Spike VGA's Out, Surprisingly are not Bullsh*t

[Spectrum_Prez]

The Witcher 2 didn't win anything? Dang, that was a damn fine game.

PC exclusive, so not even gonna be in the running haha.

It should have topped Portal 2 for the PC category, or Skyrim for the RPG category.

Skyrim still deserved GOTY for sure. Nice that the gaming industry is finally recognizing Bethesda's genius. No other developer can do anything even close to what they can pull off. They're true innovators and really leading the pack now.

Sadly, Morrowind was leading the pack back in 2001 (or was it 2002?) but it took them a decade to get the accolades they deserve.

 

[Savagezion]

Okay something completely off topic and the only reason im posting this here is because I did not want to create a new topic just to have this question answerd:

Did anyone at any point during the show say anything about Half Life 2: Episode 3 or Half Life 3?

Nope, and Valve was only mentioned once when Zachary Levi was listing off developers.

I did think it was cool to see Miyamoto accept the award for Zelda being the first game in the "Game Hall of Fame" Spike made up this year. It was just a special nod to Zelda when it comes down to it, but it was really cool.

The entirety of the show wasn't spun around Doritos, Mountain Dew, sex jokes, and social inadequacy. They still have a ways to go on improving the quality of show but this was a large sign of good faith that they will try.
If anyone thinks this years was bad, they would have to concede that last years was 10 times worse. Last year, half of the 'jokes' were in bad taste or just lame and no one laughed. Dominic Monaghan actually paused on his appearance after a joke no one laughed at and you could tell he didn't even think was funny to clarify he was just reading from the prompter and that it was not his material. When a performer is actually trying to separate themselves from your performance you want them to give, you know it is bad.

This year, was like a the Kid's Choice Awards on Nick. Sadly, that is a step UP for Spike's VGA's. Hopefully, they eventually will learn how to be a bit more dignified in giving video games awards. Special recognition to Zelda was a nice touch.

 

[Risingblade]

No they are bullshit Skyrim is buggy and rushed, yet stil gets GoTY. A buggy and rushed game dose not deserve to be GoTY. All it does is say "Heydevs, these low standrds are acceptable" they then lower the bar next year, beuase this year gamebreaking bugs still get it GoTY.

Sorry, rushed? Bethesda may suck as engine programmers compared to companies like id, but they did not RUSH a world as complex and detailed as Skyrim's.

Well, they at least skimped on the QA testing. A lot more than any other developer would. They didn't QA test their patches, either.

Its sad it won GoTY becuase Skyrim is the first I have ever heared of a patch needing a patch just to fi everything the patch broke. Did the first patch even fix anything ?

New Vegas had the same the problem

 

[Qitz]

They're not horrible, one thing Spike is at least good at is pandering to their demographic. Only real way to make a legitimate awards show is to do like the Oscar's and have a panel instead of people voting. The Witcher and Deus Ex were on the ballet but were beaten by Portal 2 and Skyrim respectively.

 

[Valanthe]

I have to say, based on the last couple VGA's, this year's was a pleasant surprise. If it keeps on improving... we might just have to start taking them seriously, now there's something I never thought I would hear myself say.

 

[Iron Mal]

The issue many of us raised with the nominations wasn't that they were stupid (you expect that from any award show), but that they have such a narrow view of the industry. Every game nominated is always triple-A and has already won a million awards every bloody gaming mag editor and their mum. What about the indies? Hell, what about the genuinely brilliant games non-independent devs churn out despite the best efforts of publishers? But no, let's give Halo 9 the award for "most original game" or whatever the f*ck.

Wait...did you actually watch the VGA's?

Some people may complain about the nominations but to be fair most of the ones they picked this year did seem appropriate (except for Marcus Fenix being in the running for 'best character', seriously, what the hell?).

My problem with the VGA's this year actually had nothing to do with the awards given (most of them seemed to be pretty reasonable picks and the titles selected were all good games) but more to do with the lack of any actual award giving on an award show (me and the friend I was watching it with were both wondering why we were over an hour in and only one person had come up to collect an actual award).

