[Project] The SSMB Game Awards 2015

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Now that 2015 has officially passed, and all the games of 2015 are now out, it's time to find out which games truly stood out in the eyes of SSMBers... and which ones fell short of the bar, and so me and @Kaze no Klonoa are working together on a project to find out exactly this!. Right now, the project is just a possibility in order to gauge interest and to get an idea of the nominees for each category. More categories are to be added later, but right now, here's the possible ones we have.

Best Game of 2015

Best Indie Game of 2015

Best Remastered Game of 2015

Best Handheld Game of 2015

Best Mobile Game of 2015

Best PC Game of 2015

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2015

Most Anticipated Game of 2016 

Worst DLC of 2015

Best DLC of 2015

Best Gaming Company of 2015

Worst Gaming Company of 2015

Worst Game of 2015

Worst Handheld Game of 2015

Worst Mobile Game of 2015

Worst PC Game of 2015

Best Soundtrack of 2015

Best Graphics of 2015

Best Story of 2015.

Best Game You Played in 2015 (Can be any game you played in 2015 regardless of release date, but only one nomination per user for this category)

As I said, these are only the possible categories right now, and you can feel free to either suggest more categories and give your opinion on the current ones. On top of that, feel free to give opinions on the project in general, and of course tell us your nominees. 

Personally, I want to nominate...

Best Graphics:

-Arkham Knight

-Battlefront

Biggest Controversies:

-Konami

-P.T

-Batman Arkham Knight's PC release.

Those are the ones I personally have right now, but I'll update with more later.

 

 

[Kaze no Klonoa]

To clarify, the actual event is not going on now. We're asking for suggestions and feedback, but we're also OK if you put down your nominees now for gauging feedback.

[Wraith]

Here are some suggestions for the categories

 I feel like you could streamline the amount of categories a fair bit, and instead of including so many negative ones (Worst ___ Game) and only using Platforms to base the awards off of which would cause too much overlap include stuff for different genres like best Platformer, best shooter etc. You also might be able to get away with not cornering Indie games off by themselves here. Biggest Gaming Controversy and Worst Gaming Company kind of go hand in hand, also. There also weren't nearly enough games released on the 3DS and Vita for them to warrant having their own category. I'd suggest grouping it with mobile. 

 

[Boomer]

Quote

we're also OK if you put down your nominees now for gauging feedback.

Excellent!

Best Game of 2015

Tales from the Borderlands

Rise of the Tomb Raider

Best Indie Game of 2015

Rocket League

Best Remastered Game of 2015

Grand Theft Auto V (PC)

Best Handheld Game of 2015

Majora's Mask 3DS

Best PC Game of 2015

Grand Theft Auto V

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2015

Arkham Knight's PC port.

Disney Infinity 3.0's D23 King Mickey Power Disc

Most Anticipated Game of 2016 

Uncharted 4

Mirror's Edge Catalyst

No Man's Sky

Hitman

Best DLC of 2015

GTA V's Online Heists

Best Graphics of 2015

Star Wars Battlefront

Arkham Knight

Best Story of 2015.

Arkham Knight

Tales from the Borderlands

Best Game You Played in 2015 (Can be any game you played in 2015 regardless of release date, but only one nomination per user for this category)

Tales from the Borderlands

 

Well I've answered the ones I'm currently able to.

Another category I'd suggest would be for "Best Sound Design"

Maybe "Best YouTube personality" - which would obviously be Classic Game Room

[Inkling Cooper]

I've got a idea for a category. How about Highest Replay Value?

[Kaze no Klonoa]

3 minutes ago, Inkling Cooper said:

I've got a idea for a category. How about Highest Replay Value?

A lot of people will probably pick their GOTY/other nominees for that, so I don't find it a very relevant category.

[Cobalt_Bolt]

I have some nominees for the following categories:

 

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2015

Konami: Just the absolute mess of how Konami has burned their bridges with their fans and former employees came to a head in 2015 just to get out of the AAA gaming business.

Valve and Bethesda: The implementation of paid mods in an already established mod scene in The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim came across as ham-fisted at best and greedy at it's absolute worst with top mod creators endorsing this quarter-cocked scheme.

Payday 2 Crimefest 2015: Just look at the forums for Payday 2 on Steam and you can run a large city off of the anger at the developers that implemented a pay2win system into the game.

 

Best Remastered Game of 2015

Grim Fandango Remastered: This game almost fell into abandonware but thanks to the people that created the original a whole new generation can enjoy the game without having to search out a torrent of the original game and emulate the original OS the game ran on.

