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Reason Gravity Rush was chosen:

Gravity Rush represents the type of game that should be honored in the Japan Media Arts Festival. The works that appear in today's game market are developed with emphasis placed on refinement, not the discovery of new things. The types of entertainment that games can provide have nearly all been exploited, so how the scenario of a game is handled is what (developers) compete on. However, Gravity Rush is a game that has invented a new form of entertainment: the manipulation of gravity. Not only that, but it's also paired with creative polish that rivals, if not surpasses other titles. The title deftly uses the sensor in the PlayStation Vita, and has been created as a game, not a product. This is a work that has proven that there is still much that can be done in games.

A list of some other games to have won awards in entertainment can be viewed here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Media_Arts_Festival#Entertainment.2FInteractive_Art_awards

http://j-mediaarts.jp/awards/excellence_award?locale=ja&section_id=2

 

[chickdigger802]

polish?

They clearly haven't used the slide mechanic. Some of those races are infuriating as butt.

 

[SteeloDMZ]

The game also wins SteeloDMZ's award for most boring missions ever on an open world video game.

 

[Shining Sunshine]

polish?

They clearly haven't used the slide mechanic. Some of those races are infuriating as butt.

Can't polish player's lack of skill. ;P

 

[spats]

Well deserved. Beautiful game with maybe my favourite protagonist this generation.

 

[Totobeni]

good stuff. congrats to Toyama and Team Floating moe

polish?

They clearly haven't used the slide mechanic. Some of those races are infuriating as butt.

the secret trick is to use Vita like a steering wheel (not just tilting it)

 

[Cyrano]

Did they somehow completely miss Tokyo Jungle?

 

[chickdigger802]

good stuff. congrats to Toyama and Team Floating moe

the secret trick is to use Vita like a steering wheel (not just tilting it)

I mean I get how it works, but Kat loves to cling onto little edges or trash cans or other things.


Anyhow I do hope they get around to making a sequel.

And revamp the combat system or ditch it completely.

 

[OmegaTreeFish]

glad to hear it. Was one of my fav games this year. Very charming and very fun to explore the world and hunt down those gems.

 

[Illithid Dude]

Great news! I'm surprised that GAF is so down on this game. Gravity Rush was my favorite game of the year.

 

[Parakeetman]

Did they somehow completely miss Tokyo Jungle?

In comparison to Gravity Rush yeah sorry Tokyo Jungle no.

 

[Toki767]

Still wanting a sequel. It could be really great with a little more polish to the controls.

Also, the trick to the races is to use Gravity Kick, not Gravity Slide. It gets you to places a lot faster.

 

[darkwing]

Please make a sequel

 

[FrostuTheNinja]

I came late to the Gravity Rush party and while the game has polish issues, I'm still having a lot if fun with it.

Otherwise, the award is well deserved. Cool universe and characters.

 

[whitehawk]

Yup, one of my favourite games this year. I'm optimistic they will make a sequel. Then we'll eventually get PS3/PS4 ports.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

I've still only just started this gorgeous game.

I've brought my Vita to work, maybe I'll get cracking on it today. It's just, dat 2048...can't...put it....down.

 

[Oshimai]

AWESOME! congratulations to the Gravity Rush

deserves a sequel. hopefully the next iteration includes some more aesthetic customization options and RPG elements.

 

[Cyrano]

In comparison to Gravity Rush yeah sorry Tokyo Jungle no.

The works that appear in today's game market are developed with emphasis placed on refinement, not the discovery of new things.

Based on this criterion, I'm sorry, but Tokyo Jungle blows Gravity Rush/Daze out of the water. The entire game is about discovery, and what's more is that it's also highly refined. Gravity Rush is an interesting concept that seems rather underutilized, but Inversion is a similar game that was created at the same time (and gravity manipulation is not exactly a unique mechanic).

 

[Parakeetman]

Based on this criterion, I'm sorry, but Tokyo Jungle blows Gravity Rush/Daze out of the water. The entire game is about discovery, and what's more is that it's also highly refined. Gravity Rush is an interesting concept that seems rather underutilized, and Inversion is a similar game that was created at the same time.

Its a platformer with animals. Not to mention nothing really special about the general mechanics of the game or technology used.

Once again sorry but no.

 

[so1337]

Well deserved. It's my personal game of the year.

 

[Cyrano]

Its a platformer with animals. Not to mention nothing really special about the general mechanics of the game or technology used.

Once again sorry but no.

