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How I Do My Awards (Or, Why Doom Eternal Was Robbed!)
🕑 Added 2021-01-05 13:16:28 +0000 UTCGame of the Year awards are as prone as any other form of videogame critique to causing upset. Very much like controversies surrounding game reviews, I've read the same debates crop up, year after year, for decades. Before I even started getting into it myself. The most common phrase to occur in any given comment section is "(Game) was robbed!"
Robbed!
"How could you give an award to this game, but not to this one," is another stock phrase, closely mirroring the arbitrary score comparisons you can often see in response to reviews. Am I adequately hiding how weary I am of certain aspects of this whole job?
Really, I don't often expect much of a backlash to the Jimquisition Awards, our own year-end honors that you just might have happened to watch. Most people look forward to the Shittiest Games list rather than linger on the positive video, and while there are always going to be the "X was robbed" comments, they're not usually consistent enough to get my attention.
This year, however, more than a few viewers noted the absence of Doom Eternal. The majority of my regular audience has been chill in disagreement, of course, either stating a case for the game or simply registering their disappointment. My work nonetheless still shows up on a few Gamer(tm) radars, and can still bring in some choice responses. This one I like as it combines both all-time classic arguments:
"BOO! Why is Final Fantasy VII Remake on this list of best 2020 games? It’s not even a FINISHED product! Why did you rob Doom Eternal?"
I've been thinking about Doom Eternal a bit since posting the Jimquisition Awards, and thought it would be fun (for me at least) to talk a little about year-end awards, how I do them, and why Doom Eternal (or any given game) never made the cut.
Immediately, however, I must dispel the notion that Doom Eternal was actually robbed, because it never had an award to be robbed of. Very much like the arbitrary comparisons, the robbery charge has a parallel in review protests - the accusation of "docking" points from a score.
The assumption suggested by this allegation is that every game starts with an automatic 10/10, and is subsequently penalized. It is clear that, for some among the game-buying public, that is how they view games (as evidenced with all the "AAA" games that are beloved before anyone's even played them). In my experience, it is not how most game reviews are written. It's certainly not how I've ever done it.
I could do a book on the language of videogame controversies. I won't.
The point is, Doom Eternal can't be robbed of that which it does not have, and it never had an award from me. It was not robbed. I also do not consider the lack of award a snub, either. I mean it as no disrespect to Doom Eternal, a game I absolutely loved playing. I consider it something that just didn't quite make the cut, and by not being one of only five games that I have named as my absolute top recommends of the year, one cannot accurately say my video implies Doom Eternal is in any way bad.
It goes without saying that The Jimquisition Awards are very personal choices. I was arrogant enough to name my show, and thus my awards, after myself. There is nobody else those choices could represent or reflect the opinion of. I am not establishment, or official, or endorsed by anything with industry clout. My opinions are detested by most anybody with a shred of influence in videogames, I'm hardly going to change the course of game development by saying I like Final Fantasy VII Remake.
That's not to say they don't matter on some level. They matter to me, because I like doing them, and they clearly matter to my viewers. They sometimes matter to the developers who win something if they're not ones who hate me. I'm just trying to stress that, ultimately, me saying a game isn't game of the year doesn't make it fact. It doesn't make the game inferior, or enshrine it as such in history. They're ultimately just five games that I really like.
I'm not methodical with my choices. A lot of people like to have strict criteria, or want to codify official rules of entry. I'm mentally incapable of thinking in those terms, so I go much more on feeling and immediate emotional response when considering a game. This can provide different justifications for picking a game, as you can see quite clearly in the 2020 awards.
Obviously the games all have to be fuckin' good as actual games on some level. Regardless of whatever else a game may do, I will expect a baseline of quality gameplay in a videogame. This can take many forms, mostly of the "don't piss me off with your bullshit" variety. It's important to me because even if the story is excellent or the visuals stunning, I'm still the one who has to interact with the damn thing, and sustained exposure to unpleasant interactions is not something I'm going to recommend hard enough to say it's among my year's favorites.
