VGA12 - All Winners!

[shadowDOESrock]

Game of the Year
Assassin's Creed 3
Dishonored
Journey
Mass Effect 3
*The Walking Dead*

Studio of the Year
Gearbox Software
343 Industries
Arkane Studios
*Telltale Games*

Best Xbox 360 Game
Assassin's Creed 3
Dishonored
Borderlands 2
*Halo 4*

Best PS3 Game
Assassin's Creed 3
Borderlands 2
*Journey*
Dishonored

Best Wii/Wii U Game
*New Super Mario Bros. U*
The Last Story
Xenoblade Chronicles
ZombiU

Best PC Game
Diablo 3
Guild Wars 2
Torchlight 2
*XCOM: Enemy Unknown*

Best Shooter
*Borderlands 2*
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
Halo 4
Max Payne 3

Best Action Adventure Game
Assassin's Creed 3
*Dishonored*
Darksiders 2
Sleeping Dogs

Best RPG
Diablo 3
*Mass Effect 3*
Torchlight 2
Xenoblade Chronicles

Best Multi-Player Game
*Borderlands 2*
Guild Wars 2
Halo 4
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

Best Individual Sports Game
Hot Shots Golf World Invitational
*SSX*
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13
WWE '13

Best Team Sports Game
FIFA Soccer 13
Madden NFL 13
*NBA 2K13*
NHL 13

Best Driving Game
Dirt: Showdown
F1 2012
Forza Horizon
*Need for Speed: Most Wanted*

Best Song in a Game
"Castle of Glass" by Linkin Park – Medal of Honor: Warfighter
*"Cities" by Beck – Sound Shapes*
"I Was Born for This" by Austin Wintory – Journey
"Tears" by Health – Max Payne 3

Best Original Score
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
Halo 4
*Journey*
Max Payne 3

Best Graphics
Assassin's Creed 3
Dishonored
*Halo 4*
Journey

Best Independent Game
Dust: An Elysian Tail
Fez
*Journey*
Mark of the Ninja

Best Fighting Game
Dead or Alive 5
*Persona 4 Arena*
Street Fighter X Tekken
Tekken Tag Tournament 2

Best Handheld/Mobile Game
Gravity Rush
LittleBigPlanet (Vita)
New Super Mario Bros. 2
*Sound Shapes*

Best Performance By a Human Female
Emma Stone as Amanda Cartwright – Sleeping Dogs
Jen Taylor as Cortana – Halo 4
Jennifer Hale as Commander Shepard - Mass Effect 3
*Melissa Hutchison as Clementine – The Walking Dead*

Best Performance By a Human Male
*Dameon Clarke as Handsome Jack – Borderlands 2*
Dave Fennoy as Lee Everret – The Walking Dead
James McCafferey as Max Payne – Max Payne 3
Nolan North as Captain Martin Walker - Spec Ops: The Line

Best Adapted Video Game
Disney Epic Mickey 2
LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
*The Walking Dead*
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

Best DLC
*Dawnguard – The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim*
Leviathan – Mass Effect 3
Mechromancer Pack – Borderlands 2
Perpetual Testing Initiative – Portal 2

Best Downloadable Game
Fez
Journey
Sound Shapes
*The Walking Dead*

Best Social Game
Draw Something
Marvel: Avengers Alliance
Sim City Social
*You Don't Know Jack*

Game of the Decade (Voted Live by the Users)
Batman: Arkham City
BioShock
*Half-Life 2*
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Mass Effect 3
Portal
Red Dead Redemption
Shadow of the Colossus
Wii Sports
World of Warcraft

Most Anticipated Game (Voted Live by the Users)
BioShock Infinite
*Grand Theft Auto V*
South Park: The Stick of Truth
The Last of Us
Tomb Raider

Character of the Year (Voted Live by the Users)
Connor Kenway - Assassin's Creed III
Commander Shepard - Mass Effect 3
*Clap Trap - Borderlands 2*
Master Chief - Halo 4
Raul Menendez - Call of Duty: Black Ops II

[jkid101094]

Fuck this shit. It's all rigged. *shot*

[shadowDOESrock]

Fuck this shit. It's all rigged. *shot*

I dont agree either with most of the categories.

[Elija2]

I don't understand how a game can be voted Game of the Year and yet not even be nominated for the best game on its respective platform.

It's nice that they grouped the Wii and Wii U together though, otherwise that category would be a wasteland. Xenoblade should have won though.

[Hakudamashi]

For the first time ever, I disagree with EVERYTHING in the VGA

The 3 things people bitch about most in gaming, long cutscenes, QTEs and zombies, the Walking dead is all of these things and wins game of the year...

That's it, I'm really f*cking done. This was a bad year for me...

[Elija2]

For the first time ever, I disagree with EVERYTHING in the VGA

The 3 things people bitch about most in gaming, long cutscenes, QTEs and zombies, the Walking dead is all of these things and wins game of the year...

That's it, I'm really f*cking done. This was a bad year for me...

