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[Mama Robotnik]

What the fuck is wrong with the audio design nominations? Zelda, Portal 2 and Dark Souls? Seriously? Not BF3 or Uncharted 3?

Goes to show gaming publications no nothing about audio design since 99% of the time all they talk about is the music and voice acting.

Portal 2's audio design strengths:

-Voice acting, obviously, supported by magnificent dialogue and delivery.
-Use of mechanical sounds to blur the lines between ambient noise and melody
-Reactive sounds depending on specific use of gels, lasers and faith plates (and other mechanics), meticulously using the variations in noise to give you further input as to your speed, height and movement. The increasingly pronounced beat when more lasers hit their target (that you cannot always see) is an absolutely stellar way of giving the player audio input and feeback.
-Incredible atmospheric weight in the middle part of the game strongly supported by superlative environmental noise.
-Use of music to represent different eras of Aperture, with changes in music style indicting an audio-progression through time.
-The music in of itself is very good in general.
-Diversity including slow jazz, operatic, classical and ceremonial.
-A concluding song that continues the narrative of the story in a completely different medium to the rest of the games storytelling.
-The different noises used by the coop robots gives further input as to what your ally is trying to communicate you to do, especially if you cannot see them.
-The use of Glados giving calculated dialogue to each player seperately in an attempt to foster tension is remarkable use of sound.

I guess I know nothing about fucking sound design too, as I'd also say the game has the best, most thoughtful, and most game-enhancing sound design of anything released this year. Oh woe, what idiots and imbeciles me and EDGE are for even considering it!

Spoiler

Rebut me leng jai

.

 

[secondspace]

Wouldn't the sound regularly dropping out in BF3 count against it?

 

[leng jai]

Portal 2's audio design strengths:

-Voice acting, obviously, supported by magnificent dialogue and delivery.
-Use of mechanical sounds to blur the lines between ambient noise and melody
-Reactive sounds depending on specific use of gels, lasers and faith plates (and other mechanics), meticulously using the variations in noise to give you further input as to your speed, height and movement. The increasingly pronounced beat when more lasers hit their target (that you cannot always see) is an absolutely stellar way of giving the player audio input and feeback.
-Incredible atmospheric weight in the middle part of the game strongly supported by superlative environmental noise.
-Use of music to represent different eras of Aperture, with changes in music style indicting an audio-progression through time.
-The music in of itself is very good in general.
-Diversity including slow jazz, operatic, classical and ceremonial.
-A concluding song that continues the narrative of the story in a completely different medium to the rest of the games storytelling.
-The different noises used by the coop robots gives further input as to what your ally is trying to communicate you to do, especially if you cannot see them.
-The use of Glados giving calculated dialogue to each player seperately in an attempt to foster tension is remarkable use of sound.

I guess I know nothing about fucking sound design too, as I'd also say the game has the best, most thoughtful, and most game-enhancing sound design of anything released this year. Oh woe, what idiots and imbeciles me and EDGE are for even considering it!

Spoiler

Rebut me leng jai

.

Portal 2 has excellent audio, I agree and it probably does deserve a spot. My main issue is that games like UC3/BF3 didn't make the list.

Zelda is the most baffling title on the list and I didn't find Dark Souls audio all that compelling either.

 

[MrHicks]

Saints row 3 should have joined need for speed with a score of 3.. What shit arse game, Wish I could get my money back

is this real life?
dear lawd some of you are crazy

 

[zoukka]

Portal 2 has excellent audio, I agree and it probably does deserve a spot. My main issue is that games like UC3/BF3 didn't make the list.

They must've valued artistic presentation more in this category it seems.

 

[walking fiend]

personally i praise portal 2 for its soundtrack and ss for its voice acting

Ghirahim has some terrific laughter, I give you that much

 

[King of the Potato People]

Portal 2 deserves it just for the Opera Turret scene.

 

[zoukka]

Portal 2 deserves it just for the Opera Turret scene.

