It's GOTY time again! Submit up to 5 nominations to the following categories, and the upcoming official poll will include the most requested nominations from you guys.

Best Wii game

Best DS game

Best 3DS game

Best WiiWare game

Best DSiWare/3DS eShop game

Best VC game

Most wanted Wii game

Most wanted 3DS game

Most wanted 3DS eShop game

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I'm not going to vote since this is just the nomination pool anyway but is the winner just determined by the poll resulting from the nominations? Because that will make it a complete popularity contest. Especially in a year like this where there is the one juggernaut title and nothing else can compete. Nobody has nominated Xenoblade yet and I don't think that is because it does not deserve to be up there but rather barely anyone outside of Europe/Asia/Oceania has played it. If it does get representation it's going to get steamrolled by Zelda which will have had way more exposure. That goes for other titles as well, Kirby may be a great game but I didn't play it and if you ask me for Wii GOTY I would say Zelda.

@stephen08

@Griptor @GameDadGrant
@TriforceBun @rebonack
@anon_mastermind @ludist210
@nate38 @Secret_Tunnel
@GelatinousEncore @NoName
@roykoopa64 @chrisbg99

I mean, it's for Most Wanted, which is fair enough considering our general location on the planet. It's getting it's due diligence and I'm sure the GOTY 2012 will be a good thing for it.

@stephen08

The winner will be determined in a later thread when everyone votes on their top games.

Regarding Xenoblade...well, that's just the nature of the beast. Unfortunately, most of us haven't played it due to its limited release so we're in no position to gauge the game's quality. But like Fink said, it'll have a stronger shot next year when it doesn't have to compete with Zelda anyway.

Anyone who has played it is welcome to nominate Xenoblade for GOTY. If it gets enough noms it will make the official poll. It will also be eligible for 2012 GOTY, though.

@anon_mastermind

That's not really my point though, if it gets enough nominations to be represented it is going to get steamrolled by Zelda. Because most everyone here has (or will have) played Zelda and vote for it. But since Xenoblade is not out here yet they can't consider it. At that point, it's not about which game is better. And Xenoblade is just one example. What about Kirby? Will everyone who votes Skyward Sword have played Kirby? I doubt it.

@stephen08

So then what do you want from the GOTY? There's no way around that unless everyone is forced to play every game in the running... so like I said, no way around it.

stephen08 said:

@anon_mastermind

That's not really my point though, if it gets enough nominations to be represented it is going to get steamrolled by Zelda. Because most everyone here has (or will have) played Zelda and vote for it. But since Xenoblade is not out here yet they can't consider it. At that point, it's not about which game is better. And Xenoblade is just one example. What about Kirby? Will everyone who votes Skyward Sword have played Kirby? I doubt it.

Welcome to every GOTY discussion ever.

@DrFinkelstein

Yeah there would be no way around it for the whole site. The best solution I can come up with is to have the nominations be community driven, then get people to rate the games they have played on the Game page and take the average. Of course, this introduces some new issues.

rebonack said:

Welcome to every GOTY discussion ever.

Yeah, pretty much.

@DrFinkelstein

You answered your own question:

Everyone should be FORCED!!

Best Wii Game

Xenoblade

Best 3DS Games

Mario Kart
Mario Land 3D
Star Fox
Dead or Alive

Maybe we should make the GOTY discussions an editor roundtable or something? Just an idea...

Best Wii game
1. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
2. Rayman Origins
3. Kirby's Return to Dream Land

Best DS game
1. Ghost Trick
2. Kirby Mass Attack

Best 3DS Game
1. Mario Kart 7
2. Super Mario 3D Land

Best DSiWare/3DS eShop game
1. Mighty Switch Force!
2. Mighty Milky Way
3. Pushmo

Most wanted Wii game
1. Rhythm Heaven Fever
2. Xenoblade Chronicles
3. The Last Story (Here's hoping!)

Most wanted 3DS game
1. Kid Icarus: Uprising
2. Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure
3. Animal Crossing

Most wanted 3DS eShop game
1. Sakura Samurai
2. Mutant Mudds
3. Dillon's Rolling Western

@Stephen That's not a terrible idea, but the fact is that like maybe 5 people will rate Xenoblade and like 50 people will rate Skyward Sword and you still can't accurately compare the two.

Whatever the case I'm wondering if Xenoblade should even be in the runnings for this year. When we do these things we tend to use NA releases only. Not fair to Europe and (if anyone here lives there) Japan, but it's the only way to have consistency.

@anon_mastermind We did do that last year! We do it every year because I never have time to do it on time, lol.

Anyway, here are my nominations:

Best Wii game
Skyward Sword
BIT.TRIP COMPLETE

Best DS game
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Professor Layton and the Last Specter
Okamiden

Best 3DS game
Super Mario 3D Land
Mario Kart 7
Pilotwings Resort
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars

Best WiiWare game
BIT.TRIP FLUX
MotoHeroz
escapeVektor: Chapter 1
Liight

Best DSiWare/3DS eShop game
Face Raiders (should we count this here?! It has to go somewhere!!!)
Pushmo
Mighty Switch Force!
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition
Mighty Milky Way

Best VC game
God, don't even remember what came out in 2011...

Most wanted Wii game
Xenoblade
Rhythm Heaven
Dragon Quest X

Most wanted 3DS game
Layton vs Ace Attorney
Paper Mario 3D
Resident Evil: Revelations

Most wanted 3DS eShop game
NightSky

I changed my list around since I've played new games and put more time into others. Overall, 2011 was pretty awesome.

Best Wii game
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Honourable mention because it is AWESOME: Xenoblade Chronicles!!!!!!!!

Best DS game
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
Honourable mention goes to Kirby: Mass Attack

Best 3DS game
Super Mario 3D Land
Honourable mention goes to Mario Kart 7

Best WiiWare game


Best DSiWare/3DS eShop game
Pushmo
The Legend of Zelda: 4 Swords Anniversary Edition also gets a mention for being so free and fun

Best VC game
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX
Donkey Kong "94" is cool too!

Most wanted Wii game
Rhythm Heaven Fever
OH! Also, you should all buy Xenoblade.

Most wanted 3DS game
Layton Vs. Ace Attorney
My follow-ups are tied! Kid Icarus and Paper Mario. YAY!

Most wanted 3DS eShop game
Hmm... Well, I really liked VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV.

And just to ask once more; there isn't a page/list that says what released this year for each of these things?

@Mr_Mustache Not that I know of, although the quick way I tend to find out is to go to Gamerankings and search by year. Usually take minimum reviews down from 20 to 1, because otherwise you won't get a lot of the smaller games showing up.

ANYWAY, get your last nominations in people! I'm going to try to tally this up and get the GOTY polls up and running immediately after New Year's.

Best Wii game The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Best DS game Pokemon Black & White

Best 3DS game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

Best WiiWare gameN/A

Best DSiWare/3DS eShop game Pushmo

Best VC game The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Most wanted Wii game Xenoblade Saga

Most wanted 3DS game Animal Crossing

Most wanted 3DS eShop game Mighty Switch Force

@sirmastersephiroth
you can add mire than one nomination to each category