It’s that time of the year again! Today, we have the pleasure of announcing this year’s lineup of great titles for the third annual PSN Gamers’ Choice Awards. As we have in previous years, we’re opening up the polls and hoping that you’ll make your voice heard to determine the best downloadable PSN titles. We’ll again have three nominees across 10 categories that will feature the top-rated and most popular games of 2012.
Starting later today through February 25th, you can visit PlayStation Store or the Sony Entertainment Network Online Store to cast your vote in any of the categories by downloading a free XMB theme. Remember, your votes will determine who wins in every category – not to mention that winning titles will then go on sale for a limited time.
Once you’ve cast your vote, check back here next Tuesday to see which titles came out on top. Starting later that day when the PS Store updates, the winning game in each category will be discounted in the PS Store for one week, with an even deeper discount for PlayStation Plus members.
Now onto business! The nominees for the 2013 Gamers’ Choice Awards are (drumroll, please):
Journey (PS3)
Tokyo Jungle (PS3)
The Unfinished Swan (PS3)
Journey (PS3)
The Walking Dead – Season Pass (Episodes 1 – 5) (PS3)
Sound Shapes (Cross-Buy) (PS3/PS Vita)
Journey (PS3)
Sound Shapes (Cross-Buy) (PS3/PS Vita)
Rainbow Moon (PS3)
Borderlands 2 (PS3)
Assassin’s Creed III (PS3)
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (PS3)
Gravity Rush
Super Stardust Delta
Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack
Growlanser Wayfarer of Time (PSP)
Unchained Blades (PSP)
Ragnarok Tactics (PSP)
Legend of Dragoon (PS3/PSP)
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES (PS3/PSP)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS3)
Velocity (PS3/PSP)
Wizorb (PS3/PSP)
Canabalt (PS3/PSP)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 (PS3)
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (PS3)
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (PS3)
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (PS3)
SkullGirls (PS3)
Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 (PS3/PS Vita)
Don’t forget to head into PlayStation Store later today to cast your vote and support your favorite titles!
@YungShep,
Sorry, just annoying how some people on here are saying it doesnt deserve to win and that its not a great game just because they don’t like it.
I’ll stop now.
Best PSN Exclusive: Journey (PS3)
Best PSN Game: The Walking Dead – Season Pass (Episodes 1 – 5) (PS3)
Best Indie Game: Journey (PS3)
Best PS3 Full Game: Assassin’s Creed III (PS3)
Best PS Vita Game: Gravity Rush
Best PSP (PlayStation Portable) Game: Ragnarok Tactics (PSP)
Best Classic Game: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS3)
Best minis Game: Velocity (PS3/PSP)
Best PlayStation Move Enabled Game: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (PS3)
Best Competitive Multiplayer Game: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (PS3)
@98 its obvious its to boost sales..
A lot of those categories don’t even include the actual best games on psn. So it’s really a “Best of what we can afford to discount” poll and you really shouldn’t say it’s anything other than that.
Ignoring that fact though; Journey being in 3 categories is like cheating people out of 2 game sales because I can guaranteed you it’ll win in all 3. The only thing that has a chance of making it only 2 of 3 is Walking Dead. Though I know you’ll ignore this just like you did last year when you put a DEMO of Dissidia 012 on the ballad for best PSP game (which yes, I will not forget).
i hope you have better games for discount, cause the list to me is none significant, The only games i could consider for BEST, is
Tokyo Jungle(the replay value is amazing, the other games is do it once, and forget it),
Battle All-Stars(great game, just hope more characters come, if they dont, it be a lost potential)
Legend of Dragoon ( great RPG, a bit tricky to get all armors but great story)
Persona 3, havent played it, but the other 2 i played were great
…
the rest are useless to me, played most of them, didnt find one ounce of fun in them, and i love platformers and puzzles over other type of games…
Best PSN Exclusive
aaaaahhh tough choice :(, but “Journey” it is.
Best PSN Game
Sound Shapes (another touch choice)
Best Indie Game
Sound Shapes (dang it! too many tough choices)
Best PS3 Full Game
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (I loved Borderlands but #2 was meh)
Best PS Vita Game
Gravity Rush (or Tales From Space: MBA)
Best PSP Game
Not sure
Best Classic Game
hmmmmm
Best minis Game
Velocity
Best PS Move E Game
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13
Best Competitive Multiplayer Game
hmmmmm
Also just to make this clear; My last post I’m not exactly saying these are bad games. Some of them definitely deserve to be called the best of 2013, but others really have no business up their and you clearly left out game that would smoke the competition. A lot of those games listed are simply “okay”.
