture before

Tommy2Hands

MrDapper wrote: »

Watch it again.

never

LockedOnTarget

Tommy2Hands wrote: »

Tommy2Hands wrote: »

MrDapper wrote: »

Watch it again.

never

Get a Vita and Golden so you can see all the new stuff sprinkled within.

Like the investigation Team starting a band.

SyphonBlue

Tommy2Hands wrote: »

MrDapper wrote: »

Watch it again.

never

Maybe?

Tommy2Hands

i'm going to buy persona 4 arena and that's it. cutting myself off

SwissLion

I love The Road.

I never want to read or watch The Road again.

Speed Racer

Tommy2Hands wrote: »

Tommy2Hands wrote: »

i'm going to buy persona 4 arena and that's it. cutting myself off

i remember when i thought this way

PwnanObrien

Marino wrote:

Considering the world is ending on Friday, I figured I should go ahead and post this data that I've been compiling all year. Well, at least the reviews data. I'll have a slew of user-related data in a couple weeks...if we're still alive.

As you're all aware, it's been a crazy year on Giant Bomb. Despite this, the guys churned out nearly 100 reviews. For a crew that is primarily just three dudes doing reviews, almost two per week seems like a lot. There's not a whole lot of analysis with the data I'm presenting here, admittedly, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. It's basically just a bunch of colorful wedges, pies, and bars. Feel free to embiggen them as well.

I've livened things up a bit by including some of the best user-created art from this year. If you love the Persona style renditions of each staff member, send all of your thanks to @SupernormalStep . And if you love the pixelated stuff at the end, you can send your praise to @Fobwashed .

SupernormalStep's Persona 4: The Golden Duder
Fobwashed's More Pixelated Giant Bombers
Marino's 2011 Year in Reviews




2012 is the first year that someone wrote more reviews than Jeff. With everything that went on this year, it's pretty amazing that there were only 5 fewer reviews on the site in 2012 than there were in 2011.





The 2012 Reviews MVP. You may think Alex hates everything, but he dished out more 5-Star reviews than anyone.





Brad knocked out 26 reviews this year (22 last year). He seems to have been more conflicted this year compared to 2011 considering 77% of his 2011 reviews were 4's & 5's, while this year his 4's & 5's consisted of less than half of his total.





Looks like Jeff liked most of the games he reviewed this year. That one 1-Star review? Black Ops Declassified on Vita.





If you want to know about flashlights, dragons, pomeranians, blinking, and zombie survival, then Patrick is your guy.





And if you're into tennis, pills, lane changing, alien autopsies, and stabbin' fools, then Ryan is your go to guy.





Has anyone seen these guys lately? They must be busy doing something. Something important I would guess.





The breakdown of stars is actually quite similar to 2011. Cool Baby approves.





Strangely enough, 36% of the games reviewed in 2011 were Xbox 360 games as well. Keep in mind that there's some overlap on this one. For example, Gotham City Imposters counts towards XBLA, PSN, and PC based on which releases Brad played for his review.





Oh, you don't like pie charts. Well, here's the same data in bar graph form.





I'd bet money you would not have guessed that February would've had the most reviews in 2012. A bunch of stuff came out in February, but the release of the Vita is what really pushed that number up above every other month.





Lastly, here's a look at reviews per year since the site launched.


