Game of the Year Nominations thread
mcc
glitchRegistered User, ClubPA regular
glitchRegistered User, ClubPA regular
Dear Penny Arcade The Forum,
For the last few years I have been doing a Game of the Year poll on this forum. People seem to enjoy it when it happens so I would like to do it again this year if that's okay.
There are a lot of Game of the Year polls out there, but the thing that makes this one interesting (in my opinion) is that most GOTY polls give you a list of maybe five of the best-selling games from the last year, and ask you to choose your favorite. This poll, however, gives you a list of EVERY game that came out in the last year (more or less) and asks you to vote for [up to] your top 20, ranked by how much you liked them. Here's last year's poll if you want to see how this works. We actually wind up with a serviceable ranking of the top hundred or so games from the last year, with blockbusters, obscurities and cult hits mixed in side by side.
I'm going to start this poll on January 1, and run it for one week. But before I can do this I need a nominations list. Remember, the point of this is to have the most comprehensive list of games possible! So any game that anyone might POSSIBLY put in their top 20 deserves to go on the list. There are only a couple of rules.
1. The game has to have been legally released IN AMERICA for the first time this year.
2. No expansion packs, no ports. It has to be an actually new game. (Sometimes it's hard to tell whether this rule applies; see the post immediately underneath this one.)
3. I need to know the systems that any game you nominate were released on. I would also like to know if a game was only released in a digital download (I mark downloadable games with asterisks* below.)
Here's my nominations list so far. If I am missing anything or there are any mistakes, please let me know. Thanks!
For the last few years I have been doing a Game of the Year poll on this forum. People seem to enjoy it when it happens so I would like to do it again this year if that's okay.
There are a lot of Game of the Year polls out there, but the thing that makes this one interesting (in my opinion) is that most GOTY polls give you a list of maybe five of the best-selling games from the last year, and ask you to choose your favorite. This poll, however, gives you a list of EVERY game that came out in the last year (more or less) and asks you to vote for [up to] your top 20, ranked by how much you liked them. Here's last year's poll if you want to see how this works. We actually wind up with a serviceable ranking of the top hundred or so games from the last year, with blockbusters, obscurities and cult hits mixed in side by side.
I'm going to start this poll on January 1, and run it for one week. But before I can do this I need a nominations list. Remember, the point of this is to have the most comprehensive list of games possible! So any game that anyone might POSSIBLY put in their top 20 deserves to go on the list. There are only a couple of rules.
1. The game has to have been legally released IN AMERICA for the first time this year.
2. No expansion packs, no ports. It has to be an actually new game. (Sometimes it's hard to tell whether this rule applies; see the post immediately underneath this one.)
3. I need to know the systems that any game you nominate were released on. I would also like to know if a game was only released in a digital download (I mark downloadable games with asterisks* below.)
Here's my nominations list so far. If I am missing anything or there are any mistakes, please let me know. Thanks!
(Particularly curious at the paucity of iPhone/mobile titles-- does anyone actually play iPhone games?!)1942: Joint Strike (PS3*, 360*) (according to wikipedia, it's not a remake).