I hate all the songs in both Portal games :b

 

[ASIS]

Portal 2 has excellent audio, I agree and it probably does deserve a spot. My main issue is that games like UC3/BF3 didn't make the list.

Zelda is the most baffling title on the list and I didn't find Dark Souls audio all that compelling either.

I'm sorry what? I don't know about BF3 or DS, but Zelda has an extremely strong sound design. Dynamic music, variety, and some of the tunes were not only the best in the series, but some of the most memorable as well. The sound effects were just as good. From the foot steps of Link to the flapping of the birds. Just about everything in that game emits a sound and it's very impressive.

 

[King of the Potato People]

I hate all the songs in both Portal games :b

They were a triumph!

 

[zoukka]

They were a triumph!

Us gamers!

 

[wrowa]

When played perfectly, Portal 2 sounds like a rhythm game at times. It's audio design is really fantastic, and what makes it special is that Portal 2 really uses audio in a way that benefits the gameplay.

That's a much more meaningful achievement than going for Hollywood-style music in my book.

 

[Gravijah]

I hate all the songs in both Portal games :b

HOW CAN YOU HATE THIS

 

[pringles]

And I never really took Edge for the hyper-enthusiastic type but in a year as strong as this one and they pick Skyward Sword as their game of the year? Nostalgia sure swings strong in the Edge office.

Yeah...no. Portal 2 is fucking amazing and Skyrim is one of the best games ever created, despite the millions of bugs. But Skyward Sword is better than both of them.

 

[semiconscious]

I am sure there will actually be a fix for the ps3 version of Skyrim...

any credibility you may've had prior to this = dead...

 

[WrikaWrek]

Mainstream Game of the Year
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Dark Souls ????????????????????????????????????????????
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Really? Dark Souls is considered "mainstream"?

 

[ASIS]

Really? Dark Souls is considered "mainstream"?

By mainstream they mean not indie. That's it.

 

[MrCookiepants]

Portal 2 has excellent audio, I agree and it probably does deserve a spot. My main issue is that games like UC3/BF3 didn't make the list.

Zelda is the most baffling title on the list and I didn't find Dark Souls audio all that compelling either.

Zelda had the best music in any game this year. By far. What's so baffling?

 

[butter_stick]

Yeah...no. Portal 2 is fucking amazing and Skyrim is one of the best games ever created, despite the millions of bugs. But Skyward Sword is better than both of them.

Skyward Sword isn't even the best Nintendo game released this year. Mario 3D Land is much, much better.

Portal 2 is my personal GotY, I love everything about it. Mario is probably second.

 

[Derrick01]

Saints row 3 should have joined need for speed with a score of 3.. What shit arse game, Wish I could get my money back

I don't know about a 3 that seems a little harsh. 4 would have been acceptable though, it was a pretty below average game

 

[butter_stick]

Saints Row 3 was amazing

 

[obonicus]

Saints Row 3 was amazing

Hey, they liked it better than Saints Row 2, which got a 4.

 

[MrHicks]

I don't know about a 3 that seems a little harsh. 4 would have been acceptable though, it was a pretty below average game

 

[Mama Robotnik]

Zelda had the best music in any game this year. By far.

I've not played Skyward Sword yet. I own it and intend to play it soon. Given how divisive the game appears to be, I'm going to be interested in how I respond to it.

My question is this: If Zelda truly has the best music "by far", I take it you are confirming it actually dwarfs the gameplay-enhancing, meticulously-calculated music and audio of Portal 2? In that game, the music shifts to provide the player with auditory information on the status and active variables in puzzles so that we know what state they are presently in without visual confirmation. The music also uses ambient sounds to weave melody from mechanism, in a feat I have never seen so exceptionally implemented before or since.

