GDCA Nominees Announced

Gamespot is reporting that the nominees for the annual Game Developer's Choice Awards have been announced. The awards are given out every year in a ceremony at the Game Developer's Conference. From the article: "This year, God of War leads all games with six nominations, followed closely by a quintet of nods for Shadow of the Colossus. Project Gotham Racing 3, Guitar Hero, and Psychonauts each received three nominations. GameSpot's game of the year for 2005, Resident Evil 4, only garnered a single nomination, that one in the Visual Arts category."

Comments

But...?

[Anonymous Coward]

What about the GNAA nominees?

Man, I don't get the God Of War hype

[BitterAndDrunk]

The game was good, but it was WAY too short.

Re:Man, I don't get the God Of War hype

[ShawnMcCool42]

I don't even think it was that great. Tired boring gameplay wrapped up in pretty graphics?

I mean come on... I forced myself through block puzzles and simple button timing "mini games" for about an hour before I just shut it off. My brother was more compelled to play through, so unfortunately I was privy to watching boring puzzle after boring puzzle interrupting devil may cry ripoff fights at a difficulty level suitable for 8 year old children. The game was rated for adults!

Then again, I suppose most adults would be more challenged by this silly game than children.

I'm appalled.

Resident Evil

[Anonymous Coward]

One nomination, that's because Capcom is beating a dead horse... as is Konami with Silent Hill. FFS get some new fucking ideas!!

What? Turino 2006 didn't make the cut?

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

What? Turino 2006 didn't make the cut? We was robbed!

Nintendogs not even in the running

[WillAffleckUW]

Doesn't everyone love puppies?

Re:Nintendogs not even in the running

[WillAffleckUW]

oh, and I know they were nominated, but it looks like, based on all the multiples of nominations for Animal Crossing: Wild World, that it's just a pro forma nomination, so they can pretend they gave Nintendogs a chance.

It's like nominating the film God of War for an Oscar - they may win some kind of boring technical award, but Nicholas Cage isn't going to show up on stage and get a chance to speak on live TV.

Re:Nintendogs not even in the running

[PhoenixOne]

I did my vote Monday, and Nintendogs is on the list. I think it was for best technology.

Guitar Hero!?

[RingDev]

You got to be kidding me, of all the weak ass gimmick games available, that thing is a Wall Mart special from the wholly craptastic department.

-Rick

Re:Guitar Hero!?

[AKAImBatman]

That's your opinion, but just about all the "man on the street" reviewers are saying the exact opposite. They all think the game is a lot of fun, and that the Guitar is a necessary control component rather than a "gimmick".

I've played the game myself, and I must say that there's an addictive quality to it. You can really get into the idea that you're "playing" the guitar (despite the fact that you're doing no such thing), and soon find yourself jamming to the music. It's not the all time best game ever, but it does stand out as a game that was made to be fun rather than cutting edge.

At the very least, it's a refreshing change from the massive libraries of junk that the market has been releasing as of late.

Re:Guitar Hero!?

[RingDev]

"You can really get into the idea that you're "playing" the guitar"

I assure you, pressing a combination of 10 buttons on a plastic toy in no way feels even remotely close to playing a guitar.

Go buy a starter kit from a local music shop (or even walmart/target). Learn how to play Smoke on the Water and Iron Man. Then show up at a party and see who the chicks dig more, the guy who holds the record high score in Guitar Hero, or the guy who can play Glycerin on a $50 Yamaha Mexican acoustic.

-Rick

Re:Guitar Hero!?

[Blackwulf]

Actually, at the latest New Years Party I went to, two people brought Guitar Hero and, while we have people there that are AMAZING on acoustic guitar, we all had more fun playing 2-player Guitar Hero - especially the aformentioned people that are amazing on acoustic guitar.

And the chicks dug it.

Now, you're right in a sense that it doesn't make you feel like you're playing guitar, and it's not supposed to. It gives you the simulation of rocking out with an instrument in front of a crowd, however, thanks to the visuals and audio in the game and how they react to how good or bad you are doing.

Re:Guitar Hero!?

