Subjective videogame award ceremonies and all well and good but they often spawn waves of fervent discussion from gaming fans, which generally consists of venomous accusations of bias, corporate backhanders, and overt fanboyism.
Metacritic unveils its videogame awards of 2007. Credit: Bungie.
For example, December’s Spike TV Videogame Awards , which saw Xbox 360 exclusive BioShock scoop the ‘Game of the Year’ gong, was subsequently met with scathing fan criticism directed against Microsoft and Spike TV because not one exclusive Sony title was nominated in the coveted main category and also because Microsoft titles overshadowed the competition in most of the award categories.
Similarly, certain elements of the ongoing 2007 videogame awards presented by GameTrailers.com have been lambasted by viewers due to the site lauding Bungie’s Halo 3 as ‘Best First-Person Shooter,’ and ‘Best Xbox 360 Game,’ against the likes of BioShock, Rock Band, and Mass Effect . Fan reaction suggests that the site may also be in line for yet more criticism should it subsequently award Halo 3 with the ‘Game of the Year’ title.
While Halo 3 certainly performed phenomenally well at retail, selling in excess of 2 million copies in its opening day, its cumulative review scores see it placed behind several other Xbox 360 titles of 2007, which some fans claim are much more deserving.
Of course, awards delivered by the likes of Spike TV and GameTrailers are based on subjective judgements and editorial opinions, and are therefore bound to incite knee-jerk reactions from those gamers who feel that their own particular favourite should have won its place in the media spotlight.
One way of sidestepping such reaction is to consider the 2007 videogame awards issued by review aggregator Metacritic.com , which amasses critical videogame feedback from various review sites and publications and then runs an overall average for each product.
While some readers may deride the respectability of certain review sources listed on Metacritics pages, there’s little arguing with contributing numbers provided by IGN, GameSpot , GameSpy, Game Informer, Edge, 1UP, Play , and Games Radar.
Bearing that in mind, Metacritic has unveiled various "Best" and "Dud" games spread across a host of categories, which are as follows:
Best Wii Game: Super Mario Galaxy (97% across 57 reviews)
Wii Dud of the Year: Anubis II
Best Xbox 360 Game: BioShock (96% across 78 reviews)
360 Dud of the Year: Hour of Victory
Best PlayStation 3 Game: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (94% across 39 reviews)
PS3 Dud of the Year: The Golden Compass
Best PC Game: Out of the Park Baseball 2007 (96% across 5 reviews)
PC Dud of the Year: Call for Heroes: Pompolic Wars
Best PlayStation 2 Game: God of War II (93% across 70 reviews)
PS2 Dud of the Year: Little Britain: The Video Game
Best Nintendo DS Game: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (90% across 53 reviews)
DS Dud of the Year: Deal of No Deal
Best PSP Game: Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of The Lions (88% across 39 reviews)
PSP Dud of the Year: Winx Club: Join the Club
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