The Raw Data
Game For Score By Date
All Zombies Must Die PS3N XBLA 3 Brad 1/12
Saints Row: The Third - GenkiBowl VII X360 2 Jeff 1/24
NeverDead X360 2 Alex 2/2
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning PS3 X360 4 Jeff 2/7
Darkness II, The X360 4 Alex 2/7
Resident Evil: Revelations 3DS 3 Brad 2/8
Gotham City Imposters PS3N XBLA PC 4 Brad 2/11
Super Stardust Delta PSVN 4 Jeff 2/13
Uncharted: Golden Abyss PSV 3 Jeff 2/13
Lumines: Electronic Symphony PSV 4 Jeff 2/16
Wipeout 2048 PSV 3 Jeff 2/16
Rayman: Origins PSV 5 Alex 2/16
Warp PS3N XBLA 3 Brad 2/17
Escape Plan PSVN 3 Alex 2/17
Syndicate PS3 X360 5 Jeff 2/21
Touch My Katamari PSV 3 Alex 2/21
Grand Slam Tennis 2 PS3 X360 3 Ryan 2/22
Alan Wake's American Nightmare XBLA 3 Patrick 2/22
Rhythm Heaven Fever Wii 5 Alex 2/22
Asura's Wrath X360 4 Brad 2/25
SSX PS3 X360 4 Alex 2/28
Mass Effect 3 PS3 X360 4 Jeff 3/6
Journey PS3N 5 Alex 3/13
I Am Alive XBLA 2 Brad 3/14
Street Fighter X Tekken PS3 X360 3 Jeff 3/19
Ninja Gaiden 3 X360 2 Alex 3/23
Ridge Racer PSV 2 Jeff 3/27
Sine Mora XBLA 3 Brad 3/28
South Park: Tenorman's Revenge XBLA 1 Alex 4/4
Kinect Star Wars X360 2 Brad 4/5
Splatters, The XBLA 3 Alex 4/13
Fez XBLA 4 Jeff 4/16
Trials Evolution XBLA 5 Brad 4/19
Pinball Arcade, The XBLA iOS 4 Jeff 4/20
Bloodforge XBLA 2 Alex 4/25
Mortal Kombat PSV 5 Jeff 5/1
Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition XBLA 4 Brad 5/9
Max Payne 3 X360 4 Ryan 5/14
Prototype 2 PS3 X360 3 Jeff 5/18
Diablo III PC 5 Brad 5/22
Game of Thrones X360 2 Alex 5/23
Dragon's Dogma PS3 X360 3 Patrick 5/24
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier X360 3 Jeff 5/30
Gravity Rush PSV 3 Alex 6/11
Civilization V: Gods & Generals PC 4 Alex 6/18
Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor X360 1 Brad 6/20
Spec Ops: The Line X360 3 Jeff 6/29
LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes X360 3 Brad 6/29
Spelunky XBLA 4 Alex 7/3
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy 3DS 4 Brad 7/5
Elder Scrolls V: Dawnguard, The X360 4 Brad 7/10
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD XBLA 3 Jeff 7/18
Deadlight XBLA 3 Brad 7/31
Expendables 2, The PS3N 2 Alex 8/3
Persona 4 Arena PS3 X360 4 Jeff 8/7
Sound Shapes PS3N PSVN 5 Alex 8/9
Darksiders II PS3 X360 PC 4 Jeff 8/14
Sleeping Dogs X360 PC 4 Alex 8/14
Papo & Yo PS3N 3 Alex 8/17
Dust: An Elysian Tail XBLA 5 Brad 8/20
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron PS3 X360 3 Jeff 8/21
Hybrid XBLA 4 Brad 8/23
Rock Band Blitz XBLA 4 Ryan 8/27
Madden NFL 13 X360 3 Alex 8/27
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 PS3 X360 4 Jeff 9/11
NHL 13 X360 4 Alex 9/12
Borderlands 2 PS3 X360 PC 4 Jeff 9/18
Mark of the Ninja XBLA 5 Brad 9/21
Fire Pro Wrestling XBLA 2 Alex 9/26
Tokyo Jungle PS3N 4 Patrick 10/1
Resident Evil 6 X360 2 Brad 10/3
Dishonored PS3 X360 4 Patrick 10/8
NBA 2K13 X360 4 Alex 10/8
Fable: The Journey X360 3 Brad 10/9
Forza Horizon X360 5 Jeff 10/12
XCOM: Enemy Unknown PS3 X360 PC 5 Ryan 10/16
007 Legends X360 2 Alex 10/18
Doom 3: BFG Edition PS3 X360 3 Brad 10/22
Medal of Honor: Warfighter X360 3 Brad 10/27
Need for Speed: Most Wanted X360 4 Jeff 10/30
WWE '13 PS3 X360 4 Alex 10/30
Halo 4 X360 4 Jeff 11/1
Assassin's Creed III: Liberation PSV 3 Alex 11/2
Hotline Miami PC 5 Alex 11/5
Assassin's Creed III PS3 X360 4 Ryan 11/6
Call of Duty: Black Ops II X360 4 Jeff 11/13
Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified PSV 1 Jeff 11/14
New Super Mario Bros. U WiiU 3 Brad 11/18
Nintendo Land WiiU 4 Brad 11/18
Hitman: Absolution X360 4 Alex 11/19
ZombiU WiiU 4 Patrick 11/20
Walking Dead, The PS3 X360 PC 5 Alex 11/26
PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale PS3 PSV 3 Jeff 11/27
Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why’d You Steal Our Garbage?! 3DS 3 Alex 11/29
Far Cry 3 PS3 X360 PC 5 Brad 12/4
Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse X360 1 Alex 12/4