It's E.V.O. meets Streets of Rage meets uh... I dunno, some game where you age over time. I can't remember how many games actually involve inevitable death in an open world, but I can say that it's not many. Sorry to say, but Gravity Daze doesn't really impress me compared to Tokyo Jungle. Plus there's a really rich story that you acquire via notes in the same manner as you acquire story in Dark Souls/Demon's Souls (via the in-game items). Feels rewarding and expansive.

 

[Amory]

Gravity Rush is terribly overrated. Beautiful graphics and playing with gravity was fun, but everything else was awful. Most of all the controls.

 

[Jamix012]

Very Well Deserved. Would be my game of the year most years, but this year was beaten out by Kid Icarus. I'd love to see a sequel and am very excited to see Kat in PSAS.

 

[maverick40]

Great game but has it's flaws.I can't wait for the sequel!

 

[QaaQer]

It's E.V.O. meets Streets of Rage meets uh... I dunno, some game where you age over time. I can't remember how many games actually involve inevitable death in an open world, but I can say that it's not many. Sorry to say, but Gravity Daze doesn't really impress me compared to Tokyo Jungle. Plus there's a really rich story that you acquire via notes in the same manner as you acquire story in Dark Souls/Demon's Souls (via the in-game items). Feels rewarding and expansive.

TJ controls and combat are jank. It would have been the game of a lifetime if they had the budget of a ME3 or GTAIV because the premise is so awesome.

I still think TJungle is a fantastic effort for a couple of guys in a garage, though. Really cool Sony funded them and released the game through their C.A.M.P. program.

 

[jgmo870]

Based on this criterion, I'm sorry, but Tokyo Jungle blows Gravity Rush/Daze out of the water. The entire game is about discovery, and what's more is that it's also highly refined. Gravity Rush is an interesting concept that seems rather underutilized, but Inversion is a similar game that was created at the same time (and gravity manipulation is not exactly a unique mechanic).

I've never played Inversion before but unless there's something more to it than the high/low gravity idea, no, it does use the same idea as GR. At least not the same main idea which resulted in one of the most unique and best traversal mechanics out there.

EDIT: After looking at it more, there are vector shifts but that looks much closer to witch's magic than the actual gravity shifting GR does.

 

[EscapingJail]

Beat this a few weeks ago, amazing game. Takes awhile to fully click, but once it did I was hooked.

Can't wait for the sequel!

 

[Cyrano]

TJ controls and combat are jank. It would have been the game of a lifetime if they had the budget of a ME3 or GTAIV because the premise is so awesome.

I still think TJungle is a fantastic effort for a couple of guys in a garage, though. Really cool Sony funded them and released the game through their C.A.M.P. program.

I dunno, I kinda took the awkward controls as a challenge of figuring out how to fight (or in certain cases, simply avoid) certain animals. Sure, the game's awkward, but I don't really think that's detrimental when your main character is a Pomeranian. I mean, show animals aren't exactly made for fighting, so the fact that they can at all is both a bit hilarious and also interestingly realistic.

jg, I'm not trying to say that Gravity Daze is a bad game, I just think that selling the gravity-shifting mechanic as unique or something that moves the industry forward is a bit short-sighted, particularly in light of other games that were released by Japanese developers that seem much more apt at doing something unique with play mechanics. Gravity Daze is easy to classify as a game, and even as a game type, Tokyo Jungle, for example, is not.

 

[Shahed]

While it did have issues like lack of mission variety and combat depth, and also gets repetitive, I still really liked it. I don't think I've ever had so much fun traversing a game world.

Would love a sequel

 

[Jonnyram]

Well deserved. Definitely in my top 3 for the year. Either 1 or 2, can't decide yet.

 

[jgmo870]

I dunno, I kinda took the awkward controls as a challenge of figuring out how to fight (or in certain cases, simply avoid) certain animals. Sure, the game's awkward, but I don't really think that's detrimental when your main character is a Pomeranian. I mean, show animals aren't exactly made for fighting, so the fact that they can at all is both a bit hilarious and also interestingly realistic.

jg, I'm not trying to say that Gravity Daze is a bad game, I just think that selling the gravity-shifting mechanic as unique or something that moves the industry forward is a bit short-sighted, particularly in light of other games that were released by Japanese developers that seem much more apt at doing something unique with play mechanics. Gravity Daze is easy to classify as a game, and even as a game type, Tokyo Jungle, for example, is not.

