Semi-related to No.6: I loved that you could dance on a downed opponent in SOCOM II. Not only was it a lighthearted taunt (and way less douchy than teabagging), but it was completely bizarre given the game's uber serious nature and came with very real consequences due to how easy it was to kill a vulnerable opponent. …

You're not discussing the merit of a GotY candidate though. You're (poorly) attempting to discredit the author based on the TYPE of game she's playing and the fact that she's a woman. That has nothing to do with your opinion as the aforementioned criteria can be quantified and assessed.

Your personal opinion of the game's quality has no purpose in this discussion.

Just because Half-Life 2 came out in 2004 doesn't mean The Orange Box was undeserving of praise in 2007. It's still a new game even if it's built on top of something that already came out. Likewise, comparing Spelunky to the likes of Mario and it's ilk is so misguided that I can only assume you were reaching that far…

You say that like minimalism is a bad thing. Shadow of the Colossus was a minimalist experience and is arguably the best game of the 00-09 decade. Bigger isn't always better. A lot of the time with AAA games you get a bunch of bullshit that isn't even necessary. Tacked on multiplayer experiences, inflated level design…

They're not ridiculously tight with spending money on themselves; only when it comes to spending their money on others.

Don't tell that to professional athletes who're typically bankrupt ~5 years after they retire despite making more in their short careers than most people make in a lifetime.

"NFS Shift was really good"

Oh, are we comparing race sims to arcade racers? While we're at it, lets talk about Super Smash Bros vs Street Fighter or League of Legends to Starcraft. It's apples and oranges. I will say, however, that I feel Forza screwed up big time with Horizon. People play Forza because they want a hardcore race sim, not a…

Considering MK9 is superior to SSFIV in nearly all aspects (story, content, variety, visuals, etc), it's probably not quite the insult you think it is. The only point you could argue is SSFIV's technical merit (i.e., it has a higher "skill cap" than MK9 and thus is superior in competitive play) but if that's your…

Says the kid posting on a Gawker affiliate site.

While the additional DLC is nice, I'd like for them to take a step back and "balance" the game a bit. Not in terms of crazy weapons or anything, but just some of the shit that has been straight up broken for so long. They're quick to fix some of the game-breaking bugs, but when are we gonna get the gameplay-related…

To the people replying to this with, "Was it really that simple?", I feel I should also add that Patricia works harder than damn near anyone I know. She's been one of my closest friends over the past couple years and watching her ridiculously fast ascension in the industry has been staggering. As someone who used to…

The point of creation is twofold: The enjoyment of creation and the results it produces. For some people, this is functional. They're building a table because they require a table and nothing more. To others, it's a business, or it's about appearance, or challenging one's self, a purpose, a message, a meaning. The…

And the thing is, a.) it's a PvE game so "balance" doesn't really matter, and b.) there's a dozen other game breaking items, combos, and skills that can be abused for equal effectiveness.

1) Buy a decent gaming rig with a good Nvidia card (bitch all you want, but games are almost always optimized better for it.)

Probably due to what the white whale represents in Moby Dick. To copy-paste from Wikipedia:

Notice the word "ridiculous" in the title. This isn't exactly going for tasteful and well executed themes. It's about the absurdity of them.