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[mcc]

Vote thread here

Hello Tigsourcers, so I've got this Game of the Year poll I do every year on the Penny Arcade forum plus a couple other forums where I know people. I'm not exactly sure how well it would mesh with Tigsource or Tigsource with it, but I thought I would try to take a shot at inviting the TIG forum in on the poll this year (if that's okay). I'll come back and make a thread about this when the voting starts (should it go in Indie Games or General? seems like General); but first, right now I'm just looking for nominations.

There are a lot of Game of the Year polls out there, but the thing that makes this one interesting (in my opinion) is that most GOTY polls give you a list of maybe five of the best-selling games from the last year, and ask you to choose your favorite. This poll, however, gives you a list of EVERY game that came out in the last year (more or less) and asks you to vote for [up to] your top 20, ranked by how much you liked them. Here's last year's poll if you want to see how this works (plus a longer breakdown here). We actually wind up with a serviceable ranking of the top hundred or so games from the last year, with blockbusters, obscurities and cult hits mixed in side by side.

I'm going to start this poll on January 1, and run it for one week, so before midnight on New Years Eve I need a nominations list. And remember, the point of this is to have the most comprehensive list of games possible! So any game that anyone might POSSIBLY put in their top 20 deserves to go on the list. There are only a couple of rules.

1. The game has to have been legally released IN AMERICA for the first time this year.

2. No ports, no expansion packs. It has to be an actually new game. (This rule has tons of exceptions; see below.)

3. I need to know the systems that any game you nominate were released on. I would also like to know if a game was exclusively released as a digital download (I mark download-only games with asterisks* below.)

4. Tigsource-only rule: Please do not nominate your own game. It is totally fine to nominate a game by a fellow Tigsource forumer but please not if it's something you personally worked on.

Anyway, here's my nominations list so far. Please let me know if there are any games that should be added (or which are already on there, but there are errors). Thanks!

- redacted -

[mcc]

RULES DIFFICULTIES: NITPICKY AND COMPLICATED, READ ONLY IF BORED.

This probably shouldn't make much of a difference for indie games. But: when I originally started doing this poll, I had a "no ports, no expansion packs" rule. The intent of the rule is that each game that is made should get one crack at scoring on the poll; if a game gets ported and then is voted on again, that gives it two bites at the apple. In recent years, this rule has become basically impossible to enforce, what with tons of remakes that blur the line between "port" and "remake" almost completely, and stand-alone expansion packs, and DLC as a standard feature of the landscape. At one point I was trying to set up byzantine rules for whether a particular borderline case counted or not. At this point I've basically given up and the rule is: Either I'll rule to include it or not, and I'll probably make mistakes. Sorry.

Nevertheless, the general rule I'm trying to work on here is: If the "expansion" or DLC could be believably sold and marketed as a new stand-alone game that just happens to share the same engine as its predecessor, then it should go in. DLC or "special editions" which are just like a new dungeon or some new missions or something however should not count. Try to keep this in mind when nominating things.

Special rulings so far:

- The two GTA4 expansions count. None of the Fallout 3 expansions do.
- Metroid Prime Trilogy and Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 are ports and don't count.
- SMT: Persona counts as a new game
- The Sega Channel does not count as "being released" (See: Pulseman)
- Jumpman is banned from entry.

Also, in case you're wondering: iPhone games get no asterisks even though they're all digital downloads. If I can't cleanly sort out which PC games were download-only (though I intend to at least try) I may just remove the asterisks from the PC games as well. I don't count Mac and PC as separate platforms. And I do count browser games as a different platform from "PC" games (so, Small Worlds, "Flash" game; Machinarium, "PC" game).

Oh-- one last thing. I have Zen Bound (iPhone) on the list right now. However, I never played Zen Bondage, so I don't know: Do you think Zen Bound and Zen Bondage are different enough games that they avoid the "port" rule?

[laserghost]

Spelunky (pc) was released this year, I think. Also, Mighty Flip Champs (dsiware), and Enviro-Bear 2010: Operation Hibernation (iphone).

[mcc]

Spelunky was released this year, I think.

Spelunky actually went on the poll last year (although technically 1.0 was not released until this year... well I guess 1.0 is still a beta) and actually did surprisingly well I thought.

EDIT: I appear to have screwed over Dyson/Eufloria in a similar fashion by including its beta on the poll last year.

[Tanner]

yeah mario and luigi is pretty much the only game that really captivated me this year
clash of heroes is really great too

[tim_the_tam]

dont shit your pants

[aeiowu]

Jumpman

[C.A. Silbereisen]

Why are people so obsessed with goatees? Everyone knows they're the worst form of facial hair ever.

Also, Star Guard is pretty amazing.

[Poor Lazlo]

Captain Forever doesn't seem to be up there.

[Tanner]

captain successor is best, put that up there in its place

[mcc]

Hm, I think what I'm going to do is count Forever/Successor as a single game (since it's almost like Forever is Successor's free demo).

[laserghost]

how about, Giana Sisters DS.

[PaleFox]

Where is Legend of Zelda?

[mcc]

Where is Legend of Zelda?

Under "The Legend of Zelda"

[TheDustin]

Also, Star Guard is pretty amazing.

Woah, I totally forgot that! I should have given it an honorable mention for my end of the year wrapup.

And there seems to be a severe lack of RunMan: Race Around the World on this list, good chap.  I would make mention of Increpare's Home, but sadly most people would vote for 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand before an 'artfag' game.

[Poor Lazlo]

And there seems to be a severe lack of RunMan: Race Around the World on this list, good chap.  I would make mention of Increpare's Home, but sadly most people would vote for 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand before an 'artfag' game.

You say that as though 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand isn't amazing satire of the human condition.

It is the artiest.

[mcc]

And there seems to be a severe lack of RunMan: Race Around the World on this list, good chap.  I would make mention of Increpare's Home, but sadly most people would vote for 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand before an 'artfag' game.

So that makes two games on the list now with a pants-shitting mechanic

I'm not sure what to do about Increpare because he's made, like, 20 games this year. I think at a minimum Mirror Stage and Opera Omnia should go on there? Anything else seem appropriate? Home, you say?

Vote here

[Aik]

Might I point out that rule #1 disqualifies pretty much every indie game there is? Unless you like to consider 'the internet' as 'America'...

I'd like to nominate Geneforge 5, although the Mac version might have come out last year. No one cares about Macs though, and the only release date on Wikipedia is for the Windows version.

[salade]

This just made me realize that I haven't properly sat down and played any commercial game that was realeased this year on any platform other than the iphone, and that has mostly been doom classic...

Anyway, I had quite a fun time with F.A.S.T. for the iphone.