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Author Topic: GDC Awards  (Read 34582 times)
schild
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on: March 12, 2005, 09:40:17 AM

Quote
Best Game of the Year: Half-Life 2

New Studio award: Crytek for Far Cry

Excellence in Writing: Marc Laidlaw for Half-Life 2
Excellence in Game Design: Katamari Damacy
Excellence in Audio: Halo 2
Excellence in Character Design: Half-Life 2
Excellence in Technology: Half-Life 2
Excellence in Visual Arts: World of Warcraft

Innovation Awards:
I Love Bees
Donkey Konga
Katamari Damacy

Community Contributor: Sheri Graner Ray

Lifetime Achievement: Eugene P. Jarvis

Penguin Award (achievement in innovation): Richard Bartle

Half Life 2 won excellence in writing? Is this some sort of throwback to Anthony Hopkins 18 minues as Lecter in Silence of the Lambs? Please. There are a lot better ways to show how much you love the game than BULLSHIT awards. I can almost smell the brown from here.

I don't know about Halo 2 for best audio, but for best technology I'd almost be willing to give Bungie.net's use of Xbox Live stats for Halo 2 the award.

Best in visual arts: Gotta go with Half Life 2 here. The design was flawless. From the real to the horribly grotesque, just perfect. WoW, not so much - it's a love it or hate it game. Things like that can't win awards.

Donkey Konga won best innovation? Wuh wuh wuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhat? Pardon me, but just because you aren't Japanese doesn't mean you have to be a MORON. Drumming games are nothing new. 1998 wants it's reward back.

Yes to I Love Bees.

How did Bartle win the FIRST penguin award? Gygax I could see. Will Wright I could see. Hell, I could even see Specter, Reynolds, Meier or Romero. But Bartle? Nokthx. Online games Just Aren't There Yet (TM). He's innovated the most slow moving sector of the industry in the history of games (short of virtual reality, har har). Either that says something about the terrible state of incest in the gaming industry or quite simply - they didn't want to give the award to a Japanese guy. Which I guess I can understand. But comeon, Pearl Harbor was a long time ago.

I think I commented on this Bartle business before. Meh, still pissy about it.
Flashman
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Reply #1 on: March 12, 2005, 11:04:06 AM

It's nice that Crytek got some recognition for Far Cry though. It was a great game. Kind of got lost in the Doom3/Half-Life2 orgy. Better than Doom3 I thought.

I'm surprised Gygax didn't get that penguin award. For better or worse, can't you trace most RPG games (and MMORPGs) back to him? 

I don't know about the writing award. Maybe they should have a "best writing until the ending comes out of nowhere and makes no sense" award. I nominate KOTOR2 and HL2.
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Reply #2 on: March 12, 2005, 11:35:30 AM

Best writing should have gone to Vampire.  No contest.  Bugs aside, the writing was some of the best I've ever seen in a game.

"I have not actually recommended many games, and I'll go on the record here saying my track record is probably best in the industry." - schild
trias_e
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Reply #3 on: March 12, 2005, 12:21:10 PM

Quote
t's a love it or hate it game. Things like that can't win awards.

Is this tongue-in-cheek humor not translating well to the internet?  I hope so...


And yeah, fuck that.  Half-Life 2 winning a writing award is a crock of shit.
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Reply #4 on: March 12, 2005, 01:00:06 PM

Bartle certainly deserves an award, though, even if there might be other First Penguin choices that deserve mention first.  I'm just glad the man got some recognition.  He's submitted talks multiple times to GDC and they are repeatedly turned down.  I mean, I love seeing Will Wright and Raph Koster and Peter Molyneux do 3 or more talks/panels every convention, but it would be nice to have someone else up there for a change.

Bruce
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Reply #5 on: March 12, 2005, 01:19:44 PM

Bartle certainly deserves an award,  He's submitted talks multiple times to GDC and they are repeatedly turned down. 

Bruce


That's interesting. Why is that? I'd think a guy like him would be asked to speak not turned down.
Margalis
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Reply #6 on: March 12, 2005, 02:57:21 PM

So a guy that gets constantly turned down to speak wins the award - yeah, that makes sense!

vampirehipi23: I would enjoy a book written by a monkey and turned into a movie rather than this.
SirBruce
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Reply #7 on: March 12, 2005, 02:57:37 PM

CMP makes crazy decisions every year.  Space is a ongoing issue; Will Wright's talks are always jammed and never allocated enough space.  This year, they had no small rooms for roundtables, so they had some rooms partitioned with a thin curtain and scheduled two roundtables, one in each, at the same time, which was a disaster.  You get a lot of talks on the same subject every year, because it was popular the year before, so they know it works.  They've been slow to really understand the MMOG space, or the fact that some personalities are going to draw more attention that others.  Etc.