I'm asking because I've completed every previous Zelda out there, CDi not withstanding. While the games do usually have excellent music and soundwork, none of them have taken calculated use of shifting music to relay the sheer amount of environmental, puzzle and narrative information that Portal 2 does. The game even uses modernising timeshifts in the Aperture Science anthem to indicate changes in the company from era to era, weaving a hugely realised music timeline to the lore of the game.

I take it from your post that Skyward Sword's music, being "by far" better than any and all competition, utterly destroys Valve's meticulously calculated and delivered work by comparison?

Again, I ask because I've not played it yet.

 

[Spirit of Jazz]

No Bastion nomination for audio? What is this shit?

 

[BobTheFork]

I don't know about a 3 that seems a little harsh. 4 would have been acceptable though, it was a pretty below average game

I think to me it was disappointing but not below average. For all the talk and hype that 'it's crazy as shit' get's SR3 it sure doesn't end being interesting enough of the time. I had some fun with it but too many basic mechanics of the game weren't up to par and just making ti crazy doesn't cover that.

 

[Thrakier]

Skyward Swords music is pretty shit. Some of the tunes are rather annyoing. I don't remember one tune so far. Outside of those which are reused like in every Zelda. It's quite laughable to give the award to a game which wracks your nerves with a constant beep sound as soon as you have only 3 hearts left. I know that's kinda "traditional", but it's also horrible. EDGE statement by making SS GOTY is: "We don't want videogames to change."

 

[Conrad Link]

Good job Zelda, really deserves it.

 

[butter_stick]

Skyward Swords music is pretty shit. Some of the tunes are rather annyoing. I don't remember one tune so far. Outside of those which are reused like in every Zelda. It's quite laughable to give the award to a game which wracks your nerves with a constant beep sound as soon as you have only 3 hearts left. I know that's kinda "traditional", but it's also horrible. EDGE statement by making SS GOTY is: "We don't want videogames to change."

SS changed a lot of things

Spoiler

for the worse

I think the main SS theme is fantastic. For the most part I barely recall another track in the game. It falls way below Wind Waker in terms of music.

 

[tassletine]

Skyward Swords music is pretty shit. Some of the tunes are rather annyoing. I don't remember one tune so far. Outside of those which are reused like in every Zelda. It's quite laughable to give the award to a game which wracks your nerves with a constant beep sound as soon as you have only 3 hearts left. I know that's kinda "traditional", but it's also horrible. EDGE statement by making SS GOTY is: "We don't want videogames to change."

In no way is it shit. Most films would kill to have a score that original and well written.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

Hey, they liked it better than Saints Row 2, which got a 4.

Now that's some bullshit. SR2 let me do something I've wanted to do since I watched Black Rain as a child. I got to ride on a motorcycle and swing my fucking sword and kill people. You can't do that in SR3.

I think to me it was disappointing but not below average. For all the talk and hype that 'it's crazy as shit' get's SR3 it sure doesn't end being interesting enough of the time. I had some fun with it but too many basic mechanics of the game weren't up to par and just making ti crazy doesn't cover that.

Yeah, to me the game was a huge disappointment. I guess they didn't have the money to do it right. Steelport wasn't anything spectacular, I would have preferred a return to Stillwater if it meant more content.

 

[Davey Cakes]

EDGE statement by making SS GOTY is: "We don't want videogames to change."

Skyward Sword keeps many of the series' trends and staples, but in many ways it's also quite a departure from the rest of the Zelda games. It's not some out-of-left-field game-changer but it's a progressive title in terms of the franchise. So, in a way, they're actually saying that they do want video games to change. If SS were just another OOT/TP clone then maybe you'd be on to something.

 

[Parley]

I really didn't love zelda: TP and I was going to skip skyward sword....but not now.

 

[butter_stick]

Now that's some bullshit. SR2 let me do something I've wanted to do since I watched Black Rain as a child. I got to ride on a motorcycle and swing my fucking sword and kill people. You can't do that in SR3.



