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[reksveks]

I mean, those games certainly have stories. Are there games that deserve to be nominated for GOTY that has less story? I mean Elden Ring and Stray is nominated this year and I GUESS those games have stories.

Again the story in two games (It takes two and Psychonauts) are stand out reasons why they got nominated.

Re Elden Ring and Stray
1 - didn't argue that you have to have a good story to be nominated
2- because these games award nominations are partially based on number of people who played them then popular games do get in. Not saying that ER doesn't deserve it but again question marks about Sifu. I don't think there is a solve for this unless you do something similar to the bafta model.

 

[Bulletbrain]

It's biased towards advertisements (let's be honest that's what game trailers are) rather than being an awards show which celebrates gaming excellence in the past year.

 

[Fredrik]

I mean, those games certainly have stories. Are there games that deserve to be nominated for GOTY that has less story? I mean Elden Ring and Stray is nominated this year and I GUESS those games have stories.

I feel like when people say theres a certain type of game that gets nominated its a criticism specifically meant for Sony games or things that resemble them, not just games with stories and cutscenes, but games that emulate hollywood type of storytelling.

Only thats not really the case if we consider winners like Sekiro, It Takes Two, Breath of The Wild, etc.

Forget the stories, it’s about popularity. Bigger userbase, bigger IP, popular genre, popular dev, that’s going to help a lot. Plus a great game of course. The reality is that a new IP and Stadia exclusive would never have won or even be nominated over a big IP multiplat even if it was the best game ever made. Most people wouldn’t even know the game exist. It’s bad enough with VR games.

 

[Hendrick's]

Obviously. Jeff is a clown and his show is simply a marketing event.

 

[GamesDontSuck]

To be fair.... isn't everything?

 

[drganon]

Never cared about them to begin with.

 

[kuncol02]

Stopped watching the year Shadow of Mordor beat Bayonetta because of feminists.

Never watched. Stopped even checking who won after Ace Combat 7 wasn't even nominated in soundtrack category. The Game Awards always were a joke.

 

[Drizzlehell]

Forza Horizon? Didn't that come out last year? And what makes it so special to deserve a nomination? Yeah it's fun but they've been making the same Forza game for the past 15 years so I don't think you should be giving out a token nomination to a game just because it was the only Microsoft exclusive that was worth a shit.

Biggest takeaway here is: if anyone's butthurt about Sony being over-exposed, then maybe instead of bitching about that, you should be bitching about why MS doesn't put out more first party games. They are fucking up so badly that even on an indie scene Sony is ahead by putting out Stray, while MS puts out duds like Scorn.

Anyway, who cares anyway. It's just a stupid awards show. Literally none of it matters.

 

[Thief1987]

Why didn't the video game 13 Sentinels win for best narrative?

Because it shouldn't be nowhere near this nomination? Its narrative is an absolute mess - constant timeskips, timeline switches, characters switches. It's confusing to the point that it's hard to track what the hell is going on in this game. Like we shamed Cage for Beyond, but should praise something that is infinitely more messier?

 

[Fredrik]

Forza Horizon? Didn't that come out last year? And what makes it so special to deserve a nomination?

It’s a Tweet from last year, FH5 was rated higher than all games nominated for GOTY.

 

[Bonfires Down]

He's so desperate for them to be like the Oscars it's shameful.

Only if the Oscars were a two movie race between Spider-Man No Way Home and Dune.

 

[20cent]

Any awards are biased, videogames, cinema, music, literature... they are all agreed and discussed between studios/publishers/etc, this year is your turn, next is mine etc. That's just another mean of marketing.

 

[Tunned]

I just watch all the trailers for new game announcements later on, they can be as biased as they want.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

I doubt many would watch if it wasn’t for the announcements

 

[ahtlas7]

Are Doritos full of MSG?

 

[Roberts]

Forza Horizon? Didn't that come out last year? And what makes it so special to deserve a nomination? Yeah it's fun but they've been making the same Forza game for the past 15 years so I don't think you should be giving out a token nomination to a game just because it was the only Microsoft exclusive that was worth a shit.

Biggest takeaway here is: if anyone's butthurt about Sony being over-exposed, then maybe instead of bitching about that, you should be bitching about why MS doesn't put out more first party games. They are fucking up so badly that even on an indie scene Sony is ahead by putting out Stray, while MS puts out duds like Scorn.