Doom Eternal is actually a fuckin' great game. An example of a game falling out of consideration for a problem like this is Cloudpunk, which I would have liked to give an award to but just do not enjoy enough as a game to praise so highly. The characters, the world, the story, the political stuff, it's all really intriguing, but the the navigation, the steering, the standing around waiting for the game to tell you which direction is the right way to go... it makes me constantly mutter in irritation. The game is doing well enough that it's holding my attention despite all this, and there are many games I love that are actually kind of shitty as games, but unless it does something so remarkable it truly transcends, it's not award-worthy.
Fragile Dreams is one fine example of a game I adore while recommending nobody play it.
I'm also just one person when it comes to compiling a year's worth of games. I cannot see, play, cover, or even hear of everything. It's another reason the show shouldn't be seen as some official definitive list of the year. I do my best to catch everything that looks like my kind of deal while still finding time to play utter bullshit like Phantast. What the fuck was Phantast?
Any one element from my baseline of "fuckin' great" can be so good it's worthy of recognition. Undertale has rock solid gameplay, but it's the storytelling, humor and commentary that made me love it so much that I'd give it an award. This year I described how I was unenthused with the plot side of Ghost of Tsushima but nonetheless found the world beautiful and the gameplay an absolute blast.
Deadly Premonition was of course a unique example, in that it was incredibly shitty but I argued the shittiness was so carefully balanced and overwhelmingly informative of the hilarity of the experience that it had to go in.
Despite my expectations of at least tolerable gameplay, both the Jimquisition Awards and the Shittiest Games consider elements outside of the basic "is this game good or bad?" It's easier to provide examples of the latter, since I deliberately keep the definition of "shitty" open and flexible.
For example, while Assassin's Creed Unity is playable despite it flaws, I argued that Ubisoft's overall bullshit and inability to live up to its marketing as a multimillion dollar corporation, while claiming playable women were just too difficult to develop, is completely shitty - and that shittiness is inextricably part of the product. This year I offered Cyberpunk 2077 despite my openly and legitimately snubbing, and despite it having the core of a critically acclaimed game. I confidently included it because I believe being sold on such a lie after being made with such toxicity is so undeniably shitty that I couldn't get away with not putting it on the list. A product sold on a lie is objectively shitty in a very clear sense of the word.
There's an example of a Jimquisition Award getting this treatment in Ikenfell. It is not interactively groundbreaking, or mindblowing, or something most of videogame history will remember. And that latter point is a shame regardless of its less standout qualities, because not only is it still a fuckin' good game, it's very important to me that it's here, and to many others who have played it. I explained this in the video, but to reiterate - the level of gay rep in Ikenfell is tremendous, and important. Seeing characters of many sexualities, seeing trans and non-binary characters, I cannot - CANNOT - emphasize the importance of it.
Visibility is so important I will never be able to fully express it. I only just this year realized how true that is, and how much my own life could have changed if there were more of it. How I could have been who I should've been sooner. This is the kind of sentiment people like J.K. Rowling are afraid of. They falsely claim it's brainwashing, and want to bury the existence, the very knowledge, of trans and NB people. Suppressing the visibility of LGBTQ+ people has been part of our existence for longer than any of us have lived. Make no mistake, it's a genocidal endeavor to which merely being seen is to fight back.
Since my own coming out, I've seen how just my talking about my experiences has helped others find themselves, or find the confidence to be themselves more. It's not that I've done anything special. Hell, I've not even gone full Fem Sterling mode on the show yet. But just the lippy, just the references to my HRT, the coming out itself, the being seen, that is what others needed to start their own journeys. They needed to see someone like them. It's the only way any of us can ever know we're not alone.
And you're not.
Anyway, talk of visibility could be its own full essay, and I actually do want to have a big ol' video on identity and my own changes one day. Maybe this year? Guess I'll see what happens during 2021.
Ikenfell made the list because it's just that important to both myself and many I know and love.
