Bayonetta: Already (Not) Game of the Year?

For what it's worth, I'm really eager to finish Bayonetta. One thing about gaming on a budget means that I only have time to work on the titles I really want to play, and buying them outright is a threshold I rarely cross. For years now, I've been a GameFly member distinctly so that I have the ability to play five games a month for $25. So when Bayonetta hovered around the Number 1 slot on my "GameQ" for a good three weeks before GF sent me a freakin' Spider-Man game, I knew it was time to break out my quarters. Congratulations, Sega.

But buying Bayonetta also got me thinking about what else I'd buy in 2010. True, most games can be finished inside of a rental weekend, but there are always going to be games that you know you'll keep. If anything, it's like eating a cake: the amount of enjoyment you get is largely proportional to how much time you take to savor the flavors and textures. Cram the whole thing in at once, and you'll probably ruin the experience. That's how I already know I'm buying Mass Effect 2 and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

But, looking at the list of games headed to shelves this year, I've got to wonder: are gamers going to remember how good Bayonetta is when it's time to hand out the 2010 Game of the Year awards? Sure, maybe it's waaaaay too early to be thinking about that, but let's face facts. No matter what Sega says about translation issues and "optimum release time," they delayed Bayonetta because it's a new Japanese IP that would've gone head-to-head with the 2009 Fall Clusterf--k. Hey, no matter how good Bayonetta's purported to be by the gaming press, there was no good reason for it to go up against Modern Warfare 2, Assassin's Creed 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum and Uncharted 2, each of which was/is a solid candidate for 2009's Game of the Year.

So my question to you guys (and I assume most of you have finished the game by now) is whether you think Bayonetta will still be a contender for Game of the Year in 2010, despite coming to shelves so early in the season. Hell, let's just assume that the honor will go to BioShock 2 or Mass Effect 2. Do you think anyone will even remember Bayonetta's orgasmic action-y antics to consider it a challenger to God of War 3 for Best Action Game of 2010, especially almost 11 months down the road?

(9)

Carlos Macias

January 20, 2010

Uh, up against heavy competition like God of War 3? I doubt it. Video game awards are much like the Oscars and they rarely win if they didn't come about a couple of months before they hand out awards.

On a more important note...have you ever gotten a new release you've wanted from Gamefly during its first week? Is there a trick to it that I'm missing? Giving the service a trial at the moment but I want to be able to play the new releases in a reasonable amount of time after release, not 10 MONTHS LATER.

Bryan Glynn

It's sad but true, I'm afraid; Bayonetta will be forgotten.

Even most podcasts that deliberated or talked about their 2009 GOTY awards were honest enough to mention that they had a difficult time remembering or being impacted by games that came out early in the year. Now, part of that is, of course, directly related to the quality of the games; very few people will make the argument that Q1 of '09 was superior to Q4... But it still stands that the quality titles that release after the summer lull are most fresh in our minds come awards season.

Dan "Shoe" Hsu

Yeah, early games in the year have a hard time keeping up. By the end of the year, people will be talking about the above titles and the big fall releases, including whatever gets announced at E3 this year. I just don't think Bayonetta is "big" enough to be remembered like that.

That's part of the reason we're doing our awards the way we're doing them: You don't have to be a big game to be recognized as the best of something for a year.

http://bitmob.com/index.php/mobfeed/bitmobs-best-of-2009-call-for-entries.html

Jason Wilson

Also: If you want all of these games coming out at the beginning of the year to factor into GOTY discussions, keep talking and writing about them throughout the year -- especially during awards time.

Toby Davis

for some odd reason the controls after playing the demo turned me off. I would rather have Darksiders talked about for GOTY in this category.

Brett Bates

That's an interesting thought, and one that the movie business has to deal with as well -- but at least they can increase recognition around awards time with DVDs, etc.

2010 will be an interesting one for games. With a slew of anticipated titles coming out this spring, maybe the early games won't be forgotten after all.

Mike Minotti

January 23, 2010

I see what you did there with the title :)

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Suriel Vazquez

I really am not a fan of God of War. The first one was pretty good, but it's been the same game ever since. It's still the same simple, mashy action without much variety or creativity. It'll be a shame if Bayonetta gets overlooked in favor of a game from 2005 with high-res art.

Moeez Siddiqui

No see, the real problem is, is the game memorable and good enough to be remembered throughout the year, or was it a great but forgettable 10-hour experience? Did it have watercooler moments? Did it impact or improve on the standard of games from the industry, in this case the action genre?

Batman: Arkham Asylum was able to do that, and is still being talked about, considering it was released in September of '09. I haven't played Bayonetta, so only people like you should have a reasonable opinion that.

2010, most of the great games are being released early, so discussions would have to be made about Q1. This is not like other game years where all the worthy games were in Q4.