Home Gaming And your Golden Joystick 2014 winners are…

And your Golden Joystick 2014 winners are…

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Garrosh-am-pleased

Nine million votes, or at least one Reddit thread full of opinions. That’s how many people cast their nominees for the best of the best when it came to the gaming period of 2013-2014. One of the oldest gaming award ceremonies, the Golden Joysticks took place over the weekend with a wide variety of titles getting some love and recognition. Here’s the full list of winners.

Taking top honours, Dark Souls 2 is the official Golden Joystick game of the year, as decided by the public. This same public also voted Battlefield 4 as the multiplayer game of the year, so clearly everyone is on the take. Clearly. Other well-deserved pats on the back went to Pokemon X and Y, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft and to Hideo Kojima for his contributions to the medium. Here’s the rest of the winners:

  • Best Original Game – DayZ
  • Best Online Game – Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
  • Best Storytelling – The Last of Us: Left Behind
  • Best Visual Design – Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
  • Best Audio – Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
  • Playfire Most Played Game of the Year – Rust
  • Best Multiplayer – Battlefield 4
  • Best Indie Game – DayZ
  • Innovation of the Year – Oculus Rift DK2
  • Best Gaming Moment – The Last of Us: Left Behind – “The kiss”
  • Best Handheld Game – Pokemon X & Y
  • Best Mobile Game – Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
  • Most Wanted – The Witcher III: Wild Hunt
  • Gaming Personality of the Year – PewDiePie
  • Studio of the Year – Ubisoft Montreal
  • Gaming Platform of the Year – Steam
  • Lifetime Achievement – Hideo Kojima
  • Game of the Year – Dark Souls II

Some great games getting a ton of love, and a few head-scratchers in that list. What do you reckon? Are nine million voices right or wrong? And should the annual Lazygamer awards be televised this year? Depending on how much liquid courage I can muster to stand in front of a camera, that might be worth pursuing I reckon.

Last Updated: October 27, 2014

81 Comments

  1. Happy about DS 2…but….I don’t feel it was that great of a game to be GOTY. Maybe its just me but DS 2 was completely unoriginal and tried to mimic the original. Still a good game though.

    Reply

    • FreddyBear

      October 27, 2014 at 09:13

      I prefer to give From the benefit of the doubt, and follow a bit of a theory that DS2 actually takes place in Lordran, just way way later, thus the repetition of some of the bosses and some of the locations looking similar. That coupled with the improved combat makes it just as good a game as DS1, for me at least.

      Reply

      • Cadis Etrama Di Umar

        October 27, 2014 at 09:46

        No doubt at all. I’ve watched vaati videos on that theory and I’m in the same camp. And while I appreciate the reason behind the repetition, it sullies the experience, for me in any case. I felt it could’ve still fit into Lordran while still being diverse and fresh. But I have to agree. The combate was awesome. Everything else was tweaked and improved upon.

        Reply

    • CAE9872

      October 27, 2014 at 10:42

      It does show one thing – 2014 is not a vintage year for gaming. Some good stuff, but not a year jam packed with GOTY nominees perhaps.

      Reply

      • Cadis Etrama Di Umar

        October 27, 2014 at 12:38

        Actually true, but I enjoyed many games this year though. Next year is gonna be a killer

        Reply

  2. Captain JJ fancy eyes

    October 27, 2014 at 08:04

    Only thing that I voted for that actually won something is Steam. Heh.
    Oh, and Witcher.

    Reply

    • Mossel

      October 27, 2014 at 08:54

      lol same here! Was hoping Bastion wins the best audio!

      Reply

      • Captain JJ fancy eyes

        October 27, 2014 at 08:57

        Me too. Darn it. By far the best imo.

        Reply

  3. Dean

    October 27, 2014 at 08:17

    The voting for personality of the year:
    “Not sure who these people are… but I’ve heard of this prat is so I’ll check that box”

    Reply

    • Ceyber, Hans

      October 27, 2014 at 11:33

      Why hate the guy? He’s done well for himself, appreciate and just move on…

      Reply

      • Matthew Holliday

        October 27, 2014 at 12:22

        pewdiepie, for all his success, isnt a good gamer. hes a professional casual, and you know how core gamers hate casuals.
        he is a good businessman / youtuber, he hits his target market spot on, the 12-16 year old gamer boys who have just found the internet love him. naturally, anyone not in that demographic finds the mere sight of him, nausiating.
        remember the whole thing about youtubers refusing to play games unless they pay them? he started that.

