The sociology of the gaming public.

So, it's that time of year again when video game magazines, websites, and blogs are putting out editors' choice awards, readers' choice awards, etc, for the best video games of 2009. Well, it's been going on for a few months now, but we've come to the current issue of Nintendo Power, who released their annual list of Nintendo Power awards for their favorite and best Nintendo games of 2009. In a first, they published what the editors' picks were and also published what the readers voted for in the same categories.

The differences are startling--very surprising, in a way. I expected that readers and those who voted on the poll would have more similarities to the winners that the editors chose, but the fact that the results were so different leads to some interesting questions: are gaming magazine staff out of touch with the general gaming public? Is the gaming public out of touch with the editors? Or could it be that no one knows a damn thing? Because this is Nintendo Power, I feel that there was also a small element of marketing at work here. By having such a wide variety of winners from the editors, there may have been a subtle hint of advertising, as opposed to the readers, who don't have pressure from say, Konami or Square Enix. I could be wrong. Also, taken into account is that the number of votes and ballots received by Nintendo are clearly not everyone who's a fan of Nintendo or play their games. Ten or twenty thousand ballots certainly do not account for Nintendo's entire fan base--and even more so, many of these ballots came in from the US. I'm pretty confident that the results would have been different if the same ballot was given to Japanese readers and European readers.

Also thrown into the mix is the fact that I'm willing to bet that much of Nintendo Power's editing staff are people my age (at the very least) and older, a good generation or two ahead of the current one, and so their views on what makes a game great probably differs greatly with the younger crowd. And also, as with any art, video games and their critics are subjective, constantly open to opinion and debate. Even the editors themselves say this before going into the awards: "While our picks reflect a broader knowledge of all nominees, the popular vote accurately reflects the lasting impact that these games have."


But I'll let you decide. I want your thoughts--it'd be interesting to see what you think. If you reply, explain why you chose how you did. Gamers are a varied bunch. Keep in mind, these are all Nintendo games.

Reprinted below are the categories, nominees, and winners. Blue bold represents the editor's picks. Red bold represents the readers' choice. Green bold denotes if the editors and readers picked the same. WW means a WiiWare title. DW means a DSiWare title. Wii and DS are self-explanatory. The final four categories were not on the ballot and were picked by Nintendo Power staff only.

Overall Game of the Year:
-Art Style: Precipice (DW)
-Cave Story (WW)
-Contra ReBirth (WW)
-Dragon Quest Wars (DW)
-Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (WW)
-Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (DS)
-Kingdom Heats 358/2 Days (DS)
-Klonoa (Wii)
-LoZ: Spirit Tracks (DS)
-Little King's Story (Wii)
-Lost Winds: Winter of the Melodias (WW)
-MadWorld (Wii)
-Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (DS)
-Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again (DW)
-Mighty Flip Champs! (DW)
-New Super Mario Bros Wii (Wii)
-NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits (WW)
-Punch-Out!! (Wii)
-Puzzle League Express (DW)
-Rhythm Heaven (DS)
-Scribblenauts (DS)
-Tales of Monkey Island (WW)
-Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2010 (Wii)

Wii Game of the Year:
-Klonoa
-Little King's Story
-MadWorld
-New Super Mario Bros. Wii
-Punch-Out!!!
-Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2010

DS Game of the Year:
-Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
-Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
-LoZ: Spirit Tracks
-Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
-Rhythm Heaven
-Scribblenauts

WiiWare Game of the Year:
-Cave Story
-Contra ReBirth
-Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
-Lost Winds: Winder of the Melodias
-NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits
-Tales of Monkey Island
-Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth

DSiWare Game of the Year:
-Art Style: Precipice
-Dragon Quest Wars
-Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again
-Mighty Flip Champs!
-Puzzle League Express

Best Wii Graphics:
-A Boy and his Blob
-Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
-MadWorld
-Muramasa: The Demon Blade
-Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles
-Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

Best DS Graphics:
-Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
-Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
-Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
-Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
-Naruto Shippuden Ninja Destiny 2
-Phantasy Star ∅

Best Original Score:
-Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (DS)
-The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS)
-Little King's Story (Wii)
-Rhythm Heaven (DS)
-Suikoden: Tierkreis (DS)
-Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers (Wii)

Best Sound/Voice Acting:
-Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Reflex (Wii)
-Dead Space Extraction (Wii)
-Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Wii)
-The House of the Dead: Overkill (Wii)
-Kingdom Heats 358/2 Days (DS)
-Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (Wii)

Best Music/Rhythm Game:
-The Beatles: Rock Band (Wii)
-DJ Hero (Wii)
-Guitar Hero 5 (Wii)
-Rhythm Heaven (DS)

Best Adventure Game:
-Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers (Wii)
-Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (DS)
-Kingdom Heats 358/2 Days (DS)
-The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS)
-Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (Wii)
-Tales of Monkey Island (WW)

Best RPG:
-Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (DS)
-Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (DS)
-Phantasy Star ∅ (DS)
-Pokémon Platinum Version (DS)
-Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor (DS)
-Suikoden: Tierkreis

Best Strategy Game:
-Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (DS)
-Knights in the Nightmare (DS)
-Little King's Story (Wii)
-Phantom Brave: We Meet Again (Wii)
-Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume (DS)

Best Shooter:
-Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Reflex (Wii)
-The Conduit (Wii)
-Dead Space Extraction (Wii)
-The House of the Dead: Overkill (Wii)
-Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles

Best Sports Game:
-Madden NFL 10 (Wii)
-Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (DS)
-NHL 2K10
-Punch-Out!! (Wii)
-Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10
-Wii Sports Resort (Wii)