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (DS)
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (PC)
Age of Empires: Mythologies (DS)
Air Traffic Chaos (DS)
Alone in the Dark (PC, PS2, PS3, 360, Wii)
Animal Crossing: City Folk (Wii)
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (DS)
Armored Core: for Answer (PS3)
AudioSurf (PC)
Baja: Edge of Control (PS3, 360)
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (360)
Bangai-O Spirits (DS)
Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden (PC*)
Baroque (PS2, Wii)
Bionic Commando Rearmed (PC, PS3*, 360*)
Bleach: Dark Souls (DS)
Boom Blox (Wii)
Braid (360*)
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway (PC, 360, PS3)
Burnout Paradise (360, PS3)
Call of Duty: World at War (PC, DS, PS2, PS3, Wii, 360)
CarneyVale Showtime (360*)
Castlevania Judgment (Wii)
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS)
Castle Crashers (360*)
Cho Aniki (TG-16)
Civilization IV: Colonization (PC)
Civilization Revolution (DS, PS3, 360)
Cooking Mama: World Kitchen (Wii)
Crash Commandos (PS3*)
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP)
Crosswords DS (DS)
Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 (360, PC)
Cursor*10 (Flash)
Crysis Warhead (PC)
Dark Sector (PS3, 360)
De Blob (Wii, iPhone)
Dead Space (PC/360/PS3)
Deca Sports (Wii)
Devil May Cry 4 (360, PS3)
Disgaea 3 (PS3)
Dokapon Kingdom (Wii, PS2)
Dr. Mario Online Rx (Wii)
Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit (360,PS3)
Dragon Ball: Origins (DS)
Dragon Quest Swords (Wii)
Echochrome (PSP, PS3*)
Endless Ocean (Wii)
Etrian Odyssey 2 (DS)
Fable 2 (360)
Fallout 3 (PC/360/PS3)
Far Cry 2 (360,PS3, PC)
Fracture (360, PS3
FIFA Soccer 09 (PC, 360, PS2, PS3, Wii, Mobile)
Final Fantasy 4 (DS)
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King (Wii*)
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates (DS)
Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon (Wii)
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 (DS)
Gears of War 2 (360)
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 (360*)
God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP)
Grand Theft Auto 4 (PC/360/PS3)
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (360, Wii, PS2, PS3, PC)
Guitar Hero On Tour (DS)
Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades (DS)
Guitar Hero World Tour (Wii, 360, PS3, PS2)
GRiD (PC, 360, PS3, DS)
Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness (DS)
Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility (Wii)
Haze (PS3)
Hexothermic (360*)
Hinterland (PC*)
Hunted Forever (Flash)
I-Fluid (PC*)
Iji (PC*)
Infinite Undiscovery (360)
Jimmy Lost His Toilet Paper (PC*)
Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories (PS2)
King's Bounty: The Legend (PC)
Kingdom for Keflings (360*)
Kirby Superstar Ultra (DS)
KORG DS-10 (DS)
Left 4 Dead (360, PC)
Lego Batman (360, PS3, PS2, Wii, DS)
Lego Indiana Jones (360, PS3, PS2, Wii, DS)
Legend of Kage 2 (DS)
Lock's Quest (DS)
Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria (PC)
Little Big Planet (PS3)
Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ (DS)
Lost Odyssey (360)
Lost Winds (Wii*)
Luminous Arc 2 (DS)
Madden NFL 09 (XBox, 360, PS2, PS3, Wii, DS, PSP)
Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
Mega Man 9 (360*, Wii*, PS3*)
Mega Man Starforce 2 (DS)
Metal Slug 7 (DS)
Mercenaries 2 (PC/360/PS2/PS3)
Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3)
Midnight Club: Los Angeles (360, PS3)
Minotaur China Shop (Flash)
Mirror's Edge (PC/360/PS3)
Motorstorm: Pacific Rift (PS3)
Mount & Blade (PC)
Multiwinia (PC*)
Mushroom Men (Wii, DS)
Mystery Case Files: MillionHEIR (DS)
Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer (DS)
N+ (DS, PSP, 360*)
Nanostray 2 (DS)
Need for Speed Undercover (PS2, PS3, PC, 360)
Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir (PC)
Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword (DS)
Ninjatown (DS)
NHL 09 (PC, PS2, PS3, 360)
Ninja Gaiden 2 (360)
No More Heroes (Wii)
Noitu Love 2: Deevolution (PC)
Opoona (Wii)
Orbient (Wii*)
Patapon (PSP)
PixelJunk Eden (PS3*)
PixelJunk Monsters (PS3*)
Peggle Nights (PC)
Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Ep. 1 (PC*, 360*, PS3*)
Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Ep. 2 (PC*, 360*, PS3*)
Persona 4 (PS2)
Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia (DS)
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness (DS)
Polarity (PC*)
Populous DS (DS)
Prince of Persia (PC/360/PS3)
Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Wii)
Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (PS2, PS3, PSP, DS, 360, PC)
Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS)
Pure (PS3, 360, PC)
R-Type Command (PSP)
Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty (PS3*)
Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party (Wii, DS)
Resistance 2 (PS3)
Rise of the Argonauts (X360, PS3, PC)
Rock Band 2 (360, PS3, Wii)
Rondo of Swords (DS)
Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon (DS)
Sam & Max: Season 2 (PC)
Scene It? Box Office Smash (360)
Secret Agent Clank (PSP)
Silent Hill: Homecoming (360, PS3)
Sim City (iPhone)
Sins of a Solar Empire (PC)
Siren: Blood Curse (PS3*)
Skate It (DS)
Sonic Chronicles (DS)
Sonic Unleashed (360, PS3, Wii, PS2)
Soul Bubbles (DS)
Space Invaders Extreme (DS, PSP)
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (360, PS3, Wii, PC)
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (PS2, PSP)
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (DS)
Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes (iPhone)
Soul Calibur 4 (360, PS3)
Spelunky (PC*)
Spore (PC)
STALKER: Clear Skies (PC)
Star Ocean: First Departure (PSP)
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (360, PS3, DS, Wii, PS2, PSP)
Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Eps. 1-5 (PC*, Wii*)
Summon Night: Twin Age (DS)
Super Dodgeball Brawlers (DS)
Super Smash Bros Brawl (Wii)
Super Street Fighter 2 HD Remix (PS3*, 360*)
Tales of Symphonia 2: Dawn of the New World (Wii)
Tales of Vesperia (360)
Tetris Party (Wii*)
Time Hollow (DS)
Tom Clancy's EndWar (PC, DS, 360, PS3)
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 (PC, PS3, 360)
Tomb Raider: Underworld (360, PS2, PS3, Wii, DS, Mobile)
Too Human (360)
Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 (DS)
Trackmania DS (DS)
The Club (PC, 360, PS3)
The Last Remnant (PC, 360, PS3)
The World Ends With You (DS)
Valkyria Chronicles (PS3)
Vampyre Story (PC)
Viking: Battle for Asgard (360, PS3)
Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise (DS)
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (PC)
Wario Land: Shake It (Wii)
Weapon of Choice (360*)
WipeOut HD (PS3*)
Wii Fit (Wii)
Wii Music (Wii)
World of Goo (Wii*, PC)
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (PC)
You Have To Burn The Rope (Flash)
X3: Terran Conflict (PC)
mcc on
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So: As I said above, there's a "no ports, no expansions, only new games" rule for what gets included in this poll. But the problem is sometimes it's hard to tell whether something is a new game or not. Sometimes ports change so much, or expansion packs add so much, that they really DO evolve into a new game. For example, for purposes of this poll I don't count Final Fantasy IV for the GBA as being a new game; all they did was retranslate stuff and add some bonus dungeon. But I do count Final Fantasy IV for the DS as being a new game. Is this right? I dunno, the best I can do is just make a judgement and move on.
This year had so many bafflers I'm just going to make a list of games that were explicitly excluded, just so they don't come up again and again in this thread.
- Final Fantasy IV DS is a new game.
- Chrono Trigger DS is not a new game. Sorry, new dungeon doesn't cut it.
- Street Fighter HD whateverfuck is a new game. In addition to totally new graphics they rebalanced the characters and such, fundamentally reworking the gameplay.
- Wipeout HD is a new game, even though it does reuse tracks from some previous games from what I understand it composes them into a new experience.
- Rez HD is not a new game, sharpening the graphics and sound is not enough by itself.
- Standalone expansion packs get to count as new games, I guess.
- The Witcher: Enhanced Edition is not a new game.
I am by no means convinced I'm making the right decisions here; when all else fails, I opt to be consistent with previous years over being strictly logical. Incidentally, I'm really lost as to whether "Kirby Superstar Ultra" (which I haven't played) should count as a new game with reused content or just a port. How much did they change?
Another rules thing: Making things even worse is the emergence in the last year or so of "serial" games, where a game is released in little "episode"-style chunks. Should each episode count as a game unto itself? Or just sections of a larger game? The somewhat clunky rule I've adopted the last couple years so far is that Telltale Games serial adventures get counted as a single bundled metagame, and serial adventures by other companies get split up into serial episodes. This is because Telltale has a tendency to actually release their serial games as bundles at the end of each year and no one else I'm aware of consistently does this.