 

Most Anticipated Game of 2016

No Mans Sky: I've been curious to see how a space exploration game could work with a procedural generated environment. 

Trackmania Turbo: I've been craving a good arcade style racer that just scratches my itch for wild and crazy racetracks outside of Mario Kart and the Sonic and Sega All-Stars games. Plus the fact that there is the option to create your own tracks and share them with others would lead to all sorts of chaos at high speeds.

 

Best Graphics of 2015

MGS V: Phantom Pain: Even with all the chaos behind the scenes during this games creation the end result on both generations of console hardware as well as PC looks absolutely incredible. The lighting, the character models, the weather, time cycles, everything that graphically makes up this game just clicks well together. The icing on the cake for the PC version is that it does not stress the hardware even under the most heavy conditions (ie sandstorms and using smoke grenades)

 

Project CARS: This game has been in development for quite a long time and it shows in the looks department. The weather is dynamic showcasing that it is not just eye-candy but can also affect how the race changes from lap to lap. The car selection might not rival that of Forza's or Gran Turismo's but the cars that have been selected look incredible both intact and when in a fully damaged state. There is a full day and night cycle that when combined with the weather it can make for some absolutely stunning racing and screenshots.

 

Best DLC of 2015

Assetto Corsa Dreampacks 1-3: These packs have a nice variety of cars ranging from modern GT3 class cars such as the Nissan GTR-GT3 to classic open wheel cars such as the Lotus 25. Add to that there are laser-scanned race tracks included with each pack such as the Nurburgring-Nordschleife you are in for some good times.  The price for each pack averaged between $10-$15 USD before taxes and actually added something to the game after release. Tell that to Turn 10 and EA with their car packs that are overpriced and underwhelming.

 

Project CARS Car Packs and Track Expansions: I'll admit some of the cars in these packs made me raise an eyebrow such as the Rocket Bunny Toyota GT86 but once I started racing them I began to grin from ear to ear. Couple that with some tracks I never heard of such as Ruapuna Park as well as Rouen Les Essarts I found myself looking for archive footage of those two tracks during race day. Plus with the price of each pack averaging from $2-$7.50 USD as well as adding more events it is quite a bit of a bargain. Again take notes EA and Turn 10 this is how you do DLC for your racing games without ticking your customers off with a high price and lack of content to show.

 

 

[jords]

GOTY: Mario maker.

Most anticipated in 2016: whatever sonic anniversary game they got this year.

 

[Milo]

I nominate Splatoon for best DLC. The biggest complaint about the game when it was first released --how the game was light on content-- has easily been remedied in the subsequent months of the game's release, thanks a constant flow of new material --new weapons, new maps, new apparel-- every one-two months or so by the development team. And the best part of it all is that it's all free!

That said, Mario Kart 8 and Smash Bros. DLC has been no slouch either, and I would consider them up for nominations too. The second DLC pack for the former included eight new tracks, three new characters, and four new karts; whereas Smash Bros. has released five characters (while the first three --Mewtwo, Lucas, and Roy-- were previously on the roster, Ryu and Cloud are brand new characters), a handful of stages, and plenty of Mii fighter gear.

I do think Nintendo in a lot of respects was off their A game for a fair amount of 2015, but I really can't fault how they've been with their DLC. If anything, I'd hold it up as the example as to how I feel DLC should be managed in the industry (especially in Smash Bros.' case, upon which the DLC has been stated to have been made after the base game was finished and released; rather than being made alongside the base game and then withheld from the vanilla release specifically so it can be sold later as DLC).

[Conando]

On my phone, so I can't put all my suggestions in yet but, I demand Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate in best handheld game of 2015.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

18 minutes ago, Conando said:

On my phone, so I can't put all my suggestions in yet but, I demand Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate in best handheld game of 2015.

But didn't it release in 2014?

[Conando]

No. It was a new 3ds launch title in Europe and North America.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Alright then, here's the updated categories and current nominees. We're still take suggestions!. I will be adding in my own as well. I am also going to make a compromise for @Wraith. I'm gonna keep the indie catagory, but I will be allowing indie game nominees for Game of the Year 2015. GET YOUR DANK UNDERTALE NOMINATIONS IN NOW. Also to clarify, these are not the final nominations. Once we have everyone's nominee suggestions, we'll compile a final list of the nominees for each category

Best Game of 2015 

 

Spoiler

 

-Batman Arkham Knight (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

-Rise of the Tomb Raider (Xbox One, Xbox 360)

-Tales from the Borderlands (Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Mobile)

-Bloodborne (PS4)

