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Rock Paper Shotgun's GOTY 2013 [John Walker responds to your deep concerns]

Steez

Member
Most of the games on that list are awesome, but like others have said, RPS is trying a little too hard by omitting every "AAA" of 2013.

Oh well, I guess their just trying to balance out most other GOTY lists and give lesser known/smaller titles the spotlight.
 

cackhyena

Member
To you people whining about hipsters, I'm going to say once again they picked fucking Far Cry 3 last year. That game is as generic, shallow and AAA as it gets. So stop it.

edit: And they picked Skyrim in 2011, one of the worst AAA games of last generation.
You are adorable.
 

d00d3n

Member
Nice to see Rocker Paper Shotgun sticking it to AAA shit like Metro: Last Light, while giving deserved praise to "underdogs" like Saints Row IV.
 

Danthrax

Batteries the CRISIS!
Hoo boy, if you think Oscar movies are obscure, we're coming from very different perspectives. The Oscars still generally pick movies made by major movie studios.

If you just want awards to pick the giant, blockbuster movies/music/games that everyone has heard of, then watch the MTV Movie awards, the MTV Music Awards, watch the Spike VGA awards and read Game Informer. Now pretend the rest of the world doesn't exist. Problem solved.

I didn't mean to hit a sore spot. =P But usually, half of the Best Picture nominees at the Oscars are movies hardly anyone has seen let alone heard of. I've never looked at whether they were made by big production companies, though, so I can't speak to that.

I didn't say what I wanted award-givers to pick. If RPS really thinks all those indies belong on a top 24 list, that's fine. It just doesn't mean much to me without doing a lot of research into all those games.
 

bengraven

Member
It's not possible that their GOTY list is mostly (not all) indies because indies made better games this year?

I'm not saying you're necessarily wrong, mind you. But jumping to your conclusion would be very much like me automatically assuming that anyone who picks GTAV or LotU was simply selling out to the man.

Basically this.

Seeing a major gaming outlet only putting AAA games as GOTY would be similar to what the OP said about indie games.

That said, indie games WERE better this year than AAA games.
 

epmode

Member
GAF, stop embarrassing me.

If anything Desktop Dungeons looks hardcore to the max, any reason why its labeled as "casual" on steam? I think It looks neat.

It runs on basically any PC made in the last decade. Maybe that's it.

It not an easy game by any stretch.
 
That was years ago, and that writer quit RPS. Get over it. :)

He quit? Justice has been served then.

I like RPS's list quite a lot in fact. I feel that 9 out of 10 AAA games are money-hatted, overhyped, score-inflated trash cans not worthy of anybody's time with gameplay so shallow, they straight up insult my intelligence. Thank god for not awarding press-A-for-awesome games any more accolades.
 

Blackthorn

"hello?" "this is vagina"
Most of the games on that list are awesome, but like others have said, RPS is trying a little too hard by omitting every "AAA" of 2013.

Oh well, I guess their just trying to balance out most other GOTY lists and give lesser known/smaller titles the spotlight.
Black Flag is one of the biggest games this year in both production and sales and it's on the list.
 
I'm glad Call of Juarez Gunslinger made it on there, that was a real surprise for me this year. A great list of games overall.
 

Camwi

Member
If anything Desktop Dungeons looks hardcore to the max, any reason why its labeled as "casual" on steam? I think It looks neat.

Well I was mocking him with the whole "hardcore" thing, but you're right, there's no reason that game should be listed as "casual." It gets REALLY fucking hard, really fast. A lot of the game's later mechanics can be hard for me to wrap my head around.
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Anybody with decent taste in fun and cool has Gunslinger on their list.

EDIT: And the Dishonored DLC is probably the best DLC of the year.
 
Desktop Dungeons is fucking awesome, but you go on being so hardcore to the max.

Nothing more hardcore than a hardcore puzzle game at number 2. Personally X Com Enemy Within was my PC game of the year. But I got some love for puzzle games, I play candy crush playboy.
 

Opiate

Member
I didn't mean to hit a sore spot. =P

Do I sound sore? The usual complaint is that I'm an unemotional robot with no feelings.

But usually, half of the Best Picture nominees at the Oscars are movies hardly anyone has seen let alone heard of.

In your sphere of friends, sure, maybe. I'm not sure how you would want to quantify "hardly anyone has heard of," though. Some of the biggest Oscar winners of all time include The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Titanic.

I think this is less a situation of nobody has heard of them and more a situation where you haven't heard of them.