        Reply

        • Ceyber, Hans

          October 27, 2014 at 12:38

          Is he really that casual though? Just because he targets a young market with casual game videos, does that mean he therefore can’t enjoy hardcore gaming in his own private time?

          I’m not really tring to defend the guy, just pointing out the fact that public perception can be harsh sometimes. At the end of the day it’s just a dude running a business, in an industry that’s rampant with this juvenile ‘rebellion for rebellion’s sake’ mentality.

          Reply

          • Matthew Holliday

            October 27, 2014 at 12:48

            we dont know him IRL, so all we have to go on is public perception.
            Assuming anything else is just speculation.

          • Ceyber, Hans

            October 27, 2014 at 12:57

            By that logic, don’t you think that calling him a “casual gamer” is a bit of an assumption? Favored public opinion always has the smoke-where-there’s-fire aspect, but a judgement like that (on his personal life) is still presumptuous is it not?

          • Matthew Holliday

            October 27, 2014 at 13:16

            i didnt judge his personal life.

            what i have to go on, is what I see on his youtube and read in media reports, what i see is a professional youtuber, but a casual gamer.
            as a public figure, he is aware that people will judge him on what they know, rather than what they dont.
            and also as a youtuber who posts atleast one video a day, the amount of time he’d have to spend collecting footage and content, as well as editing, wouldnt leave much room for personal game time.

            yes its presumptious, but presumption bases on what you know, speculation bases on what you dont know.
            in this case, presumption would be more accurate than speculation.

        • Michael Matusowsky

          October 28, 2014 at 01:17

          I’m 22 and enjoy his videos. Please don’t generalise.

          Reply

          • Matthew Holliday

            October 28, 2014 at 09:19

            i was generalising, that was obvious.
            if you’re not in that demographic and enjoy his stuff, then so be it.
            but his target market IS young casuals and youtube gamers.

            its like lego has a 3-4 year age restriction, but that stuffs still awesome now that im 24.

    • Matthew Holliday

      October 27, 2014 at 12:16

      if theres voting for personality of the year, pewdiepie wins by default.
      31 million subs.

      Reply

      • Dean

        October 27, 2014 at 12:44

        That would make sense if you only looked at that statistic. 31 million subs but only an average of 3.1 mil views per video. Look, for example, at Smosh (not my favourite either) and although they only have just shy of 20 million subs, they have an average of 8.7 mil views per vid.

        Making those kinds of subs is great, but if you only pulling a 10% viewership out of it…. Either way, suppose he is the more famous of the rest so as you say it is a given.

        Reply

        • Matthew Holliday

          October 27, 2014 at 13:05

          smosh dont do daily uploads though, they average 2-3 a week, while pewdiepie uploads atleast one a day. its the quality vs quantity battle, with smosh being 2 people aswell. taking into account that pewdiepie has 30% more subs than smosh, in terms of daily viewership, he gets atleast 50% more views per day, which means his daily viewer : subs ratio is higher than smosh.

          looking at the smosh channel now, within the past month, they only have one vid with more than 5 million views. the rest are sitting around the 1 million mark, with the highest on the first page of vids, going back 3 months, being 6 million, while pewdiepies first page only goes back 2 weeks.

          Reply

          • Dean

            October 27, 2014 at 13:12

            Don’t worry, me to. Just felt like getting into a bit of a stats discussion for some reason. Thanks for complying to my madness

  4. Ryanza

    October 27, 2014 at 08:28

    Steam a gaming platform? How deluded is the gaming industry. So a PC which is the platform that actually plays the PC games, is now classified as a Steam platform. WTF. Steam is digital distribution. Steam is not a PC but Steam DRM has infected itself all over PC gaming. Look how deluded people has become.

    The Witcher 3 is being released on the PC platform and also made available through Steam’s digital distribution and GOG’s digital distrubution. The game will also be released on the PS4 and Xbox One platforms and through the digital console distributions Xbox live and PSN.

    Xbox Live is not the XBox platform. PSN is not the Playstation platform. Steam is not the PC platform. Get it straight people.

    Don’t support DRM.

    Reply

    • Jedi Consular Kromas

      October 27, 2014 at 08:45

      I miss these. 🙂

      Reply

    • ToshZA

      October 27, 2014 at 08:45

      Steam has become synonymous with PC gaming though – such is its reputation. Perhaps some might see an issue with that, but to be fair it’s purely due to Steam’s outright and unquestioned success.

