The University Times video games staff make their predictions for the Golden Joystick Awards 2012…
Sean MacGillicudy
Staff Writer
So very many men wielding weapons on boxart. Yeesh, it sure doesn’t look like a great year, at least in terms of art direction. Journey is the only game I would actually root for for best game of the year (I am so sorry, Zelda, I hope you can forgive me). It is kind of cute that they put the 3DS games in there, I am sure it was an honour to be nominated. Nods were also given to the sports/racing genre, as well as the PC as a platform, although it is not likely that they will win. Trials Evolution is not winning, I don’t know how you got here but please dirtbike out. Most of this seems to boil down to a three horse race – Gears of War vs Uncharted vs Skyrim (with a small chance of Batman taking the award). I hope to be surprised, but I heavily doubt I will be – there is always the possibility that COD fans might mobilise to decimate the awards. Zelda, please go back to your sense of exploration. Come back to rolling green hills that I can dash through… Bring back that sense of giddiness you get when you find a hidden cave where you can find a mysterious ocarina song. It is only then that we will talk about your game of the year prospects.
Niall O’Colmain
Staff Writer
‘Ultimate Game of the Year’, eh? Skyrim will probably win. Why? Well… Fifa and Forza are games which are appealing to their niche markets, but have lukewarm reception outside of them at best. Ditto with the 2011 released Dark Souls, one of my personal favourite games of last year, but we’ll let that slide since they’re counting from their last awards. You either fell deeply in love with Dark Souls, or were turned away by its difficulty and ruthlessness. Trials and Journey, while fun and interesting games for their respective platforms, suffer as they are Xbox or PS3 only experiences, which limits their total playability – the awards are voted for by users, after all. Gears of War 3, Uncharted 3 and Zelda were also console locked, though the pull of Nintendo’s fan-base might push Skyward Sword to a solid second. Assassin’s Creed and Arkam City both suffer from being not as good as their predecessors. While both are strong games, they lack a certain something their previous titles had, something along the lines of a certain level of polish, or a strong plot. Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3, while different takes on the multiplayer shooter, will divide the user base – their fans decry the other while praising their own game. ME3, D3 and SWtoR were all strong entries shortly after they came out…which were then forced to change in various ways post release. Thus, by process of elimination, Skyrim, being a well received game across all platforms, despite the expected Bethesda level bugs, would be the most likely candidate for ‘Ultimate Game of the Year’.
Vladimir Rakhmanin
Deputy Online Editor
The fact the Journey is nominated for ‘Ultimate Game of the Year’ gives me hope in an industry that is filled with grimacing balding space marines. I already ranted about this PSN title beforehand in a recent review, so I’ll keep it brief here – Journey is nothing short of magical, and for me personally holds GOTY status with no competition. Whether it will win or not is a whole different question – if I had to bet on any of the nominations, I would go for Skyrim, simply because it is such a massive, open-world title. It’s not entirely to my tastes, but it was extremely well-received, so I expect to see a fair share of votes go to this western RPG. I find it interesting that two 3DS titles were nominated – as someone who has owned the console since launch, I was burned by the initial lack of games. It’s interesting to see Nintendo turn the situation around in less than two years. Personally, I would have gone for Mario Kart 7 as the 3Ds title (I consider it to be the best in the series), but at the least the handheld system is in some way represented. Finally, I am so very happy to see Skyward Sword nominated. I loved the streamlined approach the series took, focusing entirely on the gameplay – certain dungeons that involved time were some of the most genius designs Nintendo have ever concoted. I only wish that this game had come out five years ago, sometime closer to the Wii’s launch – it might have inspired developers to use motion control to the same brilliant effects as this title.