-Super Mario Maker (Wii U)

 

 

Best Indie Game of 2015

 

Spoiler

 

-Rocket League (PS4, PC)

 

 

Best Remastered Game of 2015

 

Spoiler

 

-GTA V (PC)

-Rare Replay (Xbox One)

-Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection (PS4)

-Grim Fandango Remastered (PS4, PS Vita, PC)

 

 

Best Handheld Game of 2015 

 

Spoiler

 

-Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (New 3DS/3DS)

-Xenoblade Chronicles (New 3DS)

-The Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask 3D (3DS)

-Grim Fandango Remastered (PS Vita)

 

 

Best Mobile Game of 2015

 

Spoiler

 

-Fallout Shelter (IOS/Android)

 

 

Best PC Game of 2015 

(needs suggestions)

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2015

 

Spoiler

 

-Konami

-Batman Arkham Knight on PC

-Disney Infinity 3.0 King Mickey Disc

-Season Passes (In general this year)

-Payday 2's Overkill nonsense

 

 

Best Toys to Life Game (New Category)

 

Spoiler

 

-Disney Infinity 3.0

-Lego Dimensions

-Skylanders Superchargers

-Amiibo (In General)

 

 

Most Anticipated Game of 2016

 

Spoiler

 

-Uncharted 4 

-Ratchet & Clank 

-No Man's Sky

-Trackmania Turbo

-Mirror's Edge Catalyst

-Hitman

-Sonic 25th Anniversary

 

 

Worst DLC of 2015

 

Spoiler

 

-Batman Arkham Knight: A Matter of Family/Arkham Episodes

-Microtransactions in Triple A games

 

 

Best DLC of 2015:

 

Spoiler

 

-Splatoon 

-Smash Bros for Wii U/3DS

-GTA Online Heists

-Assetto Corsa Dreampacks 1-3

-Project CARS Car Packs and Track Expansions

 

 

Most Disappointing Game of 2015 (New Category)

 

Spoiler

 

(suggestions needed)

 

 

Worst Game of 2015:

 

Spoiler

 

-Sonic Runners

 

 

Best Graphics of 2015:

 

Spoiler

 

-Star Wars Battlefront

-Batman Arkham Knight

-MGS 5 The Phantom Pain

-Project CARS

 

 

Best Game You Played in 2015 (Any game you've played regardless of release date. One suggestion per user)

 

Spoiler

 

-Tales from the Borderlands 

 

 

Best Soundtrack of 2015:

 

Spoiler

 

-Grand Theft Auto V (PC)

-Star Wars Battlefront

-Rocket League

 

 

Best Game Based on a Licensed Property (New Category)

 

Spoiler

 

-Transformers: Devastation 

-Batman Arkham Knight

-Lego Dimensions

 

 

Best Story of 2015

 

Spoiler

 

-Batman Arkham Knight

-Tales from the Borderlands 

 

 

Remember that we are still taking suggestions for nominees, and your feedback on the categories. If you want to see the project getting off the ground, please give us both so we know there's interest, and we know where to make improvements.

[Boomer]

Best Toys to Life Game (New Category)

Disney Infinity 3.0

[Failinhearts]

I'm all over the toys to life, stuff!

Biggest Gaming Controversy: Konami

(Yeah, the King Mickey Disc was a bummer as well, but Konami.... ugh.)

Best Toys-To-Life game:

Skylanders SuperChargers. Yeah, Disney Infinity 3.0 and LEGO Dimensions are both fun games with such a wide range of iconic characters, but Skylanders just feels like a better game in terms of how it plays.

Best game based on a licensed property:

LEGO Dimensions

Best DLC: Smash.

Best Game: Super Mario Maker

[Kaze no Klonoa]

Here are my suggestions.

I would had just sent these to you Ryan but why the heck not

• Best Game of 2015: Undertale, Ori and the Blind Forest, Monster Hunter 4, Tales from the Borderlands
• Best Indie Game: Undertale, Ori, Emily is Away, Evoland II
• Best Remastered Game: Bubsy: Two-Fur, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
• Best Handheld Game: Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
• Best Mobile Game: Final Fantasy Record Keeper, Rayman Adventures
• Best PC Game: Evoland II, Undertale, Dying Light
• Most Anticipated Game of 2016: Night in the Woods, Oneshot: Extended Edition, XCOM 2, Final Fantasy XV
• Worst DLC of 2015: Batman Arkham Knight's Season Pass
• Best DLC of 2015: Splatoon
• Most Disappointing Game of 2015: Batman: Arkham Knight, Megaman Legacy Collecion, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
• Worst Game(s) of 2015: Galactic Hitman (Digital Homicide Stinker), Mortal Kombat X on Mobile, and Sonic Runners (coughcough)
• Best Graphics/Artstyle I guess: Ori and the Blind Forest, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
• Best Game Played in 2015: Oneshot
• Best Soundtrack in 2015: Ori and the Blind Forest, Undertale, Evoland II
• Best Licensed Game: Tales from the Borderlands
• Best Story of 2015: Tales from the Borderlands, Ori and the Blind Forest, Undertale