I'll do the last two points I wanna make quickly as this was meant to be a quick thing and I ended up writing too much bollocks again. Firstly, I do have one objective qualification for a Jimquisition Award winner - a game doesn't need it, but if it has it, it's going to go on the list. Exactly how much time this year did I play the game? How much of my ADHD-addled brain actually focused on something, how much of my precious time did I waste not just playing, but thinking and talking about the game. This is something that usually gets a Dark Souls or two on the list, but honestly after beating Demon's Souls this year, I just didn't stay with it afterwards like I've done with other From games, and that's with Demon's Souls even being one of my most beloved games ever.
On a semi-related note, though they're not mutually exclusive, is perhaps the most important (and here I am rushing it). When I think back on the year, does it encapsulate those twelve months in terms of the games I played? Do I think of them first? Do I recall them more clearly and readily than the rest of the pack? If I do forget it, do I immediately feel like a fool for doing so? Basically, is it "videogames in 2020" to me?
Doom Eternal wasn't.
It was a great game. I loved it while it held my attention. It looked lovely, it was super fun, it made some really interesting changes to its predecessor. It's great and I think it deserves any accolades it may have gotten elsewhere. It's a game I cannot argue against when anyone tells me it was their game of the year. Because I feel no urge to go back to it, it doesn't leap to mind when I think of 2020. I think of Tsushima, Streets of Rage 4, FF VII Remake, Ikenfell, Hades, or even some games which didn't make the list like Cloudpunk or Spiritfarer.
A lot of people in nerdy spaces like to give everything rules, lore, extensive wikis, objectivity. There are those who prefer their discourse more clearly-defined, and that's fair. Me writing a long-winded essay to say, "I just wasn't feeling Doom Eternal, buddy!" is most likely a disappointment to anyone looking for my rules, because all I have is a loosely defined set of feelings and reactions.
Even worse, every year is going to be arbitrary in some way, shape, or form, because they're The Jimquisition Awards, and I really do make use of the freedom to do things however I want. And I don't want the awards to be taken so seriously that to not include a game is a distinct indictment. Not unless it is a distinct indictment like it was for Fall Guys.
I love doing both the Jimquisition Awards and Shittiest Games. I actually think about them all year long, because I view them as "season finale" episodes for The Jimquisition, ending a year of shows as they typically do. Despite my memory issues, I've got a steel trap for most stuff I need to file away for work, and from January to December I'm keeping track of what I love and despise.
Oh, and I know people were miffed that I neglected to do any honorable mentions. Sorry about that! If I were giving further recommendations, then yeah I'd go with Doom Eternal, along with Demon's Souls, Astro's Playroom, and Paradise Killer. All very good times.
Also, for those asking after it... I really can't stand Bugsnax.
Comments
L
Oh don’t even entertain those fools. You make no bones about the show being anything but you (and Justin’s great editing as well as snark) so I have no idea why anyone would think ‘The Jimquistion Awards’ would have some objective IGN bullshit going on. If someone comes here looking for objective opinions first of all-how do you manage to walk and breathe at the same time; second-it’s Jim’s party and they’ll cry if they want to. Make your own video about how Doom Eternal is the GotY, Jim has better things to do.
As someone who only realised she was trans in her mid 30s because visibility was so hard to come by earlier in my life, and by the time it started to be there it took a while for it to sink in that that is who *I* am, yeah, it matters *so* much, and I'm so glad to see you being open about things and helping other people realise, and I would love to hear more from you about your experiences whenever you feel like talking about it
Eamon
Release day bug, understandable, but to just leave it there and acknowledge it is so lazy and lacks any sense of pride in work. I get I'm just a random ranting on the internet now but to anyone saying it deserves to be game of the year no it does not.
Eamon
Doom Eternal doesn't deserve to win because of the massive bug even by Bethesda standards that they just left there. If using wireless headphones there is no audio, and their official support is "don't use headphones". To have not patched it up after all this time is absurd. The only way around it is an unofficial guide to doing a bunch of things that disables the microphone, so I have to choose between spending ten minutes making changes (and then having to turn them on or risk being muted in work meetings) or annoying my housemates by having all these loud demon murder sounds.