As for Prof. Bartle specifically, I don't know their reasons.  Nor does he, probably; when my submission was turned down they didn't really get specific as to why.  Remember that there's a limited number of sessoins every year, so they have to turn down even some good submissions, and since every year there are new people attending, you naturally have to repeat some of the common topics every single year.  But I do wish they'd mix it up a little more.  I don't want them to, say, kick Dave Weinstein out, but does he really need 3 sessions or can they just give him 2 and give 1 to someone new for a change?

Bruce
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Reply #8 on: March 12, 2005, 03:02:44 PM

So a guy that gets constantly turned down to speak wins the award - yeah, that makes sense!

The Game Developer's Choice Awards are run by the IGDA.  CMP via the GDC Advisory Board are the ones who actually run the conference and schedule events and approve submissions.  And the IGDA and the CMP are no longer the tight partnership they were in the past, so while they still work together on some things, the IGDA has even less input now than they did before.

Bruce
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Reply #9 on: March 12, 2005, 03:52:14 PM

How does WoW win an award for graphical excellence?

Yeah, it runs smooth....because the graphics are simple. They could have been made years ago. I kept wanting to turn the settings up, then remembered they already were.

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Stormwaltz
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Reply #10 on: March 12, 2005, 04:15:07 PM

Yeah, it runs smooth....because the graphics are simple.

Both of those attributes are part of the reason, I'd suspect. The game looks good, and it runs well on low spec machines. It's effective art design.

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HaemishM
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Reply #11 on: March 12, 2005, 04:40:54 PM

Quote
Best Game of the Year: Half-Life 2

Whores.

Quote
Excellence in Writing: Marc Laidlaw for Half-Life 2
Excellence in Character Design: Half-Life 2

Vampire: Bloodlines gets fucked once again. Seriously, this is just getting stupid.

Margalis
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Reply #12 on: March 12, 2005, 04:58:20 PM

The first winner of the innovation award should have been Miyamoto, without any doubt. The man singlehandedly invented or popularized at least a couple of genres, and has innovated in a huge variety of genres.

My opinion is that Miyamoto deserves the first of basically every game design award. Because he is head and shoulders above the next competitor, it's not even close. A guy like Bartle is like Adrian Beltre to Barry Bonds.

vampirehipi23: I would enjoy a book written by a monkey and turned into a movie rather than this.
stray
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Reply #13 on: March 12, 2005, 04:58:37 PM

Vampire: Bloodlines gets fucked once again. Seriously, this is just getting stupid.

It'd be pretty hard for me to qualify a game for "Excellence in Writing" when I could only hear every two or three words in the dialogue. Maybe it was the same for them  rolleyes

The bugs were intolerable. I didn't get to this "great writing" part some of you keep talking about.
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Reply #14 on: March 12, 2005, 06:15:44 PM

My opinion is that Miyamoto deserves the first of basically every game design award. Because he is head and shoulders above the next competitor, it's not even close. A guy like Bartle is like Adrian Beltre to Barry Bonds.

The First Penguin award isn't about who has executed the best at the position, but who was there in a particular innovation "first" and helped push it towards the mainstream.  So, it's like a Jackie Robinson award, or maybe Bruce Sutter.

Bruce
schild
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Reply #15 on: March 12, 2005, 06:28:44 PM

My opinion is that Miyamoto deserves the first of basically every game design award. Because he is head and shoulders above the next competitor, it's not even close. A guy like Bartle is like Adrian Beltre to Barry Bonds.

The First Penguin award isn't about who has executed the best at the position, but who was there in a particular innovation "first" and helped push it towards the mainstream.  So, it's like a Jackie Robinson award, or maybe Bruce Sutter.

Bartle didn't help push it towards mainstream. The people who worked on The Realm and Ultima Online did. No matter how you slice it, MUDs were never and never will be mainstream. Joe 6 Pack doesn't like reading when he's playing a game. But he does like his axe of +6 nooblerness in Ultima.

There's no possible excuse anyone can give for Bartle getting this award. Also, I'm getting sick of people pointing to Terra Nova. Most of the people there don't even make games anymore, they just sit around and circlejerk about them. That's problematic to me despite the fact I enjoy much of what goes on there. We don't live in the Holy Roman Empire. Scholars need to be doing and not just saying and that's why everyone was blown away by Wright's Spore. The man delivers instead of sitting back and tossing shit against the wall and not hanging around to see if it sticks.