EVERYBODY THAT’S GIVING AWAY THEIR NOMINEES DO REALIZE YOU NEED TO GO TO THE PS STORE TO ACTUALLY VOTE RIGHT…
@107 on this entire list the only game i would vote for that i already have, but would rather have it digital is Borderlands 2, everything else i either have, dont want, or am just disappointed that’s it’s even listed.
oh oh here we go again ….
what a poor selection …. >.> wont be getting any of those
Best PSN Exclusive
Journey (PS3)
Best PSN Game
The Walking Dead – Season Pass (Episodes 1 – 5) (PS3)
Best Indie Game
Journey (PS3)
Best PS3 Full Game
Borderlands 2 (PS3)
Best PS Vita Game
Gravity Rush
Best PSP (PlayStation Portable) Game
Ragnarok Tactics (PSP)
Best Classic Game
Legend of Dragoon (PS3/PSP)
Best minis Game
Wizorb (PS3/PSP)
Best PlayStation Move Enabled Game
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (PS3)
Best Competitive Multiplayer Game
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (PS3)
Oh, and all of the Vita games listed were already free in some form. Gravity Rush and Mutant Blobs for Plus, and Stardust for 3g Vita owners. Not to mention that (while they are good games) their are way better Vita games that deserve to be on that list.
:(
No love for Dokuro? As great as Gravity Rush was, I spent a crazy amount of time with my Vita solving the clever platforming puzzles of Dokuro. I’d even call it my overall game of the year for 2012.
My god…so many of you guys make me want to pull my hair out. Most of you have been on this site long enough to know that the Playstation Blog gave out its annual “Best of” Awards at the end of last year. So it should go without saying that these “Gamers Choice Awards” are really the “Hey, we wanna put some games on sale that the publishers will allow us to put on sale” awards! You should not feel smart for pointing out to Sony or other blog posters that you’ve figured this out. You look ridiculous wagging your finger at Sony and saying “You can’t fool me…I know what you did, and I’m not having it!” Sony didn’t nominate Persona 4 Golden, Dishonored, or any other game that you REALLY want for these awards because either publishers didn’t give them the “thumbs up” to do so, or they want to continue to make buckets of money off selling these games at full price. Disappointed? That’s cool. But seriously, grow up.
Why are people posting their LISTS of their selections?
We don’t care what you all will vote for in each section. Go vote today on the store.
My 2 favorite ones were Borderlands 2 & The Walking dead awesome games.
@ Gstylez,
Spot on. You would think some of these people are still in grade school or something with the way they think.
@115 then why doesn’t Sony be honest and just call it that, instead of being dishonest and pretending these are choices gamers actually wanted. You just sound like a tool defending them lying like that.
You also look ridiculous if you keep pointing out to people that they should vote on the games that they want, not the games that are the best. If you read this blog, there’s a high probability that you are an avid gamer who is savvy enough to know to vote in your best interest. For that reason, I won’t be casting a single vote for Journey, although it arguably deserves it (played it already…fantastic game).
Finally, for those commenting that this is a “poor selection of games”: Commenters beg Sony for game sales every week, then pout when they don’t get them. Commenters also ask repeatedly to be allowed to choose which games go in the IGC or on sale. Now, Sony gives them both, and people still have the nerve to crap on them?! Since when is a sale involving: Journey (IGN GOTY), Tokyo Jungle, The Unfinished Swan, The Walking Dead (Spike’s GOTY), Sound Shapes, Borderlands 2 (X-Play’s GOTY), Assassin’s Creed III (Game Revolution GOTY), PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (DICE’s Fighting GOTY), Gravity Rush (TGS ’12 GOTY), Legend of Dragoon, Persona 3 FES, and GTA: San Andreas a bad sale?!? This is a FANTASTIC SALE across the board, and I’m looking forward to picking up a few of these titles next week!
It’s pretty obvious that more deserving games were omitted so they wouldn’t have to be put on sale. And then you’ve got Journey in several different categories, which limits the TOTAL amount of games that have to be put on sale. I understand Sony is in a tough spot financially speaking, but if you’re going to do a sale, do a sale. This just makes the whole company look really, if you’ll pardon the term, “ghetto”.
@Ryumoau (#119)
You’re kidding, right?! I mean, you have GOT to be kidding!
Sony was “dishonest” when they informed you that they were holding their 3rd Annual “Gamers’ Choice Awards” and that gamers were going to be able to vote on which games went on sale?! Because that is the ONLY thing they said above our comments! They promised you nothing more…they told no lies. They laid out the games that you could choose from for the sale, and they will allow you to vote on them…just as they said they would.
If you already own all of these games and, therefore, have no good options, then that’s one thing. I can understand your disappointment. But to call Sony “dishonest” for giving us the option of picking up several high-quality titles at a discounted rate is just retarded!
I don’t get the complaints about the nominees. Only one game up there has proven to be a G.O.A.T. title and is a definite win regardless, it’s the only category in which nothing competes with it. Put it this way, all of the games up there couldn’t compete with it.
