-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
Why can't a handheld game win Overall Game of the Year?
- Thread starter Tripon
- Start date
The Dutch Slayer
Member
Exactly there is no goty there are only outlets goty picks.
Trickster
Member
It's not like there's a rule somewhere that prevents a handheld game from winning goty.
But handheld games are victims of their platform. There's a lot of restrictions for what's possible on handheld. This leads to games with worse graphics, simpler gameplay, worse controls and simply less developer freedom to create stuff that will be amazing
But handheld games are victims of their platform. There's a lot of restrictions for what's possible on handheld. This leads to games with worse graphics, simpler gameplay, worse controls and simply less developer freedom to create stuff that will be amazing
And with preconceptions like that, it's no wonder why a handheld gamer has difficulty winning an enthusiast site's GOTY.
This is rubbish.
Graphical prowess I will give you when you compare #2058 PC game verse a 3DS or even Vita title, but when was the media darling of the GOTY ever supposed to be a graphical powerhouse?
I could argue that many people will tap Europa Universalis IV on the head as a GOTY and that series is never touted as an icon of graphical ingenuity.
Glass Rebel
Member
Let's be honest here, if GOTY awards were based on complex gameplay, neither Jorney nor The Walking Dead would have won this many awards last year. In fact, one could say that about several GOTY winners of the last 8 years.
It could, it's just that portable games are generally worse than non-portable ones. I don't want to get into an argument as to why that is the case (since I know there are some rather enthusiastic handheld gaming fans on GAF), but everything from my own experience over cumulative "professional" review scores to things like GAF's overall or genre-specific top lists confirms this trend.
I don't think anybody is arguing they qon't be considered. They just won't win.
Nightstick11
Banned
Because western gaming media aren't gamers. They are just fluffers for AAA publishers. Fire Emblem: Awakening blew everything out of the water yet it probably won't rack up the awards it deserves.
killatopak
Member
Because they're not a consoles. 
The best portable games have generally less presentation values than the best console games.
That alone is just enough to make it "worse" in the eyes of the press.
That in the handheld business run far less money than on consoles matter too.
It's no mystery that the average scores for the top games on a handheld will always be lower than the average score of the top games on a console.
SpecialAgentZ
Member
Trickster
Member
Preconceptions? How is it a preconception to say that worse hardware leads to games with worse graphics and simpler games? And would you really try to argue that the controls on a 3ds or vita are as good or better than the controls offered by a dual shock 4 or xbone controller?
Journey would have never ever won a goty award had it been on a handheld. The graphics, and thus atmosphere would have been greatly reduced, practically ruining what made that game so great.
The Walking Dead I will agree with you on. It's an amazing game that would probably not suffer from being on a vita
Naw, but I was when I wrote that. That doesn't make it any less true.
It's going to be a long time before a mobile game wins game of the year from a major games media outlet. I mean it took over 60 years for an animated movie to be nominated for an academy award.
I think the manbabies that critique the movie industry are very similar to those that critique the games industry. Mobile games just aren't thought about in the same light as console/PC games.
I'm not saying it's right, but that's the way it is.
Doctor Decimate
Member
handheld games seem to lack that nebulous "wow factor". it's the same reason as why you're probably not going to see an indie title win; the big, flashy stuff just comes off as more impressive. does that necessarily make them better games? of course not. but i don't think it's hard to see that the open world of GTAV is going to impress people more than Fire Emblem or Pokemon.
The only thing you could possibly be talking about is graphics. There's nothing else that even makes sense when making a statement like this. Handheld games aren't generally worse than console games in any other areas. Online play maybe? That's all I can think of.
You know what, this thread could just be about whining, but how about we actually ask? There are people on this board who work at game review outlets.
ATTENTION ALL GAME REVIEWERS ON GAF
Can you ever imagine yourself, or the outlet you work for, giving Game of the Year to a handheld title? Why or why not?
ATTENTION ALL GAME REVIEWERS ON GAF
Can you ever imagine yourself, or the outlet you work for, giving Game of the Year to a handheld title? Why or why not?
Hours Left
Member
The best games of this year were all on handhelds.
Sadly, the mainstream gaming media will not care.
Sadly, the mainstream gaming media will not care.
BurnOutBrighter
Banned
The same reason a comedy or musical can't win Best Picture. Consoles is where all the Oscar bait is.
tearaway doesn't work on vita tv.
Glass Rebel
Member
That wasn't my point at all. I was arguing that "complexity of gameplay" is hardly a factor when it comes to GOTY awards as evident by Journey, TWD and countless others.
