Game Critics Announce Best Of E3 Nominees

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to the 2003 list of nominees from the Game Critics Best Of E3 Awards. This conglomeration of journalists from most of the major magazines and websites will announce the winners on June 10th, but the nomination statistics show some interesting trends, with the army tactical combat game Full Spectrum Warrior the most-nominated title, and the PC leading the nominee breakdown by platform, closely followed by PS2, Xbox, and then Gamecube.

Comments

GBA

[snubber1]

I think its kind of dissapointing that they have a solitary GBA game listed 'Boktai.'

So often people overlook the gameboy when lumping all game platforms together, yet it has a insane selection of excellent titles to be had and coming soon.

Just out of E3 there was Boktai (the one they did get, a crazy light-based vamire game), Mario and Luigi (the sequel to Super Mario RPG), Advance Wars 2 (Just plain brilliant turn-based strategy), Warioware Inc. (Both original and insane minigame frenzy), and more I'm probally forgetting.

How about "Not Actually Vaporware" award?

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously, this is E3 where everyone congratulates each other. Why don't they have an award for "product that will actually ship before the next E3" ?

Re:How about "Not Actually Vaporware" award?

[Zathrus]

That's not a very good indicator though... HL2 wasn't available in playable form, but it's due out in September. Sure, there's probably going to be slippage, but I'd be surprised if it's not available before next year's E3.

I agree, in premise, that the awards are absurd, but look at the industry. All of the "journalism" is absurd.

Re:How about "Not Actually Vaporware" award?

[Alkaiser]

Yeah, and the "Absolutely nobody under the age of 18" disclaimer they stamp on there every year. I don't know if they're all from "Make A Wish" or whatever, but there are always a bunch of kids in there.

The "industry only" event is a sham. I understand that behind closed doors, the purpose of the E3 is to network with buyers, and try and negotiate deals with the retail chains, but the other main purpose is to inform the public about the games.

Otherwise, you and every other company on the show floor wouldn't bother printing out tens of thousands of fliers to pass out about your games...there simply are not that many media and buyer out there who need those little junkets.

I've worked 5 E3s. I can tell you that the people I've demoed the games for were not media. The people trying to grab free t-shirts are not media. On the surface, everyone wants to say this is a industry-only event, but it isn't and most of the game companies acknowledge this.

Re:How about "Not Actually Vaporware" award?

[Alkaiser]

I'm not missing the point of E3...I'm trying to make it obvious to the general consumer that handing out those awards for E3 basically dishonest.

It's like watching movie trailers and awarding the Oscars based off of that.

Nobody calls the award, "Game That's Going to Rock Sometime in the Future" or "Game That Will Sell the Most Copies in 2-3 Years".

E3 is what it is...a chance for the game companies to show off their upcoming stuff. The point of the show is clear. I don't have any beef with that, I have a problem with the majority of gaming sites that give this kind of coverage, because it isn't legitimate, and it isn't helpful.

Click through the past nominees of the awards, and you'll notice games that have been nominated back to back years. This is utterly stupid. If you're trying to crank up and sustain hype for 2 years before a product's launch...that's detrimental to the product's performance. There's no way it can live to anyone's expectations at that point.

E3 is about hype. Journalism shouldn't be. That's why I think these awards are stupid. That's why I think those awards should be based off of what is playable...otherwise you end up with Team Fortress 2 syndrome.

The Eye-Toy?!

[Alkaiser]

Are you f*cking serious?!

It was roundly given "Worst Peripheral of Show" by us.

What the hell are these guys thinking? They're obviously just trying to suck up to Sony. The Karaoke machine for the XBox was a far better idea. The stupid Eye-Toy had games where you were supposed to kill ninjas before they hit your head...however, you could just shuffle left and right, and KILL THEM WITH YOUR HEAD.

Best of Show

[swat_r2]

Halo 2 vs Half Life 2

Even though I'm an admitted Halo junkie, Half Life 2 completely amazed me. Sure Halo looks shinier and has a few new features, but watching the Half Life 2 demo blew my mind. The physics engine is truly incredible, and the ability to summon your own creatures to attack definitely adds a strategic element usually lacking in FPS games. I can't wait until the mod community gets ahold of this!

Gran Turismo 4

As for Gran Turismo 4, I watched the Sony E3 coverage for that and I must say I wasn't too impressed. I know it's going to be all that and a pack of crackers, but there didn't seem to be much in the way of innovation. Maybe I'm starting to get tired of the all too familiar CA(R)PG genre. Some scenes definitely looked beautiful, I'm not sure if it was actualy in game footage, but the Grand Canyon backdrop was stunning - made me look twice.

I think this has been the best E3 as far as I can remember, just a look at the list shows you how spoiled and lucky us gamers are. You know that feeling you get when you haven't eaten all day? When you go to take the first bite out of something sweet or salty and the second the treat hits your tongue a shot of saliva breaks loose from your glands like a premature shot from a Super Soaker? Well.. uhh.. got a towel?

best.e3.ever.