Official Gamespot GOTY awards

I present you: the Gamespot GoTY awards. Please keep the fanboyism to a minimum!

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENTS AWARDS

• Best Original Music: Mass Effect
• Most Surprisingly Good Game: Medal of Honor Heroes 2
• Best Licensed Music: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
• Best Story: BioShock
• Best Sound Design: Rock Band
• Best Graphics, Technical: Crysis
• Best Voice Acting: Mass Effect
• Best Graphics, Artistic: Super Mario Galaxy
• Best Use of a Creative License: Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened
• Best New Character(s): Portal
• Funniest Game: The Orange Box
• Biggest News: Vivendi merges with Activision
• Best Multiplayer Game: Rock Band
• Best Expansion Pack: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
• Best Original Game Mechanic: The Orange Box
• Best Downloadable Console Game: Pac-Man Championship Edition
• Most Improved Sequel: Medal of Honor Heroes 2
• Best New Gaming Hardware: Rock Band Instrument Set
• Most Innovative Game: World in Conflict
• Best Downloadable Content: Rock Band
• Best Use of Control Scheme: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
• Best Atmosphere: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Cernobyl

DUBIOUS HONORS AWARDS

• Most Despicable Use In-Game Advertising: Need for Speed ProStreet
• Worst Trend: Lousy Wii Ports
• Most Disappointing Game: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
• Flat-Out Worst Game: Hour of Victory
• Worst Game Everyone Played: Spider-Man 3
• Best Game No One Played: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
• Most Disappointing Delay: Grand Theft Auto 4

GENRE AWARDS

• Action Adventure GOTY: Assasin's Creed
• Adventure GOTY: Zack andWiki
• Shooter GOTY: Crysis
• Fighting GOTY: Virtua Fighter Online
• Platformer GOTY: Super Mario Galaxy
• Racing GOTY: Forza 2
• Puzzle GOTY: The Orange Box (Portal)
• Rythm GOTY: Rock Band
• RPG GOTY: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona
• Sports GOTY: NHL 08
• Strategy GOTY: World in Conflict

PLATFORM AWARDS

• DS GOTY: Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
• PSP GOTY: Puzzle Quest: COTW (Multiplat PSP GOTY?)
• PS2 GOTY: God of War II
• Xbox360 GOTY: Call of Duty 4
• PS3 GOTY: Call of Duty 4
• Wii GOTY: Super Mario Galaxy
• PC GOTY: Crysis

OVERALL GAME OF THE YEAR

SUPER MARIO GALAXY

Edit 2: Dubious honors and best atmosphere awards

Edit 3: Its official plus links to the awards

...Anyways I'm glad that Persona 3 got the best RPG for 07 :D

... and Pacman CE beating Warhawk for best downloadable game.rragnaar

Maybe 'cause Warhawk was available in box form as well? Just guessing.

I'm avoiding all the GOTY this year causethe critics are going to give it to either Bioshock of SMG, neither of which I cared for.

I guess in a year of greatness, some say the best year ever (and I'd agree) it's tough to pick out a GOTY.

where did you get this?

cause its kinda strange that COD4 is PS3 and 360 GOTY, but the PC GOTY is crysis, despite COD4 being on the PC also? ccause that should mean Crysis should have gotten Shooter GOTY also?

where did you get this?cobrax75

One partis from a system wars poster. A link was added for proof. Another part was from Gonintendo. Like I said not 100% sure.

See the link you can see in the video that SMG won.

cause its kinda strange that COD4 is PS3 and 360 GOTY, but the PC GOTY is crysis, despite COD4 being on the PC also? ccause that should mean Crysis should have gotten Shooter GOTY also?

cobrax75

Yeah, I found that kinda odd as well.

The only way I can figure they made this choice is because COD4 is the most accessible quality shooter being that it is across a variety of platforms, so in terms of the Overall context COD4 got the award since it's the title that stood tall no matter what platform you played it on, where Crysis was targeted to a more limited audience, even within the PC platform.

But they gave Crysis PC GOTY over COD4 since when examining the PC platform alone, Crysis was the high quality title that most pushed the capabilities and boundaries of the PC platform, and therefore stood out the most on it's platform in particular.

....that's pretty much my guess at the reasoning behind it.

Wait, these are official?

Can't imagine how they just turned round 180 degrees about COD4. Not only do I think it doesn't deserve shooter GOTY, I think they were pretty convinced about it too earlier.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl won "Best Atmosphere" if I am not mistaken.

