Game of the Year?

[Enceladeans]

So...I know it's probably not going to get any nods from anywhere official, but does anyone here consider Katawa Shoujo their GOTY for 2012? I do.

[ShadeHaven]

Game of the century man.

[Breaker deGodot]

It certainly is! In fact, probably the most interesting gaming experience I've ever had; certainly the one that has affected my day-to-day life the most.

[Enemy |]

GOTYAY

[Nobody in Particular]

Hm I'm not sure. Unlike most games this one had a severe lack of gameplay, and many would argue it isn't even a game. At the moment I would probably say yes just because I haven't really played many this year, although this will probably change when I get around to playing Borderlands 2. I mean one of the major factors of GOTY should be gameplay as well as the story, which is close to non-existant in KS.

[ThatOneGamer]

It certainly has its place in the Museum of Modern Art of New York.

[Megumeru]

Feels of the Century

[Trivun]

Feels of the Year, hells yeah. Visual Novel of the Year, certainly a strong contender, though I doubt an outright winner. Game of the Year, probably not, because there are plenty of games from this year that win in terms of story and in terms of gameplay content that a visual novel, by its very nature, can't provide. Plus, we have the obvious contenders (Skyrim, Assassin's Creed 3, Halo 4, Borderlands 2, Resident Evil 6, etc.) that will always get looked at before anything like a visual novel (still an extremely niche genre outside Japan anyway, remember) is considered, even one from a mostly Western developer like 4 Leaf Studios. And I've been hearing great things about Dishonoured, even though I have yet to play it... ;D. Also, is it just me, or does anyone else think it's a shame that most of the high profile games this year, like every recent year, are sequels? And I say that depsite absolutely loving Halo 4 and AC3...

Don't get me wrong, I love KS, otherwise I wouldn't even be here xD. But, GOTY is pushing it a bit, purely from its nature as a VN...

[gekiganwing]

Hm I'm not sure. Unlike most games this one had a severe lack of gameplay, and many would argue it isn't even a game.

Growing up in general video game fandom, I was constantly told that gameplay was the #1 factor. Furthermore, some of my favorite video games have had relatively simple graphics, forgettable sound, unintuitive controls, and little to no story.

...Though I should admit that my interest in video games has been decreasing. Lately, I'm spending much more time and energy with card/board/Euro games. Looking back a bit, I started to care less about top-selling video games in the mid 1990s, and I have increasingly focused on small press, indie, freeware, and little-known imports. The most recent commercial games that I played for more than a few minutes this year were Grand Prix Story and Dragon Quest 9. The remake of Persona 4 adds new content and generally improves the experience, but even though I like it, it's still a remake...

[Xanatos]

No. It's not a game.

[ShadeHaven]

No. It's not a game.

I guess you're right. After all, you don't play Katawa Shoujo. It plays you, or rather with your emotions.

[Merlyn_LeRoy]

Well, here are two online polls from the Australian edition of Kotaku.com that include Katawa Shoujo:

http://www.kotaku.com.au/2012/12/vote-f ... -the-year/

http://www.kotaku.com.au/2012/12/kotaku ... e-of-2012/

[ThatOneGamer]

I was constantly told that gameplay was the #1 factor.

I can't agree with that. Gameplay is no more the #1 factor in video games.
I have a counter example: Bioshock is a game and a great one (I think everyone can agree on that). But it has the most redundant/boring/uninnovative gameplay. But that does not make it less good. 2k exploited a gameplay scheme that works and built a game without worrying much about it.

Which brings me to: KS is a game. You have a gameplay (you have to interact with the game through the keyboard), you have a level of completeness (were you are in your storyline or how many scene you have unveiled), and you have a sense of "score" ("I finished x route with a good/neutral/bad end").
Those basic compounds are enough and required to make a game. Pong has them, Tetris has them, Bioshock has them, KS has them.

Books are not games, you only have completeness (or you can see it as "the score is merged with the completeness") and the gameplay is almost inexistant (it is literally the same with all books : turn pages, and it is hard to get away from this scheme is you want to write a book). I'm not saying that books can't be games. But they mostly aren't. KS is definitely not a book (even though you "turn pages" in a sense but the gameplay extends from that)

I still think that SK should be in a museum (of videogames).

[Shadowyeclipse]

Please don't hate me for this, but I honestly don't think Katawa Shoujo would get game of the year, nor does it need it. It certainly deserves praise, yes, but there are a lot, lot more able-bodied contenders that would better suited to taking a title like that.

Why would Katawa Shoujo be nominated for GOTY over other really fantastic games, anyway? The main selling point would be the story and the "feels", and that's not a lot to go on for the "Game" title.

[Valyou]

To me, Katawa Shoujo is the GOTY, but that's not saying much, because I've rarely played any games from this year. (KS and Diablo III are all that come to mind) I'm sure if I still played some more games from this year, KS would still stay up there.