Honestly I'm just upset on the radio silence from you on Yakuza 7. Youtubers talking about Yakuza makes makes me happy and frankly its all Youtubers should do anyways.
Benedict Holland
Probably the best game after wastelands 3 for me. That game made me cry.
Benedict Holland
I loved 2016 and hated eternal. Like, hated that game. I hate that enemies have weaknesses to guns. I absolutely despised the guardians. That stopped all progress and all action. It was 2 shot hell with nothing but fast reaction time and parry. It sucked. I have very slow reaction times and play on a ps4. They should have made them optional. When I play doom I want to murder hoards of demons. When I play wolf, I want to murder hoards of Nazis. I shoot projectiles at them. They die. Dont mess with that formula.
batmabel
Couldn't agree more, it's always a lovely surprise when a blog post like this one shows up on my notifications. I miss your writing Jim, and I'm always happy to see it again when you feel like doing it again.
Luiza Melki
The funny thing is, while I was fine with your list, I left a comment on your video about being in absolute disbelief that, in a year with hades in it, it was RDR2 of all games that got steam awards GOTY. Your list, personal as it is, sounded more logical and fair than steam awards - that should at least be democractic, I guess? Would love to see the video about identity and changes happen. Wish you a better year, Jim!
Alicejack Airheart
The same way Trans visibility is good for public consciousness, this is more of the same. You shouldn't have to apologize for your games of the year. Your list is perfect as it is. And as a Trans nb myself I'd rather have Ikenfell than another 'goes shooty bang bang hurrrrr' (I'm sure it's a good game). Now if there is a post I want to see, it's more of your NB adventures! I want to know if you want to be called by another name. I know you'd prefer they/ them pronouns, and you're the kinda gal I would love to call by anything your heart desires <3
Fukata
Oh, also: Feel free to write long winded rants on your patreon posts - they're great. And I should give Ikenfell a try.
Zero
Gonna be honest...I forgot about Doom Eternal. It was fantastic but yeah completely forgot about it.
gridsleep
I have played none of them so none of them are game of the year.
DopePhizh
For me when looking at "reviews" and related, I prefer an opinion from a "reviewer" I know. So when there's a Jim Sterling video talking about the qualities of a game, I want Jim Sterling's opinion. I have a handful of "reviewers" I generally look too, because I know their taste and how it aligns with mine. I find that more useful than any "objective" score or some "meta" aggregated score. Also I find it amusing and revealing when Gamers™ goes into a rage. I'd give this years shittiest and best a 7/10.
Trevor Bond
I mean, I fully support you making a video full of your own opinions how you see fit based on what criteria you like. That's why I am here after all. I don't expect anything specific of you and don't feel it's my place to countermand your opinions on your own platform. I just didn't watch it because I have zero desire to even hear the phrase 'Final Fantasy' at this point, because I'm still so damn disappointed that they took the RPG I enjoyed so much despite it giving me endless hours of headaches, and made it into a Kingdom Hearts game. Which I hate. So.... yeah, you make your list how you do and enjoy, and just skip over the whining, I say. Good explanation though, very well stated!
ProfessorComrade
I have nothing of value to add to the conversation aside from that final sentence is pretty vindicating. That game is really low effort with a hefty marketing budget. That's it. 8gbs of kitsch, and not the good kind.
A finely cave-aged cheese
How dare you not agree with me on every little thing.
Who is complaining about this...?
csroc
A good explanation. I certainly understand being disappointed when you see a game you loved not being recognized by someone such as yourself, but that's a topic to engage in CIVILLY with other viewers and yourself in the comments or wherever. There's no justification for whining over it or attacking someone.