      Reply

      • Captain JJ fancy eyes

        October 27, 2014 at 08:46

        I’m proud to say that I’ve helped Gabe in paying for his house. 😉

        Reply

        • Rock789

          October 27, 2014 at 08:53

          *many mansions

          There – corrected for you. 😉 🙂

          Reply

          • Captain JJ fancy eyes

            October 27, 2014 at 08:56

            Oh yes. Sorry. 🙂

      • Dutch Matrix

        October 27, 2014 at 10:16

        Success???
        “Hey, dude, wanna play your bought in store game today? Well Fuck You! You be downloading a 10GB patch first!
        Love.
        Steam”

        Reply

        • ToshZA

          October 27, 2014 at 10:17

          “Turn auto updates off” – “Go into offline mode” – “play game as much as you want without ever updating it”.

          Reply

          • Dutch Matrix

            October 27, 2014 at 10:20

            Need to be online to activate game. Then how’s about:
            Dear Dude.
            We have a patch for this game. It is 10 GB. Might take a while to download and install.
            Do you want this?
            Yes? No?
            No?
            Okay fine.
            Enjoy your game then.

          • ToshZA

            October 27, 2014 at 10:23

            To be frank, sounds like you’re complaining for complaints sake. I’ve never had an issue with this. Ever. I’ve been using Steam now for almost 10 years (since HL2, back when Steam was the devil and was going to ruin pc gaming forever – how did that turn out?), and yet, still no problems.

          • Dutch Matrix

            October 27, 2014 at 11:12

            So I am complaining because I bought a game from a store and want to play it immediately when I get home? HOW.DARE.I???

          • ToshZA

            October 27, 2014 at 11:16

            PC games have had to be installed since they moved onto HDD’s from Floppy/Stiffy disks. Not playing as you get home has been the norm for well over a decade, perhaps even 2. This simply updates and automatically patches (usually fixing bugs, those things that piss people off) which is already better than having to manually find and patch a game. It’s the most seamless experience to date, and I for one couldn’t be happier with the process.

            Plus, do you ever buy online, at all, ever? At least with retail you don’t have to worry about the initial 40gb download, just the patch which can be 300mb’s or a few gb’s. 10gb’s is extreme, to say the least.

            There’s also always other games to play, unless you buy one game every 6 months?

          • Brady miaau

            October 27, 2014 at 11:30

            Ok, fair enough. But when I buy games, they install and activate and work,. Friday night, Beyond Earth. Inserted DVD, installed. 2.7 Gb DVD installed 5 Gig game and I played, finished. Perhaps it is not Steams fault?

          • Brady miaau

            October 27, 2014 at 11:29

            Yeah, that does not work anymore. It bloody well ignored me a few months back.

          • ToshZA

            October 27, 2014 at 11:31

            Odd, I still do that all the time O_o

          • Brady miaau

            October 27, 2014 at 12:03

            certain games? I dunno. Forced update on me, then it crashed. Civ V had to be re-installed and each time it did the 2nd round it failed, so I switched it off and the games worked a little while, then updated again, despite the little tickbox promising it would not

          • ToshZA

            October 27, 2014 at 12:07

            That’s unlucky man. I’ve seriously not encountered any of those issues.

        • Brian Murphy

          October 27, 2014 at 12:09

          What’s wrong with a 10g patch? 😀

          http://www.speedtest.net/result/3862535660.png

          Reply

        • Matthew Holliday

          October 27, 2014 at 12:15

          that has nothing to do with steam though.
          thats the games fault.
          steams a game manager, it manages your games. the game puts out a patch, steam manages it.

          Reply

          • Dutch Matrix

            October 27, 2014 at 12:27

            Look, I come from a customer software support background. And your aim in putting any app out there is to make it:
            A) User Friendly
            B) Allow the customer to do what he wants to do without having to jump through a million hoops and waste his precious time.
            Steam will not allow me to play a game if the game is busy downloading a patch. And Lord knows, try and play that game when Steam got a whiff of a patch.
            Even in Offline mode you can forget about it.

    • Sir Rants A Lot Llew

      October 27, 2014 at 08:56

      Don’t support DRM! Ryanza for gaming president of the world!

      Reply

    • Sageville

      October 27, 2014 at 09:56

      I think what Ryanza is really saying is: Support DRM!

      Reply

      • Ryanza

        October 27, 2014 at 10:07

        You have just taken everything I said and turned it into shit. Thank you. It means a lot.

        Reply

        • Sageville

          October 27, 2014 at 10:09

          MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

          Reply

          • Ryanza

            October 27, 2014 at 10:10

            Do I troll your comments? But you feel a need to troll my comments.

          • Sageville

            October 27, 2014 at 10:29

            I will only troll you if you bring up DRM, which you do, in every post, regardless of the topic, or relevance, just like an advertisement.

