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The annual DICE summit– an event of gaming news, keynotes, and awards– was held last week in Las Vegas. During the 16th awards ceremony where the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences gave honors to games from 2012, the excellent Journey took most of the awards. However, everyone’s favorite plumber took top billing in the handheld category. Paper Mario: Sticker Star for Nintendo 3DS was voted as handheld game of the year, beating out some other 3DS and PlayStation Vita titles. The other nominees for the category were Gravity Rush, Resident Evil: Revelations, Sound Shapes, Uncharted: Golden Abyss.
The win was well-deserved, as Sticker Star was a great game. It’s good to see the game get the recognition it deserves since it was a low key release in a very busy gaming season. Sad to see that Kid Icarus: Uprising didn’t get a nomination though. (Gravity Rush is also an amazing game if you have a Vita).
Source: Gamer Horizon, Nintendo Life
Really? They really couldn’t find anything better? Paper Mario is a series dear to my heart, but I just couldn’t get into the newest one, it seemed soulless and committe-designed with none of the humour of the previous titles.
Mind you, there wasn’t that much else on handheld last year. Theatrhythm was good, as was Mutant Mudds.
Clearly we don’t agree. :P
That said, I do think Kid Icarus should’ve won the award, and it’s strange the game wasn’t even nominated. I get the feeling they didn’t put too much thought into this particular category.
Here’s my take on it.
Weirdly, I didn’t think much of Kid Icarus either. Maybe I just don’t like rail shooters.
Meh, everyone has different opinions. Mine would be that Paper Mario is nowhere near the best handheld game of last year… but different strokes for different folks.
Right you are.
I was all over Heroes of Ruin and Code of Princess last year. Both are top-notch, but perhaps not terribly broad in their appeal. Kid Icarus was really strong too. As much as I enjoy Paper Mario, I’d put it beneath all of those titles.
Lots of good 3DS games in 2012, and ’13 is off to a ridiculously good start with Fire Emblem. Good time to be a gamer! :^)