Spike TV 2005 Video Game Awards

[Dark Jezter]

Because until Final Fantasy 7 was released here in the US, RPGs were a niche genre that was easily ignored here in North America. On the other hand, during that entire time Dragon Quest games releases were practically national holidays in Japan. I'm not saying Japanese RPGs are older, I'm just saying they are more popular.

That's really only true for consoles. RPGs have been one of the longest-running and most popular genres for PC games ever since the early 1980s. Sure, American gamers don't get quite as fanatical as the Japanese when an anticipated video game RPG comes out, but neither were RPGs an irrelevant genre in America prior to Final Fantasy 7 being released.

Back to the topic at hand, I'm not surprised that no Japanese games were nominated in the Best RPG Category. It seems like all of the Japanese RPGs I've played in the last few years have been heavy on CGI cutscenes and scripted dialogue scenes while being light on gameplay and player freedom. I'll gladly take games like Knights of the Old Republic or Morrowind over games like Final Fantasy X.

 

[Pants]

Because until Final Fantasy 7 was released here in the US, RPGs were a niche genre that was easily ignored here in North America. On the other hand, during that entire time Dragon Quest games releases were practically national holidays in Japan. I'm not saying Japanese RPGs are older, I'm just saying they are more popular.

More Popular != More... errr Better.

Back to the topic at hand, I'm not surprised that no Japanese games were nominated in the Best RPG Category. It seems like all of the Japanese RPGs I've played in the last few years have been heavy on CGI cutscenes and scripted dialogue scenes while being light on gameplay and player freedom. I'll gladly take games like Knights of the Old Republic or Morrowind over games like Final Fantasy X.

Word.

 

[drothgery]

Back to the topic at hand, I'm not surprised that no Japanese games were nominated in the Best RPG Category. It seems like all of the Japanese RPGs I've played in the last few years have been heavy on CGI cutscenes and scripted dialogue scenes while being light on gameplay and player freedom. I'll gladly take games like Knights of the Old Republic or Morrowind over games like Final Fantasy X.

I'll galadly play KotOR or FFX over Morrowind, where I could never figure out what I was supposed to be doing and which wasn't as graphically impressive as FFX (and with the Xbox to work with instead of the PS2, it should have been).

 

[ThirdWizard]

Back to the topic at hand, I'm not surprised that no Japanese games were nominated in the Best RPG Category. It seems like all of the Japanese RPGs I've played in the last few years have been heavy on CGI cutscenes and scripted dialogue scenes while being light on gameplay and player freedom. I'll gladly take games like Knights of the Old Republic or Morrowind over games like Final Fantasy X.

Note that WoW won, and really its about as RPGish as Diablo. And Dungeon Siege II and X-Men Legends II were on the list of nominees. Is X-Men Legends II even an RPG?? What the-? So, I have to say that this list is pretty darn bad.

 

[Dark Jezter]

Note that WoW won, and really its about as RPGish as Diablo. And Dungeon Siege II and X-Men Legends II were on the list of nominees. Is X-Men Legends II even an RPG?? What the-? So, I have to say that this list is pretty darn bad.

The qualities that define a video game RPG are much different than what defines a pen & paper RPG. And as time goes on, more and more subgenres are starting to emerge for video game RPGs: you've got action RPGs like Diablo and Dungeon Siege, MMORPGs like World of Warcraft and City of Heroes, cinematic RPGs like Final Fantasy X, strategy RPGs like Heroes of Might and Magic and Fire Emblem, et cetera.

Not only that, but games from other genres are starting to blend with the RPG genre, some examples being Warcraft III (a real-time strategy game with RPG elements) and Deus Ex (a first-person shooter with RPG elements).

Based on this, I didn't find any problems with the nominees (or winner) in the best RPG category.

 

[mojo1701]

Is X-Men Legends II even an RPG??

I'm assuming it's similar in type to X-Men Legends (the first one), so I would say, "Yes."

 

[WizarDru]

Note that WoW won, and really its about as RPGish as Diablo. And Dungeon Siege II and X-Men Legends II were on the list of nominees. Is X-Men Legends II even an RPG?? What the-? So, I have to say that this list is pretty darn bad.

Yes, X-men Legends is an RPG...an action RPG, to be specific....think in the vein of Diablo II, but with superheroes, and you aren't far off. According to Gamerankings.com, it made the top 10 of best RPGs of the year. A subjective list to be sure, but all of the entries there made the top 10 list of the year. Conspicously absent was Dragonquest VIII, but I think it's kind of odd to criticize having a game like Dungeon Siege II and then laud most Japanese console RPGs, which are just as uniform in their concepts, as often as not. If one is to use gamerankings.com as a jump-off point, there really weren't that many good RPGs from Japan this year, and they didn't sell that well; how many people do you know who picked up Atelier Iris, Radiata Stories or Suikoden IV?

I find it amusing how many competitors for awards were games that hadn't even been released at the time of the awards show, or were only a few weeks old. Resident Evil 4 (on the Gamecube) was easily one of the best games of the year, and God of War was close behind, IMHO. With 6 million+ subscribers, WoW certainly is considered a good game by many. However, I certainly don't turn to Spike TV for...well, anything, actually.

 

[ThirdWizard]

Okay so then what's the difference between an action/adventure game and an action/adventure role playing game? Would Zelda games be RPGs? Ninja Gaiden for the XBox? Prince of Persia and its sequels? Metal Arms? These all have RPG elements (mainly leveling or pseudo-leveling), but then what's a non-RPG action/adventure game?

 

[Dark Jezter]

Okay so then what's the difference between an action/adventure game and an action/adventure role playing game? Would Zelda games be RPGs? Ninja Gaiden for the XBox? Prince of Persia and its sequels? Metal Arms? These all have RPG elements (mainly leveling or pseudo-leveling), but then what's a non-RPG action/adventure game?

Are you seriously saying that you can't differentiate between games like Diablo and games like Prince of Persia?

The difference between action games and action RPGs is that, at their core, action RPGs derive from pen & paper RPGs. They assign attributes (such as strengh, agility, intelligence, or other variants) to the characters, feature character advancement over time to improve said attributes, and almost always allow customization of the character through choosing various abilites and finding different equipment. The attributes a character has have a very big impact on gameplay (usually combat), and trying to take on an enemy who has much better attributes than you do will usually result in losing combat. Other elements commonly featured in RPGs are exploration, optional sidequests, and finding treasure (often by looting it from the bodies of slain foes).

The games you mentioned are all action games at their core (although the Zelda games are the closest to being RPGs). Just because they feature the ability for the character to grow in power or gain new abilities as the game goes on does not make them action RPGs.

 

[ThirdWizard]

I'm saying that my acid test is different. For example, in Ninja Gaidan, you don't get attributes to distribute, but you do get equipment and learn new techniques. But, the thing that, to me, makes it an action game is that your abilities are what determines success. That's why I've never considered Zelda games to be RPGs, and I can't see how its any more RPG than Ninja Gaidan. This is, basically, the same reason I have trouble seeing X-Men Legends as an RPG, since my twitch gaming skills seem to be the key factor to winning.

If the way you describe it is the official way, then I'll just have to cocede and accept that I'm just some guy who likes to be a rebel. At least, until I'm supreme dictator of the world and can make people agree with me or the head of every gaming magazine and can spin the media how I want. Both of those are probably equally as likely to occur.