Also, the general quality of games doesn't really affect how good the best games on a platform are. Super Mario Galaxy isn't a worse game because a majority of the games on the Wii were shovelware.
For loopholes purposes, let's pretend it does so that it can win GOTY. I don't even think it'll win handheld GOTY, either
Even though I personally think it should.Star Falcon
Member
Similar to how indie films don't win the Academy Award for Best Picture... bit of snobbery i think when it comes to selecting nominees.
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
I don't get the argument about handheld games being inferior, it's just different. You don't get the shiny graphics but them playing worse is BS.
Stiff competition, that's why. I'd argue Tearaway should be nominated, but it's all subjective. Still haven't decided what I feel is the best game of the year, so many good games came out.
Disagree.
I feel like so many of the people getting angry would be the ones that haven't played it though. Its such an overlooked game, and I've only talked to a few people who really couldn't enjoy the game for what it is.
Absolutely, yes!
Why not, indeed. A game is a game, the medium isn't a simple one any more, different systems, different control methods.
If it's the best game, it's the best game.
Edge wasn't around in 1987. Tetris seems to have been included there by virtue of a best games ever retrospective they did at a later date, with the logic that "if there were no better games in 1987, Tetris must logically have been Edge's GOTY".
That, of course, doesn't really factor in that a retrospective is inherently, well, retrospective, whereas Games of the Year tend to be more indicative of the *time* they were selected.
Besides which... much as I like them, Edge is kinda pernickety about handheld titles. I don't recall them ever giving a 10 to a handheld title (Advance Wars got one in a retrospective, but not at the time).
I think that's part of it: Handheld titles tend to be, well, quietly competent. Not big, brash and showy, just, well, good. Which in turn means that they tend not to get noticed among the hoohah of the flashier, noisier titles, and may only get properly appreciated with dedicated play - which, in many cases, journalism doesn't really have the time to give.
What's the best puzzle game you played in the last year on a home console? The best rhythm game? The best point and click adventure? The best turn-based strategy title? The best rail shooter? The best visual novel?
Elite Beat Agents on Xbox One? Ghost Trick on PS4? Pushmo on PC?
They're different games. Not better, not worse. Just different; and the better games play to the strengths of being on a handheld.
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
Handheld gaming isn't about the crappy B team wannabe-console experiences, there's a lot of games that you only find and/or play better on handhelds.
Napalm_Frank
Member
I think it is to prevent the situation where Persona 4 Golden would have to be voted GOTY twice since it released in the EU this year.
Have you played the title in the OP?
There is always a "handheld game of the year" where obviously a handheld game wins and other specific "game of the year"(ps3/xbox/wii/etc game of the year), but a handheld game usually don't win the "overall" game of the year, the category that comprehends all games with no distinctions.
I think this is what he meant.
The_Endgamer
Member
It's a shame that games like Fire Emblem: Awakening don't get awarded the big guns but will it detract from your own fun with the game?
No it won't.
Why worry about others opinions if you know it's wrong?
Imma head back to playing mah Wii now, got a re-run of Metroid Prime 2 waiting for me.
No it won't.
Why worry about others opinions if you know it's wrong?
Imma head back to playing mah Wii now, got a re-run of Metroid Prime 2 waiting for me.
I know handheld crowd will get upset, but I agree with people that believe it's due to the games being victims of their platforms. It's the whole package, everything considered the same goty contenders on handheld would probably be better on consoles, and are seen as bitesize version of what could potentially be achieved on current consoles.. Super Mario Bros Wii, Mario 3D land are probably the best examples of the shift in expectation, and these games are considered better because if it.
peanutbutterlatte
Member
Kid Icarus Uprising got robbed laat year
With a few exceptions I used to feel similar (albeit for different reasons) but the Vita and 3DS have turned me around.
I'm not sure whether it's due to a general increase in handheld game quality or just shifting my mindset though. Personally I believe it's the former, and when I look at preowned shelves for older handhelds they're so choked by shovelware frequently the only games of interest are Nintendo ones that everyone owns anyway (preowned shelves always have tons of shovelware, but it's not that absurd on consoles). I admit there's probably some bias there though.
Kid Icarus Uprising got robbed laat year
It most certainly didn't. Kid Icarus only got that much spotlight last year because of how lacking the platform was otherwise.
peanutbutterlatte
Member
Yeah okay. Nevermind that it was one of the most original well-produced game NIntendo's put out in years. It beats most 3DS games this year for me too.