Harro
But Jim, didn't you know that a top 10 list is only legal when you copy/paste the top 10 games of the year from metacritic? That is, of course, unless the game prominently features people who aren't straight, white men or sexualized women, let's not get ridiculous. Everything else is just robbery and has to be sentenced by you going to gamer prison where you are forced to play Cyberpunk 2077 all day for 2 months while writing an article praising everything about it every day. All jokes aside, it was an interesting list. I might check Ikenfell out, sounds interesting, I genuinely haven't heard of it before.
Pedro Garcia-Huidobro
A couple of things 1 Your best games of the year list is the thing that I wait for the most. I don't buy new games (money), so your video is greatly appreciated. 2 "I could do a book on the language of videogame controversies. I won't. " Ok, but if you change your mind, I will buy that XD 3 Thanks for taking the time rewrite this, and thanks for being you
Michael Negranol
Doom Eternal was a whole lot more divisive than 2016. While I can only recall broad praise for the Renaissance of Doom that was the first installment, Eternal was extremely divisive in many respects. I personally fall deep into the opposition camp, and wouldn't have considered it for anything outside a genre specific award.
Sarah Alderdice
In regard to the whole representation thing, they stand together out of fear and hate. We stand together to survive. Who do you think will win, in the end? Hopefully that thought provides a small amount of comfort.
Joelle Seguin
God damn Jim, that's a lot of words to say, "bugger off, it's my show."
mimouroto
PS. I'm the one who emailed about nintendo back in 2019 firing my whole family, good times. They still haven't improved. The whole industry is garbage. YAY!
mimouroto
0o0 I am outraged that hyrule warriors 2 was not on this list, despite being a clear 8 out of 10 game as compared to those lesser 7/10 zelda entries! I will however settle for a headpat, and a 'there's a good girl.' I will be patiently waiting for an update while imagining link cuddled against Sidon's fish abs. Have you seen how small Mipha is compared to Sidon! Good thing Sidon only has eyes for Link, because he would absolutely wreck any Zora who had the unfortunate task of bearing the heir to the the throne's child. He's fucking massive! Wait, the tiny robot is playable and has lasers, 9/10. STERLING I DEMAND ANSWERS!
Fukata
I, personally, bounced off Doom Eternal in a way I did not for Doom 2016. I feel like the flow of Doom 2016 was compelling, every fight leading into the next, every moment exciting and drawing me forward. Doom Eternal repeatedly felt sluggish by comparison, stopping the action to talk at me, putting the brakes on hard to send me to a ship, having weird platforming puzzles, having to juggle health/armour/ammo. I'm sure for some people it was a great game, but it just felt like they missed what made Doom 2016 a really fun game - non-stop frenetic action.
Nate
These sorts of long essays are like bonus Jimquisitions, really. And seriously, though it's not something I'd ever have been able to put into words, what's more "AAA" than the belief that any game with sufficient advertising and budget is "owed" an award for merely existing?
It's such a strange phenomenon. Like... We all *know* Doom Eternal was a good game. And we know *you* know it's a good game, you said so when you did a Jimpressions of it and recommended it as something along the lines of "more of the same, but further polished" (although personally I think at least narrative-wise it was the Chronicles of Riddick to the 2016 game's Pitch Black). On the other hand, I'd never heard of Ikenfell. I'm absolutely going to try it out on the strength of your recommendation. I like that you have unconventional choices, it broadens horizons. Nearly everyone who wanted to play Doom Eternal has already done that, so I don't know what anyone thinks would be achieved by you giving it a nod at the end of the year.
Nate
Iirc it was because of monetization or something? Pretty sure they mentioned it in their fall guys video.
abhassl
Honestly, the game I'm more surprised not to see at least get a mention is Fall Guys. Memory serves you weren't as into it as Laura or Conrad but I thought I remembered you being pretty positive on it as well. I've got no skin in that game however as I haven't played it and it doesn't look like my sort of game.
Tales of the Raven
I think I prefer to listen to your recommendations over most others. The fact is, you know your stuff, our tastes are fairly similar, and we are both on the trans NB train (and both seem to have come at it later in our lives, because of lack of exposure to it). I appreciate you, friend-o. Thank you for being you, and keep up the most excellent work. Thank God for you!
