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Reader Comments (24)

Posted: Jan 19th 2011 9:33PM JnRx said

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geez again o_o

Posted: Jan 20th 2011 5:48AM Tachyonic Cargo said

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@JnRx - There are 24 categories total. The full list of nominees and categories can be found here:
http://www.interactive.org/images/pdfs/14th_Annual_IAA_Finalists.pdf

Joystiq posted the wrong link for this.

As for the categories listed in the AIAA press release, it would seem that for the first time in fourteen years of hosting the highest awards in gaming, the Academy has finally given in to the pressures of pop culture: how else do you explain some of these nominations?

Unless it's under casual games, Angry birds should not be here at all, much less listed under GOTY and Outstanding Innovation - how can Angry Birds be innovative, I've been playing games exactly like it for years . . . I know tower defense games with x10 more innovation than Angry Birds.

Bayonetta is not even mentioned under the Action Game category, and it is quite possibly the best action game since the original God of War.

Mentioning, as much as I love God of War 3, the game is almost completely derivative of the rest of the franchise (from last gen) and hardly represents the pinnacle of innovation or the push forward for gaming. Yet it is nominated far more often in far more categories than it should be. It's a fantastic game, but serious GOTY contender it never was.

Call of Duty: Black Ops as GOTY contender? Only in Bizarro world . . . and maybe not even there. Again, another fine game, but simply not GOTY contender material.

Matter of fact, if I did not know any better, I'd swear they stacked the entire deck for GOTY just to insure either Red Dead Redemption, or Mass Effect 2 would win GOTY, as those are the only two games nominated in that category that even stand a chance.

All the criticisms aside, once you get off the "main list" from the press release and get into the full list of nominees, I have to give props to the Academy for all the love they are showing games like LIMBO, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Alan Wake, Heavy Rain, Dance Central, Metro 2033, Rock Band 3 and Kirby's Epic Yarn. These are some of 2010's unsung heroes in gaming, and deserve recognition for the excellence they have brought to gaming - especially in a year when they could have simply given every award to Mass Effect 2 and Red Dead Redemption.

Still do not understand the lack of love for Bayonetta . . . and for that matter, the lack of love for Splinter Cell: Conviction. Talk about a couple of games that many game designers are going to be blatantly ripping of for the next five years, yet little to no recognition from the Academy. But I guess since Angry Birds got a GOTY nomination, all is right with the world.
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Posted: Jan 19th 2011 9:33PM FuriousMailman said

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Red Dead fully deserves any award it gets.

Posted: Jan 19th 2011 9:52PM AlphaJace said

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@FuriousMailman

And you deserve 3 hearts...RDR is like an academy Award Winning game.
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Posted: Jan 19th 2011 10:26PM Lone Starr said

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@FuriousMailman

So it would deserve the worst game of the year award?

I hope not. :/
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Posted: Jan 19th 2011 10:49PM FuriousMailman said

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@Lone Starr

Something tells me that's not going to happen, so my logic still stands.
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Posted: Jan 19th 2011 9:35PM ClarkyAC said

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My vote would go to (out the ones listed):

Game of the year - Mass Effect 2

Most innovative - Stuck between LIMBO and heavy rain, (Angry Birds is hardly innovative, but is the most successful and most known of its type)

Action Game: BC2

Adventure: AC2:Brotherhood

Casual Game: Angry Birds

RPG: ME2

Social Networking: VOID

Posted: Jan 19th 2011 11:01PM Saladfork said

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@ClarkyAC
Mine:
GotY: Mass effect 2

Innovation: Heavy Rain (Not a great game, in my opinion, but was certainly something new)

Action: Red Dead Redemption, by a long shot.

Adventure: Assassin's creed brotherhood

MMO/RPG: Oh jeez, this one's a toughie. Cataclysm is undoubtably the best MMO release this year but Mass Effect 2 is a superior RPG. I really think they should be different categories.

Casual + Social networking: No vote, I haven't played any of these

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Posted: Jan 19th 2011 9:36PM JnRx said

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Hmm even thought I don't play it that much or haven't played it enough to get deep into it {sounds dirty} I still think Bad company 2 should be a contender for game of the year. And how is angry birds innovation o_O? People have been flinging things into other things for years.None of those games are particularily innovative LIMBO is a platformer in the dark...Red Dead is GTA western...WHY IS PAC~MAN Casual :O that game is the most hardcore game ever >:/ you know your hardcore when when you can be remade on basically all platforms and remade decades later and still be awesome {Tetris included}

Posted: Jan 19th 2011 9:38PM HybridPara said

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I am too surprised to see God of War 3 and Black Ops on those GOTY lists.

