New York Times Gives Game Honors, Rocks the Boat
by Dylan Duarte on December 24, 2007 at 2:20 am
Seth Schiesel of the New York Times is handing out yearly awards to various games and while most of the choices are no-brainers, there is one that kind of grinds my gears.
First off, let’s touch on a couple of unsurprising choices. Bioshock was awarded the title of “Best Newcomer.” I can’t disagree with that. While I do think the latter half of the game went severely downhill, all the way to the joke of an ending, the other fifty percent was outstanding and warrants massive critical praise (which it got).
What game walked away with the prestigious “Game of the Year” title? That would be Bioware’s epic Mass Effect. Again, I have my disappointments with the game, but for the most part is lives up to its promises. That being said, I personally think that Call of Duty 4 deserves this honor, but I’m not bitter about the choice.
They criticized two popular titles for being “unambitious.” One of the victims was Halo 3, and although I have a blast playing over Live, I’d have to agree. Master Chief’s armor has been polished to a mirror shine, but it’s still the same old armor he’s been wearing all along.
So here’s the part that irks me: the other game tagged as “unambitious” was Super Mario Galaxy. Now, Mario’s latest adventure isn’t perfect, but I don’t know if “unambitious” is the word I would use to describe it.
He comments that the game’s premise is the same old Mario thing, which is largely true, but does that really detract that much from the game’s incredible mechanics? The game’s use of gravity and various cleverly designed worlds is pretty damn ambitious, I would say. I wish Schiesel would have commented on what he did think was ambitious, so that I could know where the hell he’s coming from.
Via New York Times
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on December 24, 2007 9:38 pm
Seems about right. The game pretty much is a by-the-numbers Mario game. I find it hilarious that Nintendo gets excused for a lack of innovation while others are crucified for it.
on December 25, 2007 3:47 pm
While I agree that a large part of the game is by-the-numbers, I really don’t see the platforming aspects as “unambitious” at all. And when comparing the Wii to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, I think it’s fair to say that Nintendo is being far more innovative than their competitors.