I've never looked at whether they were made by big production companies, though, so I can't speak to that.

I can. I'm telling you it's true.

I didn't say what I wanted award-givers to pick. If RPS really thinks all those indies belong on a top 24 list, that's fine. It just doesn't mean much to me without doing a lot of research into all those games.

Absolutely, I have no idea whether RPS are right or not. It's possible they are picking these just to be different, but then, if we begin to doubt motives like this, then everyone who picks any huge blockbuster game may just be doing it because they've sold out to the man, and then we can't accept any conclusion because everyone might be on the take.
 

Einbroch

Banned
Uh, isn't Kentucky Route Zero incomplete? Seems weird to give an episodic game that isn't even finished GOTY.

It kind of opens up what be on these lists.
 
They have Gunslinger and Europa Universalis in that list. Fine with me. I find it strange to see ACIV and Papers, Please in the same top 10.

Remember, these are opinions from the RPS writers. If you guys don't like it, opinions man.
 

bengraven

Member
AAA-only gamers are embarrassing themselves in this thread.

Indie games are getting better and better and this year had a huge stream of fantastic, fun as shit games.
 

Opiate

Member
Uh, isn't Kentucky Route Zero incomplete? Seems weird to give an episodic game that isn't even finished GOTY.

It kind of opens up what be on these lists.

Having not played the game, I want to distinguish these completely reasonable criticisms and observations from "why are there so many indie games" arguments.

That is, it is entirely possible that this list can be criticized and rebutted in lots of perfectly valid ways -- it's just that "I have not personally heard of this game, so they must be picking it to seem hipster" is not among those ways.
 

Minsc

Gold Member
The problem with thinking AAA game filled lists are so great is it seems like for every great AAA game one likes, there's about 20 indie games they never heard of that are just as fun, maybe not your idea of fun, but still fun enough for other people that'd they'd potentially rate them to be the better game.
 

eot

Banned
I am surprised they had Gone home out of top 10 after their reviews.
Reality check by the rest of the stuff, I guess

It's not top 10, they just do it like an advent calendar. All the games are unranked except the one on dec. 24th
 
Dota 2 as a 2012 game...? Dont Starve in first...? Well, good to see different opinions of course. And RPS is more PC oriented so we dont see any handheld games there, GTA or Last of Us.
 
Didn't they pick Far Cry 3 last year?

edit: Just checked and they did. So why are we giving importance to what they say?

Why are we giving importance to what you say? People have different opinions and they do a good job at motivating their choices. Perhaps you should read it before judging.
 

ghst

thanks for the laugh
I didn't mean to hit a sore spot. =P But usually, half of the Best Picture nominees at the Oscars are movies hardly anyone has seen let alone heard of. I've never looked at whether they were made by big production companies, though, so I can't speak to that.

I didn't say what I wanted award-givers to pick. If RPS really thinks all those indies belong on a top 24 list, that's fine. It just doesn't mean much to me without doing a lot of research into all those games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDj-ZOqFiLI#t=23m10s

The problem with thinking AAA game filled lists are so great is it seems like for every great AAA game one likes, there's about 20 indie games they never heard of that are just as fun, maybe not your idea of fun, but still fun enough for other people that'd they'd potentially rate them to be the better game.

a community life GAF is going to be right on the fault line of the industry's present re-evaluation of what is considered to be a stand out title. when charlie brooker was painted into a corner by a channel 4 anchor mocking the worth of the medium, he didn't reach for the last of us, he reached for papers' please?
 

cackhyena

Member
derrick likes BATMAN games so I'd agree but
defend skyrim's combat, UI and performance at launch as well as the general buggyness (animations and AI for bonus points!)
go on
I want to see you try
I wouldn't dream of it. Still managed to be one of those games that rose above that for me, though. I like the Batman games as well though, so...
 

FourMyle

Member
Kentucky Route Zero has that art style I've seen in quite a few indie games. It was cool the first time I saw it but now it's kinda overdone.
 

eot

Banned
Dota 2 as a 2012 game...? Dont Starve in first...? Well, good to see different opinions of course. And RPS is more PC oriented so we dont see any handheld games there, GTA or Last of Us.

"(Aside from the GOTY, this list is unranked)"
 
The ones on that list I've played are all great and deserving of the spot.

I mean gah outrage these games weren't made with hundreds of people for millions of dollars so these aren't games what were they thinking gah dumb.
 
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