The show was a definate improvement over last year (it was painfully awkward seeing Stevie Wonder pushed onto the stage to give the award for best music game) but they still don't seem to have gotten over the fact that they should be more primarily focused on the awards rather than the previews (as nice as they were that's what we have events like E3 and PAX for) and the comedy sketches (while there were a few genuinely funny moments they did seem to be trying a bit too hard).

 

[Risingblade]

No they are bullshit Skyrim is buggy and rushed, yet stil gets GoTY. A buggy and rushed game dose not deserve to be GoTY. All it does is say "Heydevs, these low standrds are acceptable" they then lower the bar next year, beuase this year gamebreaking bugs still get it GoTY.

Sorry, rushed? Bethesda may suck as engine programmers compared to companies like id, but they did not RUSH a world as complex and detailed as Skyrim's.

Well, they at least skimped on the QA testing. A lot more than any other developer would. They didn't QA test their patches, either.

Its sad it won GoTY becuase Skyrim is the first I have ever heared of a patch needing a patch just to fi everything the patch broke. Did the first patch even fix anything ?

New Vegas had the same the problem

And ? I loved new vegas, but I admit it was released in a poor state. And for that it shouldnt get GoTY if it did. Even if I feel it desrves GoTY it shouldnt get it simply for being released in such a state.

I not seeing an issue here, its pretty black and white to me, if a game is buggy as hell and isnt fixed soon enough it shouldnt beat out games that people can actually playand finish due to bugs. All that dos is sy lower quality is acceptable.

That was aimed towards you saying you've never heard of a patch needing a patch...I hope you enjoyed writing that in vain

 

[Risingblade]

No they are bullshit Skyrim is buggy and rushed, yet stil gets GoTY. A buggy and rushed game dose not deserve to be GoTY. All it does is say "Heydevs, these low standrds are acceptable" they then lower the bar next year, beuase this year gamebreaking bugs still get it GoTY.

Sorry, rushed? Bethesda may suck as engine programmers compared to companies like id, but they did not RUSH a world as complex and detailed as Skyrim's.

Well, they at least skimped on the QA testing. A lot more than any other developer would. They didn't QA test their patches, either.

Its sad it won GoTY becuase Skyrim is the first I have ever heared of a patch needing a patch just to fi everything the patch broke. Did the first patch even fix anything ?

New Vegas had the same the problem

And ? I loved new vegas, but I admit it was released in a poor state. And for that it shouldnt get GoTY if it did. Even if I feel it desrves GoTY it shouldnt get it simply for being released in such a state.

I not seeing an issue here, its pretty black and white to me, if a game is buggy as hell and isnt fixed soon enough it shouldnt beat out games that people can actually playand finish due to bugs. All that dos is sy lower quality is acceptable.

That was aimed towards you saying you've never heard of a patch needing a patch...I hope you enjoyed writing that in vain

What patch needed tobe patched ? I dont remember DLing path only to have the game screw up even more.

I think it was after the second DLC, though they did remove that one right after they found out it broke the game. I still don't know why Beth didn't do the same with their 1.2 patch though

 

[CrustyOatmeal]

what i want in next years VGA's

1. stop using the on stage graphics. they are horrible, cheap, cheesy, and lack any life like animations. if you insist on using them then put them up as small props so it looks like each segment has a particular theme and it looks like a set and less like giant 3D screen caps

2. give away awards! for a two hour show dedicated to awarding videogames there certainly were few actual awards given out

3. stop doing long skits. i get that you want a few laughs and you think you have air time to fill but why dont you stick to quick 5-15 second skits to kill time while the next speaker gets on stage and this way if the jokes dont land it doesnt matter

4. why dont you show trailers during commercials or as a segway into commercials? i dont like that a show dedicated to giving away awards for this seasons games is more centered around whats coming out next and not what the shows was named for, awarding exemplary games