Best Action Game:
-Contra ReBirth (WW)
-Gradius ReBirth (WW)
-MadWorld (Wii)
-Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii)
-Sonic and the Black Knight (Wii)

Best Platformer:
-A Boy and His Blob (Wii)
-Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure (DS)
-Klonoa (Wii)
-Lost Winds: Winter of the Melodias (WW)
-New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
-NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits

Best Puzzle Game:
-Art Style: Precipice (DW)
-Boom Blox Bash Party (Wii)
-Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes (DS)
-Peggle: Dual Shot (DS)
-Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (DS)
-Scribblenauts (DS)

Best New Character:
-Henry Hatsworth (Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure) (DS)
-Jack (MadWorld) (Wii)
-Lexine (Dead Space Extraction) (Wii)
-Little King (Little King's Story) (Wii)
-Morgan LeFlay (Tales of Monkey Island) (WW)
-Xion (Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days) (DS)

Best Multiplayer:
-Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Reflex (Wii)
-The Conduit (Wii)
-Guitar Hero 5 (Wii)
-New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
-Phantasy Star ∅ (DS)
-Wii Sports Resort (Wii)

Best Story/Writing:
-Dead Space Extraction (Wii)
-Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (DS)
-The House of the Dead: Overkill (Wii)
-Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (DS)
-Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (DS)
-Silent Hill Shattered Memories (Wii)

The next four categories were not on the ballot, and were picked by the Nintendo Power staff only:

Best Retro Revival:
-A Boy and His Blob (Wii)
-Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth (WW)
-Contra ReBirth (WW)
-Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (DS)
-Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (WW)
-Klonoa (Wii)

Best New Idea:
-Psychological Profile--Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (Wii)
-Puzzle-platforming Hybrid--Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure (DS)
-Puzzle-RPG Hybrid--Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes (DS)
-Telekinesis--Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers (Wii)
-"Write Everything, Solve Everything"--Scribblenauts (DS)
-Wii MotionPlus--Wii Sports Resort (Wii)

The Craziest Thing We Saw:
-Cutting off your own arm--Dead Space Extraction (Wii)
-Donkey Kong surprise--Punch-Out!! (Wii)
-The longest tutorial ever--Knights in the Nightmare (DS)
-Man Darts--MadWorld (Wii)
-Nigel & Sebastian--The House of the Dead: Overkill (Wii)
-Super sandwich--Excitebots: Trick Racing (Wii)

The Finish Strong Award:
-A Boy and His Blob (Wii)
-Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (DS)
-Klonoa (Wii)
-Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS)
-New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
-Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (Wii)

So there you go. I don't know if some of these games will be lasting or not...I have to admit, though, Kingdom Hearts has built up quite a massive following, but I don't necessarily think it was deserving of all those wins. Mario, also, is timeless. But again, the disparity is there.

Let me know your thoughts. I'd love to hear what you have to say.

Comments

Arclayn (21th Feb 2010 08:15:44) Just like you say, video game magazine/website/blog editors are between yours and my age. But more importantly, they are paid to play games (and write about them). This gives them access to a wider variety of games, and with that comes much broader experience and greater insight to gaming as a whole. The typical player is more likely to limit himself/herself based on the recommendations of their social clique and favorite brands. Typical players don't have the free time or money to keep up with an editor's vast experience. From that, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest that something like Kingdom Hearts dominated the reader's picks while Nintendo's staff made picks that lent the spotlight to several different titles. I wouldn't say that these two groups are "out of touch" with each other. Instead, this poll demonstrates the difference of experience between those who make gaming a profession compared to those who make gaming a hobby. On another note, I have some personal praise to Nintendo's editorial staff: Muramasa: The Demon Blade and (I suspect) A Boy and His Blob are games truly worthy of recognition on their own artistic merits. Add that they did not pick one or two titles to be the High Master of 2009 (that's what the readers did!), this implies that marketing favoritism on Nintendo's end was non-existent at best and minimal at worst.

Tania (22th Feb 2010 10:46:56) I agree with the fact that the variety in Nintendo's picks most likely comes from their easier access to a wider array of games. It probably also comes from the fact that they are professionally invested in the videogaming industry, so they are likely to be interested in a wider range of videogaming aspects. Some people out there will only play heavily advertised new games with zomg!graphics and a high "coolness" factor, rather than investigating other things that may not be as mainstream. In that sense, perhaps, there is an element of being "out of touch", but probably consciously so: the magazine staff know that they have a different approach to games from the casual gamer which probably forms the majority of people polled, and they know that this can't be helped. Although, unfortunately, this may lead to some games having seemingly more of an impact than they deserve: just as Brian said about Kingdom Hearts. Granted, I've never actually played any game in the series, but simply because the premise puts me off completely. There's something wrong at being able to justapose Goofy with Cloud or Squall, for example. That, and I really despise the "Nomurian/kiddy hip" overhaul that some of the FF characters got (Seifer & co. come to mind, as well as Squall).

Tania (22th Feb 2010 10:50:07) Also, on a completely unrelated note, Peter, you may be happy to know that I asked for Planescape: Torment as my contest prize ^^ I also bought Mass Effect and Bioshock >.>

Arclayn (22th Feb 10 17:51:39) I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. :D If you have questions about the D&D rules implemented in Torment, please throw them my way. 2nd edition Dungeons and Dragons is my D&D specialty, and it never was the "easiest" of the D&D editions to pickup.

Tania (23th Feb 2010 15:52:20) Thanks for the offer, I'll be sure to take it up if (but proooobably when...) it becomes necessary ^^