Game of the Year 2008

Great article, but I have to respectfully disagree with a few of your picks. Fighting GOTY was spot on, but shooter was way off with no honorable mention of CoD5. I can't really disagree with your RPG or action picks, but there was no mention of Madden in sports or Grid in racing/driving GOTY, for shame Spuds, especially on snubbing Grid. No honorable mention of Braid for puzzle game either? My overall GOTY would be Fallout 3, but I can't get upset that you didn't give the game the nod because you did discuss it in your article.

Overall great article, I hope it sparks some debate.
 
Personally, I loathe both Madden and World at War.

I love football. I do not love Madden. I haven't loved Madden in a while, and 2009 is 2008, but slightly less stupid (though the suction blocking and inconsistent defensive play are both still pretty stupid).

I love FPSs, but Call of Duty is the new Medal of Honor. Half-hearted rehashes of WWII shooters. Choosing Resistance over Call of Duty was a choice of a pretty good FPS with good multiplayer or a pretty good FPS with good multiplayer that had something unique. It wasn't an electrifying move...but it's not like either was an electrifying game.

I really liked Mario Kart Wii. It was the closest thing to a good Wii game. I'm, personally, not huge on racing games, so the most easily accessible racing games that were of relatively high quality took my top spots. In this case, being Wipeout and Mario Kart.

And Braid isn't really a puzzle game...it's more of a platformer.

And like I said about Fallout 3...I walked into it thinking it was a no brainer. It was, in fact, your news article that pushed me to choose Street Fighter over it. Fallout 3 is obviously a great game...but then I read that news story and remembered just how many serious, quest-ending, game-changing glitches that game truly had and it just made me think that Fallout 3, for however great it is, was not "complete". Meanwhile, SF2 HD went above and beyond all its competitors in literally every department (except sound).
 
No Disgaea love? Burnout Paradise? Wipeout HD?

Also I am pretty sure that I would have picked Metal Gear as the game of the year. During the "snow level" I became convinced that game just had everything that I ever wanted from a Metal Gear, but with old Snake added on.
 
In terms of having the most-diverse environmental single-player experience in modern games, I'd have to say that MGS4 certainly does rank among the top 3 (the other two being Splinter Cell: Double Agent and Metroid Prime).

However, it's lacking in multiplayer value.

Oh, and that 20 minute loading thing between every chapter is bullshit.
 
Saying CoD is the new MoH is much too harsh, and giving Resistance the nod I disagree with. I found that the game became quite boring and started to feel more like a chore rather than a fun escape. The story didn't get me excited and the action never felt anything more than average. I had much more fun with CoD:WaW and I find the multiplayer to be very addictive even if it hasn't completely changed. CoD isn't perfect, especially when Treyarch is the developer, but they have gotten better. CoD:WaW is head and shoulders above CoD3, and CoD4 was excellent for a war themed FPS.

Burnout was definitely fun and maybe deserved a mention, but Grid was so well done and so unexpected that I'd have to give it the racing/driving GotY. No doubt about it.

I would've given the action award to GTA4, but giving it to MGS4 doesn't make me lose my mind. MGS was a fantastic game (even with the ridiculous story) so it's almost a toss-up for me.
 
Last edited:
Saying COD is the new MOH is a bit harsh. But how many moe bi-annually-released CODs will it take before it reaches that level? Five in the last three years is enough for me to give them the nod. I'll admit that COD hasn't reached that same level of "generic" that MOH has achieved, but it's not far off.

Regardless, I think we can both agree that World at War was, at best, a marginal improvement over Modern Warfare. Meanwhile, Resistance actually successfully did SOMETHING unique in its epically huge multiplayer.

This year's crop of FPSs (Bros. In Arms, COD WAW, Resistance, etc) isn't anywhere near last year's (COD4, Orange Box, Halo 3). World at War just has some of the residual "pretty-goodness" from past CODs.

As for racing games, it's a matter of what I'm looking for. There are always plenty of realistic or semi-realistic racing games out there. I want instantly-gratifying, pick-up-and-play multiplayer-friendliness. Burnout gets 2.5 out of 3 for that. Mario Kart Wii gets 3 out of 3.
 
Last edited:
spudlyff8fan said:
In terms of having the most-diverse environmental single-player experience in modern games, I'd have to say that MGS4 certainly does rank among the top 3 (the other two being Splinter Cell: Double Agent and Metroid Prime).

However, it's lacking in multiplayer value.

Oh, and that 20 minute loading thing between every chapter is bullshit.

1. It wasn't ever 20 minutes. I will give you 10 minutes for the first load, and yes, that as a little extreme when the game was installing the levels, but it also meant that there was 0 load time when the level started up. Honestly it never really bothered me, mainly because I played through the game in five sittings, one for each one of the installs. When I would beat an area I would just install the next and save for the night.

2. Splinter Cell Double Agent? Really? I can let Metroid go because it was good, but I have never understood the crap that gets thrown out in Splinter Cell. Those games aren't even good.

3. If they had included a small mini game that you could play in the middle of a level through some arcade cabinet, which totally blew, but didn't need to be played, would you hold that against the game? I will agree that the Multiplayer isn't for everyone. I will even say that it makes a pretty good case for not including multiplayer in every game that comes out, but I don't think that it should be held against it for giving you free, extra content.
 
gillman said:
1. It wasn't ever 20 minutes. I will give you 10 minutes for the first load, and yes, that as a little extreme when the game was installing the levels, but it also meant that there was 0 load time when the level started up. Honestly it never really bothered me, mainly because I played through the game in five sittings, one for each one of the installs. When I would beat an area I would just install the next and save for the night.
This is true. But it's still bullshit. I think Penny Arcade really hit the nail on the head when they discussed this.