[Cobalt_Bolt]

Got another set of Nominees for you with a brief reason for each of them:

 

Most Disappointing Game of 2015:

Need For Speed 2015: Rubber-banding AI that makes Mario Karts AI look brilliant, Always online connectivity that adds next to nothing in terms of gameplay except for it being used as DRM ala Sim City 2013, and the most recent update using the soundtracks from better games in the series that came before this shallow overpriced husk it's no wonder that I gave up on this series.

 

Worst DLC of 2015

Mortal Kombat X: From having to pay for Goro of all characters, to the TWO Season Passes that hold characters hostage, to easy fatalities and unlocking all krypt items this game is positively rancid with the greed associated with most AAA publishers. Keep your wallets shut and avoid this game until a deep sale on a "Komplete Edition" of this game.

 

Star Wars Battlefront 2015: $50 USD for a Season Pass that is nearly the full cost of the game itself and two weapons that absolutely dominate matches unless you cough up the cash to even the odds in your favor which enables devs and publishers to get away with it in their next game it's no wonder reviews that have not been bought and paid for this game call foul on this shallow uninspired cash-in wearing the Star Wars license.

[Strickerx5]

Thought I'd just through my thoughts into the mix.

Best Indie Game of 2015: Undertale( inb4 winner by a land slide), Fast Racing Neo, Rocket League

Best Remastered Game of 2015: Uncharted: Nathan Drake Collection

Best Mobile Game of 2015; Sonic Runners, Sonic Dash 2(... my choices were limited XD)

Best PC Game of 2015: GTA V, Undertale, Star Wars Battlefront (the game runs soooo well on pc)

Biggest Gaming Controversy of 2015: Broken PC ports, DLC, F2P, Konami

Most Anticipated Game of 2016 : Uncharted 4, Star Fox Zero, the inevitable Sonic 25th anniversary game (aka Fire and Ice)

Worst DLC of 2015: Destiny: The Taken King ($30 for what should of been the game to begin with)

Best DLC of 2015: Arkham Knight: Seasons of Infamy, Smash, MK8, Splatoon, ... Destiny: The Taken King...(while I hate it, it literally fixed just about every problem I had with the game originally).

Best Gaming Company of 2015: Nintendo

Worst Gaming Company of 2015: KONAMI!... no contest here

Worst Game of 2015: I... actually don't have one oddly. I could say Undertale but that would strictly be for gameplay reasons that are completely subjective.

Worst PC Game of 2015: Arkham Knight PC

Best Soundtrack of 2015: Arkham Knight, Splatoon, Sonic Runners

Best Graphics of 2015: Arkham Knight, Star Wars Battlefront, Halo 5, GTA V PC,... Call of Duty Black Ops 3... yeah, laugh it up guys but after watching my brother play through it a bit I'd be lying if I said that game doesn't have some impressive sequences.

Best Story of 2015: Undertale... everything else can go home now

Best Game You Played in 2015 (Can be any game you played in 2015 regardless of release date, but only one nomination per user for this category): Arkham Knight

Best Game of 2015: Splatoon, Arkham Knight, Undertale, GTA V PC

 

Category Suggestions:

Best Gameplay of 2015: Splatoon, Halo 5, Arkham Knight

Best Multiplayer of 2015: Halo 5, Splatoon

Best Platform of 2015 (one nomination per user): PS4

Most Memorable/ innovative Game of 2015: Undertale, Splatoon

Least Memorable Game of 2015 : Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival

Most Exciting Announcement of 2015: Cloud in Smash, FF7 Remastered

Best Wanted Announcement You're Hoping For in 2016: Kirby Air Ride 2, God of War 4, Kid Icarus Uprising Sequel

[Conando]

All right, now that I'm actually on here I can have some more concrete suggestions.

Best Indie Game

Everyone already said it but, Undertale is definitely a top contender for it.

Best Game Of 2015

Xenoblade Chronicles X

Splatoon

Metal Gear Solid V

Best Handheld/Mobile Game of 2015

Triforce Heroes

Best Remaster

Majora's Mask 3D

Rare Replay (I think compilations fit in with this, right?)