5. have people IN the industry announce the awards, it just feels fake and cold when somebody reads a script and forced emotions into it. or you could have last years winner of that category (or somebody well known for winning that category frequently) present the game so that we can get a little more insight into the passion and determination needed to develope an X-style game

6. i know somebody though the whole "tea bagging" prank would be funny but it wasnt. music is a much better way of telling people to wrap it up and all you have to do to make it gaming oriented is use music from games. you could even have themes for each year like retro games or you could use the music from the previous years GotY award winner as an homage to that game

*OPTIONAL*

7. customize the trophies for each category so that maybe the best RPG has a monkey holding a sword and shield or casting a spell and maybe have best shooter be a monkey rendition of rambo. but if this idea were to be adopted i think it would be best if they kept the same design for each year

 

[SpaceBat]

I am really enjoying Skyrim, but when I think about it, it's not exactly the RPG elements (role-playing, conversations, customization) that make me love it. It's just the sheer freedom you have to do what you want and the entire feel of the game. When we get to the general RPG parts however: the UI is horrifying which makes the game a lot less fun to play, the character-building is ridiculously broken, there aren't a lot of meaningful conversations to have, the world rarely ever reacts to you and the game is buggy to death and the patches aren't helping (making it worse, actually).

So yeah. GOTY? Sure, it's just that cool of a game, though I wouldn't mind Portal 2 or maybe Skyward Sword winning. The RPG award is a little bit undeserved IMO, but whatever.

Still, the VGA was good overall and congrats to Skyrim.
Bastion not winning Indie awards makes me sad though.

 

[Atmos Duality]

A buggy and rushed game dose not deserve to be GoTY. All it does is say "Heydevs, these low standrds are acceptable" they then lower the bar next year, beuase this year gamebreaking bugs still get it GoTY.

Yup. This happens every time Bethesda releases a new "mega-game".
People are far too willing to overlook critical technical problems.

But hey, the VGAs are a popularity contest; logic has no place there.

OT:
As usual, I'm a bit torn; I'm glad some games got more attention than I was expecting, but I'm also sad that the same parade of sequel-shit took all the real glory.

And as usual, I rationally discredit the VGAs because, well, it's Spike TV.

 

[Korten12]

MK as the best fighter? Really? Catherine, of course, doesn't even get nominated for anything. And I'm not on the Skyrim hype train. And why are there individual awards for consoles? What does the platform have to do with a game?

Best Game for Platform is usually: "What best exclusive for that platform."

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

O_O

Neither B3 or MW3 were nominated for best game, and the only shooter nominated was Drake? And SKYRIM won the big one?

Is it Chirstmas already?

 

[The-Epicly-Named-Man]

snip

Wait...did you actually watch the VGA's?

Some people may complain about the nominations but to be fair most of the ones they picked this year did seem appropriate (except for Marcus Fenix being in the running for 'best character', seriously, what the hell?).

My problem with the VGA's this year actually had nothing to do with the awards given (most of them seemed to be pretty reasonable picks and the titles selected were all good games) but more to do with the lack of any actual award giving on an award show (me and the friend I was watching it with were both wondering why we were over an hour in and only one person had come up to collect an actual award).

The show was a definate improvement over last year (it was painfully awkward seeing Stevie Wonder pushed onto the stage to give the award for best music game) but they still don't seem to have gotten over the fact that they should be more primarily focused on the awards rather than the previews (as nice as they were that's what we have events like E3 and PAX for) and the comedy sketches (while there were a few genuinely funny moments they did seem to be trying a bit too hard).

Nope, in fact I never have, I saw last years winners and nominations and that's about it. But it was enough to tell me sort of the show they were running.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

It worries me that something so immature, sexist and completely out of tune with the industry is the mainstream face of gamers.

In fact its pretty damn awful.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

It worries me that something as immature, sexist and completely out of tune with the industry is the mainstream face of gamers.

In fact its pretty damn awful.

Yeah, but their ratings have steadily dropped every year for the last 5 or 6. That is good news at least.