Anyway, who cares anyway. It's just a stupid awards show. Literally none of it matters.

Jesus Christ, did somebody land OG xbox on your penis?

Scorn is not a dud, but even if it was, there are tons of great indies that were supported by xbox last year and this year. Tunic, Death's Door, Nobody Saves the World, Immortality, As Duck Falls, Echo Generation, The Ascent to name a few.

And Xbox stuff may not be your cup of tea, but that doesn't mean they are crap. Grounded is a fantastic game and easily the best of its kind. Same goes for Sea of Thieves. Loads of people enjoyed Gears 5, Pentiment, Psychonauts 2, Wasteland 3, Halo Infinite and so on.

 

[Bonsaibäumchen]

Jesus Christ, did somebody land OG xbox on your penis?

Scorn is not a dud, but even if it was, there are tons of great indies that were supported by xbox last year and this year. Tunic, Death's Door, Nobody Saves the World, Immortality, As Duck Falls, Echo Generation, The Ascent to name a few.

And Xbox stuff may not be your cup of tea, but that doesn't mean they are crap. Grounded is a fantastic game and easily the best of its kind. Same goes for Sea of Thieves. Loads of people enjoyed Gears 5, Pentiment, Psychonauts 2, Wasteland 3, Halo Infinite and so on.

You've misspelled dick there.

 

[xrnzaaas]

Of course they are heavily biased (not just Keighley's show) and some genuinely good titles are also ignored for various reasons. Personally I don't care who won and I'd never base my purchases on that knowledge.

 

[Certinty]

Haven’t even remotely followed after God of War 2018 somehow beat Red Dead Redemption 2 for GOTY. I still have no words for that one.

 

[Guilty_AI]

 

[Shubh_C63]

So only the nominations can be biased.
Winners are chosen by a lot a lot of gaming sites as judges.

 

[MasterCornholio]

Is this another Jez freak out episode?

He's been having a really bad year.

 

[CeeJay]

Jesus Christ, did somebody land OG xbox on your penis?

Scorn is not a dud, but even if it was, there are tons of great indies that were supported by xbox last year and this year. Tunic, Death's Door, Nobody Saves the World, Immortality, As Duck Falls, Echo Generation, The Ascent to name a few.

And Xbox stuff may not be your cup of tea, but that doesn't mean they are crap. Grounded is a fantastic game and easily the best of its kind. Same goes for Sea of Thieves. Loads of people enjoyed Gears 5, Pentiment, Psychonauts 2, Wasteland 3, Halo Infinite and so on.

I miss light gun games

 

[Thebonehead]

I miss light gun games

 

[Three]

The people whining that their game didn't get nominated are likely more bias to their title of choice than the awards. I don't give a shit about Fortnite but I can at least appreciate that others do.

 

[NightmareFarm]

I realised when TLOU was awarded GOTY 2020. The same year DOOM Eternal, Ghostrunner and Hades came out...

 

[JimmyF]

No, He is too busy giving Kojima a blowjob.

 

[AV]

Of course it's biased. The Oscars are biased. The Grammy awards are biased. How seriously you choose to take these awards is entirely up to you, but I recommend you don't take any of them seriously at all.

 

[Slicker than your average]

I've been seeing this everywhere and it's the most hilarious shit, especially coming from the same crowd saying Bethesda exclusives don't count as rEaL Microsoft first party because they just bought them

They don't count. Why would Bethesda entire back catalogue count as something Xbox can claim as their output? It's ridiculous to even think that, maybe clowns would..
Games released after the purchase would count.

 

[Drizzlehell]

It’s a Tweet from last year, FH5 was rated higher than all games nominated for GOTY.

As I said, it's a solid and polished game but what drags it down in my opinion is the lack of innovation. If you put FH3 and FH5 side by side you'd barely notice any difference between the two. Nominating a game like that would be like nominating Madden or FIFA.

 

[Fbh]

Most award shows are biased and the game awards are no different, there's a certain type of game that appeals more to mainstream game critics that is obviously going to be over represented.
Games have the added difficulty of being long, which makes it increasingly hard for everyone voting to have played every notable game in a year. The people from the Oscars academy can't be bothered to watch every Nominated movie and you expect game crtitics to play through dozens of 20+ hour games ?