Still bullshit, IMO.

2. Splinter Cell Double Agent? Really? I can let Metroid go because it was good, but I have never understood the crap that gets thrown out in Splinter Cell. Those games aren't even good.
Splinter Cell is good. Regardless, Double Agent really did have one of the best, most-diverse set of levels around.

There's a prison level, snow level, an epic desert level, a boat level and more! Very good set of levels.

3. If they had included a small mini game that you could play in the middle of a level through some arcade cabinet, which totally blew, but didn't need to be played, would you hold that against the game? I will agree that the Multiplayer isn't for everyone. I will even say that it makes a pretty good case for not including multiplayer in every game that comes out, but I don't think that it should be held against it for giving you free, extra content.
This is entirely true. But I'm not holding the game's not-so-hot multiplayer against it.
 
You are really saying that Splinter Cell had diverse level design? Because it had both an ice and a fire stage? The first Jak and Dexter did that too, but I wouldn't give that game of the anything. I don't think diverse levels are really a "good" thing; good levels are, and so it good level design. Maybe I am just of the the thought that it is fine if the levels are the same, as long as there is a good reason for it.
 
Yes. It had great, diverse level design. But I didn't give Splinter Cell game of the anything. It's just a pretty good game that has great levels. Double Agent really had well-crafted levels.
 
Speaking of splinter cell, what the hell happened to the new one, I read multiple previews last year and then it disappeared! Speaking of game of the year, how did you gaymers feel when the good folks at Xplay picked Fable II as GOTY?
 
Very seriously? I don't know, I have to respect the fact that they went against the grain and picked Fable over everybodies pick of Fallout. Your pick spuds, I just can't imagine, sure it's a hell of a game, but really it's nothing new, just a facelift. It would be the equivalent of naming Street Fighter Alpha Collection or any of the other compilation games as GOTY. If you really wanted to go against the grain, P4 as GOTY!
 
You're totally off-base there, Kurruption.

The game has new controls, new moves, new graphics, new sound. Yeah, it didn't have new characters. Neither did Dead or Alive 4 (except for Elliot, who was a Gen Fu clone, and Kokoro). But that wasn't a facelift of DOA3.

Meanwhile, it has the best online play of any fighting game ever.

And it's not close to being like Alpha Anthology. Alpha Anthology was a compilation pack of ports that lacked many of the things that modern fighting games are basically expected to have (like online play, as well as basically any bonus content). That was the big thing. Fallout 3, Fable 2, MGS4, and all the other games put out in 2008 lacked something. SF2 HD was the only game that I didn't ever think "man, it would be great if...".
 
Yes spuds, but my point is Street Fighter HD is a facelift of a almost 20 year old game, while Fable II, Fallout 3, etc. were all original games, that is my issue. The Alpha Collection is just a reference, or what if situation. Street Fighter HD winning GOTY, would be the equivalent of Street Fighter Alpha Collection winning GOTY the year it was released. Sure it has graphical improvements, online play, but that doesn't hide the fact that it's an update, an update to a game that has been around since I was in the 3rd grade
 
If you're going to say that, then wouldn't basically any sequel be "just an update"? Really, stacking up SF2 HD's differences over SF2 Turbo against...say...Elder Scrolls 4 vs. Elder Scrolls 3, there's greater difference in SF2. And unlike Oblivion, SF2 HD actually moved the series forward, rather than moving it sideways. You can apply that same standard to New Super Mario Bros, Call of Duty, Castlevania, Legend of Zelda, and so on and so forth.

And SF2 HD didn't have glitches that made the game unbeatable. Fallout 3 did.
 
True, but a sequel is essentially a new game, Street Fighter HD, besides it's online play, graphical and mechanical improvements, is still Street Fighter II. Chrono Trigger is one of the best games ever made, not to mention one of my top 5, but no way it's taking GOTY over Fallout and Persona 4 as far as I'm concerned. Near and dear to my heart, but come on, and thus where I think your pick came from. Come on spuds, how much did favortism play into your pick?
 
And HD Remix is, essentially, a new game. Again, it's got new graphics, moves, controls and online play. Chrono Trigger DS isn't really an apt comparison Chrono Trigger DS plays like, looks like, and is Chrono Trigger. Like I said in my article, the similarites between SF2 HD Remix and any other version of SF2 end at the name. Hell, it doesn't even have the same graphical style! They switched the graphics to an Art of Fighting style.

Ex:

SF2 HD: http://xboxlivemedia.ign.com/xboxli...-ii-turbo-hd-remix-20081112115159362_640w.jpg

Old SF2: http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2006/08/Street_fighter_2_xboxlive_arcade_12-thumb.jpg

Art of Fighting: http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2007/02/art_of_fighting_ps2.jpg
 
We are never come to an agreement on this are we. Street Fighter HD, is still Street Fighter II, just like the Bionic Commando downloadable game is still Bionic Commando, Just like Rygar on the Wii is still the same Rygar that was on the PS2. You can update everything you want, it still doesn't change the fact that it's a fresh paint of coat and a new engine over the same car you always had. I don't agree with your pick for GOTY, but at least you didn't pick Guilty Gear Overture.