Tobasco da Gama
Sounds like your Objective Game Review video needs an Objective GOTY List follow-up.
ReXimus128
I need Jim's views to perfectly reflect my own feelings. Thus Fairy Tail being snubbed from Game of the Year really hurts... :( /s
Mattezhion Zane Corgan Campbell
Please keep up with the loads of bollocks, it's what makes you so enthralling to listen to. I'm not here for objective criticism, I'm not here for game recommendations, I'm here for the voice. The voice like steel wool in the industry's ears because it says what they don't want said. That they aren't bloody good enough to earn what they get. That the people who do earn it are being silenced and ground away to nothing. Keep speaking for those who need to be heard. Your voice is a weapon and you are wielding it like a champion. Onward to more bollocks!
Legeden
tbh, I like the list to be more personal than everyone giving Top5 to all the same games if everyone put the same 5 games on the list based on purely objective facts, what fun would that be... I don't think I've even played any of your Top5 and if it matched mine I'd have no new games on my radar.
Vooster
I feel you with the representation. I'm cis-het, but I'm also a black woman. Just getting seeing a black women in a game will give it extra points in my non-objective ratings. Hades is also my game of the year, and it would have been even if Athena wasn't portrayed as a Black Goddess, but I nearly cried when I saw her for the first time. Actually I nearly cried at several points in the game. I cry very easily, this is not unusual for me.
Seamanity
Sadly it's all part of that stupid Gamer(tm) entitlement "I like X game and you didn't credit it, RAGE!!", weird they have opinions but not understand so do other people and they can differ. I for the record did note there was no DOOM Eternal on the list, but i didn't really care it wasn't because i respect your opinion and know you have your reasons to not give it the honor. Kinda sad that those zealots think a game is either good or bad, bet they didn't argue with any shitty awards because they played worst on the plus side those morons might still get it if FF7R's award is taken away if Nomura starts "Nomura-ing" up the thing, then again you probably wouldn't out of spite... it's what i'd do.
Damodarko
"Awards given by your own personal opinion? Fine. However, I feel your personal opinion failed to reflect MY personal opinion! Unforgiveable!" - I don't understand people like this or how they can take it so personally. Can't fault a single game on your list and you have me curious about street of rage, a game remake I wasn't aware of till now! Also, Hades, the game can not get enough praise.
Thomas Halpin
Do you think you would give an honorable mention to Spiritfarer if you were giving honorable mentions?
Leaf
It's astounding the efforts people go to code away our existence, and then try to pretend like doing so is natural. Let's talk about the failed brainwashing that went into trying to convince me that my nonbinary ass doesn't exist! Quite frankly, the gender binary is boring and bad for games.
Michael
I’m surprised so many people are upset about Doom Eternal. I loved the game, and while it did make some changes from the 2016 game I don’t think it did enough to warrant any awards that the original didn’t already acquire
ABear
I hear you there with bugsnax. That game viscerally set off my fight or flight response. Not in a huge way, but just that tingle in the back of my mind that gently urged me to get away from this. It's an art style change away from being an existential horror game.
Bill Rutherford
It seems silly that people would get genuinely upset about a certain game not appearing on a certain person's arbitrary list. I appreciated seeing something like Ikenfell (a game I haven't played or really heard of) in amongst the more standard choices. Yours wasn't the only "X best games of 2020" piece I saw, and that's not by accident - I want to hear different opinions and different voices. If everyone always awarded the same 5 or 10 games, what would be the damn point of watching them all?
Nathan Shepperd
Much of the enjoyment for me comes from you not taking it seriously or even trying to make it “objective”, which is a presumptuous thing to do anyway. I’d completely forgotten about Doom Eternal and it was the only game this year I bought on release. So equally unsure what the fuss is if you don’t give out an award. Might as well be upset that one’s favourite brand of toilet paper didn’t get an award...
