2008 GWJ Community Game of the Year Awards
As a rule, we at Gamerswithjobs avoid putting together any kind of intenal Game of the Year awards, primarily because the debate over the value and standards of such a thing would result in bloodshed, assault charges and the very likely ritual suicide of our own literary leporidae. Besides, it's far less interesting for us to make grand pronouncements from on high, and far more interesting to hear what a few hundred gamers we trust actually have to say on the matter.
This year's Game of the Year contest was a horse race with a true photo finish, and like that spunky sentaorial upstart Al Franken, I'd not be surprised to see Valve's lawyers demand a laborious recount to contest the result in favor of the close runner-up, Left 4 Dead. But, until that comes to pass, I will grudgingly validate these results, and congratulate the GWJ Community Game of the Year: Fallout 3!
While the Fallout 3 experience may not have fully captured me, it's not hard to see why this was a Game of the Year contender, with a massive play area and unlimited opportunities for exploration and strategic amputation. The Capitol Wastelands is a barren and harsh fronteir that you can get lost in for days at a time. Oozing with an oppressive atmosphere this is a gamespace that is at both eerily lonely and constantly threatening. Bethesda has recast the struggle for control between the militaristic Enclave and the last paragons of almost religious idealism, the Brotherhood of Steel, in the context of one man's quest for his father's mysterious disappearance, and the result echoes with post-apocalyptic familiarity.
Thanks, as always, go out to Sinatar, who does a habitually phenomenal job organizing the contest and tabulating the results. Our full Game of the Year results are posted below and ripped shamelessly from his post.
GAME OF THE YEAR: FALLOUT 3
Runners Up:
2. Left 4 Dead
3. Sins of a Solar Empire
PC EXCLUSIVE GAME OF THE YEAR: SINS OF A SOLAR EMPIRE
Runners Up:
2. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
3. The Witcher Enhanced Edition
XBOX 360 EXCLUSIVE GAME OF THE YEAR: FABLE II
Runners Up:
2. Braid
3. Gears of War II
PLAYSTATION 3 EXCLUSIVE GAME OF THE YEAR: LITTLEBIGPLANET
Runners Up:
2. PixelJunk Eden
3. Resistance II
WII EXCLUSIVE GAME OF THE YEAR: SUPER SMASH BROTHERS BRAWL
Runners Up:
2. Boom Blox
3. No More Heroes
DS EXCLUSIVE GAME OF THE YEAR: PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE CURIOUS VILLAGE
Runners Up:
2. The World Ends With You
3. Disgaea DS
PSP EXCLUSIVE GAME OF THE YEAR: PATAPON
Runners Up:
2. God of War: Chains of Olympus
3. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
INDEPENDENT GAME OF THE YEAR: BRAID
Runners Up:
2. World of Goo
3. Castle Crashers
Raw Voting Data - Original Thread
Fallout III 569
Left 4 Dead 564
Sins of a Solar Empire 235
Fable II 215
Braid 202
Rock Band II 200
Grand Theft Auto IV 177
Gears of War II 172
World of Goo 133
LittleBigPlanet 120
Castle Crashers 110
World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King 103
The Witcher Enhanced Edition 103
Far Cry 2 88
Warhammer Online 85
Dead Space 85
Civilization Revolution 82
Mount & Blade 79
Metal Gear Solid IV 76
Mass Effect PC 75
Penny Arcade Adventures 73
Audiosurf 66
Spore 66
Saint's Row 2 65
Burnout Paradise 61
Geometry Wars II 60
Lost Odyssey 57
Professor Layton and the Curious Village 57
The World Ends With You 54
Prince of Persia 52
Super Smash Brothers Brawl 52
Boom Blox 45
Mirror's Edge 41
STALKER Clear Sky 38
No More Heroes 38
Rez HD 35
EVE Online Quantum Rise 34
Too Human 33
Pixeljunk Eden 32
Patapon 30
Persona III FES 29
NHL '09 28
Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of Arnor 28
Mario Kart Wii 28
Lego Indiana Jones 28
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 25
Tomb Raider Underworld 24
Battlefield Bad Company 23
Lord of the Rings Online Mines of Moria 22
Viking Battle for Asgard 21
Wii Fit 20
Sacred II 19
Persona IV 18
Red Alert III 17
Mother III 17
Sam & Max Season II 17
Final Fantasy IV 16