I can only say this, of course, because I am not a game developer. If I were, I'd be guilty of the same sins.
Margalis
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Reply #16 on: March 12, 2005, 06:57:41 PM

The First Penguin award isn't about who has executed the best at the position, but who was there in a particular innovation "first" and helped push it towards the mainstream.  So, it's like a Jackie Robinson award, or maybe Bruce Sutter.

And that changes what I said how?

We're talking about the guy who can put everything from Donkey Kong to Metroid Prime on his resume. You don't think he did anything first or pushed anything towards the mainstream?

I can think of literally 100 people that deserve the award before Bartle. Bartle isn't doing anything for anyone, and in the history of video games is largely irrelevant. He's a minor player in a minor genre - yay.

vampirehipi23: I would enjoy a book written by a monkey and turned into a movie rather than this.
eldaec
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Reply #17 on: March 13, 2005, 06:02:16 AM

Vampire: Bloodlines gets fucked once again. Seriously, this is just getting stupid.

Seriously, why would bloodlines get an award that....

1) Is an industry marketing excercise in a market that considers teenagers who can't legally buy bloodlines its target market.

2) Is about excellence in game development, wheras Bloodlines was well designed and written, but programmed by monkeys on acid.

Beyond that, this is all an excuse for a big dinner and a jolly to wherever the GDC is held. I'm unsure why we should care what the results are.


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Riggswolfe
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Reply #18 on: March 13, 2005, 07:26:39 AM

How does WoW win an award for graphical excellence?

Yeah, it runs smooth....because the graphics are simple. They could have been made years ago. I kept wanting to turn the settings up, then remembered they already were.

My guess is it is not an award for Shiny. It is an award for good looking graphics. Alot of people find WoW's graphics very artistic and pleasant to look at. That is what was awarded. EQ2 may have more shiney but I saw little to no art in it in my time in that game.

"We live in a country, where John Lennon takes six bullets in the chest, Yoko Ono was standing right next to him and not one fucking bullet! Explain that to me! Explain that to me, God! Explain it to me, God!" - Denis Leary summing up my feelings about the nature of the universe.
trias_e
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Reply #19 on: March 13, 2005, 10:13:09 AM

Quote

2) Is about excellence in game development, wheras Bloodlines was well designed and written, but programmed by monkeys on acid.

Except that Bloodlines didn't get the award specifically about writing, which had nothing to do with game development. 
trias_e
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Reply #20 on: March 13, 2005, 10:18:05 AM

And I would give WoW an award for graphical artistic achievement any day.  Really excellently done in my opinion.  Its probably my favorite thing about the damn game, and I usually could care less about graphics.  The amount of attention that was paid to really creating a specific style for every zone is just imprssive.  Since its not trying to be realistic, they can do quite a bit stylistically and I feel it definitely paid off.
WindupAtheist
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Reply #21 on: March 13, 2005, 11:18:57 AM

Best in visual arts: Gotta go with Half Life 2 here. The design was flawless. From the real to the horribly grotesque, just perfect. WoW, not so much - it's a love it or hate it game. Things like that can't win awards.

If they gave it an award for best game starting with "W" and ending with "orld of Warcraft" you'd still find a way to bitch, so your opinion is suspect.   :-D

Quote
Donkey Konga won best innovation? Wuh wuh wuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhat? Pardon me, but just because you aren't Japanese doesn't mean you have to be a MORON. Drumming games are nothing new. 1998 wants it's reward back.

I'm just annoyed that, even if this were the first, they would consider it "innovative" and not "another dumbass Japanese invention, like panty vending machines."

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schild
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Reply #22 on: March 13, 2005, 12:46:23 PM

Best in visual arts: Gotta go with Half Life 2 here. The design was flawless. From the real to the horribly grotesque, just perfect. WoW, not so much - it's a love it or hate it game. Things like that can't win awards.

If they gave it an award for best game starting with "W" and ending with "orld of Warcraft" you'd still find a way to bitch, so your opinion is suspect.   :-D

A smiley face doesn't keep you from looking like an asshole. Half Life 2 was the best looking game last year. There's no comparison. Maybe Doom 3 but ah, no.
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Reply #23 on: March 13, 2005, 01:16:45 PM



A smiley face doesn't keep you from looking like an asshole. Half Life 2 was the best looking game last year. There's no comparison. Maybe Doom 3 but ah, no.

Half life 2 was the Shiniest looking game last year. There is a difference.

"We live in a country, where John Lennon takes six bullets in the chest, Yoko Ono was standing right next to him and not one fucking bullet! Explain that to me! Explain that to me, God! Explain it to me, God!" - Denis Leary summing up my feelings about the nature of the universe.
schild
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Reply #24 on: March 13, 2005, 01:18:32 PM



A smiley face doesn't keep you from looking like an asshole. Half Life 2 was the best looking game last year. There's no comparison. Maybe Doom 3 but ah, no.

