FFXII... prepare for all the Nintendo fans to moan and say Zelda should have won and all the XBX fans to say GoW should have won.

It's about time the PS fanboys had something to be happy about.

All three are brilliant games and I am keen to know what made Edge choose RPG over Action RPG. I realise from their review that Edge isn't as keen on GoW as I am.

Well, what can I say as a European gamer... I haven't played FFXII and Okami yet, and I'll have to wait at least a few months more before I could possibly judge them.

Both titles could've won the award for "Most Annoying European Delays"

"Both titles could've won the award for Most Annoying European Delays"

Doesn't that go to the PS3?

Viva Pinata should have won it.

I, oddly enough am actually glad that FFXII is not being released before Christmas - I've far too much on my hands what with Zelda, Wii Sports, Gears of War etc.

Still, looking forward to it.

Final Fantasy? They should have picked an original game. Like GoW or as someone said Viva Pinata. Final Fantasy is on it's 12th, but then there are all the others, let it die already.

Why should a game be looked at poorly simply because it is a sequel? If it's a good game in its own right, or a bad game, you should play it and judge it simply on that premise.

FFXII is apparently good enough to win GOTY; that's fine by me. To say that it can't qualify because it's had prequels would be a huge travesty.

Nobody will agree with me on this but, Wii Sports should have got a Ten and is undoubtably THE game of 2006.

It is immaculate and I totally disagree with this idea that it has no longevity. I honestly think I will still be firing it up to play the sublime Tennis and Bowling with friends in a years time.

I have never had so many people asking to come over to have a shot of a videogame (my mum and her husband are coming down for a shot next week for god's sake!!) and although a lot of that is down to the Wii itself, Wii Sports acts as the Greatest Launch Game Of All Time (TM).

I can't believe the best online experience award wasn't given to NintendoDS's Tetris.

FFXII must be good, I guess, but I really don't have that much time to learn how to play and to play it through.

I agree with you estel, but can I just point out FFXII is not even a sequel.

What I find amazing is that a British publication is awarding its Game of the Year title to a game which won't be available in Europe until 2007?

Twilight Princess is the game of 2006 for me. Great in every way and it brings something new to the table with its Wii controls. What did Final Fantasy XII do that was new?

Same as above. EU gamer, who do import for the handhelds, but not so much for the homeconsoles, I have no idea about how good a game FFXII is.

And even thou I'm an Nintendo fanboy (not the ignorant kind) at heart, I most say the most fun I had this year was playing throu GoW, Co-Op with a close friend of mine, over the briliant Live service.

Hard to say if I think it's game of the year thou...

Test Drive Unlimited got "Best Online Experience"?? I'm not sure thats right. I mean, unless everyone loves laggy, rubbish car physics and the usual 13 year old xbots.

To terra cotta pie: Edge has always covered imports (Metal Gear Solid made it in the 1998 Awards, for instance), so how is this any different?

Can somebody outnerd me and give a list of all the previous Edge GOTY winners? I'd be really interested in a reminder but am far too lazy to bother looking through all the back issues....besides which I'll end up buried under half a ton of gaming history if I start meddling with the ones at the bottom of the pile(s). I'm betting that history will judge one or two of them unkindly...

I don't have 60 hours to spend with a video game, sorry.

I do.

It makes sense from the point that FFXII would be very out of place as GOTY 2007. Also I imagine at least a few people imported the US release, I certainly did.

With fixing almost everything broken with the FF series, definitely a worthy winner.

Twilight Princess has everything that made the series great, and it's possibly the best alongside Ocarina of Time. About FFXII, I didn't play it yet, as well as most of the euro people, so I can' agree with Edge's decision. GoW may be great, but it fits best for an american type gamer, japan still rules about making games.

All this does is illustrate how Europe is still getting the shabby treatment from the games industry, when the two best games aren't even out here.

So us poor people who do not import can not have an opinion on this? I am disappointed that Edge seems to have based this award on (cliche coming) the hardcore gamer! rather than people like myself who want to know which games to look forward to (and I am looking forward to FFXII a lot) and which are worth getting. This award is meaningless to people like me.

Couldn't agree more. There's a lot of people out there who just want to know what's the best choice when they see games in the shelves. I don't care about what's the best game I can't buy this year unless I import...

It's not called "best game to buy right now" is it? It's called "best game of the year" and it's an opinion. What on earth is everyone bickering about?

I am sure FFXII is a worthy winner, however Edge is a British magazine, with British readers, in the British (well EU really) market. The fact that they, and other people with enought time and money can go out and get these just irks a little. As a father of 1.67 I find my disposable cash dwindling, as a result I have to be very choosy about what I get (perhaps 1 game a quarter, if that). I use Edge not just for the previews but also as an investment to make sure I do not waste money on games that are not worthwhile.
Having had the whinge, I have never yet been disappointed by Square and sincerely congratulate them (just primarily for Dragon Quest VII!)

It's called "best game of the year" but seems like it won't be out there this year... Then again, unless you import.

I can see why some won, but as far as Best game and Best online experience I'm not so sure. The only seeminly honest review of ff12 I found was at
http://finalfantasyxiirealreview.blogspot.com/
And it discusses the weak points of 12 compared to previous ff's

I agree, game of the year should have gone to TLOZ:TP, no matter how good FFXII is. maybe if it is really good it can get GOTY next year but as it is not here for this year...

It would also be good to see whether it WOULD get GOTY next year as by then it will be not the best graphics and so on, so it will have to beat the new graphicy games purely through gameplay. then we would know for sure that it would be a VERY good game.

i wonder if ocarina or GT or SM:64 would get GOTY if they were released NOW- they would have to win for their gameplaying genius and not be judged on pretty graphics as their graphics are no longer pretty.