Call of Duty World at War 16
Football Manager '09 15
Castlevania Chronicles 15
Soul Calibur IV 15
Bionic Commando Rearmed 15
Tiger Woods 09 14
Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts 13
Super Street Fighter 2 HD Remix 13
Europa Universalis III: In Nomine 13
King's Bounty The Legend 13
Crysis Warhead 12
God of War Chains of Olympus 12
Age of Conan 11
Resistance 2 11
Yakuza II 10
Wii Music 10
Mega Man IX 10
Peggle Nights 10
SOCOM Confrontation 9
Space Invaders Extreme 9
Disgaea DS 8
Myster Dungeon Shiren the Wanderer 8
Da Blob 8
Ninja Gaiden II 8
Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn 8
Advance Wars Days of Ruin 8
Chrono Trigger 8
Dark Sector 7
Hinterland 7
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 7
Tales of Vesperia 7
Wipeout HD 7
FIFA '09 6
Guitar Hero World Tour 6
Pic Pic DS 6
Metroid Prime III 6
Valkyria Chronicles 6
Assassin's Creed PC 5
Dragon Quest IV 5
Mr Coo: El Laberinto Esférico 5
Condemned 2 5
Pixeljunk Monsters 5
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword 5
Star Ocean The First Departure 5
Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII 5
We Ski 5
Viva Pinata Trouble in Paradise 5
N+ 5
GRID 5
Star Wars The Force Unleashed 5
Colonization 5
Mercenaries 2 4
Animal Crossing City Folk 4
Multiwinia 4
Ticket to Ride 4
Devil May Cry IV 4
Savage II 4
Depths of Peril 3
Castlevania Order of Ecclesia 3
Hot Shots Golf 2: Open Tee 3
GalCon 3
Rolando 3
End War 3
Frontlines Fuel of War 3
Shift 2
Debrysis 2
41st Reality 1
Echochrome 1
Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People 1
Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection 1
The NXE 1
Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition 1
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Well done Elysium. It takes a big man to make a post lauding someting that he considers to be a mere 'game.'
And thanks to Sinatar for his work, again.
Twitter |Steam |Raptr |Gamertag
Recount! I'm sure there were some hanging chads there, Sinatar.
Fallout 3 was great, though - bad main quest just left me with a sour taste - more so than Oblivion, where other big chain quests like the Mages, Thieves, and Assassin's guild quests helped to make up for it. I really do wish that more of the F3 quests had been more epic and progressive rather than the one-off's that were all too common.
Clemenstation wrote:
PSN / GFW / Steam: Dysplastic
The voting booths are obviously closed, but I'll toss one more in there for Braid.
I was too intimidated by the purportedly Mensa-strength puzzle-platforming, so I'd held off since its summer launch. But New Year's Eve and New Year's, me, an old college buddy, plus our respective wives all sat down on the couch, downloaded "the most pretentious game of 2008," and put our heads together--trust me, it took all four of us--to puzzle our way through the incredibly puzzling Braid.
We're still wildly debating the storylines braided (you heard me) together throughout the entire narrative.
Between the end of the year awards and you kids yapping about it all year long, my interest in Sins of a Solar Empire has been kindled anew. I kind of slept on this one earlier in the year and apparently it was my loss.
The masses have spoken and, not surprisingly, the game made for them one. Hip-hip hooray!
Rock beats scissors.
Scissors cuts paper.
Paper covers rock.
Zombies always win.
What did everyone else learn in elementary?
JUST PUZZLED YOUR ASS UP, SON! -Mr Crinkle
D&D 4th edition? I guess someone was on-point with the roleplaying game becoming an interactive computer game for your tabletop.
Well, Cooking Mama didn't help me become a better cook, and Trauma Center certainly didn't help me become a better surgeon. I have the proof of both sitting in my freezer. -- imbiginjapan
Man. That game sure is a game.
I'm not really a girl. I just play one in video games.
My Gaming Blog
Elysium wrote:
Gamertag: Mordiceius
Great work Sinatar! Great plagiarism Elysium! Now that I've picked up L4D I think either it or Fallout 3 would have been worthy winners.