Yeah, to me the game was a huge disappointment. I guess they didn't have the money to do it right. Steelport wasn't anything spectacular, I would have preferred a return to Stillwater if it meant more content.

Edge gave GTA4 a 10. Their opinion on sandbox games is not to be trusted.

 

[Dr.Hadji]

Skyward Sword keeps many of the series' trends and staples, but in many ways it's also quite a departure from the rest of the Zelda games. It's not some out-of-left-field game-changer but it's a progressive title in terms of the franchise. So, in a way, they're actually saying that they do want video games to change. If SS were just another OOT/TP clone then maybe you'd be on to something.

SS is more progressive as a game than as a Zelda game. Being a game that arguably delivers on the promise of motion control is a pretty big deal.

 

[pringles]

EDGE statement by making SS GOTY is: "We don't want videogames to change."

Skyward Sword is one of the more fresh, surprising and innovative games I've played in a while.

Skyrim, Dark Souls, Portal 2 and Uncharted 3 are all much more 'traditional' sequels.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

Edge gave GTA4 a 10. Their opinion on sandbox games is not to be trusted.

Very true.

 

[ZZMitch]

Great picks all around, Portal 2 winning best sound design and MW3 being mentioned as a top online game makes me happy.

Zelda and Mario Kart 7 are the obvious winners in their respective categories as well.

 

[traveler]

Having completed Zelda, I'll say that I liked most of the soundtrack and I'm glad it's finally orchestrated, but I don't think the game holds a candle to the rest of the contenders when it comes to sound overall. (I don't even think it's soundtrack alone rivals either of the two games I would nominated below)

If there is one area I would have liked to see Portal 2 walk away with the prize other than GotY, it would have be sound design for all the reasons that Robotnik has already stated.

Rayman would be my runner up there, fwiw, (as well as GotY) for its superb soundtrack and integration of music into the actual level design. There's even a world centered around running all over various oversized instruments and basically improvising a soundtrack on the fly! Also, how can you not love the hilarious chorus in this game?

Apparently, I need to play MK7. I'm shocked it beat the fantastic Super Mario 3D Land.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Right.

A great game gets the nod for goty and people flip, good games get awarded for things they do and people go insane. I mean... do you guys not realize how dumb that sounds?

We can agree all of the games are good yes? Then why for flip? Edge was looking for different things than you this year.

I don't see the issue.

 

[Derrick01]

I agree Jensen is a good looking fellow.

That IS why you were posting that right?

 

[walking fiend]

I've not played Skyward Sword yet. I own it and intend to play it soon. Given how divisive the game appears to be, I'm going to be interested in how I respond to it.

My question is this: If Zelda truly has the best music "by far", I take it you are confirming it actually dwarfs the gameplay-enhancing, meticulously-calculated music and audio of Portal 2? In that game, the music shifts to provide the player with auditory information on the status and active variables in puzzles so that we know what state they are presently in without visual confirmation. The music also uses ambient sounds to weave melody from mechanism, in a feat I have never seen so exceptionally implemented before or since.

I'm asking because I've completed every previous Zelda out there, CDi not withstanding. While the games do usually have excellent music and soundwork, none of them have taken calculated use of shifting music to relay the sheer amount of environmental, puzzle and narrative information that Portal 2 does. The game even uses modernising timeshifts in the Aperture Science anthem to indicate changes in the company from era to era, weaving a hugely realised music timeline to the lore of the game.

I take it from your post that Skyward Sword's music, being "by far" better than any and all competition, utterly destroys Valve's meticulously calculated and delivered work by comparison?

Again, I ask because I've not played it yet.

by this metric of yours, even if Zelda had introduced Beethoven's pieces for the first time in history, it would have a hard time in front of P2. Zelda is, in my opinion, a theatre for you to play in, and a theatre doesn't needs mechanically calculated music as a form of feedback

 

[Thrakier]

Skyward Sword is one of the more fresh, surprising and innovative games I've played in a while.