[RingDev]

I dunno, maybe I'm just an odd ball, but I grew up carrying a guitar around school, all my friends played guitar, base, or drums. Even now, most of my friends are either in bands, DJs, or sound recording engineers. Even mentioning this to most of them encites reactions similar to most people when they learn about fart painting and strong desires to trash the set after the first round of the game.

-Rick

Re:Guitar Hero!?

[Blackwulf]

If it helps to put my opinion in perspective, I've been playing drums and percussion for about 16 years (yes, I'm young) and I still enjoy the Japanese arcade game Drummania, as well as other rhythm games such as Beatmania and Guitar Hero.

You will never hear me personally say that they will teach you how to play drums, be a DJ, or play a guitar (just like Dance Dance Revolution does NOT teach you how to dance, but rather how to stomp on arrows) but the experience is a simulation of the experience of playing in front of a crowd.

I do know a few people who have played Guitar Hero and enjoyed it so much that they then went and bought a starter kit like you mentioned to learn how to play the real thing. I think that should make any musician happy, no matter what they feel of Guitar Hero itself as a computer program.

Resident Evil 4, why?

[steveo777]

Can't read the article at work, but wouldn't RE4 be considered just a port of a game that already won most of those "awards" last year? Even giving it a nomination for Art/Visual would be a little generous. The only reason it's acceptable is because during the transfer from GCN to PS2 it was difficult to achieve similar graphics.

Oh, and God of War wasn't that good. It's just like playing Devil May Cry 1-25, only you don't get a choice of weapons. Hey, a brawler is a brawler. And it doesn't get much better for brawlers than Final Fight on NEO GEO.

Although it'd be nice if Bandai's would finish and release Cowboy Bebop. Gametrailers says it's coming out on 3/1/06, but seeing as nobody else is confirming that, I don't know how long it's been since there has been an update. Anyone?

Re:Resident Evil 4, why?

[hiei]

RE4 was released in 2005 on GCN, if I'm not mistaken.

God of War is definitely overhyped; it did a couple things right but it also had many annoying flaws, not to mention relatively uninspired art design (C'mon, who sees Hades/the Underworld looking as generic as Hell from Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey?).

And c'mon, if Bandai is making a Cowboy Bebop game, it's gonna blow. Bandai especially is known for crummy licensed games of their properties to make whatever cash they can.

Re:Resident Evil 4, why?

[Anonymous Coward]

RE4 was released in January on GCN. I can't remember seeing a game so unjustly robbed. I suppose that's what happens when you have an 11 month lead. :/

Go Guitar Hero.

sun setting on gaming

[Anonymous Coward]

Sadly, these awards only highlight the real news in the gaming industry: that with its continued assoication with the film industry comes nasty habits as well as synergies. Namely the tenedancy to recycle the same themes, stories and mechanics, with flashier packaging and better graphics.

If this post sounds like a sad cliche, it is. But in that fact it is a fitting tribute to another industry, born of creativity, dying in the rare air of the technological-whizz-bang blast-o-gas light show that has come to envolpe most of our popular culture, from music, to movies, and sadly, now games.

Cowboy Bebop

[PhoenixOne]

I'm a big fan of Bebop and I've seen previews of the game, don't get your hopes up. Unless they did something amazing in the last 5 months, it isn't worth remembering the release date for...

Shadow of the Colossus!

[Swimmin' Pants]

I really hope Shadow of the Colossus wins game of the year. Admittedly, I haven't gotten around to playing God of War yet, but my friend said it wasn't as good as the hype would lead one to believe.

As for best writing? I think Psychonauts really deserves to win for that category. While the gameplay could get a little dull on occasion, the writing was always fresh and quirky.

On a related note, I felt that the writing for Indigo Prophecy really started to fall apart once the actual "Indigo Prophecy" was introduced in the plot. The main character inexplicably gained Matrix-esque superpowers, and it just felt cheap. All character interactions past that point felt really unlikely for the characters that the game had spent so much time building, and I was left extremely disappointed.

Psychonauts

[El_Muerte_TDS]

I hope Psychonauts is at least going to win one of the awards, hopefully game design.
I really enjoyed that game, it's one of the more interesting games I played the last couple of years.