Yes, disregarding the fact that the game has great writing, atmosphere, and how your decisions in the game had real consequences, The Walking Dead sucks because it has a few QTE segments and long cutscenes (in a game that's about the story).

People only hate zombies because in most games they are used as fodder so the player can have the satisfaction of plowing through a million brain-dead enemies. The Walking Dead puts you in a believable zombie apocalypse setting and focuses on story and character development, not mindless zombie killing. You're being biased against anything with zombies in it, even when it is done right.

[Hakudamashi]

Yes, disregarding the fact that the game has great writing, atmosphere, and how your decisions in the game had real consequences, The Walking Dead sucks because it has a few QTE segments and long cutscenes (in a game that's about the story).

People only hate zombies because in most games they are used as fodder so the player can have the satisfaction of plowing through a million brain-dead enemies. The Walking Dead puts you in a believable zombie apocalypse setting and focuses on story and character development, not mindless zombie killing. You're being biased against anything with zombies in it, even when it is done right.

Pardon me Elija2, I may be a crazy person, but I'd prefer is a video game won game of the year for it's gameplay, not story or music or atmosphere or w/e.
Maybe if there was a best visual novel category, sure, but game?

But maybe that's just me...

[shadowDOESrock]

Point and click adventure games, a part of gaming since the 80's.

[Elija2]

Pardon me Elija2, I may be a crazy person, but I'd prefer is a video game won game of the year for it's gameplay, not story or music or atmosphere or w/e.
Maybe if there was a best visual novel category, sure, but game?

But maybe that's just me...

That's like saying a movie isn't good because there weren't enough action scenes in it. Video games are a maturing medium, and they come in many different forms. You may play video games for the action, but others play video games for something else. Just like you may watch a movie for the comedy, others may watch a movie for the drama and romance.

[Hakudamashi]

That's like saying a movie isn't good because there weren't enough action scenes in it. Video games are a maturing medium, and they come in many different forms. You may play video games for the action, but others play video games for something else. Just like you may watch a movie for the comedy, others may watch a movie for the drama and romance.

I didn't realise gameplay immediatley meant action, cause I'm pretty sure Tetris and Farmville also have gameplay.
And I didn't know that video game has to focus on story and atmosphere to be a better "game".
Sure, video games come in many different forms, like puzzle games, point and click games(yes Kyo, I know what those are), and even truck simulators.

But my issue with the Walking Dead and even Heavy Rain is that I have a problem calling them "games", and I'm gonna try explain the best way I can...

Their main focus is story telling, they come with dialogue choices, and your actions can leave to multiple endings, and your method of interacting with the world is through moving to the next area and investigate stuff.
Maybe I'm talking out my ass and have the terms mixed up, but isn't that what a Visual Novel is? The in-between a movie and a game?It's a movie, or show, or play or w/e where you are the one who tailors the events to your will. Some VNs do it with still pictures, Heavy Rain and the Walking Dead accomplish it with 3D models.

My way of thinking is "A game with more story than game, is a VN, while a game with more game than story, is a game"

As for what that makes RPGs, I'll get back to you on that... if you care...

[shadowDOESrock]

Heavy Rain & The Walking Dead aren't Visual Novels.

Katawa Shoujo, for example, is a Visual Novel.
In A Visual Novel, the delivery is almost purely made out of dialogue / text. Mostly having a bunch of characters merely talking.
There is no "Gameplay".

While in Point and Click Adventures, you interact with the environment beyond just "talking".
There might be a hub world, you might have to shoot something. You might have to pick up screwdriver to get past a obstacle.

I suck at explaining, but I think you get the difference.

[Elija2]

But my issue with the Walking Dead and even Heavy Rain is that I have a problem calling them "games", and I'm gonna try explain the best way I can...

Their main focus is story telling, they come with dialogue choices, and your actions can leave to multiple endings, and your method of interacting with the world is through moving to the next area and investigate stuff.
Maybe I'm talking out my ass and have the terms mixed up, but isn't that what a Visual Novel is? The in-between a movie and a game?It's a movie, or show, or play or w/e where you are the one who tailors the events to your will. Some VNs do it with still pictures, Heavy Rain and the Walking Dead accomplish it with 3D models.

My way of thinking is "A game with more story than game, is a VN, while a game with more game than story, is a game"

Visual novels are still video games. Some are more interactive than others, but I certainly wouldn't call The Walking Dead a visual novel. It's a point-and-click adventure game, which are much more interactive and gameplay-based than most visual novels.

[Hakudamashi]

Well I dunno if there's some untapped hate for the genre I have that I don't know about, but I'm just uncomfortable that of ALL the games that were released in 2012, what won game of the year was an episodic, downloadable zombie game that focused more on story than gameplay...

This whole "story over gameplay" vibe I'm getting from video games recently just rubs me the wrong... but then again JRPGs are my 2nd favourite genre...

[shadowDOESrock]

Personally, my winner was Halo 4.

[Hakudamashi]

My personal pick for game of the year? I really don't know,they all faded out to me...