Yeah? We probably don't live in the same universe then. I played this Zelda game many times before. Only difference is waggle+, yep. But it doesn't make for a different game, it just changes the combat mechanics to a certain extent. Everything else is the same as OoT or in a way even like the very first Zelda.

The old ass graphics and overall presentation doesn't help to make the game feel like innovative at least a tiny bit. For me it's an ok to good game, there is some nice stuff in there and it's good handcrafting. It has "last gen" written all over it though. I won't even consider buying a new Zelda if they don't change 75% of the formula for the next game. I played it way too often (even considering all the Zelda style knock offs we got over the years).

 

[Deleted member 1235]

mariokart well deserved. now fix that fucking glitch nintendo.

 

[MrHicks]

I agree Jensen is a good looking fellow.

That IS why you were posting that right?

uuuum no...

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Yeah? We probably don't live in the same universe then. I played this Zelda game many times before. Only difference is waggle+, yep. But it doesn't make for a different game, it just changes the combat mechanics to a certain extent. Everything else is the same as OoT or in a way even like the very first Zelda.

The old ass graphics and overall presentation doesn't help to make the game feel like innovative at least a tiny bit. For me it's an ok to good game, there is some nice stuff in there and it's good handcrafting. It has "last gen" written all over it though. I won't even consider buying a new Zelda if they don't change 75% of the formula for the next game. I played it way too often (even considering all the Zelda style knock offs we got over the years).

Wait... what all Zelda knock offs?

We've gotten a few that have some similarities, but more than their fair share of differences. Darksiders has just as much in common with a simplified DMC as Zelda.

I can't agree with you on much when it comes to Skyward Sword it seems. For as long as the game is, it has a sense of speed and maneuverability that's almost completely alien to the series. Yes, there are distinct ties to Zeldas' of the past in a pure mechanics sense, but more than enough deviations from the norm to differentiate it from them.

It had a simplistic form of Assassin's Creed parkour elements, that combined with level structure, and combat made the entire thing feel fresh to me. With enough old working mechanics to remind you what series it is.

I thought it was a more than enjoyable change in the Zelda formula while retaining familiar traits.

 

[King of the Potato People]

To be fair if a Zelda was set entirely in the singing kingdom of Hyrulantica and was controlled by plugging wires into the skin using EDI feedback, well some people would still say it was too much like past games.

 

[The Technomancer]

To be fair if a Zelda was set entirely in the singing kingdom of Hyrulantica and was controlled by plugging wires into the skin using EDI feedback, well some people would still say it was too much like past games.

What's fascinating to me is how often the "its too similar to past games" argument eventually turns into complaints about how its too similar in terms of story. Like...it feels stale because you still play as Link saving Zelda

 

[Guevara]

Yeah? We probably don't live in the same universe then. I played this Zelda game many times before. Only difference is waggle+, yep. But it doesn't make for a different game, it just changes the combat mechanics to a certain extent. Everything else is the same as OoT or in a way even like the very first Zelda.

The old ass graphics and overall presentation doesn't help to make the game feel like innovative at least a tiny bit. For me it's an ok to good game, there is some nice stuff in there and it's good handcrafting. It has "last gen" written all over it though. I won't even consider buying a new Zelda if they don't change 75% of the formula for the next game. I played it way too often (even considering all the Zelda style knock offs we got over the years).

Pretty much this. The worst part about SS is that the only major change was the addition of motion controls and the motion controls ranged from ok to detrimental. I'll still buy the next Zelda, as I buy every Zelda, but it's not my favorite series like it once was. LOL at winning Edge's GOTY, that just reflects poorly on Edge.

SS's audio design was also extremely similar to TP, down to sharing sound effects and discovery fanfare. I don't see how that can be considered one of the top three games of the year for audio design.

 

[Derrick01]

uuuum no...

Surely you weren't trying to compare something of substance like Deus Ex to the steaming pile of mediocrity that is saints row.