UnbreakableVow

New thread means another "I LOVE PATRICK KLEPEK" post

I LOVE PATRICK KLEPEK

Also hey, I just got my slim PS3 today, and, uh...

Are all the slim PS3s top-loading, or is this something they just recently changed? I mean I know top-loading lasts longer, but it feels kinda cheap :?

Also the R&C Collection and PlayStation All-Stars that came with it, apparently Sony goes the Nintendo route now and puts their discs in cardboard sleeves. Hurrayyy

HugmasterGeneral

GiantBomb did an uboxing of the newest PS3. It's the first top-loading one I think.

Bucketman

Hmmm I wonder how well the live event would steam on my ipod at the gym. Something to watch while I workout would be nice

Tommy2Hands

what happened to vinny??

UnbreakableVow

Ughhh

The new PlayStation Store interface looks nice but it is so fucking sluggish

Vinny doesn't review games anymore

The Betgirl

i pretty much love the top load system on my slim

feels slick imo

T4CT

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

New thread means another "I LOVE PATRICK KLEPEK" post

I LOVE PATRICK KLEPEK

Also hey, I just got my slim PS3 today, and, uh...

Are all the slim PS3s top-loading, or is this something they just recently changed? I mean I know top-loading lasts longer, but it feels kinda cheap :?

Also the R&C Collection and PlayStation All-Stars that came with it, apparently Sony goes the Nintendo route now and puts their discs in cardboard sleeves. Hurrayyy

all the new slims are like this. Like super duper recent

mine is like this

it is like a transformer

no more of this shitty flip-up top loading no sir

this thing is all PHFWOOSH WHAT'S THAT IT'S A DISC SLOT MOTHERFUCKER NOW CLOSE ME AND LET'S PLAY SOME GAMES

Moriveth

He didn't to begin with

I can't even remember what game he reviewed, but it was probably because he was the only one who played it

UnbreakableVow

I will admit

It frightened me a little

Looking at the plastic top I expected "flip-up?" and then I hit the button and WHOOSH

UnbreakableVow

Also it is a great thing going back to a system you owned previously and re-downloading all your shit for it

Threads of Fate, fuck yes

And PlayStation Plus is badass, just got eight games for free what

T4CT

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

Also it is a great thing going back to a system you owned previously and re-downloading all your shit for it

Threads of Fate, fuck yes

And PlayStation Plus is badass, just got eight games for free what

seriously over the course of a week and a half Playstation Plus has full on converted me

this is a fucking great great great great great thing

T4CT

also never thought I'd say this but I think I'd pay someone to draw me in the persona style

it just looks cool

even though anime is Certifiably Gross

PaperLuigi44

Vinny's time when he is not doing quick looks is taken up by video editing/producing.

-Tal

persona four the animation is an anime based on the fourth and a half video game in a spin-off series of a spin-off series of a series of video games which are sequels to the first and second, but not third, books in a trilogy about demons coming out of computers