IGF 2012

Can't believe no-one's made a topic about this yet.

Anyway, here are the finalists.

I'm personally quite agitated with what I consider to be a pretty abysmal selection. There are a few re-selections, and casual and iOS games in the mix this time. I mean, the simple fact that another one of Terry Cavanagh's cheap, Unity 3D games is a finalist, as well as GIRP and a social sim that looks like this, is pretty messed up. Probably what I'm most upset about though, is that Way is a finalist in both categories; taking a place in the student showcase along with games like The Floor is Jelly, when Nitronic Rush didn't.

So I'm disappointed with the selection this year. What does everyone else think?

 

no games i can see i want to play in that list.

 

Frozen Synapse is good.RotMG is good.
Thats all i remember from the list.

 

IGF is shit and horribly biased. Search around a bit.

 

I'm not sure that it's quite as simple as that, Noburu.
It has just as many issues as most industry awards.
The core issue, IMHO, is that it often fails to celebrate the amazing independence and outside-the-box gameplay of some of the more wacky indie games that live on the fringes and hardly get played.
That said, I think that of all the entries, most of the nominees are worthy of their position.
Let's take a short trip through them, shall we...

Seumas McNally Grand Prize:
- Dear Esther.
- Fez.
- Frozen Synapse.
- Johann Sebastian Joust.
- Spelunky.

Dear Esther deserves it's place for many reasons, including the pushing of narrative into gameplay, and the sheer ambition of the project that has finally reached the final stretches of development.

Fez harks back to the roots of indie gaming, but manages to move far beyond the often dull stagnation that is "Retro". In what is essentially a near-perfect application of that thing called "Atmosphere", it creates a world I'm longing to immerse myself in. And I didn't even talk about the amazing mechanics!

Frozen Synapse has been one of my favourite games since I got it. It's fun, technical-yet-simple, has enough complexity to require little-to-no chance, and is actually a uniquely enjoyable game. It deserves it's place, of that I have no doubt.

Johann Sebastian Joust is a game that is giving the best effort I've yet seen to introduce new concepts into the term "Video Game". I mean sure, every now and then some guy who desperately needs a lobotomy makes some weird game that makes no sense to your average player, or heck, decides that motion controls are the best way to make games as they are at the moment enjoyable. Fail. While the last thing anyone wants to see is loads of games just like this, all that means is that this game actually gives a unique experience. Mayhap you will enjoy it, and then you'll have proof that you're not just a wanker. Yes, I said it. I am convinced that you would be hard-pressed to not enjoy a game such as this. It deserves it's place.

Spelunky, as I'm sure you're mostly all aware of, is like crack, or so they say. Regardless, I have sunk many hundreds of hours into the original, and unlike Runescape/Oblivion/Diablo 2, I regret none of it. There is no grind, no pointless adventuring; only the pure thrill of the chase as you seek to grasp something that is definitely within reach. Every step of the way, it shows you what you need to practice, heaving it into your face until you pick up on it, and never make the same mistake again. However, it is quite apparent to mine eyes that the original was naught but a test, a prototype for the full thing. This game will take the awesomeness that was the original, and increase it hundred-fold, feeding more fuel of curiosity to the engines of exploration, more scent of mystery to the bloodhounds of discovery. Yes, this game deserves it's place as a nominee.

Now a short disclaimer: I have spent the last week getting no more than three hours of sleep a night, driving my unfit body to the limit throughout the day, and have just arrived home. Nearly the first thing I see is my friends being narrow-minded haters.
Have I ever mentioned that I hate haters?
Ok, now that that is out of the way, let my wrath reign.

FUCK YOU GUYS.
Seriously, take one moment to consider what you're even SAYING, let alone THINKING!
Let's go through and address a few of your meat-headed issues, shall we?
At a Distance, the Terry Cavanagh game, and GIRP were both nominated for the fucking Nuovo Award! Do you even know what that means?! From memory, the Nuovo Award is an award for the creative process of game development, rather than the game itself. Unfortunately, I'm typing this off-line, as my internet cut out about five minutes after I started writing this tome. Maybe I'll get around to checking it thoroughly later, or maybe I wont. Either way, it should be YOU doing it, as you're the one having the fucking issues in the first place.
I'd say something like "Don't get me started on Prom Week", but here we are.
Prom Week was of course nominated for Technical Excellence, and as such it can look like a fucking bison's arse for all I, and those doing all the judging, care. As for the technical excellence of the piece in question, have you ever made a study of inter-communicational emergent AI? You know, just for curiosity's sake.
Unfortunately, I've only really heard of Way in passing, and so cant really make much of a judgment as to it's value as a game, or of the developers or their development cycle or of their talents or any of the other FUCKTON of things that are taken into consideration for the student showcase. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing you know a FUCKTON of NOTHING about the game either.
Same goes for the other games, with the small addendum that everyone under the sun has played Nitronic Rush and is already in love with it, for good reasons. Have you even LOOKED at the judging panel?! These aren't just some bunch of fucking corporate money-monkeys! They actually CARE about this, and all you get to see is the end product. YOU of all peoples should know it goes deeper than that.
And what's all this whining about iOS/casual games I hear?! Mobile games have their own fucking CATEGORY, and you can fucking ignore that if it'll make your happy parts happier. As for CASUAL games, you need to make more fucking distinction. A short game is not a casual game. Simple as that.
Even if you DO count short games as casual games, that only adds Wonderputt, as any others are in either the student showcase of the Nuovo Award categories, which as I have already mentioned fill completely different fucking gaps.
Fuck you, I LOVED Wonderputt!
I wish there was more games JUST like it!
That I could pick up, run straight through in less than ten minutes, post over facebook, and simply discuss the sleek art style and laugh at the comical shifting of the game's world. I do NOT play games like that casually. I play them briefly and intensely, and they leave a long-lasting impression on how I view games. Fuck you again.

I realise I'm being somewhat unfair, and none of you are the morons I'm making you out to be, but SERIOUSLY, STAY FUCKING PROFOUND!
And STOP giving fucking half-arsed excuses as to why you don't know/care about a game! Seriously!
Just say something as fucking simple/true as "I'm too busy to keep up with it all" or "It just doesn't seem to be my kind of game, and I don't have time to experiment" or even a fucking "I HAVE A LIFE, JEEZ!"

Peace out.

 

Okay.
I'm cynical and critical, and I am not pleased with the selection, compared to previous festival nominations. Looking through the first few pages of entrants and I already find games which would seem like more suitable candidates for the awards than what was chosen. IMHO

I agree with Noburu's post. Think of it like this; a game made in say... Gamemaker using Drag & Drop, is less likely to get chosen. That kind of bias.

Also I think the Nuovo award is just for innovation and artfulness.

 

The Nuovo Award is intended to "“honor abstract, shortform, and unconventional game development which advances the medium and the way we think about games”.[source]
Also yeah, "a game made in say... Gamemaker using Drag & Drop, is less likely to get chosen" is totally a good definition of "shit and horribly biased". -_-

 

Realm of the Mad God WEEEE Go oryx