Brendan, I'm sure you're familiar with the fallacy of the True Scotsman? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman Don't want to be a jerk, but I believe you can do way better than a whole article on something that's essentially a longer, more involved version of that fallacy. In other words - if anyone cared about Suda51 being punk or not, that person had the wrong idea since the very start.

@KillerJuan77 "What's up with gamers and indie devs and their egos?" Too many people, especially in the press, are stuffing lots of indie devs with the absurd idea that being indie equals goodness *in itself*. It doesn't. It's pretty much the same thing as saying that only AAA, high-polish titles are worth playing; both statements are logical jumps, artificial distinctions that ignore a gigantic array of decisions and design factors that lead to a good game. Budget and having to answer to a publisher or not are only two factors amongst dozens.

@Vari3ty You are indeed entitled to something: to like the game or not, and to buy sequels/other games by the same studio/developer or not. And that's friggin' it. You're not entitled to conclude YOU know what's best for the developer to do next. Which is the point of this article, but fanboyism clouds the vision of many.

"Second, what's with this sudden advocating for more power? More power gives us new Call of Duties." And Skyrims, and Dark Souls, and Uncharteds, and Witchers, and Mass Effects, and so on. Point being, it's a straw man argument. The emergence of smartphones also gave us a lot of clones and sh*tty games. Rushing to the one-dollar casual gaming market with an worthless clone isn't any less risk-adverse than what the big publishers do with graphical and processing power.

Tom Magrino is the better podcast host, but when it comes to serious thinking, Brendan blows him out of the water. It's like putting Daigo against, I don't know, me. By the way, how do I do the Hadouken thing again? XD

I decided to get NeverDead anyway once I read your article, Mr. McShea, because you managed to convey with your text the sense that this game *is innovative* - and personally I'm willing to put up with almost any technical difficulty to experience something new. I just wish more people read the actual text before freaking over a score. And forgive me for bringing a competitor to the debate, but Kotaku has just ditched their scores for a simple 'Yes/Not Yet/No' classification that answers the very question you posited here: is it worth playing? I feel they won't be able to maintain that review system for long, but I wish more gaming portals and websites would do the same.

I disagree with Tom McShea on a number of things, including his view of inFAMOUS 2 or Skyward Sword... But I've always respected the man's opinions (that's why I didn't comment on those reviews - contrary to typical Skyrim fanboy attitude, I can accept dissenting opinions, specially ones that just differ in 'level of goodness', so to speak). His personal list makes me remember why I should keep respecting him: anyone who includes El Shaddai, Shadows of the Damned, Alice and Catherine is really out to have a *personal* opinion, not just following the herd/bowing to peer (nerd) pressure.

@supacoolguy1985 I've noticed that, too. Some editors didn't even mention Skyrim, and only one chose it as GOTY. I can only imagine that more people voted, not only the editors... Or that the winners are chosen by comittee, not by internal voting. In any case, I cannot help but wonder that Skyrim won because they didn't want to deal with the barrage of comments that would ensue if they had chosen Portal 2 or, God Forbid, Catherine or Dark Souls (my top 3 games of the year, all of them mentioned a number of times in this feature). And I can't blame them - Skyrim fans are rabid ones, they just can't accept that the game isn't for everyone.

@Chaos_Angel_14 This year we had TONS of games released in the summer, it's just that the press didn't notice the sheer volume since none of them were as high profile as Madden, Fifa, CoD, Battlefield and the like. We had Duke Nukem Forever (for better or worse), Alice: Madness Returns, Child of Eden, Catherine, Shadows of the Damned, Red Faction: Armaggedon, inFAMOUS 2, F.3.A.R., Dungeon Siege III, Ocarina of Time 3D, Bastion, From Dust, Call of Juarez: The Cartel... And that's only on June/July. If you factor August in, there's Deus Ex: Human Revolution and more. I was particularly please with that period. I distinctly remember having way more problems keeping up with June/July than with the holiday season.

@istuffedsunny That's funny, considering that many of 2011's best and most innovative games are actually Japanese (Catherine, Dark Souls, Shadows of the Damned, El Shaddai and Ghost Trick, to name a few that made the rounds here on Gamespot's Best of 2011). I find that this notion is actually convenient for Westeners: if the Japanese do great, innovative games like these above, they're 'too niche' so they don't count (save for maybe Dark Souls which sold well); and if they do go for what most Westerners want (Ace Assault: Combat Horizon), it sells, but then pundits and 'savvy' gamers come out to say 'meh, they're just mimicking us'. This way the Japanese simply can't win. But the reality of it is that it's been the second year in a row where if a gamer wants any shred of innovation, he/she needs to look at the Japanese games.