Spike VGAs - And the Nominees Are...

The Spike Video Game Awards are always good for a certain level of hilarity, only not the kind you want. Disney's Epic Mickey? Need for Speed: The Run? L.A. Noire being up for best graphics over Battlefield 3?

What were they thinking?

[websod]

L.A. Noire does have better graphics then BF3.the faces are the most real in LA out of any game ever made 3 times better then BF3. there face expressions on bf3 are odd .

[buckley]

Wow.

Sure, if the award was "best facial animation." But then you look at pretty much any texture in L.A. Noire and you're reminded that it's certainly not one of the best-looking games of the year.

L.A. Noire could've been up for a Technical Achievement Award for MotionScan. Best Graphics? Not even close.

[morganfell]

You stated that you were unsure why Zelda was nominated as it has yet to be released.

Where have you been?

The nominees were introduced long enough ago for N4G to have already seen countless articles. And one of the chief comments in those articles was that Skyrim also had yet to be released when the nominee list was made public.

You also lambaste the VGAs (rightly so) and then question as to why they lack sufficient insight in their nomination process. Did you not read your own comments? It's the VGAs. This show is not meant to be taken seriously by the gaming aficionado. The VGAs are nothing more than an advertising opportunity for the community tagged on to a few parties and a chance to rub elbows with other people.

Bewildering was the word you used as regards your take on the lack of Skyrim nominations in categories you felt it deserved. Again, it is the VGAs and Skyrim had not shipped at the time nominees were announced.

LA Noire certainly deserved to be nominated for graphics. Motion scan is a technique that relates as directly to graphics interma of what the gamer experiences as does ZBrush or Mudbox. It isn't just about performance capture. While motion scan may not make a character's skin tone seem more realistic, it directly bears on the graphical impact of the game. And that after all is what the VGA category concerns. It isn't about the fact a certain game had a new pixel shader. It's about the final impact in the gut of what your eyes see. And while the rest of LA Noire may have seen somewhat bland, their characters were so visually striking, so realistic in their GRAPHICAL DISPLAY of human emotion that the game deserves a mention. There hasn't been any other title even relotely in the ball game with what was done as regards LA Noire's NPCs.

I like Battlefield 3. A great deal. I purchased the PS3 and PC versions. But separating motion scan from LA Noire's graphical representations is no different that removing destruction or animations from BF3. Then what is left? All of those are tied directly to the visual impact which a title makes upon the gamer. And in a broad category that isn't a technical nomination at GDC but rather an awards show meant for the general public, such considerations need be understood.

BF3 deserved a nomination for graphics. With that I wholeheartedly agree. But then again, so does LA Noire.

[NeoBasch]

I whole heartedly disagree. In summary, I think you're full of shit, and you have no idea what you're talking about. Also, graphics are more than textures. I'll echo the comment I made in an earlier article regarding the topic:

"Am I the only person that believes LA Noire deserves the nomination? I mean, yes there's the Witcher 2, and yes there's Skyrim. Hell there's Dead Space 2, Crysis 2, and even Gran Turismo 5. But something about the environments clicked for me. It was like I was taking a stroll through downtown LA in the 1940's.

"And I know a lot of people give the game flak for it's notorious lopsided animations (reading faces versus body language) but the animations were only bad during shootouts and if you tested the limits of your driving experience. During the cutscenes, and normal appearances, they were astounding.

"Team Bondi may be defunct now, but give them some credit. Honestly, I would have given Killzone 3 the nomination as I believe there are a lot more important things to graphics than beefy textures--cinematography, lighting, physics, art direction, animations--that add to a game's believability. Also, scale and authenticity as in LA Noire's case.

"Honestly, they should rename the award Best Set Design just so people understand the difference. Graphics are starting to become subjective as time goes by. We can notice more differences between engines now than we could on SNES. There's more to consider than resolution or pixel-perfect replication."

[buckley]

@morganfell I'm sure people didn't create the VGAs with the idea of not wanting to be taken seriously. They shouldn't be, as aficionados understand, but not the general public. You may be surprised at how many people do in fact think that they are the ultimate discussion of a year of gaming. And you will not find the majority of the gaming public on N4G.

@NeoBasch You're of course entitled to disagree, and you make an interesting argument. It's just not one that I agree with. That does not make me "full of shit," but in summary, your statement sure does make you a dick.

[Diver]

buckley dude give it up. it isnt just n4g that trashes the vgas. go over to neogaf, the largest gaming forum around and have a laugh as people take a piss on the vgas. you know, the forum where actual game devs post. you tried to write a serious critical article about something everyone else knows is a joke. its like writing a critique about ronald macdonals's version of hamlet. its a losing proposition from the get go. youre the one that made a mistake and cant seem to see what you did wrong.

[FreydaWright]

If you ever want to appear the least bit credible in an argument, begin with working on your grammar and punctuation. Next step: learn the correct usage of words.

[websod]

L.A. Noire has way better graphics then BF3. even the vehicles look 300% better on LA. L.A. Noire won more awards for there graphics then BF3 has won so far. BF3 was not up for the award for a reason every game up for it beats the GFX of it. while it has great graphics for a first person shooter it can not compete with all types of games.

[buckley]

It's unfortunate how much of a misunderstanding of "graphics" this has exposed.

I'm also not aware of any award that L.A. Noire has won for its "Graphics." It's all been technical achievement awards for MotionScan.

There are more to graphics than facial animation.

[pandehz]

BF3 has the best graphics this year. I've played all the games in the graphics nomination list and BF3 in every aspect except for facial animation is on t he top.

Think texture, shading, lighting, physics, visual composition, level design, grading among many others.

BF3 shines in all areas.

[websod]

or your lack there of know how on it.
more then 1 game is up for the award not one of those games is Bf3 are you saying they do not know there shit or its ridged?

[buckley]

Actually, I said that L.A. Noire should not have been nominated. Did you actually read the article or are you just a fanboy flaming?

And there are clearly issues with VGA nominations, or did you not notice that Need for Speed: The Run is up for best driving game?

[Venoxn4g]

batman was great, but ending :/ :/ :/

[DonaldBeck]

i wish assassins creed revelations was up there...
but uncharted 3 deserves it aswell.

[Dante112]

Dang, the games I expected to make the list are no where to be found.

[Lord_Sloth]

The VGA. What a joke.

[m23]

Need for Speed: The Run up for best racing game? what? Forza 4 no doubt deserves that award, but I guess you never know with Spike.

[pandehz]

Someone spiked their drinks