I would also nominate Poker Smash, Aces of the Galaxy and Ticket to Ride in the downloadable category (XBLA). Pure (PS3/360/PC) and Motorstorm: Pacific Rift (PS3) are other notable absences.
For iPhone, I've heard good things about Auora Feint but I've never played it.
Merry Christmas!
Edit: Am I right in thinking we are not including free games?
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, both the console (Xbox/PS3/PC...and I guess Wii/PS2 but I hear that version was terrible) and the DS version (completely different game, with a different dev)?
You are also missing Sins of A Solar Empire, which should be high up the final list.
Edit: Nevermind I am dumb. NHL09 obviously came out ages ago.
Aquaria (PC) came out this year, right? Maybe someone that played it can vouch for quality.
I think Rez HD should probably count as a new game, though. Higher resolution and full 5.1 do change that particular kind of experience in a dramatic way.
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
Eh, VC needs it more
Aquaria is fucking awesome. The music, voice acting, and story are all top-notch and everyone should go buy it now.
However
I do not know if it came out this year
Two humans.
Never mind
Are we actually counting the KORG DS-10 as a game, though? I mean, it's kind of cool if we are, but I wouldn't call it a game any more than I'd call the DS internet browser a game. It's more of a tool, really.
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
I haven't seen you in forever :P
I'm looking forward to this. I can't think of anything that definitely needs to be on there that isn't on that list, so I'll just sit back and watch.
Because I would probably think of voting for Forever Warning, Minotaur China Shop and Cursor*10
By the way, I forgot to link: here's the thread for last year's results.
Nope, free games are totally fine except I need to know so I can add the * indicating they were download-only.
Hmm, apparently there was also a PSP/PS3 version that was a distinct game? I'll add all 3 for the heck of it.
Yeah, burning crusade made it on the list last year, so Lich King should make it on the list this year.
Added this, but you're right, this was 2008, I'll remove it again.
This said: HOLY CRUD THERE ARE LITERALLY ZERO SPORTS GAMES ON THIS ENTIRE LIST. Should this be remedied?
Sorry, that was 2007. It was #76 on last year's list (placing it directly between Eternal Sonata and NFL 08).
Hm, sorry, historically I've not allowed games that were ONLY graphical upgrades/reskins-- this seems like a port in the purest sense. Things like Wipeout HD and SF2HD only got on because there were gameplay differences, the game itself was reformulated, etc.
That's a flash game right? (Flash games are allowed I just want to know)
I had more fun with it than I had with Brawl ^_^
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
I am wondering why DS is the only listed platform for Civilization Revolution. PS3 and X360 also had it.
Trying to think of anything I played that wasn't on the list. Too Human's about it, and I suppose it deserves a mention.
Yes
I am even more dumb.
We're still in 2008. So NHL did come out this year. I was thinking of 08 version which was obviously out in 07.
Stupid EA. Name your shit right.
This made my day.
EDIT: nevermind lol.
EDIT 2: the Naruto games? just throwing stuff out here. There was Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm (PS3) and the...other one for the 360.
In that case, did you have to burn the rope come out this year? :P
Jimmy Lost His Toilet Paper was a brilliant game. It was free and I believe it was released this summer. Polarity was brilliant as well. Those are both downloadable and not flash.
I added the second two games, however checking it appears that Warning Forever / Forever Warning was actually released in 2005?
EDIT: Again free games are okay if they're things you'll actually vote for but PLEASE specify whether they are Flash games or PC downloadable games because otherwise I have to go look it up.
GM: Rusty Chains (DH Ongoing)
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir (PC)
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (PC)
Funny thing is, the game I most expected to not be on the list, is. Go Mystery Dungeon!
edit: Nevermind, just took a look again at the first post... Those first two are expansions, just noticed Wrath of the Lich King was on the list but they weren't. So, Wrath needs to be taken off.
I don't actually have it, but I remember that a lot of people enjoyed it
I would lean toward including Kirby SS Ultra. Everything was remade from scratch and there was new stuff as well.
I usually make lists just for funsies, so I can't wait to see what G&T's GOTY is.
I seem to remember some people on the forums liking it.