And overall I find these awards to be quite disappointing. No mention of titles like God of War II, Odin Sphere or S.T.A.L.K.E.R. while most of the titles that won have come out within the past few months and every other amazing game that came out during the earlier part of the year hardly even gets a mention. And I really think S.T.A.L.K.E.R. takes the cake for the "Best Shooter" of 2007... no other shooter in my life have I played that has been so incredibly atmospheric and has allowed for such a deep level of exploration and adventure. Yeah sure, linear cinematic gameplay is cool... once... but when you can go from fighting a bunch of military grunts in a crazy battle situation to a Doom 3-like slow-moving corridor crawler horror-fest I think your game deserves at least a nomination for best shooter.foxhound_fox

I agree. Also, some of those results don't make sense... Crysis beat COD4 for PC GOTY, but COD4 beat Crysis for shooter of the year? What, did Crysis clinch the GOTY title with its stunning orchestral score? Also, Super Mario Galaxy GOTY?:|

Are these speculation? Isn't Gamespot supposed to reveal the GOTY on Friday? that video you posted doesnt workF1_2004

No they are real.

Here'sthe youtube version of the video. They are supposed to be revealed Friday, but I guess some guys hacked it or something.

Also, Super Mario Galaxy GOTY?:| F1_2004

Sure. I was one of many people who expected SMG to take home Game of the Year.

I really like that Persona 3 won in the RPG category. It had some tough competion with Mass Effect and The Witcher.

I really like that Persona 3 won in the RPG category. It had some tough competion with Mass Effect and The Witcher.LordAndrew

Turns out that list isn't fully accurate. (Though I'm sure Galaxy is Overall GOTY cause I actually saw the vid to that one)

Crysis won the Editor's Choice for Best Overall Shooter...not COD4:

http://www.gamespot.com/best-of/genreawards/index.html?page=4

Turns out that list isn't fully accurate. (Though I'm sure Galaxy is Overall GOTY cause I actually saw the vid to that one)

Crysis won the Editor's Choice for Best Overall Shooter...not COD4:

http://www.gamespot.com/best-of/genreawards/index.html?page=4

Robnyc22

Thanks, changed it. Still not sure about the rest of it. Will change the title in the official GoTY when I am 100 % sure.

halo didnt win any awards because gamespot didnt wanna seem like they were following the halo fanboy hype train, even though halo 3 was a good game.

jmac18002000

If that's the case then how come so far the other major gaming also gave Best Shooter or Best FPS to games like COD4 or BioShock or Crysis over Halo 3?

....even TeamXbox, which practically carried the Halo 3 hype train torch, awarded COD4 best shooter on 360 over Halo 3.

Halo 3 didn't win because the competition in the genre (like Crysis, BioShock, and COD4) edged it out this year in the eyes of the Editors, not just at Gamespot, but so far pretty much every other major gaming site....plain and simple.

With GS's increasingly dodgy reviews, 'dubious honor' is any award handed out by GS as far as I am concerned. Not to say that GS's award choices weren't odd back when its reviews were better (who else but GS laboured under the delusion Wind Waker was a better game than KOTOR?)...

Give me a break, they give CoD4 GOTY to both the PS3 and 360? especially the year the 360's had? Its like saying they don't have quality exclusive games. This reminds me when GS handed out Xbox GoTY back in 2004 to Burnout 3 :| a multiplatform game when the system had its best year in the console's cycle with gameslike Halo 2, Ninja Gaiden, Chronicles of Riddick. Yeah a multiplatform racing game over quality exclusives :roll:

I find most of the choices rather sound. Sure, there are some oddities, but that's expected out of any award shows. For some reason, I found the inclusion of 'Best Use of Control Scheme' category rather amusing. There were control schemes before the Wii and DS, you know? But I disgress.

The only real annoyance I have is all this Call of Duty 4 praise, it's like a bad joke or something. It's a great game, but that's it. It doesn't really stand out in any way especially considering the kind of competition the genre had this year. Call of Duty 4 triumphing over The Orange Box is kind of like a punch in the face. I mean, Portal alone is better (and longer :o) than Call of Duty 4. But if GameSpot wants to throw praise at yearly rehashes (I'm emotionally preparing myself for Call of Duty '08 winning awards), that's their prerogative, I suppose.

Fine picks, the only one that has me confused is Assassin's creed being best action adventure game over GoW2. dvader654

I have not played AC yet, but maybe it got the edge cause it is a new IP and GOW2 was more of the same?

Metroid Prime 3 is hands down, the most polished, most well-paced, best controlling, and most accessible game in the Prime series. All this in one of the highest rated, most well respected series in all of gaming, and quite possibly Nintendo's most reliable series even though not the most popular.