Half life 2 was the Shiniest looking game last year. There is a difference.

No, Doom 3 was the shiniest. It was an engine demo. Their character & landscape design wasn't near as interesting as Valves in HL2.
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Reply #25 on: March 13, 2005, 01:19:12 PM


A smiley face doesn't keep you from looking like an asshole. Half Life 2 was the best looking game last year. There's no comparison. Maybe Doom 3 but ah, no.

I don't agree with WUA on much, but you should start learning what a discussion consist of.
Assertions like "Half Life 2 was the best looking game last year. There's no comparison." makes you look like an asshole. While the addition of 'I think' or 'imo' to every sentence isn't necessary you have a really fucking annoying habit of stating every one of your halfassed (and even the few wellargued) opinions like they're absolute facts. Of course there's comparison.

WoW has brilliant visual art. While I was more stunned by Half Life 2s beautiful graphics and great looking dystopia, I can see why they picked WoW.
There's so much more art than in HL2. They've gone for individual style over eye candy. Things look good and works effectively on low spec machines. And the most important part is, that the style is truly distinguished and apart from all the standard Tolkienesque fatasy art seen in games like that (and WoW is a game like that). It's art not just filler. Like it or not - WoW has it's own style of high fantasy coupled with humour.

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schild
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Reply #26 on: March 13, 2005, 01:21:32 PM


A smiley face doesn't keep you from looking like an asshole. Half Life 2 was the best looking game last year. There's no comparison. Maybe Doom 3 but ah, no.

And the most important part is, that the style is truly distinguished and apart from all the standard Tolkienesque fatasy art seen in games like that (and WoW is a game like that). It's art not just filler. Like it or not - WoW has it's own style of high fantasy coupled with humour.

They'd already done the style in WC3. It wasn't anything new or completely different. It just had the ability to zoom all the way down into 1st person mode. IMO the textures in WoW bit my ass. WoW does have it's own high fantasy humorous style, again, the exact same one they used in Warcraft 3 YEARS ago. And it's why I'll never consider WoW for any sort of graphical excellence award.
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Reply #27 on: March 13, 2005, 01:32:24 PM

HL2 deserved game of the year, hands down. That's all I'm going to say.

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trias_e
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Reply #28 on: March 13, 2005, 03:10:20 PM

So you don't think WoW deserves an award for art because its style had already been established?  What in the fuck style does HL2 have?  Its just realism.  Established previously in the real world.

Who gives a shit if the style had already been established?  That doesn't change the fact that the art is varied and creative, always striving for a particular effect like artists usually do.  There's more than one area which when I first entered was such a huge graphical shift that it literally made my jaw drop.  No game that I have played has ever used color as effectively as WoW.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/screenshots/screenshot.aspx?ImageIndex=77&Set=0
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/screenshots/screenshot.aspx?ImageIndex=63&Set=0
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/screenshots/screenshot.aspx?ImageIndex=41&Set=0
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/screenshots/screenshot.aspx?ImageIndex=95&Set=0
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/screenshots/screenshot.aspx?ImageIndex=109&Set=0



« Last Edit: March 13, 2005, 03:12:19 PM by trias_e »
schild
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Reply #29 on: March 13, 2005, 03:23:59 PM

Samwise
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Reply #30 on: March 13, 2005, 03:26:31 PM

What in the fuck style does HL2 have?  Its just realism.  Established previously in the real world.

In other news, all the best-known artists of the Renaissance were untalented hacks.

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Reply #31 on: March 13, 2005, 04:16:40 PM

There should be a "Most Fun Game of the Year:" Award.

Since all this shit is subjective anyways.
trias_e
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Reply #32 on: March 13, 2005, 04:30:47 PM

For the slow:  I never made any statements about the merits of realism, rather simply pointing out that working in an established style isn't necessarily a negative thing.

And you can draw aliens in a realistic style.

(I do admit that the HL2 aliens probably still do have a bit more going for them).

Regardless, the game is for the most part very well done realism.  Which I would give an award for if WoW hadn't came out in the same year.
« Last Edit: March 13, 2005, 04:33:19 PM by trias_e »
schild
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Reply #33 on: March 13, 2005, 04:38:15 PM

Regardless, the game is for the most part very well done realism.  Which I would give an award for if WoW hadn't came out in the same year.

And I'd give WoW the award if WCIII hadn't come out YEARS ago.
trias_e
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Reply #34 on: March 13, 2005, 04:44:27 PM

As if using caps will make your previously-defeated argument make any more sense?

The only way what you are saying could make sense is if WoW used the exact same art assests as WC3, which is not the case.
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