Working Title 12.25.08: The 2nd Annual Workies: The Winners

Posted by Jordan Williams on 12.25.2008

It's time. Who is taking home a Workie in the 2nd Annual Workies as the ultimate Christmas gift? Who is nominated for Game of the Year? Put down the eggnog and let's find out.

Welcome to the #1 Column to FINALLY not suck at Gears of War 2, WORKING TITLE. Finally, I don't completely suck. I'm actually able to kill people part of the time now! I will say that while I wasn't exactly a fan of the first Gears game, I do find myself to be a fan of the second. I guess if I'm going to own an Xbox 360 I'm going to have to learn how to play a shooting game or else my precious Xbox Live will just go to fucking waste.

But enough about my ranting of Gears, I know why you all are here....

Well, really. I'm not even going to kid myself. This is being posted on Christmas (and probably won't show up until the day after) and a lot of you are probably playing whatever new video games you got or you are getting some Christmas nookie...or both. You lucky bastards.

Either way, it is time for THE 2ND ANNUAL WORKIES! The votes have been counted and we have WINNERS for our awards this year and a fresh ballot of nominees for GAME OF THE YEAR. So who is taking home an award today? Well how about we just find the fuck out, huh?


The 2nd Annual Workies: The Winners

You have all voted, if you look at the comments you wouldn't know it, but I did receive a lot of emails and comments on various other places (for those wondering, I also post this and all columns on my personal Livejournal and my Myspace.) and my panel of has also chimed in. For the most part I agree with most of the winners, and keep in mind as you read these that although I do have some say in who wins, your votes take precedence over anything I do. Meaning if I and my Panel REALLY wanted Carmine to win the KLAM (and we did) and yet everyone else voted for someone else, we'll go with what you voted.

So with that out of the way, let's hand out or first Angry Sun. For those of you that are wondering, The Angry Sun has overthrown Birdo as the official mascot of Working Title.

King Leonidas Award of Manliness

As the name describes, this award was for the single most badass character that came out of the world of gaming this year. We had a pretty stacked list of names here but of course there can only be one winner no matter what the hell the contest is. Who is taking home an Angry Sun today?

Sister Hammer, Fable II
She might have a lovely singing voice and is an on again off again pacifist, but Sister Hammer is definitely one manly badass bitch. How many chicks do you know will swing around a giant fucking hammer just to make sure you make it out of a zombie infested cave alive? And this is WITHOUT having to buy them drinks first!

Old Snake, Metal Gear Solid 4
Easily the oldest person nominated for any of these awards, the old man proved he's still got it when it comes to CQC and kicking ass. But maybe winning a KLAM might not be for the old crowd.

Carmine, Gears of War 2
My personal pick for the award, Carmine might not be the toughest guy on the list, but he's definitely the manliest. How many people do you know manage to get eaten by a giant ass word and then ripped to shreds by parasites and still manage to talk shit to them as he is dying?

Johnny Gat, Saints Row 2
Probably the craziest Chinese American in all of video game history. He manages to cheat death not once but twice and then ends up burying a metrosexual gang leader alive at his girlfriend's funeral. Pretty badass if you ask me.

Brucie Kibbutz, GTAIV - Workaholic's Choice
Brucie was made the Workaholic's Choice, he was actually nominated for this award in the Halftime Awards as well but I didn't nominate him for the EndYear Awards because the list already had one GTAIV character and because he lost. But enough people wanted him back in so I re-added him. Can he win during his second chance?

Packie McReary, GTAIV - Halftime Winner
Packie was lucky enough to take home an award earlier in the year, and so far he has been holding up his end of the bargain pretty well, but does the Irish Bastard have enough to hold off our fucking stacked list of KLAM Award nominees? It's time to find out.

2007 Winner : Master Chief
2008 Halftime Winner : Packie McReary

And the Angry Sun goes to...

OLD SNAKE

Proof that old farts can still kick ass. While I am not a big fan of the Metal Gear Solid Series (Gasp.) I won't go against the voting here. From what I have seen and heard Solid/Old Snake is about as badass as they come. He's so badass that he managed to fucking jump genre lines and go kick ass in the Nintendo Universe. Plus the man managed to stay relevant after all of these years and deliver some of the best stealth action gaming this side of Tenchu 2. So my hat goes off to Old Snake who takes home the King Leonidas Award of Manliness.


Game Mechanic/Character That Can Die in A Fire
This award is obviously the first in the long line 'awards' that honor bad things. The DIAF is an award for that game mechanic or character we just don't want to fucking see anymore. This year had a pretty good ballot of nominees but there was actually a pretty big run away winner here, it was so clear cut that there wasn't even Workaholic's Choice for it

NXE - The New Xbox Experience
While it improved the functionality of the Xbox Menus, not a lot of people are initially happy with the NXE. Citing it's new bubbly look and it's Mii-like Avatar system as odes to the ongoing "Casual Killing Hardcore" War, a lot of people were writing this off as just another step on the ladder to complete Casual Land. The question is did you all feel the same way?

Casual Games
Speaking of Casual Land, how about we just go straight to the root of all of the problems? If there is one 'genre' of games that is getting the most hate this year next to Music games, it's definitely the Casual Games. Hardcore Fans are deriding them as the death of the industry while Casual Gamers are trying to defend themselves, it's been a hot button issue all year and it just might be hot enough for an Angry Sun.

Maulers, Gears of War 2
Sadly there is no way I can segue such a horrible pun into this next nominee. So I'll just say once again that Maulers are the bane of my fucking reality in Horde mode and I know they are the thorn in a lot of people's sides online as well. If they didn't have a magically area killing move that could single handedly destroy your entire party in one hit if they were grouped together they would be pretty fine, but of course they have to be super mega fucking cheap, and that's just not fucking cool.

Lucario, Super Smash Brothers Brawl
I hope you win. You bastard.

Nintendo Wi-Fi - Halftime Winner
Nintendo Wi-Fi seems to have gotten a bit quiet of the last few months...probably because no one is using it. Back when SSBB was hot this was a much talked about issue because SSBB really exposed just how half-ass Nintendo Wi-Fi as a whole is. Friend codes are not the wave of the future and a lot of gamers have let that sentiment is be known. However Nintendo has done nothing to solve the problem but release more games that take 'advantage' of the Wi-Fi system...so how is Animal Crossing Wild World working out for ya?

2007 Winner : Informant Missions, Assassin's Creed
2008 Halftime Winner: Nintendo Wi-Fi

And the Angry Sun goes to...

CASUAL GAMES

This wasn't even remotely close. I think I was the only person who voted for Nintendo Wi-Fi to have a repeat performance. I really don't see the whole fucking deal with Casual Games and the hate it brings, but apparently I am wrong when it comes to that fact. Everyone is up in arms about Nintendo's horrible failure that was Q3 and Q4 of 08, and the whole new direction they are going in. I think that's just attributed to Nintendo getting such a big ego that they think they can do anything they want and get away with it, but until everyone else shares that ideal it looks Casual Games can go die in a fire.



I told you "This Is Not Going to End Well" Award
Earlier in the year I told you all certain things were not going to end well, and of course some of them didn't end well at all. It looks like it's time to decide who succeeded the most when it came to living up to its EPIC FAIL.

Ugh. I feel dirty for actual using that in context. Next thing you know I'll be asking if RVD is going to be the guest writer for my column next week.

TNA Impact
TNA Impact...it didn't live up to its name now did it? Of course, this being primarily a wrestling site I guess you can say a game that had stale controls, horrible storylines and drastically underused talent WOULD live up to the TNA name. Maybe Midway can get its shit together before next year and avoid going out of business and release another game that can maybe do something that it hasn't been able to do before...be real competition for WWE.

Nintendo Wii
Many, including myself, had been saying that the Nintendo Wii was looking very bleak at the ass-end of the year here. And sadly it seems that we were right. The Wii has actually fallen almost completely off the radar in gamer's minds and they literally had NO big blockbuster game to carry them through the Holiday season like the PS3 and the Xbox 360 did. It's sad because a lot of people (myself included) want the Wii to succeed, but it really doesn't look like that'll happen this year.

Guitar Hero Series - Halftime Winner
RockBand had knocked Guitar Hero on its ever-loving ASS last year, and many were doubting whether or not it would be able to bounce back. I was one of those people. I am not ashamed to say that I think I was wrong, I really don't think that this game is going to go for the repeat winner here, but as per the rules it has to automatically be nominated for it.

2007 Winner: N/A
2008 Halftime Winner: Guitar Hero Series

And the Angry Sun goes to...

TNA Impact

You know? I'm not surprised at this at all. TNA Impact had the best chance to take advantage of a thin genre and make a mark but instead it ended up falling flat on its face. Of course the fact that this is 411mania.com of course skewers the votes a bit, but even if it wasn't a wrestling based website I still think this game would've won. Like I said earlier out of the group this one was poised the best to make a splash here and in the end all it did was just make a wet fart.


The Dorm Room Dominator Award

D-D-D-D-D-DOMINATION!!! Yep, it's the obligatory "Multiplayer" Award. While I know that the name Dorm room Dominator is a bit unfitting given that maybe not all of us are in college, but the same rules apply. This is just the award for the game that had the best Multiplayer Support this year, be it online, with friends, or by yourself.

Wait. That last part didn't make any sense.

Madden XX
It's a Madden Game. Are you really surprised this is here at all? What I am surprised about is the fact that this game wasn't as widely accepted here as I thought it was going to be. Not spoiling if it won or not, but damn. I expected a lot more response in regards to this one.

Gears of War 2
VRRRRRRRR. Ya hear that? That's the sound of millions of douches running around with Lancers looking to peel your goddamned face off. Gears of War 2 was actually a pretty decent game this year, and I am glad to say after I stopped SUCKING HORRIBLY at it actually became one of my better multiplayer experiences of the year, but is it enough to take home a Workie?

Left 4 Dead
Ironically the only game completely built from the ground up to incorporate Multiplayer Gaming is arguably the one that gets played the least. L4D has definitely been a bright spot in the PC world this year as well as the console world because for once a game is forcing and rewarding you for playing as a team rather than being three douches and one really good person to cover for you all. Maybe it can win?

Call of Duty: World at War
Call of Duty is pretty much a staple of the Multiplayer Genre. I can't think of one person who really gives a hoot in regards to the story, but I know tons of people who got the game and hopped right into the online portion without even giving the single player a chance. Now that's some die hard devotion.

Super Smash Brothers Brawl - Halftime Winner
And there is SSBB. Ironically the first game in the series to have a definite and pretty damned good single player component still ends up being one of the better multiplayer games released this year, it managed to take the award away at the beginning of the year in convincing fashion, but does it have enough steam going into it to make it a repeat?

2007 Winner: Rock Band
2008 Halftime Winner: Super Smash Brothers Brawl

And the Angry Sun goes to...

Left 4 Dead

This Award was actually one of the more hotly contested ones, L4D beat how Gears 2 by only 4 votes. Which is sort of awesome because that is the one I and the Panel were actually pulling for. Out of all of these games I think L4D fit the best as a Dorm room Dominator because while team play and online play are a factor, only L4D puts co-operative play at the forefront and actually encourages you to work together. You seem so many lopsided teams in games like Gears and CoD and too many cheap tactics in Smash Brothers and Madden(sort of), L4D isn't perfect by any means, but it has a pretty level playing field.


Not a Bang but a Whimper Award
Next to the DRD Award this one was also one of the more hotly contested ones. In an age where a game can get more hype that it can ever get months before it ever comes out. It's just pure fact that not all games are going to live up to that hype. The question is which ones out of the following list fell under the pressure the hardest? Which game's mouth cashed a check that its ass couldn't cash?

Spore
This game had so much promise, sadly for some reason it just didn't deliver on all of them. While it was fun, it just wasn't anywhere near what we expected. The fact that it had a hidden DRM also was working against it in a big way.

LittleBigPlanet
The game is awesome, there is no question about that. But you just can't help but think that maybe it was just a little ahead of it's time. In terms of critical acclaim this game is one of the best (more on that below), but in terms of sales and numbers it didn't deliver nearly as well as everyone though it would've.

Star Wars: Force Unleashed
This game was probably one of the most hyped ones on this list but in terms of gameplay and delivery this game didn't work as well as it should've. Not many of the Star Wars fans were happy with the story and the non-fans weren't exactly blown away by the gameplay it had to offer.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
Sorry, Toddo. I'm still not going to get these more than two sentences.

Too Human
This one has also been pretty cut down the middle. A lot of people agree that this game just didn't deliver on all of the promises it made and all of the time it had in development, while the other half told me to kindly 'fuck off' and that Too Human was a great game in it's own right. The thing is, you can't really convince me that a game lived up to almost a full decade of hype when you openly admit that it has its own set of flaws and isn't perfect. Nice try, though.

Mirror's Edge - Workaholic's Choice
This one got enough votes to actually end up on the list here. While I actually haven't gotten a chance to play this game yet, I have heard that it didn't live up to the hype that was set for it. With such an interesting and good story and premise, it's sort of sad that this game had some flaws that kept it from being great. Unfortunately I think this game was doomed to end up getting overhyped anyway. But according to a lot of people the game was overhyped and onto of that it lost its charm after about the first two hours.

2007 Winner: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
2008 Halftime Winner: N/A

And the Angry Sun goes to...

Spore

Again, Spore actually was pretty close to losing this one as well. It beat out Force Unleashed by 4 votes. Also just for those that care, Little Big Planet only got one vote and Mirror's Edge actually beat out Fable II for Workaholic's Choice. Anyway, I think when I made up this ballot that Spore was an easy choice and I wasn't wrong. After all of the hype all of these respective games got, it just seems like Spore lost the most out of all of them. A shitty DRM to keep the game from being spread, onto of bland gameplay on some of the progressive levels and no real feel of creativity like you have with the Sims outside of making freaks of nature just rubbed people the wrong way a lot. Spore is a great game, I'm not taking anything away from that. But you can't honestly tell me that the game we got is the game they were hyping it up to be.

Workaholic's Choice Game of the Year Nominations
Here it is folks. You all had one week to go ahead and send me in ideas of what you want to be Game of the Year, and now the ballot has been officially released. There will be no witty blurbs from me, just the name of the games. After all, I don't think I can say anymore about this game that's already been said.

LittleBigPlanet

Fallout 3

Metal Gear Solid 4

Dead Space

*2008 Halftime Game of the Year Winner*
Grand Theft Auto 4

Before you light the torches and go crazy, Gears of War 2 and Super Smash Brothers Brawl were mentioned, but sadly the games listed on the list above had WAY more votes than those two games so they were sadly left off the list. It ain't my fault.

Working Question

Out of THE GAMES LISTED ABOVE AS VOTED ON BY THE WORKAHOLICS...what is Game of the Year? Keep in mind that Gears 2 and SSBB are still being considered but they were left off the formal ballot. If enough people vote they will be counted as if they were on the formal ballot. So if you REALLY wanted either of those games as GOTY now is the time to vote.


Until next time, my name is Jordan Williams...and IT'S TIME TO OPEN SOME FUCKING PRESENTS, BITCHES!