Posted: Jan 19th 2011 9:42PM Mustang Fanboy said

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@HybridPara
why is that? God of War 3 is easily one of the best game of this generation. I dont know about black ops now.
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Posted: Jan 19th 2011 9:49PM HybridPara said

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@Mustang Fanboy

I played GoW3 and I don't really see how it's not just an updated GoW2. It's got a laughable story and there are better stylish action/ hack und slash games.
RDR, however I understand, it's head and shoulders above a lot of other games. Mass Effect 2 is also in its right place.
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Posted: Jan 19th 2011 9:41PM Mustang Fanboy said

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Angry birds is there but not Super Mario Galaxy 2? What a joke. Would love to see GoW3 win but RDR is great choice too.

Posted: Jan 19th 2011 9:46PM Mcmax3000 said

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I'd personally pick...

GOTY: Mass Effect 2
Innovation: Dance Central
Action: Bad Company 2
Adventure: Heavy Rain
Casual: Pac-Man CE DX
RPG: Mass Effect 2

I don't play any social networking games so I can't comment on those.

Posted: Jan 19th 2011 9:52PM Shig said

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I've never played Angry Birds, so I can hardly pass judgement. But it seems oddly out of place.

Posted: Jan 19th 2011 9:58PM This Little Man Says His Name Is said

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They picked Angry Birds as innovative yet they didn't pick Alan Wake?

Posted: Jan 19th 2011 10:01PM EliminatorZigma said

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Geez... all these nominations for Angry Birds. I mean, yes, it's a great, fun, casual game, but it's definitely not GOTY material. And it really isn't innovative (flinging things to break other things? That's been around for a while).

Posted: Jan 19th 2011 10:16PM Anticrawl said

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I expected a lot more out of DICE...

Posted: Jan 19th 2011 10:48PM Anticrawl said

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@Anticrawl

Ugh I don't even know where to begin. Instead I will submit my own list.

GOTY: Just Cause 2 (Because gaming has forgotten how to be FUN)
Innovation: Amnesia: Darkest Descent (A travesty this isn't nominated)
Action: Bayonetta (There is no such thing as better action)
Adventure: Heavy Rain (Duh?)
Casual: Nimbus (None of the games listed above are new except Kinect Sports)
RPG: Mass Effect 2 (We are sorely lacking on great Sci-Fi RPGs)
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Posted: Jan 19th 2011 10:29PM Voltron said

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No Starcraft 2 makes me a sad panda

Posted: Jan 20th 2011 1:31AM wcarnation said

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Did they pick these games out of a hat or something?

It'd also be nice to see Mass Effect 2, an RPG, win GOTY (like it should) for once.

..and wheres the Strategy GOTY section?

Posted: Jan 20th 2011 1:36AM wcarnation said

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And my picks:

GOTY - Mass Effect 2 (top game of the year, hands down)
Outstanding Innovation - Dance Central (truly innovative, not an -ART GAME-)
Action GOTY - Black Ops (exceptionally fun and well done)
Adventure GOTY - Alan Wake (I'd go with Brotherhood, but uh, its not an adventure game)
Casual GOTY - Plants vs. Zombies (Insanely fun, simple and addictive. I'm still playing it. The first app I'll buy once I get a smartphone, too.)
RPG GOTY - Mass Effect 2 (same reasons as GOTY)
Social GOTY - CityVille (I guess)


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Posted: Jan 20th 2011 10:31AM jmr1986 said

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Some of my picks:

Game of the Year (No Mario Galaxy 2??):
Red Dead Redemption

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming:
Heavy Rain

Action Game of the Year (No Vanquish or Bayonetta on this category??):
Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Adventure Game of the Year:
Alan Wake

Casual Game of the Year:
Angry Birds HD

Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year:
Mass Effect 2

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design:
Medal of Honor (The gun sound in this game is insane)

Racing Game of the Year:
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit
Split/Second

Outstanding Achievement in Story:
Alan Wake
Heavy Rain

Posted: Jan 21st 2011 7:15AM Cube said

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Angry Birds...seriously.

I felt it was barely worth the price I paid for it. Which was a whopping £0.00 (Android).

It's a good 10-minute distraction, nothing more.

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