BAFTA awards to settle the 'Super Mario Galaxy vs. COD4' debate

by Ludwig Kietzmann on Feb 10th 2009 4:54PM

Also, sponsored by GAME

Alright, perhaps "debate" is a somewhat enthusiastic label for a question none of us have ever seriously considered. Which is more worthy of a prestigious award -- the cratered theater of war in Activision's Call of Duty 4, or the smiling planetoids of Super Mario Galaxy? We can't come up with a way to decide, which is precisely why we're grateful that the GAME British Academy Video Games Awards (for games that are sold by GAME) have decided to lump both into the "Best Game" category:

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Fable II
Fallout 3
Grand Theft Auto IV
Rock Band
Super Mario Galaxy

Before you object to the British Academy of Film and Television Arts' seemingly outdated choices, note that the period of valid entries spans October 26, 2007 to December 31, 2008 due to an earlier delay in ceremonies. The messy result, of course, is two Novembers duking it out. You'll see the rest of the quality-riddled categories after the break.

ACTION & ADVENTURE

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Dead Space
Fable II
Grand Theft Auto IV
Prince of Persia
Tomb Raider: Underworld

ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT

Assassin's Creed
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Dead Space
Gears of War 2
LittleBigPlanet
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

BEST GAME

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Fable II
Fallout 3
Grand Theft Auto IV
Rock Band
Super Mario Galaxy

CASUAL

Boom Blox
Buzz! Quiz TV
Guitar Hero: World Tour
LittleBigPlanet
SingStar Vol. 2
Wii Fit

GAMEPLAY

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Grand Theft Auto IV
Left 4 Dead
Mario Kart Wii
Rock Band
Super Mario Galaxy

HANDHELD

Geometry Wars: Galaxies
God of War: Chains of the Olympus
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Patapon
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Soul Bubbles

MULTIPLAYER

Buzz! Quiz TV
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Gears of War 2
Left 4 Dead
Mario Kart Wii
Rock Band

ORIGINAL SCORE

Assassin's Creed
Dead Space
Fable II
Fallout 3
LittleBigPlanet
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

SPORTS

FIFA 09
Football Manager 2009
Motorstorm Pacific Rift
Pure
Race Driver: GRID
Wii Fit

STRATEGY

Advance Wars: Dark Conflict
Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3
Ninjatown
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution
SOCOM: US Navy Seals Tactical Strike
Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise

STORY AND CHARACTER

Assassin's Creed
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Fable II
Fallout 3
Grand Theft Auto IV
Mass Effect

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT

Assassin's Creed
Fable II
Fallout 3
Grand Theft Auto IV
LittleBigPlanet
Spore

USE OF AUDIO

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Dead Space
Gears of War 2
Grand Theft Auto IV
LittleBigPlanet
Super Mario Galaxy

BAFTA ONE'S TO WATCH AWARD in association with Dare to Be Digital

Boro-Toro
Origamee
VegeMe

Source

Tags: Awards, BAFTA, best-of-2008, Call-of-Duty-4, COD4, GAME, Super-Mario-Galaxy

Reader Comments (57)

Sweet! Super mario galaxy is great! :)

wow, such old games

1 year is old?

Not at all.

Did you only begin gaming this generation?

Whoa, an awesome collection. You can see the last two years have been quite a highlight in great games.

With the benefit of hindsight, we can also see that 2007 kicked 2008's ass.

Any of these titles:

Super Mario Galaxy
Orange Box
Rock Band
Call Of Duty 4
BioShock

should beat out Fable 2, Fallout 3, or GTA 4 for Game Of The Year.

copa, but I enjoyed MGS4 and LBP more than any of those games that you mentioned...

Yes, noshino, I know you enjoy PS3 exclusives. I'm afraid that we just have different opinions here.

@ copa

notice you mentioned exclusives too. why leave out ps3 if you're talking about games in general? you should know well enough what the good games on ps3 were if you read this site. imo, uncharted beat out all those titles you mentioned with the exception of COD4 and bioshock.

@ slycooper

Uncharted WAS a 2007 game, so unless you're picking on him just because he didn't list a good 2007 PS3 exclusive( Uncharted is,mind you, very easy to overlook), you're both making the same point.

And yes, I agree. 2008 was much more hype and less quality. Even the good games like Fable 2,Fallout 3,Far Cry 2 and Gears of War 2 had way to many flaws than they should.

Tough call. How exactly do you compare a lot of those. The qualities that make some of them great are either greatly diminished or non-existent in the other. Do Mario Galaxy and Fallout 3 rank down because they don't have online multiplayer? Does Call of Duty 4 rank down because it's woefully short against Fallout 3? Is gritty, sharply defined realism "better" than Mario Galaxy's colorful, charming style?

I just finished the PC version of Assassin's Creed - that game is actually awesome. I've not disliked, but not loved a lot of the games that have come out recently (Far Cry 2, Prince of Persia, Fallout 3, L4D) so I wasn't expecting much from AC but for some reason it really struck a chord with me.

Same here, except the ending (MAGIC YAY!) annoyed me a little.

Tomb Raider over Uncharted I think not.

That's annoying. Uncharted was definitely within the time window these awards are looking at.

But then, it's a British awards ceremony, so maybe they picked Tomb Raider because it has a stereotypical english main character, rather than Uncharted's stereotypical english villain.

Guitar hero world tour is casual? hmmm

Not just that but LBP! I mean that's one PS3's most 'hardcore' games.