XBL:Bear Patrol | PSN:scrubpatrol | Blog:TriplePointBlankFire
Nice to see so much Layton love, that's my favorite game of the year. Yes, not the best game, but my fave.
*Typo in the first sentence: intenal s/b internal
Eezy_Bordone wrote:
I like that the NXE got a vote. My vote for best web-based game of 2008?
FIREFOX.
XboxLive: Clemenstation
"If all of those guys get into that tiny little tent, I am gonna lose it."
World's most popular sport my ass.
Let me tell you a story. http://Writing.Com/authors/neorad
Xbox Live: MauIsMurder
Bulls Deep: A Taurian Films podcast
If this website were Gamers Con Trabajos, then yeah, you probably would see a significant bump in votes for FIFA. Just saying.
IT IS! Football Manager 09 got something like fifteen points!
It's pretty obvious that demographics are to blame, with only few dozens of Euro Goodjers actively posting on forums. If I were to vote (which I forgot to do) FM would probably top my list, cause I've already sank 150+ hours into it...
btw: http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/40638?page=4#comment-1015111 Look this review up if you haven't heard this story already.
SOASE 4 teh W1N!!!!!!
The last podcast had a reference to the show when Ironclad was on. I'm sure like many others, I picked up that game after listening to all the praise and acclaim.
I'm very happy to see SOASE saturdays on the events calendar and am hoping the wife may give me 8 hours to play with you guys.
Vindication!
...But only because I was overseeing the ballot-counting with my Vindicator in hand..
NHL '09 28
Dammit. Should've voted. Lesson learned.
"This is way, way more bad boy than you're gonna be able to handle." - Tommy Gavin on Rescue Me.
Xbox Live: AbsolutTexan
AbsolutTexan.com
You sir, win internets!!!
So close in the end, I forgot to vote too =S
XBL | Steam
I will open one of my six mouths, and sing the song that ends the Earth. - Penny Arcade
I didn't enjoy it. It went from lap
See, that's a Game of the Year-list!
Great voting has been done. Too bad I missed out though. Personally Death Knight should've made the PC exclusive, but I'm not that stupid I don't see Solar Empire is a great game, just not my kind of one.
I'm just glad that GTA4, Gears2 and LittleBigPlanet didn't outrule the list as every other poor GotY.
Kinda regret not voting considering the power of a single person in this "election."
Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night
may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright
XBOX LIVE: AtomicVideoHead
I've played a lot of Left 4 Dead, and it's very good, but I'm surprised that it came close to getting GWJCGOTY. (Which sounds like an Aztec god.)
SallyNasty wrote:
I would have voted if The Witcher wasn't the only 2008 game I played. And I didn't realise the EE would be eligible.
Roo wrote:
Which kind of shows that 2008 was the high point for both consoles, I guess we will see that trend slowly turning to PC favor in next two-three years period.
This is a first for me. Usually I play games that don't get a lot of attention, either from a sales or critical perspective.
This is the first year that I've actually played a significant number of GOTY winners, though I still haven't played enough of the contenders in a timely fashion that I'd feel qualified to vote on them. I'm still working through the last few years of GOTY contenders.
I just started playing Fallout 3 last week, but I have to say I can totally see why this would be GOTY. I'm only at level 8 and I'm having an absolute blast.
Certis wrote:
Zigguratbuilder wrote:
PSN name: DoubtingTom396 Frie-hend meeeee uuuuup!
Wow only 5 votes determining the game of the year! In the spirit of the Minnesota Senatorial Election - I Demand a Recount!!
No I don't I just always wanted to say that. I am happy to say at least I have played the Top 3 Games of the GWJ universe of goodness.
Truly 2008 has been a great year for gaming.
"Do. Or do not. There is no try." - Yoda
I slightly disagree with that list. Here's my hierarchy of 2008 greatness.
Left 4 Dead
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
Dead Space
v
v
v
v
WoW: Lich King
v
v
v
v
Warhammer Online
v
v
v
v
v
v
Paper towels
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
Recycled paper towels
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
Squirrel droppings
v
v
Fallout 3
v
v
v
v
v
Age of Conan
SallyNasty wrote:
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
Little Big Planet
v
v
v
v
shihonage's inner-child
Before you can respond to this though, you must collect 12 donkey rectums. - Pyroman[FO] deflating all arguments.
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
Oil prices
SallyNasty wrote: