2018, Game of the Year

[The_Liquid_Laser]

Chrkeller said:

KLXVER said:

Is one of the best selling games of all time leading the poll that weird?

I'm surprised.  I would have guessed more GoW love.  

Smash and GoW are currently the top 2 games.  I do think either of these games still has a good shot at winning.

Here are some things to consider with how we are doing things now vs. how Game of the Year awards are normally done.

1)  We are looking at these games 5 years later.  Smash Bros is the most evergreen title in the poll.  Other games may have had a bigger impact in 2018, but looking back, Smash is the possibly the game that has had the biggest impact looking at it five years later.  Smash is also the game from the poll that people are most likely to still be playing in 2023.

2) Normally games released in the last few months of the year are at a big disadvantage for receiving a Game of the Year Award.  Why?  Because fewer people have played the games that were released near the holidays.  One of my pet peeves about normal GOTY awards (such as the Geoff Keighly ones) is they happen too early.  The next Oscars are in March.  That is about the right time for an annual awards show.  If GOTY awards were in February or March then people would have the whole holiday season to play various games before making their decision.  In the case of Smash Bros, it released in December, which put it at a huge disadvantage for receiving awards (including awards in 2019, which is where some awards put it).