 

[MALpractice311]

Opinions are like assholes; everyone has one and they all stink.

 

[Punished Miku]

Stray, Death Stranding winning, and Bayonetta 2 being snubbed were the most obvious signs. It Takes Two winning out of nowhere after the guy was a frequent guest and appears to be a personal friend of Geoff is also extremely suspicious. And the entire thing is laden with ads non-stop during the actual program. I really couldn't trust it any less. They barely even show the actual awards live because it's such an afterthought to the constant advertising.

 

[01011001]

the game awards are handed out by people who mostly play games on easy and rush out reviews to hit deadlines. often ignoring game mechanics and other aspects of games.

shallow assertions of games with no real insights.

doesn't matter if they are biased. the people giving out the rewards aren't qualified to do so in the first place.

 

[Drizzlehell]

Jesus Christ, did somebody land OG xbox on your penis?

Scorn is not a dud, but even if it was, there are tons of great indies that were supported by xbox last year and this year. Tunic, Death's Door, Nobody Saves the World, Immortality, As Duck Falls, Echo Generation, The Ascent to name a few.

And Xbox stuff may not be your cup of tea, but that doesn't mean they are crap. Grounded is a fantastic game and easily the best of its kind. Same goes for Sea of Thieves. Loads of people enjoyed Gears 5, Pentiment, Psychonauts 2, Wasteland 3, Halo Infinite and so on.

Gaming is my cup of tea. I have a PC, PS5, and Quest 2, and I'm also planning to buy an Xbox for Christmas this year for backwards compatibility. I don't give a shit about petty bickering on which console is better. I'm talking about the reality of the situation. Scorn disappointed in everything except the visuals, while Stray was a critical darling. Both games are comparable because both were highly anticipated indie titles supported by competing console platforms. Sony also puts out a lot of smaller indie titles, so does Microsoft, and I enjoy a lot of those games regardless of the platform. But Scorn/Stray comparison is fair due to their fairly high profile status. Stray was a clear winner here.

As for triple-A first party support, obviously there were far more of these on PS4/PS5 so far. I mean, it's not even a debate, it's the reality. And once again, I don't give a shit about allegiances. I'm only interested in the games and it just so happens that Sony's output in triple-A first party exclusives is far higher than Microsoft's, hence why they have more visibility during awards shows.

What I find stupid about all of this is how Xbronies will always find a way to twist the narrative around to shit all over Playstation. Stop spending so much time on the internet you literal children.

 

[Skifi28]

Watch them for the cringe and/or game announcements. If you care who wins you're doing it wrong.

 

[The Alien]

Yes, of course there is bias.
Do I care? No.

Who gives a shit? I only oaybattention when new games, etc. are announced.

 

[alabtrosMyster]

Well, any organization that gives Phil Spencer any award is biased for sure.

 

[Lupin25]

Sony makes smart moves

It’s like getting angry with the dude who wins more but works harder.

 

[Wildebeest]

Third person character action games are award bait, and Sony goes the hardest on them. They seem to be something which everyone finds "accessible". They can be both appealing to the lowest common denominator and have "artistic" narrative pretences, unlike console FPS/Motorsports/Team sports which seem to have a problem breaking out of "frat boy himbo" reputation.

 

[Ev1L AuRoN]

Take a look at the Oscars, IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and see for yourself, the fan rating is often more realistic than the so-called journalists and reviewers.
There is a big disconnection between what the public likes and what the media try to promote.

 

[Holammer]

Of course it's biased. The problem with awards and competitions when there's any prestige involved is that none of the big players will get involved unless it's tilted in their favor. This is true for competitions among local restaurants or international movie awards.
You can't have a nobody get in and claim the spotlight, otherwise your organization won't get media access or advertising money.

 

[DaedalusGrim]

For some people its easier to believe that there is an industry/worldwide conspiracy against Xbox than it is to believe that Playstation has consistently good games.

Those people need help.

 

[Fredrik]

As I said, it's a solid and polished game but what drags it down in my opinion is the lack of innovation. If you put FH3 and FH5 side by side you'd barely notice any difference between the two. Nominating a game like that would be like nominating Madden or FIFA.

I would tell them apart in about 1 second, it’s an all new map from a different part of the world, with an all new lighting and graphics engine and a doubled framerate, and you drive on the right side of the road.

