It is around that time of the year again where video game websites give out their picks for the coveted Game of the Year award. Spike TV started us off with their Video Game Awards show, which consisted of a random gathering of celebrities and models giving awards to games they probably knew very little about. The night was filled with lots of musical talent and new video game trailers being showed off, but the actual video game awards seemed to take a backstage to everything else. For an awards show the awards should take center stage, should they not? It seems that Spike TV may have unknowingly stumbled upon the major issue with Game of the Year awards– that they are just opinions and thus don’t matter much.
Why is it that we award Game of the Year? One would assume it is a game being recognized as a shining beacon above all other games. This game doesn’t have to be perfect per se, but it seems that it should be the best the video game industry has to offer. How is it that something so subjective can be done? Especially considering all the different genres that are present now. This explains why, especially this year, most places are not agreeing on their picks for Game of the Year.
If you look at the Academy Awards, the Grammy’s, or other media awards shows, you see the same kind of technique being done with video game awards. They give awards for different categories and then give out an overall best award in the form of ____ of the Year. This is obviously a very subjective experience seeing as they are comparing different genres which appeal to very different audiences. The fact that movies are two hours in length makes them easier to compare, but that doesn’t mean it should be done. So seeing this dilemma, do video games suffer from the same problem?
Video Games are probably even more prone to subjective grading than any other media. Most games aren’t two hour experiences but instead start with a 6-8 hour experience and can continue indefinitely, most evident in multiplayer games. Trying to compare hundreds of these games over the course of the year will run you into some real problems, especially if you try to compare across differing genres. As I have learned through my work it is nearly impossible to answer questions such as, “What is a better game? NBA 2k9 or Fallout 3?” yet I get these questions almost every day. You cannot compare different genres– you just can’t. You can try to assess the quality of the games in the genre they occupy, but you can’t try to bring them outside of their categories. Therefore it is nearly impossible to pick a game of the year and have it be meaningful.
Although I disagree with an overall Game of the Year being awarded I think that there are still alternative ways to award gaming excellence. Most people seem to be on the lookout for Game of the Year; however they don’t really care about awards in a specific genre. Games within the same genre share fundamental game mechanics or directions and are more acceptable to compare. Thus someone could look at genres they like and be more satisfied with the winner of that category. Best games of 200X lists also appear to work very well because they often contain games from all different genres, without resorting to comparison. The best lists are those that don’t even rank the games but just have them listed, for they focus on illuminating the best games the year had to offer.
All in all just remember that Game of the Year is only an opinion and doesn’t tell us very much about the game itself. You might think an award means something, but as Spike TV illustrated, there are more important things like trailers to watch. So don’t worry about Game of the Year, just worry about the games of next year!
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