Putting GotY on a box drives sales up significantly. So yeah, it matters. Look, I get it doesn’t matter for you, personally. As an individual, you might think a restaurant getting a positive review in Zagats means nothing. Ford saying that the F150 is the best selling truck for 24 straight years means zilch to you. Who cares that Argo won best picture of the year? Not you.
But these designations DO matter generally speaking. They make a difference, again not for you - but in ways that matter much more broadly.
No, a car getting a quality rating from Car & Driver, or a restaurant getting a 5-star Michelin would mean something to me and most other people. It means that a reviewer with years of experience actually tested the product and gave it a rating that people can measure against other similar products. Best Picture again carries a lot more worth because Academy board members, of which most are peers in the industry, voted. I may not agree with their picks, but the award still has prestige, honor, critical validity, and yes, monetary worth in terms of ticket sales. I would bet that no one - not even you - can tell me the significance of the 60 awards Titanfall won.
Someone from a web site saying “This game was the best [INSERT GENRE] game I saw (not played) at E3 this year” means as little as it can possible mean. And a box stating that this game won 60 of some of awards at E3 means even less. Hey we won awards! For stuff!
Again, I get it. I understand why the industry relies on these PR stickers for their boxes. You don’t need to keep explaining it or defending the practice.
I get your point too. You don’t care about E3 designations. They mean nothing to you. My point is that you’re one person. And you are outnumbered by those who do think it matters.
But hey, these boards are for sharing opinions. I don’t agree with you one bit that these designations are meaningless. I’m frankly puzzled that anyone would take this position. BUT by all means, if you want to make the case as to why these designations don’t matter to consumers, journalists, developers, publishers, creators or others… go ahead!
stusser
3530
Michelin only goes up to 3 stars. Clearly you sir are no gourmand!
Beyond that nitpickery I agree with the rest of your statement.
Teiman
3531
Gamers may want to buy the GOTY edition, but because normally include all DLC. In 2013 the name GOTY mean that “version with all the DLC’s”. We have many games that use GOTY in the same year.
(image: lady pat himself in the back )
3 (unrelated) points: 1. Rage’s page on Steam shows that it won 13 “best of E3” awards. While it wasn’t a bad game, it shows that giving out awards for previews - sometimes not even hands-on - is about as meaningful as giving out Oscars based on only the trailers. 2. Two Worlds II had a “Game of the Year” edition. Enough said. 3. The new Watch Dogs trailer claims to be Giant Bomb’s “Best in Show”. The Giant Bomb people were not aware that they said any such thing.
The point is, most of us know that any “best of E3” award is meaningless and has no bearing on how good the game will actually turn out to be. Some of them turn out to be great, yes, but some don’t.
Sometimes they do but games that are released late in the year (and thus don’t have DLC to bundle) put that GOTY sticker out there ASAP. Why? The imprimatur of critical success = sales
stusser
3534
Yes indeed. We enthusiasts know that GOTY no longer implies that it was voted anyone’s game of the year, but many are fooled.
There is such a thing as an exception to the rule. Happy to put out the list of games that won these awards and deservedly so. And one outlet calling a game a GOTY or best of E3 is very, very different from getting 60 outlets to all say the same thing.
Great point. I do love analog movement, especially in games where exploration is a huge component. Pressing the WASD keys to explore feels very restrictive once you get used to exploring with the analog thumbstick. I’m always looking to the left or right while I travel along a road, never straight down the road. And that’s always natural with the thumbsticks, where as it’s more rigid and awkward with WASD+mouse.
THIS is why it’s meaningless. 60 outlets didn’t call Titanfall best of E3. Titanfall won 60 awards, multiples of which came from the same source but different categories.
Take this list. That’s 6 awards! Wooo! There’s no significance to these 60 awards. I doubt anyone can tell me the actual awards this game is crowing about on the box.
Ha. Even under this formulation there’s only one game that has consensus: Titanfall for the Xbox One.
Happy to discuss this all day. I really don’t understand how anyone can say that these designations don’t matter. But please - continue to make the case.
How about this: if you think these designations don’t matter why do you think people take the time to log them, record them, publicize them (on websites) and tout them (on box art)?
Do you consider it simply a mass coincidence in the universe that journalists, developers and consumers all work in parallel?
It’s worth noting marketing departments seem to have little self control with regards to these E3 awards. Giant Bomb doesn’t give them out, and yet their “best in show” awards have somehow been mentioned in multiple trailers for multiple games this year.
You’re speaking past me again. I’m using meaning in the most basic literal sense, while you’re using it as a catch-all honor for why it “means” something to sales and marketing.
Tell what this award means. Really means. What did Titanfall win? Who gave it the awards? 60 out of what? What is the maximum amount of awards it could’ve garnered? How was it judged?
That’s why the box copy ribbon means nothing.
That fact that it increases sales because some consumers can’t be assed to practice critical thinking in no way impacts how meaningless it is.
Thongsy
3542
Telefrog already said why. They’re a massive ego stroke for Pubs/Devs and used as part of their PR/Marketing campaign to raise awareness about their title. From a consumer perspective they mean absolutely nothing. I have never heard anybody get all excited for a game getting these awards and deciding to buy the game because of them. If a game sucks when it comes out nobody is going to buy it regardless of the number of so call awards it won. Now maybe if videogames had something akin to the Oscars or Michlin star it might make a differences but Best of E3 and Spike Videogame Awards are not it.
If that were true, there wouldn’t be a correlation between GOTY designations and sales. And there is.
Further, why would someone care about something’s that meaningless? Why bother to promote it? Are you telling me that the developers at Remedy didn’t care that their game won best in show? That Naughty Dog didn’t care? Are you saying that IGN staff didn’t think hard about their designations? Are you saying that Microsoft and Sony accidentally tout these things?
If you think these are meaningless to you, I agree. If you think they are meaningless, full stop. I disagree. 1000%.
Jake, you’re not even reading my replies are you? I’m asking you to tell me what the “Over 60 E3 Awards” box ribbon means. What 60 awards? Who gave them? Why?
I have no doubt that putting that copy on the box is hugely important to marketing Titanfall. I have no argument with the idea that these kinds of PR blurbs are deeply impactful to publishers, developers, and the industry including the “news” outlets.
These awards are meaningless. Saying a game “won” awards at E3 is stupidity of the highest order. The fact that gaming has a cottage industry around promoting these awards doesn’t do anything to give meaning to the awards themselves.
I am reading your posts. They amuse me to no end, so I look forward to each one.
Look, I know we are both beating a dead horse at this stage, but the fact remains that my position is this: people can and DO over hype these awards, but they do so because they mean something - to all involved, including consumers (again, there is a correlation between sales and designations). That makes sense to me for all the reason I’ve stated.
Your position - if I’m being kind - is that these awards are “meaningless” by which you BOTH mean that they have meaning for the industry but not consumers. You tried to argue that the boost in sales is only because of the inclusion of DLC. When I pointed out that wasn’t true, you didn’t address it.
So bottom-line: we disagree on this. But I firmly believe that these designations matter for developers, publishers, consumers and creators. I don’t find you case against that convincing at all. If nothing else, you should stop using the word meaningless because by your own admission getting a GOTY or best of E3 designation does matter for some.
Sigh. Okay. We agree that we’re not going to ever agree on this.