Anyhow, the IP has had the highest rated racing games for three generations now. When it’s not nominated for GOTY a low year when the rest of the nominees are rated lower I think it’s fair to simply conclude that racing games can’t get the GOTY, they have to settle with the odd sports and racing combo award instead (which the IP has won multiple times).

But idk, maybe it’s right to split up the awards for innovation and mixing things up, but they need to be more consistent in that case.
Is Xenoblade Chronicles 3 innovative? Horizon Forbidden West? A Plague Tale Requiem? GOWR? Doom Eternal? Uncharted 4? AC Odyssey? Fallout 4? The Witcher 3?
I’d say they are pretty standard sequels and you know exactly what you get, great for fans but others will probably act exactly like you for a new FH or me for a new Madden or FIFA.

 

[RoboFu]

Its a big AD show. nothing more. They give the awards to the games that would garner the most viewers for the companies who paid for ad space.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

I wouldn't say biased, but probably swayed some by games that become somewhat of a phenomenon. Like as great as Stray is, I don't think it should be up for GOTY but probably will win that debut game from a new dev award. But apparently over 100 people pick their top 5 games of the year and it beat out the other games. So how is it bias? If anything I think a lot of reviews and reviewers are biased. FH5 deserves the awards it got, but that's about it. I agree with how that one turned out.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

I think Geoff is more partial to Sony games and I don’t have a problem with that. Everyone has their preferences. The way he gushes over Kojima at times is cringey tho.

To be fair PlayStation has been delivering for some time and it’s nominations year after year are a reflection of that somewhat.

I can’t remember Xbox having a first party exclusive game of the year nomination, they usually have the likes of Forza in the racing category but how long is that series and spin off Horizon going to be the go to for quality? It’s getting a bit boring for me.

Hopefully next year they have a massive improvement on this year regardless of any award show.

 

[Topher]

Not sure how one would point to "bias" when it comes to awards. Bias has to have more behind it than "I disagree with someone else's opinion".

I realised when TLOU was awarded GOTY 2020. The same year DOOM Eternal, Ghostrunner and Hades came out...

TLOU 2 won GOTY from over 100 different awards chosen by gamers. Don't have to agree with it, but all it really means is your opinion was in the minority. That's completely fine though.

 

[Rat Rage]

I don't think anyone expected them to not be biased. But yeah, who cares? Award shows are stupid in general, and the Game Awards are no exception.

 

[Drizzlehell]

I would tell them apart in about 1 second, it’s an all new map from a different part of the world, with an all new lighting and graphics engine and a doubled framerate, and you drive on the right side of the road.

Anyhow, the IP has had the highest rated racing games for three generations now. When it’s not nominated for GOTY a low year when the rest of the nominees are rated lower I think it’s fair to simply conclude that racing games can’t get the GOTY, they have to settle with the odd sports and racing combo award instead (which the IP has won multiple times).

But idk, maybe it’s right to split up the awards for innovation and mixing things up, but they need to be more consistent in that case.
Is Xenoblade Chronicles 3 innovative? Horizon Forbidden West? A Plague Tale Requiem? GOWR? Doom Eternal? Uncharted 4? AC Odyssey? Fallout 4? The Witcher 3?
I’d say they are pretty standard sequels and you know exactly what you get, great for fans but others will probably act exactly like you for a new FH or me for a new Madden or FIFA.

What I meant is that they follow the same template, right down to the UI that only gets a new coat of paint but generally consists of the same elements. The career mode is the same, the online features are the same, it has the same cosmetics, cars, driving model, radio stations, etc.

I don't mind this at all because the original blueprint is still fun as hell, but I get why it could've been ignored. It feels like they're barely iterating on the formula, and save for the new map to drive around in, there's barely anything new in each subsequent game. You could probably mash those last 3-4 games into one giant live service game where you can jump around the globe to different locations and it would still feel like a cohesive product.

And I would agree that it's a similar situation for games like Horizon Forbidden West or Assassin's Creed Whatever, but I strongly disagree about games like Doom Eternal or The Witcher 3. Those last two made a significant leap compared to their predecessors, and in a lot of ways redefined their own genres so they're far more deserving of a special recognition.

But yeah, at the end of the day, a lot of these criteria seem knda arbitrary and a lot of it is based on how people simply feel about certain games, and it's difficult to quantify something like that.