The battle was fierce this time around! From enjoyably high-handed insults to calling in the fanboys to smear campaigns across social media, this might have been our most contentious Game of the Year event to date. But, once the dust settles, there can be only one, the singular title we crown TWRM’s GOTY for 2012…
The winner is Journey!
This time, it was all about the narrative. Voting became many things: it turned into voting for “the little guy”, voting for the game that didn’t already have a ton of awards, voting because racing games don’t get enough love, voting to subvert expectations, voting because I said I’d eat my hat if I lost (or I’d eat Geoff Keighley if I won)… voting was more complex and about social expectations much more so than just about favorite or best games this time around. It was a fascinating experience to be a part of and watch unfold. Oh and the console wars are alive and well.
My mistake was in underestimating the power of the narrative I indirectly helped establish by calling racing games a “niche” interest and saying no racing game can win GOTY. It’s tongue-in-cheek, I assure you, but it successfully helped craft this idea that Forza (from a multi-billion dollar company with its massive production value and tie-in brand names) was the underdog. Never underestimate how much people will martyr themselves for the underdog. I’m sure Phil Spencer bathing in champagne with his blazer on knows what that means.
I want to give a special shout out to the Slipstream Mage (@jtorto40) who is a really great (motor)sport and exchanged in much delightful back and forth through the week. We both spared no expense to win, but ultimately we all won since the original voting post earned just about 600 hits! So a hearty thank you and congratulations are in order to all the writers who submitted nominations for this poll. Thank you for bringing more eyes to all our writings!
Thank you very much to everyone who voted for their respective choices. In the end, the slow traveler on foot overtook the *big* lead that Forza and Xenoblade earned at the start.
So far, that means our GOTY breakdown is thus:
1997 – Final Fantasy VII
2006 – Okami
2012 – Journey
2018 – Super Smash Bros.Ultimate
Another GOTY event is on its way sooner than you think, and I really hope that the Slipstream Mage takes the offer I extended to pick the next year. I myself will be bowing out of the next GOTY event (probably) because I don’t want to color or crowd the competition just because I helped found the site. Also, I can tend to get very competitive and it’s better to stop sooner than too late hahaha…
Red formerly ran The Well-Red Mage and now serves The Pixels as founder, writer, editor, and podcaster. He has undertaken a seemingly endless crusade to talk about the games themselves in the midst of a culture obsessed with the latest controversy, scandal, and news cycle about harassment, toxicity, and negativity. Pick out his feathered cap on Twitter @thewellredmage, Mage Cast, or Story Mode.
I did not vote in this contest as I had not played any of the games on the list (which shows how out of touch I have become). It was interesting, however, reading about the nominated games and comparing them to the ones suggested in previous posts in the series. The games in this competition were darker, more story-focused, many were set during medieval times, many were shooters and none were released by Nintendo, unlike the games that featured in previous posts. I wonder how well these competitions can be used to analyse the fashions of the computer games industry at the time and the wants of the consumers of computer games.
It was indeed quite the battle. I would like to point out however, that in my campaigning for Forza I never once disparaged any of the other games my title was matched up against. I did indeed attempt to construct an underdog narrative based on the remarks of others, but not once did I actually comment on the quality or fan base of Journey (or any other game on the list).
The power of positivity. i.e. nice guys finish 2nd.
The underdog narrative worked! Others did the disparaging (if I have to read “jawas” one more time…)
I would pose that I never would have gone for the underdog angle until you yourself went negative – disparaging the game as a ‘niche’, and that racing games couldn’t be worthy of winning a GOTY award. Tongue-in-cheek/hyperbole or not, those are negative comments in the eyes of fans of that game and the genre. For you to try and wash your hands of all negativity is a bit disingenuous, no?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not upset. But let’s be real here – your negative connotations were what fired me up to defend my baby in the first place. I never would have gone to the lengths I did to garner support with out having that negative motivator.
The ‘jawas’ comment is over my head – dunno what that means.
I know you said you aren’t upset, but at the risk of my offending you in the slightest, here’s my apology: I am sorry. It’s not my intention to revise history to portray my hands as clean, nor was it to suggest that the underdog narrative was unprovoked. I only mention it to say it was highly successful. I do actually think that racing games are a niche interest, but I don’t mean that in a disparaging way (despite using it in the chaos of the battle) any more than I say Journey (a walking sim) is a niche interest. You can dismiss the jawas comments; those and others were comments I faced from those who didn’t care for Journey (as they have a right to) and I’m not incriminating you in the least.
Reblogged this on DDOCentral.
I had a grand time taking part in this one, nice to Dishonored doing well too!
Thanks for taking part!