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Forums - Gaming Discussion - 2001, Game of the Year (Runoff)

 

Runoff 2001, Game of the Year

Final Fantasy X 10 18.87%
 
Grand Theft Auto III 11 20.75%
 
Super Smash Bros Melee 12 22.64%
 
Halo: Combat Evolved 15 28.30%
 
Civilization III 5 9.43%
 
Total:53
BraLoD on 30 October 2023
SvennoJ said:
BraLoD said:

The game certainly could run on PS3, games way, way more demanding did.

The thing is Japan Studios was a mess back in the PS3 days, to the point that in 2011, the founder from Santa Monica was sent there to take over it, which started a massive shift there in 2012, many games were canned or put on hold, TLG was certainly one of them in this chaos. (That early to mid PS3 cycle was also when PD took forever to launch GT5, which to that point was, by far, Sony biggest franchise and very likely not good to keep dragging on).

Shuhei Yoshida said the game was playable on PS3 in 2011, but they were not happy enough with the results.

Then the PS4 launched in 2013, and was an instant massive success, Sony shifted everything they had to it already in 2014, they started killing the Vita without a second thought, and the PS3 was to be quickly forgotten as well.

Ueda founded genDesign in 2014, which was very likely part of the Japan Studios massive restructuration process and his way to get out of Sony but still deliver the game. He was clearly having problems with Sony during that development hell period.

After that it didn't take long for the game to be reanounced (2015) and and finally released (2016).

The PS3 was notorious from being hard to develop for, and that was certainly one of the biggest issues TLG had, but the reported mismanagement of the whole Japan Studios (which was very likely what resulted in Ueda changing from a Sony employee to an outside guy working on a contract was) also one of the other major issues that made the game drag on so long that it had to move to the PS4 because it wouldn't make sense to release in on the PS3 anymore.

There was a whole lot of other stuff than that made TLG become the mess it did, rather than the PS3 not being able to run it.

Also about TLG, the game control horribly from a PS4 standard, you get stuck everywhere and have minimal control about that, everything feels off, to the point it almost ruined TLG to me, if Trico wasn't as great as it was I would probably not have finished the game.

It was 'playable' yes, but not to the point it was anywhere near in a state it could be released

https://www.eurogamer.net/sony-had-to-re-do-work-on-the-last-guardian-still-a-ps3-game

"We had the game playable," Yoshida explained. "At one point we felt that it would be produced for a certain time period. That was the time we prematurely talked about the launch window. But it turned out the technical issues are much harder to solve. So the engineering team had to go back and re-do some of the work they had done."

It still didn't run all that well on ps4 dropping to 15 fps on the base ps4

https://www.eurogamer.net/digitalfoundry-2016-the-last-guardian-face-off

Overall, it's no surprise that the best way to play The Last Guardian is on PlayStation 4 Pro, but it's still a shame the original PS4 struggles as much as it does. The 20-30fps performance profile is a clear upgrade over the 'cinematic' presentation seen in Shadow of the Colossus, but it's still way off the pace compared to what we've come to expect from a modern PS4 title.

After such a protracted development stretch, the conclusion is that PlayStation 4 Pro comes across as the only machine capable of delivering the ideal experience. Whether that's in aid of a solid 30fps, or boosting image quality for 4K displays, its higher specs are seemingly a better fit for the game's ambitions. It often leaves the standard console trailing behind, and from our perspective, we feel that the 1080p30 Pro mode is the best way to experience the game.

If the PS3 could have run it 720p30 with drops to 20 fps, it would have released first on PS3 and then resold again on PS4.

But yes there were other internal problems at play as well. Dunno what came first though, yet it seems plausible that technical difficulties and delays led to internal friction. Especially when you have an auteur refusing to reign in his vision to make it work on the PS3. Which I'm happy for. Rather late than a CP2077 situation on PS4/XOne. That was 'playable' as well...

I don't remember getting stuck everywhere, played it twice, replayed it again on PS5 through BC. The controls are not as easy as Mario, but once you get the hang of it they work fine. You simply can't turn on a dime and sprint over all the obstacles without falling on your ass. Traversal is a big part of the game play.

What I did notice in repeat playthroughs is that Trico is very much on rails, however the controls for 'Boy' grew more and more on me.

I got the platinum for TLG, but I still remember how frustated I was playing the game for the first time.

It legit made me feel like I just should have stopped playing it.

After that I already knew what to do and clearly knew where most of the frustation came from so it was a bit better, but still pretty bad.



Link: www.facebook.com/FernandoGuadixartworks/

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VAMatt on 30 October 2023

With the benefit of hindsight, I don't see how anyone can vote for anything other than Halo. That's one of the most significant games ever released, in any year. Not only is it a very good game, but it has been hugely influential, spawned a franchise that was a juggernaut for a decade or so, and continues to be significant over two decades later.