            If you want me to stop, I will, but please consider doing the same.

          • Ryanza

            October 27, 2014 at 11:28

            I do anti-DRM comments because choose to do so. I don’t see a lot of people on here doing anti-DRM comments. And now you want to stop the only alternative viewpoints on here. In favour of what, only hearing good things about games, only hearing good things about hype, only hearing good opinions on the games, that suits your positive emotional wheelhouse.

            YA. Don’t troll my comments because I don’t troll your comments. There is a like and dislike button. Click the dislike button.

            All view points should be encouraged. Trolling a certain view point is not good and encourages people not to express their opinions.

          • Brady miaau

            October 27, 2014 at 11:29

            Um, or the original comment was just sarcasm?

          • Ryanza

            October 27, 2014 at 11:33

            I ruled out sarcasm long ago.

          • Brady miaau

            October 27, 2014 at 11:43

            Yeah, but I still think he or she is just winding you up. We all know how far and how deep your views on DRM go.

          • Ryanza

            October 27, 2014 at 11:44

            it’s called trolling.

          • Sageville

            October 27, 2014 at 12:53

            Fair enough, I will desist.

            I will leave you with my last comment on the matter.

            When I see you name, in my head I hear “DRM, Witcher 3” which means you have achieved some form of awareness, which is good for you. But that’s all I see, all the time. So you have successfully beaten your message into us, day in and day out, ad-nauseum, over and over…. If there was a DRM related topic I’d expect and hope for your comment and participation there, not everywhere else, not all the time. Now truthfully, I no longer read your comments any more, I scan, see DRM, eye-roll and move on. Like the banner ads everyone ignores on this site.

            I guess my point is, your message is now doing the opposite of it’s noble intention. Much like telemarketer’s constant calls, I’m numb, to the point where I’m now actively against whatever message you are pushing, just cause you’ve pushed so hard and often.

            My apologies if you were offended by my trolling, if it makes you feel better I troll every telemarketer too, for the same reasons.

  5. Admiral Chief 0

    October 27, 2014 at 08:34

    Lagz awards MUST be televised. And some shower crying, always a winner!

    Reply

    • ToshZA

      October 27, 2014 at 08:44

      With cats staring bleakly through the misty glass doors.

      Reply

      • Captain JJ fancy eyes

        October 27, 2014 at 08:45

        With cabbage leaves for shower caps.

        Reply

        • ToshZA

          October 27, 2014 at 08:46

          So you want Matty in the shower?

          Reply

          • Captain JJ fancy eyes

            October 27, 2014 at 08:46

            Hmmmm.
            On second thought…maybe not.

      • Brady miaau

        October 27, 2014 at 11:28

        Yeah, the rain on Saturday night helped with that. One of my cats (avatar pic one) got stuck in the rain and when he did come in, he sat and stared out the window in the TV room.

        Reply

    • Jedi Consular Kromas

      October 27, 2014 at 08:45

      GabeN with a crown and flowers doing that fake model/princess wave. Would be winning! Epic winning!

      Reply

  6. ToshZA

    October 27, 2014 at 08:43

    So I only agree with the AC IV and the Pokemon entries there. Just goes to show how subjective things are. I honestly will never play DS2, having played and not enjoyed the first. As for DayZ and Rust? Wow. What a crock of poop. We should rename these the Golden poop awards. Oh wait…

    Anyways, my opinion added to the list. There we go.

    Reply

  7. Hammersteyn

    October 27, 2014 at 08:54

    • Sageville

      October 27, 2014 at 09:56

      Never heard of him…

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        October 27, 2014 at 10:03

        Very popular let’s play personality. I cant stand him but he makes millions every month on Youtube.

        Reply

        • Sageville

          October 27, 2014 at 10:10

          He makes millions every month?

          I hate him now too!

          Reply

          • Hammersteyn

            October 27, 2014 at 10:38

            Hahaha

          • Quo Vadis?

            October 27, 2014 at 14:59

            I only ever watch his videos for the entertainment factor. His reactions to games such as Amnesia, Outlast etc. I found quite hilarious. I don’t take him serious at all. if you need a review/ walkthrough, skip right past Pewdiepie and find someone that is serious about the game and/ or gameplay. He is an entertainer, and as such, I THINK that is why he got the award for the personality of the year. 🙂

          • Hammersteyn

            October 27, 2014 at 15:04

            Well people love him. Millions of people in fact. So that also has something to do with it.

          • Quo Vadis?