@Gstylez1980,
I’m resined to the conclusion that people will always whine about something(no matter how dumb) in the comments section.
Some people here complain for the sake of complaining, that’s all there is to it. Just take a look week after week in the comments (especially amongst a certain few) and it will become clear as day.
And when you actually use logical, thought out responses, you get labeled a Sonyfanboy or something else by some of these simpletons, as evidenced by a recent post a couple posts below your comment #115.
My only guess is they are either kids, or have poor cognitive faculties.
Let me clarify something: The “Gamers’ Choice Awards” does not mean that Sony believes these are the best games in each category for 2012. Again, the “Best of” Awards on the Blog happened last year. The title of these awards say exactly what it is about: Gamers choosing by a majority vote which games go on sale. Everybody gets confused because they incorporate “awards,” but the award really is that the game with the highest votes in each category go on sale. I mean seriously, does anybody really believe that Sony would leave P4G off of this list if it really was the “Best of” Awards, considering that it has the highest Metacritic score of any Vita game by a mile? Absolutely not.
I want to see 75% off of the winning titles for Plus members next month.
@121 exactly. Just call it a lame sale or something.
I know people wont like it but…..
This list of games is lame. Sony stopped supporting the psp years ago (except Japan) so why bother?
Journey was cool, but not epic or even worth a second playthru.
Walking dead was great
AC3 was a disappointment
Never played BL2
And PS all stars was cool (vita version) but for PS3 Game of the year is a stretch.
GTA San for game of the year….(retro) waste.
A ton of better games than what made it on this list
PS Plus no more…. Waiting for a reason to come back
@jqtaxpayer (#121) – Please refer yourself to comment 125 for the response to your misguided post.
this has been noted a couple of times, but the current system which has you vote on games you own, the owning base increases rather largely when it has already been discounted before or been on the ps+ with this in mind those games are largely going to have more votes, and generally more positive ones, minus chronovolt which should have a rather poor star rating
which makes it rather hard if not impossible for games to get into the awards even if they have a legitimate fanbase that is supporting them. for example one game that has never been on sale or on the plus could have 500 users that all vote it as 5stars with nothing lower then that, but a game that has been both on sale and on the plus could have over 2000 5stars and have 500 lower rankings and by these outlines would be the one to be nominated.
Creating a system where the winners go on sale next week provides a disincentive to vote for games I’ve played and feel were the best. Instead there is an incentive to vote for a game I haven’t yet played, but want to – since it will go on sale if it wins.
Best PSN Exclusive
Journey (PS3)
Best PSN Game
The Walking Dead – Season Pass (Episodes 1 – 5) (PS3)
Best Indie Game
Journey (PS3)
Best PS3 Full Game
Assassin’s Creed III (PS3)
Best PS Vita Game
Gravity Rush
Best PSP (PlayStation Portable) Game
Ragnarok Tactics (PSP)
Best Classic Game
Legend of Dragoon (PS3/PSP)
Best minis Game
Velocity (PS3/PSP)
Best PlayStation Move Enabled Game
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 (PS3)
Best Competitive Multiplayer Game
Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 (PS3/PS Vita)
Best regards
@Ryumoau (#127)
“Exactly”?! Buddy, my post did not support your previous comment…not even slightly.
So let me get this straight…you’re mad because Sony didn’t just call this a “sale”? So really, you’re upset that Sony’s marketing department decided that, instead of just throwing a few games on sale, they would allow gamers to chose from nearly two dozen high quality games which ones got discounted (which, BTW is what everybody’s been asking for for the past year)!? Do you really wanna admit that that is the reason you’re not happy right now? Because if that really is the reason you’re so mad, then…oh boy.
I feel like Journey is being unfairly over represented. Don’t get me wrong, I love it and it was my 2012 GOTY, but if it wins all 3 categories (which it probably will) then that means two possible other games that could have had discounts won’t… Just my 2 cents.
As always I will be voting for the games I don’t have. While they might not be MY favorites, I would rather get a discount on a game I don’t have over one I already own.
Journey was great, but I won’t be voting for it since I already own it.
Journey should just win the first catogory. Thats about it. Journey is so overrated and yes I own and beaten the game.
This is my picked:
Best PSN Exclusive
Tokyo Jungle (PS3)
Best PSN Game
The Walking Dead – Season Pass (Episodes 1 – 5) (PS3)
Best Indie Game
Rainbow Moon (PS3)
Best PS3 Full Game
Assassin’s Creed III (PS3)
Best PS Vita Game
Gravity Rush
Best PSP (PlayStation Portable) Game
Growlanser Wayfarer of Time (PSP)
Best Classic Game
Legend of Dragoon (PS3/PSP)
Best minis Game
Velocity (PS3/PSP)
Best PlayStation Move Enabled Game
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (PS3)
Best Competitive Multiplayer Game
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (PS3)
@ GStylez1980
Ryumoaner is never happy with anything, dude. It’s just the way he is. He’s a miserable brat and he wants everyone else to be as miserable as he is.