I could make a case for GTA III. It had significant societal impact (though I think that was mostly negative at the time), and it really put that franchise on the map. And that has gone on to become arguably the most important franchise in gaming.  But, being that it wasn't the start of that franchise, and I don't think it impacted other games as much as Halo, it's pretty easy for me to put Halo above it.

I don't see how any of those other games even belong in the conversation. Some of them are really good games, but they're just not even remotely close significance to Halo or GTA III. 

Last edited by VAMatt - on 30 October 2023

S.Peelman on 30 October 2023
HoloDust said:

Oh shit, Cossacks: European Wars, I forgot about that one. Was that one where you have to upkeep your units with gold and food?

I haven't played it in 20 years or so, but if I remember correctly you indeed had to keep your resources high enough at all times, otherwise they'd starve from a lack of food and such.



SvennoJ on 30 October 2023
VAMatt said:

With the benefit of hindsight, I don't see how anyone can vote for anything other than Halo. That's one of the most significant games ever released, in any year. Not only is it a very good game, but it has been hugely influential, spawned a franchise that was a juggernaut for a decade or so, and continues to be significant over two decades later.

I could make a case for GTA III. It had significant societal impact (though I think that was mostly negative at the time), and it really put that franchise on the map. And that has gone on to become arguably the most important franchise in gaming.  But, being that it wasn't the start of that franchise, and I don't think it impacted other games as much as Halo, it's pretty easy for me to put Halo above it.

I don't see how any of those other games even belong in the conversation. Some of them are really good games, but they're just not even remotely close significance to Halo or GTA III. 

The modern FPS genre had already been shaped by Half-Life, Counter Strike, Unreal Tournament, Quake Arena and Golden Eye. Had Halo not been poached by MS it would have been just another good FPS in the crowded FPS genre on PC.

The impact GTA3 made on gaming was and still is far bigger. Open worlds had been done before, both in shooter and driving games. However GTA3 combined both with a living breathing city, while also providing a satirical view on the real world. Ever since GTA3 open world became the golden standard for games, so much so that games got marked down for not being open world (enough). I would say, GTA is part responsible for the death of track arcade racers but added to the appeal of TDU and Forza Horizon games.

Some objective metric which franchise had the bigger impact:

As of March 1st, 2021 Microsoft has sold over 81 million Halo games since its 2001 inception.
The highest-selling game is Halo 3 with 14.5 million sales

With more than 405 million sales between them, Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto series is one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time. As of August 2023, the GTA V edition in the Grand Theft Auto series was the highest seller, with 185 million units sold worldwide since initial release in 2013.

My personal favorite of the original XBox was Project Gotham Racing, which also launched in 2001

And awesome arcade track racer which I enjoyed each and every entry of. I wish MS would bring this series back.
It's the game that made me pull the trigger on the new kid in town.


Spike0503 on 30 October 2023

I almost voted for GTA III considering its impact and how much I still like it (flaws and all) but I gotta vote with my heart with "Other" since my game for 2001 is Civilization III.

Back in the day, I started up my gaming life as a console gamer but due to some money-related issues I spent the last years of my childhood and early adolescence on PC. Out of many games I loved during those years, none have become so permanent in my life as Civ III has. For me, it's the ultimate strategy game. I tried Civ 4 but it just never clicked with me. I still have long Civ III playthroughs to this day. It's also perfect if you want a long game to keep you busy while listening to an audiobook which is pretty nice lol



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Vinther1991 on 30 October 2023

REZ is my favorite game of that year with Ico as runner-up. GTA III and Halo are of course also amazing, but not my favorite of their respective series.

Last edited by Vinther1991 - on 30 October 2023

The_Liquid_Laser on 30 October 2023

LOL, there is currently a 4-way tie for "second" place with Other taking first place.  Results like these mean one thing: there were a hell of a lot of great games in 2001.

Last edited by The_Liquid_Laser - on 30 October 2023

curl-6 bet me that PS5 + X|S sales would reach 56m before year end 2023 and he was right.
My Bet With curl-6

My Threads:
Master Thread, Game of the Year/Decade
Switch Will Be #1 All Time
Zelda Will Outsell Mario (Achieved)
How Much Will MH Rise sell?
My Bet With Metallox

Zkuq on 30 October 2023
VAMatt said:

With the benefit of hindsight, I don't see how anyone can vote for anything other than Halo. That's one of the most significant games ever released, in any year. Not only is it a very good game, but it has been hugely influential, spawned a franchise that was a juggernaut for a decade or so, and continues to be significant over two decades later.

I could make a case for GTA III. It had significant societal impact (though I think that was mostly negative at the time), and it really put that franchise on the map. And that has gone on to become arguably the most important franchise in gaming.  But, being that it wasn't the start of that franchise, and I don't think it impacted other games as much as Halo, it's pretty easy for me to put Halo above it.