But you haven't proven that what Gravity Rush does isn't unique. There are different ways for games to manipulate gravity, sure, but I still haven't seen any that have done it in the same way that GR does.

 

[QaaQer]

I dunno, I kinda took the awkward controls as a challenge of figuring out how to fight (or in certain cases, simply avoid) certain animals. Sure, the game's awkward, but I don't really think that's detrimental when your main character is a Pomeranian. I mean, show animals aren't exactly made for fighting, so the fact that they can at all is both a bit hilarious and also interestingly realistic.

jg, I'm not trying to say that Gravity Daze is a bad game, I just think that selling the gravity-shifting mechanic as unique or something that moves the industry forward is a bit short-sighted, particularly in light of other games that were released by Japanese developers that seem much more apt at doing something unique with play mechanics. Gravity Daze is easy to classify as a game, and even as a game type, Tokyo Jungle, for example, is not.

I agree with most of what you are writing. It is so different than what we normally get, and I'm glad I bought it. I really hope someday the industry will fund games like this with big money, instead of AssCreed III, FarCry3, CodBlops9, etc.

However, TJ just doesn't have enough gameplay depth to have won the award, imo.

 

[Cyrano]

But you haven't proven that what Gravity Rush does isn't unique. There are different ways for games to manipulate gravity, sure, but I still haven't seen any that have done it in the same way that GR does.

Hey, that's fair enough, and it's impossible to prove that what it does or doesn't do is necessarily unique. Was mostly just attempting to point out the flaws that the game deserves the award because of gravity manipulation, something other games do. The argument could be more subtle than it's presented, I simply feel that the way the group presented the award was promoting the wrong things about what's great about Gravity Daze (which is, I think we can both agree, more than just the gravity manipulation).

Bunny, I think we'll agree to disagree there, but I do tend to think that interesting ideas, even if they aren't perfectly executed, are often worth more to moving the industry forward than those ideas that are executed with exceptional polish.

 

[pslayer666]

I'm currently playing the game and I'm having a blast.

Finished the main story and working on getting a gold in all the challenges atm.

Takes a little while to get used to the gravity manipulation stuff but that's expected.

Congrats on the award to the developers. Well deserved.

 

[web01]

Gravity Rush is terribly overrated. Beautiful graphics and playing with gravity was fun, but everything else was awful. Most of all the controls.

The worst thing is a simple option to allow players to reassign buttons would fix alot of the issues. (for me atleast)

 

[SmokyDave]

I tried to love it but ultimately failed. Great world, great flying controls, iffy but passable combat. Cripplingly boring missions.

I put it down after one particularly terrible mission (Episode 18: Adreaux On Call) and never picked it up again. That said, I can't bring myself to delete it until I finish it.

 

[Raonak]

I agree with most of what you are writing. It is so different than what we normally get, and I'm glad I bought it. I really hope someday the industry will fund games like this with big money, instead of AssCreed III, FarCry3, CodBlops9, etc.

However, TJ just doesn't have enough gameplay depth to have won the award, imo.

Didn't tokyo jungle do good? Sony must've already greenlit TJ2. hopefully with a bigger budget.

 

[Acquiescence]

Congratulations to them, and well deserved. One of the most magical games I've ever had the pleasure to experience.

 

[Cyrano]

Didn't tokyo jungle do good? Sony must've already greenlit TJ2. hopefully with a bigger budget.

It did well, but it was a one-off so it's questionable as to whether the idea will be expanded and polished in the future (as either patches or sequels).

 

[lazybones18]

Well deserved honor

Bring on the sequel

 

[pslayer666]

I tried to love it but ultimately failed. Great world, great flying controls, iffy but passable combat. Cripplingly boring missions.

I put it down after one particularly terrible mission (Episode 18: Adreaux On Call) and never picked it up again. That said, I can't bring myself to delete it until I finish it.

only 3-4 missions to beat after that one. You're very close to the end. Just go for it.

It's a pretty easy game to complete. The meat of the game is in the challenges and exploration and shit.

 

[LayLa]

been playing this a bit recently, think i like the idea of it more than the actual execution tbh - an improved sequel would be welcome
also had a deeply weird moment when i wanted to switch on the 3D, momentarily forgetting what system i was playing on ...

 

[GhaleonQ]

Nice! Thanks for the post.

It's worth stating that they have brilliant taste in art. Compare the near-perfect (if Japan-centric) animation winners/nominees to nearly any other movie award (animation festivals included). Gravity Rush is flawed, but it certainly deserves this type of award.