[reno6]

I started doing this in the IGN Game of the Year thread, but I might as well start a new thread rather than hijack that one. Here are the winners so far.

Yesterday, they released the "Special Achievement" winners. They are as follows:
Best original music: God of War. (Runners up: Shadow of the Colossus, Indigo Prophecy, Perfect Dark, Psychonauts.)
Most surprisingly good game: Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. (Runners up: Call of Cthulhu, Mercenaries, Racing Gears Advance, Star Wars Republic Commando.)
Best licensed music: Project Gotham Racing 3. (Runners up: Amped 3, Fifa Soccer, Guitar Hero, Stubbs the Zombie.)
Best story: Indigo Prophecy. (Runners up: Amped 3, Cold Winter, Killer 7, Psychonauts.)
Best sound effects: Condemned. (Runners up: Call of Duty 2, King Kong, Project Gotham Racing 3, Resident Evil 4.)
Best graphics, technical: F.E.A.R. (Runners up: Battlefield 2, Guild Wars, Project Gotham Racing 3, Resident Evil 4.)
Best voice acting: Psychonauts. (Runners up: God of War, Gun, Indigo Prophecy, King Kong.)
Best graphics, artistic: Psychonauts. (Runners up: Guild Wars, Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath, Resident Evil 4, Shadow of the Colossus.)
Best use of a creative license: The Warriors. (Runners up: Call of Cthulhu, Lego Star Wars, Star Wars: Republic Commando, X-Men Legends 2.)
Best artificial intelligence: F.E.A.R. (Runners up: Call of Duty 2, Forza Motorsport, NBA 2K6, SWAT 4.)
Most outrageous game: Amped 3. (Runners up: Killer7, The Matrix: Path of Neo, Need for Speed Most Wanted, Total Overdose.)
Best budget game: Geometry Wars. (Runners up: Dai Senryaku VII, NHL 2K6, Phantom Dust.)
Best new character: Harman Smith, Killer7. (Runners up: Buck Wad - Amped 3, Kratos - God of War, Raz - Psychonauts, Stubbs - Stubbs the Zombie.)
Funniest game: Psychonauts. (Runners up: Amped 3, Animal Crossing: Wild World, Raze's Hell, Stubbs the Zombie.)
Best use of sweat: NBA 2K6. (Runners up: Fifa '06, Fight Night Round 2, NBA Live '06.)
Biggest news: San Andreas gets an AO Rating. (Runners up: 360s unleashed at Zero Hour, Miyamoto unveils Nintendo Revolution controller, PS3 announced for 2006, US PSP launch.)
Best multiplayer game: Battlefield 2. (Runners up: Guild Wars, Mario Kart DS, Perfect Dark Zero, Project Gotham Racing 3.)
Best use of upset, disheveled men: Condemned. (Runners up: Call of Cthulhu, Resident Evil 4.)
Most innovative game: Killer7. (Runners up: Guild Wars, Indigo Prophecy, Trace Memory, Phoenix Wright.)
Best original game mechanic: NBA 2K6. (Runners up: Guitar Hero, Indigo Prophecy, Lumines, Stubbs the Zombie.)
Most metal: Guitar Hero. (Runners up: Devil May Cry 3, God of War, Kingdom Under Fire: Heroes.)
Most improved sequel: Resident Evil 4. (Runners up: Blitz: The League, Devil May Cry 3, Dragon Quest VIII, Need for Speed: Most Wanted.)
Best new hardware: Microsoft Xbox 360. (Runners up: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core CPU, ATI Radeon X1800 XT GPU, Nvidia GeForce 7800 GTX GPU, Sony PSP.)


Today came the "Dubious Honors." The duds of the year. And they are:
Most despicable product placement: SWAT 4. (Runners up: Burnout Legends, The Matrix Online, NBA 2K6.)
Worst use of celebrity voices: Christopher Walken - True Crime: New York City. (Runners up: 50 Cent - 50 Cent: Bulletproof, Casper Van Dien - Starship Troopers, David Duchovny - Area 51.)
Most disappointing delay: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. (Runners up: Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Final Fantasy XII, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl.)
Most aggravating frame rate/Best slideshow: Quake IV (360). (Runners up: Advent Rising, Half-Life 2 (Xbox), Shadow of the Colossus, True Crime: New York City.)
Worst trend: All the lousy urban-themed games. (Runners up: All the lousy poker games, Dynamic in-game advertising, Next-gen retail prices, Same title - different game.)
Most long-winded game title: Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie.* (Runners up: Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Never Ending Tomorrow, Time Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge, Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose, Yu-Gi-Oh! 7 Trials to Glory: World Championship Tournament 2005.)
Gratuitous use of f------ swearing: True Crime: New York City. (Runners up: The Getaway: Black Monday, Killer7, NARC, The Suffering: Ties That Bind.)
Most disappointing game: Fifa '06: Road to Fifa World Cup. (Runners up: Jade Empire, Madden NFL '06, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, WWE WrestleMania 21.)
Biggest buster**: 187 Ride or Die. (Runners up: 50 Cent: Bulletproof, Crime Life: Gang Wars, True Crime: New York City.)
Flat-out worst game: Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green. (Runners up: Crime Life: Gang Wars, Chicago Enforcer, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects (DS), Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie (DS).)
Best game no one played: Psychonauts. (Runners up: GTR FIA Racing, Nexus: The Jupiter Incident, Racing Gears Advance, TrackMania Sunrise.)