Its also a game that sets standards for first-person console games in terms of how well it controls, which cannot be overlooked. My brother just got a Wii for X-mas, and the first thing he said to me was 'Dude I can't believe how awesome Metroid is with these controls....I actually thought it wouldn't be as good as the older games'. He never wanted to try Prime 3 at my house. I don't know if he thought he would look dumb or what, but now he's convinced.

It got beat in the Wii's top 5, by games such as Warioware, Zack & Wiki, Super Paper Mario, and a 2-year old port of Resident Evil 4. All good games for what they are, but cmon now. RE4 is the only one on Metroid's level, but its a 2 year old port!In fact, the only game on their list that I can see outdoing Metroid, is Mario Galaxy.

When being the best game in an acclaimed series just isn't good enough: Priceless.

CoD4 is incredible, the single player is short but intense and fun as hell. The multiplayer had me hooked, I think it is better than TF2, and I have yet to play Halo 3 a lot but it might be better or just as good as that. Is it better than Orange Box as a whole, no way, but I have no problem with it getting so much praise, its an excellent game.dvader654

Like I said, it's a great game, just not that great. You read my impressions of the demo a few months back, I liked what I played. It's Call of Duty, nothing more, nothing less. I thought the original was a great game, but I wouldn't have given it any awards back then and I sure as hell wouldn't do it four years and four games later. Call of Duty 4 plays exactly the same as the original. Infinity Ward did a great job in upping the graphics which in turn incresed the intensity by a fair bit, but it's still Call of Duty through and through. Call of Duty wasn't a seminal FPS back in 2003, so how the hell is it in 2007?

And don't disregard the multiplayer which maybe the best of any game this year. Its like an RPG but as an online FPS, it blew me away.

dvader654

I heartily agree! COD4's MP is what makes it so damned great.

They forgot to include Metroid Prime 3 in the top 5 best Wii games of the year.

Metroid Prime 3 is hands down, the most polished, most well-paced, best controlling, and most accessible game in the Prime series. All this in one of the highest rated, most well respected series in all of gaming, and quite possibly Nintendo's most reliable series even though not the most popular.

EdgecrusherAza

It just brought Metroid Prime 3. Just killed the 2nd Seed boss, and so far I agree 100% with your opinion. Its like you said well-paced, polished and super intense. The bosses so far are difficult to figure out and difficult to battle. Rundas killed me 5 times, by throwing a iceberg at me! I am playing on veteran difficulty, and the difficulty level is in my opinion higher than that of MP2 (with the exception of the freaking boost ball guardian).

And yet this game is criminally overlooked. A real shame

In fact, the only game on their list that I can see outdoing Metroid, is Mario Galaxy.

When being the best game in an acclaimed series just isn't good enough: Priceless.

EdgecrusherAza

For me, Metroid Prime 3 was very well polished for what it was, but ultimately I found it to be highly forgettable as a game. Of all the games they picked for Wii GOTY, the only title I think that Metroid Prime 3 really could've been viewed as outpacing was Super Paper Mario, which I also haven't been very compelled to work through.

I was thinking the whole time watching the GOTY vid that Call of Duty 4 was going to get it. When Super Mario Galaxy was announced for the honor,I laughed like a giddy little girl...and clapped like one too. :|

I'm happy that GS agrees with me on this one. The game is just that awesome.

"Yipee!"

[QUOTE="cobrax75"]

where did you get this?Iga_Bobovic

One partis from a system wars poster. A link was added for proof. Another part was from Gonintendo. Like I said not 100% sure.

See the link you can see in the video that SMG won.

For what it's worth, all the videos were on the site since early this week, they just didn't actively link to them. That way they can simply upload the page with the winners and the working links. Unfortunately, on the GS video player, though the links to the videos were blank and the video itself was blank, there was a download option for the videos that was wroking. I downloaded all of them myself on Wednesday I believe. And I remember the shooter winner being different in the video than on the web page, oh well.

As for my thoughts, love seeing Persona 3 win the RPG. I don't know how Pac-Man could beat Warhawk, especially seeing that it's such a solid, quality game. Again, AC over GoW2 is a bit questionable in my eyes. However, I gotta agree with SMG as the GOTY, the first GOTY that I personally agreed with since... years ago I guess. Also, as bad as Wii ports are, the worst trend by far has to be charging for content that should have been in the game - DLC is getting crazy, and the number of, say, tracks on the disc in racers is getting silly thin. Also, best game no one played is Crush, which far fewer played than Puzzle Quest, but at least PQ is something new and unique too. Crush was everything that Super Paper Mario should have been but failed to deliver.

i like how gamespot gave cod4 a 9.0 and it was 360 goty over halo 3. so i guess the scores dont matterDevouring_One

Review = One editors opinion

GOTY = Editorial team decision