            October 27, 2014 at 15:11

            Yea, I agree. Its the same thing in the hunting/ shooting community (which I also actively participate in) and its youtuber, FPS Russia. I can sometimes only shake my head in utter disbelief at his “Professional Russian” antics, but he is so popular and funny, you cant help but go and have a look once a week to see if he’s got something up again.
            now, if I can only find the Pewdiepie of the dirt bike world, I’ll be sound as a pound 😀

          • Michael Matusowsky

            October 28, 2014 at 01:22

            I like him due to the slapstick/shitty humour. Sometimes shitty humour is the one thing you need to put a smile on your face. Pretty much just watch it when you’re not feeling like being serious or whatever.

  8. CAE9872

    October 27, 2014 at 10:43

    2014 has undoubtedly been a year of “wait and see for 2015” – we have had some great games, but none of the true “big hitters” performed quite as well as expected.

    Reply

    • Willem Swanepoel

      October 27, 2014 at 11:14

      that is so true. 2014 was not really a good gaming year. So many big titles were over hyped and did not deliver… Witcher 3 will be the first big one that has everyone over hyped. Lets hope it will deliver…

      Reply

      • ToshZA

        October 27, 2014 at 11:18

        I’m hoping for DA:I at least to deliver. Hoping, not expecting. You know how EA rolls.

        Reply

  9. Matthew Holliday

    October 27, 2014 at 12:13

    Best MP: battlefied 4
    Personality of the year: Pewdiepie
    Most played game of the year: Rust
    Studio of the Year: Montreal Ubisoft

    HAHAHAHAHA

    whats the difference between handheld and mobile? surely they should be classed together? spearating the two is like an excuse to put pokemon on the list.

    Reply

    • Ceyber, Hans

      October 27, 2014 at 12:23

      I see what they’re trying with the mobile vs handheld thing. Maybe more distinction is needed, like a Best Android Game Award. Or Best Game to Play on Toilet… or something.

      Reply

      • Matthew Holliday

        October 27, 2014 at 12:25

        isnt pokemon the only thing making games for handheld nowadays? there was a zelda release a while back, but other than that, who else makes games for the DS?

        Reply

        • Ceyber, Hans

          October 27, 2014 at 12:42

          There’s FIFA 15, Smash Bros, Skylanders (those are the only ones I know about).

          Not my cup of tea of though, I’m more of a Master Race with a few Peasants in the living room kinda guy.

          Reply

  10. Ceyber, Hans

    October 27, 2014 at 13:18

    A bit off-topic but, I just finished ME:SoM and I feel a bit disappointed.

    I loved the game. The aesthetics, the mood, the game-play, the AAA quality… Getting +100 hit streaks is magnificent and so deliciously satisfying as a maxed out assassin wraith. That being said, I get what Geoff was saying about there being something missing.

    I’m disappointed because I paid for an experience in which I felt the value for my money was lacking. The atmosphere was a bit too empty, and an online component much like the AC or Splinter Cell series’ is sorely lacking. Monolith did a great job but I feel there was tons of polish left on the cutting room floor.

    Pushing games for asap release lowers quality across the board, so while thinking that we’ve become more shrewd consumers, our expectations have been lowered and thus we’ve negated the increased shrewdness.

    Reply

    • Matthew Holliday

      October 27, 2014 at 13:34

      i agree that the atmosphere and world wasnt really stellar.
      but the combat was intense, fluid and balanced, there were always options for certain playstyles, which impressed me.
      and while the story wasnt amazing and the characters were just ok, the combat, with branding and the nemesis system and stuff, was as much a part of the story as the plot was.

      while the game isnt perfect and it probably could do with a bit more polish, i think that the different approach to the interaction with combat
      obviously id have preferred a bit more submersion, but i didnt feel disappointed at all when i finished it. the last mission was a bit lame, but the overall experience was impressive.

      Reply

    • Michael Matusowsky

      October 28, 2014 at 01:23

      I read ME:SoM as Mass Effect: Shadow of Morder and was like “WHAT, A CROSS OVER MOD!?”

      Reply

  11. HisDivineOrder

    October 27, 2014 at 14:35

    Steam wins platform of the year. Consoles are on notice. Microsoft and Sony look up with cheetos on their faces and blink as Steam shoves Nintendo aside with a laugh, marching up to the stage.

    Microsoft blinks and belches. “Hai, wut’s up wif dat?”

    Steam rises to the podium. “I’d like to thank the people. And by thank, I mean, we’re going to have a whole bevvy of steam sales soon. You can join up and get online for FREE.”

    PC gaming continues its meteoric rise as consoles continue their same old, same old…

    Reply

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