Discuss if you'd like, I just thought I'd put these up for convenience. GameSpot's layout is atrocious. The winners are revealed in a video, so you can't just give a passing glance at who got what, you have to sit through a presentation. I'll put up the Genre Awards and Game of the Year in the next couple days, when they become available.

* Fun fact: the mobile edition of this game has an even LONGER name: "Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Mobile Game of the Movie."
** Biggest Buster: Since it's a confusing award title, here's GameSpot's description: "As more and more soulless corporations look for the "next big thing" that they can tap into and exploit, hip-hop has risen as a natural next step across all forms of media, from hamburger commercials to video games. It's big and very popular, yet it still has an edge to it--at least when it's done right. Between that and the wild success of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, it's no surprise that a ton of fake-feeling "urban" games sprang up in 2005. Here are the five that struck us as especially disingenuous."

[wilco]

I haven't played most of the games but I got to say it: I'm playing Shaolin Monks and it's definitely a surprisingly good game, at least I never thought I would have so much fun with it.

[reno6]

Originally Posted by wilco

I haven't played most of the games but I got to say it: I'm playing Shaolin Monks and it's definitely a surprisingly good game, at least I never thought I would have so much fun with it.

I was really hyped up for it, and it didn't let me down one bit. I'm a rabid fan of MK2, and the fanservice in MKSM was pure bliss. The game's not bad at all. I've even bested the MK2 arcade port a few times. Great game.

[LeChimp]

Ok, I agree with most of those awards but
"Best original game mechanic: NBA 2k6"

What's original about NBA 2K6? It seems like the same thing every year with some minor upgrades.

[NcroManiac]

New slam-dunk gimick

[MoriartyL]

It's sort of sad watching this- it's so cute how they're trying to be professional, but they are so hopeless. Honestly, can't anyone there read a line straight? Okay, so a few of them were better than others, but still. And then they have such cringe-worthy lines as "I flunked art history.". Speaking of that particular one, it was really pathetic how they use a thesis on how games are art as a lead-in to showing pretty graphics, as if the two are equal. But on a broader note, just sad.

[SoccerDude28]

Originally Posted by LeChimp

Ok, I agree with most of those awards but
"Best original game mechanic: NBA 2k6"

What's original about NBA 2K6? It seems like the same thing every year with some minor upgrades.

Traditionally you used to push a button, and the play just animates with a dunk.
Now you can actually move the thumb stick to control the dunk. Not sure if it is worth the award.

[NcroManiac]

Originally Posted by MoriartyL

It's sort of sad watching this- it's so cute how they're trying to be professional, but they are so hopeless. Honestly, can't anyone there read a line straight? Okay, so a few of them were better than others, but still. And then they have such cringe-worthy lines as "I flunked art history.". Speaking of that particular one, it was really pathetic how they use a thesis on how games are art as a lead-in to showing pretty graphics, as if the two are equal. But on a broader note, just sad.

They are game geeks, not wether reporters!

[AudioSoldier]

Originally Posted by NcroManiac

They are game geeks, not wether reporters!

Jeff and Alex are very good as presenters. Jeff is the...uh...fat one, and Alex sports the beard and short hair. They do their commentary together, and you can see them tacking the micky out of the games in the Dubious Honors section.

[NcroManiac]

Yup, they're great! Could'nt stop laughing! And I love the Most Metal award (1993's Lord of thunder )

[natalia]

I liked how gamespot separated best graphics into technical and artistic categories. IGN only had one -- best artistic design and gave it to yet another WWII game (giving Psychonauts runner up status). Makes more sense to separate them out this way, to me.

[Mattsius]

Originally Posted by AudioSoldier

Jeff and Alex are very good as presenters. Jeff is the...uh...fat one, and Alex sports the beard and short hair. They do their commentary together, and you can see them tacking the micky out of the games in the Dubious Honors section.

I agree, they were truly awesome! The other ones tried too hard to be funny, just like many of the stars do in the Oscars, and failed miserably.

Fahrenheit and Psychonauts got some awards though, which was great. As I expected Psychonauts got the Best game no one played "award". Stupid people who only buy dull games!