I don't see how any of those other games even belong in the conversation. Some of them are really good games, but they're just not even remotely close significance to Halo or GTA III. 

Well, I don't think this thread defines what constitutes 'game of the year', so my take is that everyone is free to vote however they will. I've voted for significance before, but I voted for excellence this year, because that excellence was simply so much this year.



VAMatt on 30 October 2023
SvennoJ said:

Metric which franchise had the bigger impact:

As of March 1st, 2021 Microsoft has sold over 81 million Halo games since its 2001 inception.
The highest-selling game is Halo 3 with 14.5 million sales

With more than 405 million sales between them, Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto series is one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time. As of August 2023, the GTA V edition in the Grand Theft Auto series was the highest seller, with 185 million units sold worldwide since initial release in 2013.

As I said, I can make a case for GTA 3.  

That said, I don't see what your sales metric means in terms of significance. Clearly, GTA has sold many more units. But, I don't think that's relevant. First of all, it's a multi-platform game. But, more importantly, it wouldn't matter if Halo sold only one single copy. It's influence on the FPS genre, which I think is certainly the most significant genre of the last couple of decades from a business perspective, was huge.  Yes, FPS games existed. But, your examples I think actually point out how significant Halo is. If you play a major FPS released today and compare it to any of the games that you mentioned there, they're going to feel hugely different. But, play Halo CE, and it feels very similar. That's because after Halo CE, most FPS games started to drift toward the Halo style.

You do make a good case for GTA and it's impact on game design with the open world. I agree that it is significant in that regard. And like I said, I can see how it belongs in the conversation.  



SvennoJ on 30 October 2023
VAMatt said:
SvennoJ said:

Metric which franchise had the bigger impact:

As of March 1st, 2021 Microsoft has sold over 81 million Halo games since its 2001 inception.
The highest-selling game is Halo 3 with 14.5 million sales

With more than 405 million sales between them, Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto series is one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time. As of August 2023, the GTA V edition in the Grand Theft Auto series was the highest seller, with 185 million units sold worldwide since initial release in 2013.

As I said, I can make a case for GTA 3.  

That said, I don't see what your sales metric means in terms of significance. Clearly, GTA has sold many more units. But, I don't think that's relevant. First of all, it's a multi-platform game. But, more importantly, it wouldn't matter if Halo sold only one single copy. It's influence on the FPS genre, which I think is certainly the most significant genre of the last couple of decades from a business perspective, was huge.  Yes, FPS games existed. But, your examples I think actually point out how significant Halo is. If you play a major FPS released today and compare it to any of the games that you mentioned there, they're going to feel hugely different. But, play Halo CE, and it feels very similar. That's because after Halo CE, most FPS games started to drift toward the Halo style.

You do make a good case for GTA and it's impact on game design with the open world. I agree that it is significant in that regard. And like I said, I can see how it belongs in the conversation.  

I don't really get what you mean? Is it the regenerating health mechanic? I'm replaying Half-Life (Black Mesa) and it's not hugely different from Halo or any other modern fps, apart from actually having to manage health and shield. (And thankfully not be limited to 2 weapons at a time)

I always found the regenerating health a cop out, making the genre less fun. (Same with the weapon carrying restriction, but no easy shortcut keys on controller) Regenerating health took all the danger out of it since you only need to hide for a few seconds to keep going forever. Halo did popularize the health regen, yet I see that more as a negative :/ I don't want to dis the series as I did enjoy the campaigns a lot and had tons of co-op fun playing them. Maybe the big influence is in multiplayer as I never got into competitive multiplayer with a controller. Most I played online was Resistance 2 8 player co-op for a couple weeks. All my competitive fps gaming was basically over after I grew out of Unreal Tournament 2004. So forgive me that I know very little of Halo multiplayer.

In terms of significance, reaching 5x as many people is significant. Halo is also on PC, it's a multi platform game just like GTA. GTA is still top dog in its genre, while CoD dwarfs Halo nowadays.

Halo had a peak when Halo Infinite’s multiplayer platform was released as a free-to-play game in 2021, but it was a short-lived success. Now, only a few thousand people seem to play Halo Infinite, while millions connect to Call of Duty’s current games: COD Mobile, Warzone 2.0, and Modern Warfare II. If we use Steam as a representative example, we can see that – at the time of publishing – Halo Infinite has a 30-day average player count of just 2,800 users. Call of Duty Warzone 2.0 alone has a 30-day average of 67,000.

Halo was hugely significant for XBox, but it mostly seemed to be in the context of the console war, with the term "halo killer" coming up every time a new fps came along. To me Far Cry in 2004 was already the 'Halo killer' and felt significantly different from Halo. I was looking forward more to a new Far Cry than Halo. But that's solely based on the single player experience.

Another metric comparing Halo and GTA, google trends

That huge spike is when GTA5 came out. I wonder how big it will be when GTA6 launches.