Best PC Game

 The Witcher 3 (multiplat but best on PC by a long shot)

Undertale

Metal Gear Solid V-In a year of absolutely dreadful PC ports, KojiPro pulls out the most insanely optimized PC port I've seen in ages

Biggest Controversy

The firing of Hideo Kojima

Worst Company 2015

Konami

Best Soundtrack

Final Fantasy XIV-Heavensward

Xenoblade Chronicles X

Undertale

Best DLC

Splatoon Free update

Best Graphics

Bloodborne

Metal Gear Solid V

Best Game I played in 2015

Yoshi's Woolly World (I am a big damn sucker for a platformer, if I didn't play Xenoblade X until Christmas I would have said that.)

Yakuza 5

Most Anticipated Game of 2016

The Legend of Zelda

Persona 5

I haven't actually played anything terrible that I can think of right now, so I've got no suggestions for the worst stuff.

[Boomer]

9 hours ago, Cobalt_Bolt said:

Star Wars Battlefront 2015: $50 USD for a Season Pass that is nearly the full cost of the game itself and two weapons that absolutely dominate matches unless you cough up the cash to even the odds in your favor which enables devs and publishers to get away with it in their next game it's no wonder reviews that have not been bought and paid for this game call foul on this shallow uninspired cash-in wearing the Star Wars license.

 

What two weapons? The Season Pass doesn't give you any early unlocks for weapons, it gives you an emote and the DLC when they come out.

I think you're getting it confused with the Deluxe Edition which gives you early unlocks, not exclusive access, to the DL-44 and the Ion Torpedo/Ion Grenade. Not exactly items that "dominate matches."

Also you've got to love that last sentence...

[Agie]

Best game of 2015? For me, that's Splatoon. It's just fun; sadly, my mood to play it further was killed by my Gamepad's screen breaking, though it's been fixed. Still, it's quite fun.

Best remastered game? Rare Replay. Now, most of its games are slightly modified emulations...but Grabbed by the Ghoulies was actually remastered to run on the Xbone natively. It looks and feels like it was made today, thanks to the improved framerate and graphics. It's still the same game released back in 2003, though, so if you didn't like it before, the remaster won't change your opinion. Still, you can't deny that they did an amazing job porting it.

Best game I played in 2015? Puyo Puyo Fever 2. Such a damn shame the game never got an American release, the one silver lining being that the DS and PSP versions have no region lock, but it was quite fun regardless.

Best graphics of 2015? Splatoon. The visuals are pleasing to my eyes, and in many ways, they remind me of Jet Set Radio, which is a plus.

Most anticipated game for 2016? Well, I'm gonna cheat and say that I hope Puyo Puyo gets a game for its 25th Anniversary. I'll be really happy if it gets a PS4, or at least a PS3 version, since chances are, those versions wouldn't have region lock, meaning I can play them. I'll be shocked if an (unaltered) American release is even considered, though...

That's all I can think of...

[Ryannumber1gamer]

I should probably do my nominees so far. I already included some of mine in the updated categories above.

Best Mobile Game of 2015:

-DBZ Dokkan Battle

Worst DLC of 2015: 

-Star Wars Battlefront's "Deluxe Edition"

Most Disappointing Game of 2015:

-Sonic Runners

-Star Wars Battlefront

Best Game I Played in 2015

-Jak & Daxter The Precursor Legacy

Best Soundtrack

-Arkham Knight 

Yes, mainly because of Joker's musical number

Best Story of 2015:

-Grand Theft Auto V (The PC port did release in 2015 :^) )

[Agie]

Well, I did think of Most Disappointing Game of 2015...Cranky Food Friends. Okay, its mere existence is a disappointment in itself, being a reskin of Puyo Puyo Quest...and one that looks really generic on top of it...

Best DLC of 2015? The Smash DLC. Say what you want about it, but I found the lineup to be pretty strong and such.

Best toys-to-life game overlaps with best game based on a licensed property for me; Disney Infinity 3.0. It's surprisingly fun to goof around in the toy box and play as time-traveling Star Wars characters; Luke fighting in the Clone Wars, before he's even born? Sure, why not?

[Milo]

I nominate Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 for Worst Game of 2015. Activision took a once proud series with some of the best games of its genre and took a steaming massive pile on them. Crappy on its own, but especially stings given its a direct sequel (a la Sonic 4). I would vote it as most disappointing 2015 game if I actually had any expectations for it, so I think I'll nominate Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash instead.