[samIamsad]

Originally Posted by Mattsius

Stupid people who only buy dull games!

Question: Isn't that the game that has you playing as some sort of wicked comic kid running around in even more wicked people's heads? And isn't it supposed to be the new game from Tim Schafer (Tim WHO???), the man behind such games as Full Throttle and Grim Fandango? See what I'm trying to get at here? (I agree though. Never underestimate the stupidity of people)

[SoccerDude28]

Originally Posted by samIamsad

Question: Isn't that the game that has you playing as some sort of wicked comic kid running around in even more wicked people's heads? And isn't it supposed to be the new game from Tim Schafer (Tim WHO???), the man behind such games as Full Throttle and Grim Fandango? See what I'm trying to get at here? (I agree though. Never underestimate the stupidity of people)

Totally agree with you Sam. The game was marketted as a Tim Schafer game, yet the only people who know Tim Schafer are the very niche adventure gaming crowd, and even among these, some didn't want to try Psychonauts because it is more of a platformer.

And another problem like the article said was the main platform of the game. XBOX platformers historically did not sell well, because the audience of the XBOX is more into shooters and hard core games. The Ratchet and Clank and Sly series on the PS2 sold millions of copies.

A third problem is the horrible marketting and publishing of the game. If you want to sell a game, please make it available and visible in stores. I have gone so many times to large electronics stores, and if I was lucky, saw one or 2 copies of the game, hidden behind some adventure games.
Please don't send a PC game with 2 CD 2's. Even that they screwed up. Please don't delay a European release till everyone except the diehard fans have forgotten about the game. And please don't spend all your marketting power on Advent Rising, a game that had a horrible frame rate, and was the biggest let down in your game lineup.

[Dasilva]

I kinda enjoyed Advent Rising.

[samIamsad]

Originally Posted by SoccerDude28

Totally agree with you Sam. The game was marketted as a Tim Schafer game, yet the only people who know Tim Schafer are the very niche adventure gaming crowd, and even among these, some didn't want to try Psychonauts because it is more of a platformer.

It's so cute: Apparently half of the folks who bought Grim bought a copy of Psychonauts. And the other half didn't bother, because he didn't make exactly the game they wanted him to make. BTW: Psychonauts got released in Germany last week or so. I saw another full page ad "The new game from Tim Schafer!!!!" just two days ago. In a music magazine... (I suppose it's hard to sell an idea like this one to people, though.. no pirates, no aliens, no cars, no boobs and no 50 Cent, either.)

[RLacey]

They've actually changed the marketing subtley for the European version so that Full Throttle and Grim Fandango are mentioned on the box. And the colour scheme should stand out more.

The game has still been poorly marketted though. I wonder if Majesco didn't see it as something to be concerned with given the comparative cheapness of the development bill after they got the publishing rights ...

[reno6]

Tonight, we have the Genre awards. And the winners are:
Best action adventure game: Resident Evil 4. (Runners up: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Devil May Cry 3, God of War, Ninja Gaiden: Black.)
Best shooter: F.E.A.R. (Runners up: Battlefield 2, Call of Duty 2, Far Cry: Instincts, Perfect Dark Zero.)
Best fighting game: Tekken 5. (Runners up: Darkstalkers Chronicle, Soul Calibur III.)
Best platformer: Psychonauts. (Runners up: Kirby: Canvas Curse, Sly 3, Sonic Rush, Tokobot.)
Best adventure game: Indigo Prophecy. (Runners up: Myst V, Niburu, Phoenix Wright, Trace Memory.)
Best driving game: Forza Motorsport. (Runners up: Burnout 4: Revenge, GTR FIA Racing, Mario Kart DS, Project Gotham Racing 3.)
Best puzzle/rhythm game: Guitar Hero. (Runners up: We Love Katamari, Meteos, Lumines, WarioWare: Twisted!)
Best role-playing game: Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King. (Runners up: Guild Wars, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Riviera: The Promised Land.)
Best traditional sports game: Fifa '06. (Runners up: Fight Night Round 2, NBA 2K6, NCAA Football '06, Tiger Woods PGA Tour '06.)
Best alternative sports game: Blitz: The League. (Runners up: Amped 3, NBA Street V3, SSX On Tour, WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006.)
Best strategy game: Civilization IV. (Runners up: Advance Wars: Dual Strike, Act of War: Direct Action, Dragonshard, Metal Gear Acid.)

I think the "best puzzle/rhythm game" is a bit, well, stupid. Guitar Hero beat them all, but none of the others are rhythm games. Couldn't they put Guitar Hero in with, say, DDR and Karaoke Revolution, and have a separate category to crown a Best Puzzle Game? Oh well. Psychonauts won, and that's all that matters.