NBA 2K11 named Team Sports GOTY, up for GOTY (Kotaku)

[Andrew]

Article

Visual Concepts' once-in-a-generation effort is not just a decisive winner here, it is a worthy nominee for overall Game of the Year. No video game has ever tapped sports fans' sense of nostalgia, or reaped such enthusiasm from it, like NBA 2K11, making its design a potential game changer in the genre. Yet Michael Jordan only dominates NBA 2K11 on its cover. The supporting cast - thick with Hall of Famers - required to recreate the greatest moments of the NBA's greatest player is where NBA 2K11's true depth lies. In the Jordan Challenge, you're reliving more than his career, you're seeing the halcyon days of professional basketball at its most telegenic, from 1986 to 1998. Not only did NBA 2K11 bootstrap itself to the greatest basketball player in the history of the game without being overshadowed by him, it also overshadowed Jordan in its own right. As cited earlier, NBA 2K11's deeper animation set provides smoother responsiveness and greater feel along a basic set of twin-stick commands. The game's franchise mode AI was also fine-tuned in ways that are still being discovered as the virtual seasons wear on. NBA 2K11 is time-capsule quality in terms of what it uniquely delivers and is, in all phases, the best sports video game of the year.

UPDATE: Now also up for Game of the Year.

[fjccommish]

While 2K11 is terrific, my vote goes to MLB10 the Show.

Too many of 2K11's modes have issues, such as the lack of opposing team benches in the Jordan Challenge games.

[JaoSming]

compared to everything else that came out (or didnt) this year it's almost a no brainer.

[Andrew]

It's now up for Game of the Year

As the year wraps up and the last of the big games roll out it's time to start our debate, the debate about what was the single greatest game of the year.

As we did last year, this year we've decided to pick a few finalists among us and then debate their merits. These are the games that have found a champion or champions within our staff. That means that each writer had to pick a single game that they feel is the best title of the year, no matter the platform or genre.

Until then, feel free to discuss, debate, delight in, wallow in, our four finalists as listed alphabetically below.

Call of Duty: Black Ops for the Xbox 360
Mass Effect 2
NBA 2K11
Red Dead Redemption

Write-ups stating the case for each game are forthcoming.

[kibaxx7]

Call of Duty: Black Ops for the Xbox 360

Yes, I remember reading that a lot of PS3 users wanted to get their money back, they said the game on PS3 was total garbage.

[Andrew]

I was wondering why they specifically mentioned the Xbox 360 version.