I think that just goes to show the bastardization of what makes a gamer "Casual" and what makes one "Hardcore"

@ J-Link

that's debatable. it can be casual if you're just going through the levels playing for fun and playing community levels. it can be hardcore if you're making insane levels like gevurah22 or geosautus to name 2 or if you're trying to ace all the levels (bunker is a bitch).

Yeah, I was just trying to show how stupid trying to define a game like that is, especially LBP which is so diverse.

my choices on the list:

ACTION & ADVENTURE
COD4

ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT
LittleBigPlanet

BEST GAME
Rock Band ( i would say SMG but rockband i have spent way more time on it)

HANDHELD
Professor layton
CASUAL
Wiifit

GAMEPLAY
Rockband

MULTIPLAYER
Rock Band

ORIGINAL SCORE
(highly disagree with the choices I think that SMG should have gotten the nod and the win)
all other ones are mainly forgettable i guess MGS4

Sports
(don't play them but heard good things about football manager)

Strategy
(didn't play them)

Story and Character
Fallout 3

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
Littlebigplanet

Use of audio
SMG

If the vote were mine and mine alone ...

Best Game: Fallout 3
Action And Adventure: COD Modern Warfare
Artistic Achievement: Little Big Planet
Casual: Little Big Planet
Gameplay: COD Modern Warfare
Handheld: Patapon
Multiplayer: COD Modern Warfare
Original Score: MGS 4 Guns Of The Patriots
Sports: FIFA 09
Strategy: Civilization Revolution
Story And Character: GTA IV
Technical Achievement: Little Big Planet
Use Of Audio: Galaxy

CoD4 is a game that is still filling up online servers today, how many people are still playing Super Mario Galaxy? Although I think GTA4 should win GotY...easily.

"STORY AND CHARACTER"

Thats gotta be Okami right? Right? Wrong. Apparently a story about a man who gets hooked up to a machine and experiences his ancestor's past and a game about a Eastern European immigrant who comes to America to forget his past but ends up back with his old habits are better than a story that incorporated (and taught) a lot of Japanese mythology associated with the Shinto religion.

Next up from GAME, Final Fantasy VII > Dragon Quest V

Admittedly, the only title in that category that deserved it is Mass Effect and maybe Fable 2 for it's sheer amount of continuity nods and lampshading.

I lol'd so hard at Guildmaster being murdered by the Hero of Oakvale and having "Your health is low" carved on his forehead.

No Orange Box?

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

Orange Box came out 16 days too early to be considered in this one.

No MGS4 in "STORY AND CHARACTER" categorie?

Makes sense to me. A storyline so convoluted and self-contradicting that they had to release a free "encyclopedia" for it.

And I've read The Wheel of Time series.

Zuburi

Actually the story is so epic that it goes over most peoples heads. It's actually a masterpiece if you have critical thinking skills. It's not forced on you or spoon fed to you like so many other games this generation. Some might prefer that everything be explained but I found the social commentary of MGS 4 refreshing to say the least. I think the database was released for those that hadn't played a MGS before 4.

Oh, cripes. To actually suggest that I'm lacking critical thinking skills because I thought MGS4's story was terrible is...

You know what? Fuck it. You're right. God forbid anybody say anything bad about that game and the genius that is Kojima.

LOL, GoW2 for multiplayer, thats like an oxymoron or something.

The multiplayer is really fun when it works not to mention horde mode is like the only thing worth while in that game.

I think we can all agree that the last few years have been great for gamers no matter what console(s) they own.

I say CoD4. Its has fantastic single player and addicting multiplayer. Its the best game overall.

So your threat to leave for 5 months was an empty one, then?

Well, im eating some roman noodles and I just decided read Joystiq and post a comment. Is there something wrong with that buddy?

Oh and haven't I known you for like 4 years now? Damn, time sure does fly huh?

3 years, i do recall you from relatively early in my joystiq career (summer of 2006), so i'll have been here 3 years come June

Damn how things have changed, though. I remember summer afternoons that i'd while away with joystiq in one tab and my e-mail in the other, so i could get comments up as quick as possible

The apparent contempt for MGS4's story in the professional world has me somewhat perplexed.

The answer is always "Super Mario Galaxy."

Question: What is your favorite color?

Super Mario Galaxy.

Why no one takes Banjo Kazooie nuts and bolts seriously? One of the Best exclusives the X360 has.

No one thinks Mass Effect should even be considered for best original score?

MAN that game had some of THE BEST music in gaming history.

I love mass effect, but even after recently playing it, I don't remember any tunes from it. Either its not very loud or not very memorable. I say the latter because I love a lot of game music.

No Mass Effect or SMG for Best Original Score? Why, lemme tell ya, that's just laaaame. Seriously, did they even PLAY those games? SMG and Mass Effect have two of the best soundtracks I've ever heard in games - I mean, so does Assassin's Creed (one of the only things the game had going for it) but ME/SMG should be up there.

Super mario galaxy didn't get original score? I love that soundtrack! Yes...My opinion rules.

Many people do. Buoy Base Galaxy? Most epic bgm ever.

Your not alone. One of the reasons that Galaxy convinced me that damn plumber still had it in him was the amazing score (ah...Battlerock Galaxy...)...

I used to think Bouy Base was the best, certainly reminded me of SM64 a little (as did the level itself).

Then I heard Wind Garden, and I was like "FUCK YEAH BEST OST EVAR"

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