Ryuomoau logic = “does not have any games I want, so it should be called a lame sale”
lol, no one should take this guy seriously.
I go with:
Best PSN Exclusive
Journey (PS3)
Best PSN Game
The Walking Dead – Season Pass (Episodes 1 – 5) (PS3)
Best Indie Game
Rainbow Moon (PS3)
Best PS3 Full Game
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (PS3)
Best PS Vita Game
Super Stardust Delta
Best PSP (PlayStation Portable) Game
Ragnarok Tactics (PSP)
Best Classic Game
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS3)
Best minis Game
Wizorb (PS3/PSP)
Best PlayStation Move Enabled Game
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (PS3)
Best Competitive Multiplayer Game
Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 (PS3/PS Vita)
Sony puts Journey in 3 different categories so that they only have to give 1 discount instead of 3. I liked Journey, in the 3 categories though i like 1 of the other games more. Journey will still win all 3…. sadly.
One real question though, under classics it says Persona 3 FES for PS3/PSP, are PS2 classics going to be available on PSP/Vita or will P3P also receive a discount if Persona 3 wins the award?
@141 – I was confused about Persona 3 FES as well. I know they made Persona 3 Portable for the PSP, but not Persona 3 FES. As a Vita owner, I would love to see P3P on sale, as I’m loving P4G right now.
my list is
Best PSN Exclusive: Journey (PS3)
Best PSN Game: Journey (PS3)
Best Indie Game: Journey (PS3)
Best PS3 Full Game: Borderlands 2 (PS3)
Best PS Vita Game: Gravity Rush
Best PSP (PlayStation Portable) Game: Ragnarok Tactics (PSP)
Best Classic Game: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS3)
Best minis Game: Velocity (PS3/PSP)
Best PlayStation Move Enabled Game: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (PS3)
Best Competitive Multiplayer Game: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (PS3)
Best PSN Exclusive
Journey (PS3)
Best PSN Game
Journey (PS3)
Best Indie Game
Journey (PS3)
Best PS3 Full Game
Borderlands 2 (PS3)
Best PS Vita Game
Gravity Rush
Best PSP (PlayStation Portable) Game
Ragnarok Tactics (PSP)
Best Classic Game
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS3)
Best minis Game
Velocity (PS3/PSP)
Best PlayStation Move Enabled Game
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (PS3)
Best Competitive Multiplayer Game
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (PS3)
Ok Playstation, I love all that you do, but this is the one weird anomaly that you throw up each year. To vote for your favourite, you’d have to have played it, which means you’ll have no interest in a discount because you already own it.
So people are more likely to vote for a game they think they MIGHT like, in the hope of getting it discounted.
Which increases sales overall for Sony.
Sony always wins.
Some of you really need to get a grip on yourselves. Its a sale. If its not for you, leave it at that, what’s the point in saying that it sucks just because you don’t like the games offered?
They seriously need to implement an ignore feature on here, would spare me from reading some of these inane comments.
why wasn’t there a better list though?
How is that lbpvita is not one of the best vita games?
Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack? Is this a joke?
Not that its a bad game but still, that’s crazy!
this is my choice
Best PSN Exclusive : Journey (PS3)
Best PSN Game :
The Walking Dead – Season Pass (Episodes 1 – 5) (PS3)
Best Indie Game :Sound Shapes (Cross-Buy) (PS3/PS Vita)
Best PS3 Full Game : PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royal (PS3)
Best PS Vita Game : Gravity Rush
Best PSP (PlayStation Portable) Game :Unchained Blades
Best Classic Game : Legend of Dragoon (PS3/PSP)
Best minis Game : Velocity (PS3/PSP)
Best PlayStation Move Enabled Game : Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (PS3)
Best Competitive Multiplayer Game : Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 (PS3/PS Vita)
@mardrizzle (#147)
This list included: Journey (IGN GOTY), Tokyo Jungle, The Unfinished Swan, The Walking Dead (Spike’s GOTY), Sound Shapes, Borderlands 2 (X-Play’s GOTY), Assassin’s Creed III (Game Revolution GOTY), PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (DICE’s Fighting GOTY), Gravity Rush (TGS ’12 GOTY), Legend of Dragoon, Persona 3 FES, and GTA: San Andreas.
So I’m confused…6 GOTY titles, as well as several other highly rated classics…and you want a “better list”?
I know what you meant to say: “I personally don’t like the offered games,” or “I’ve played all of these games, so I’m not interested in them.”
Yeah, you definitely misspoke…