I think ff2 deserves it, ts true that people should look beyond the pretty graphics and recognise a game by the gamepllay or story, i for one think that TLOZ:TP was a great game

The characters were beautiful, especially zelda, but the story could do way much better

I was extremely dissapointed at the story of the game, i expected more, but looking back now the temples were awesome with capitals, the ending was so so, TLOZ: OOT was hundred times better, looking past the gaphics ofcourse

I think ff2 deserves it, ts true that people should look beyond the pretty graphics and recognise a game by the gamepllay or story, i for one think that TLOZ:TP was a great game

The characters were beautiful, especially zelda, but the story could do way much better

I was extremely dissapointed at the story of the game, i expected more, but looking back now the temples were awesome with capitals, the ending was so so, TLOZ: OOT was hundred times better, looking past the gaphics ofcourse

Having extensively played FF XII, and being a bit of a jaded Final Fantasy and RPG gamer, I can say that XII deserves all accolades. It's such a damned good game that I'm itching to see what the Vagrant Story team has up it's sleeve next...

The story in XII must be played to be believed. It really is that damned good. The game is unbelievably gorgeous, and the script and voice acting is some of the very best in any game.

Those of you who haven't played it will not be disappointed. It's just magnificent. Finally, a mature, dark, and compelling Fantasy for older gamers..

Seems a bit silly to have a game that most of your readers wont have played and wont get to play until 2007 as your GOTY in 2006.

well, i cant help but feel that these awards support my recent thinking that perhaps Edge is slightly pro-sony and anti-microsoft. In recent articles, Edge seems to already be slating the 360 for a fall in favour of the ps3, whereas everyone else seems to feel that the ps3 is failing in comparison (comparisons of several multi format games - CoD3 for example- show the 360's current superiority.

I haven't played some of these games, but it strikes me that so many people feel that GoW should have won (as do so many other multi-format reviewers), and Gears' achievements as a game both graphically and in design speak for themselves. With such a surprising choice of games, i cant help but feel that either Edge really does hate microsoft and is very pro-sony, or they chose such an interesting selection just to be different from everyone else. Am i the only one that thinks this?.....probably....

Typical of edge to give game of the year to a game that isn't even releasedin this country till the following year lol. If anymore proof were needed that they have there nose stuck too far up sony's backside this is it

Edge for as long as i can remember has reported about the games industry from all over the world. Which for me is one of the aspects thats sets it apart from most other games media, whether in a magazine or an online games site. If it did just report about the UK or even the EU games scene, we as the readers would be alot poorer for it.

So for me it makes perfect sense that EDGE base their awards on what is available in any part of the world in a particular year. If a great game was released in the UK only, should it not be considered for awards just because a limited amount of people would get to play it ? Or should it be considered on its own merits as a great game ?

Don't get me wrong, i respect Edge's opinions and like their reviews because they can be specific and do not get carried away with the hype as often many other reviewers do. However, its their readiness to dismiss the 360, when its popularity couldn't be higher in the face of ps3's bad reception. It's come to the point where often i feel that i might need to take some of their articles with a pinch of salt, because of a sense of bias. I'd be interested to see how Edge recieves the new wave of 360 games, such as Bioshock and Mass Effect.....

Final Fantasy XII was a game that was released in 2006. There's no getting around that. It might not be available here, but it is... available.

Someone saying that LOZ:TP should be game of the year "no matter how good" FFXII is just shows their bias - that's a simply absurd statement.

Later: an "honest" review? I doubt there are many reviews that aren't the reviewer's "honest" personal opinion - but ultimately, it's just opinion. I just can't wait 'till February - it looks to be a great month for long-awaited releases.

Maybe it is the other way around. Edge remains one of the few unbiased while it is the bias that leads many others (like Joystiq) to stress anti Sony propaganda in almost every article they publish. I have really got the feeling that Sony hatred has reached the levels of irrational hysteria since the US PS3 launch.

I agree with Edge, if they do not want to be looked upon as rating years game
FFXII is not a sequal to anything, its always a new a world, charecter, story, and battle styles every new title

"If anymore proof were needed that they have there nose stuck too far up sony's backside this is it."

Except for, you kno, the countless times that they've pointed constant problems and failings on the part of the PS3, right? Or the fact that the awards were shared evenly amongst the three main companies? Or maybe, JUST maybe, the fact that FFXII isn't a game made by Sony, but just so happened to appear on a Sony console?

Consider this... what if FFXII hadn't appeared on the PS2, but was still the same game? Wouls EDGE still be "up Sony's ass" then?

FF12 is possibly game of the year but i think that this nomination should go to Okami instead. FF12 is simply too big to be enjoyed by anyone that has time issues. Okami is big and tight enough to be enjoyed by anyone that wants to devote 15- 20 hours in a game and for me in a way it goes to Okami.

I just don't have anything to say , but shrug. So it goes. Not much on my mind recently. I can't be bothered with anything recently.

I've just been staying at home not getting anything done. I guess it doesn't bother me. Shrug. I haven't been up to anything. I haven't gotten much done today.

I haven't been up to much these days. Today was a loss. Nothing seems important. I've just been letting everything happen without me these days.

I haven't been up to much today. I've just been letting everything happen without me. Basically nothing seems worth bothering with. I've just been hanging out doing nothing. I just don't have anything to say right now. More or less nothing happening.

Not much on my mind. I don't care. I've just been letting everything happen without me , but shrug. Whatever. I feel like a void.

I've just been hanging out not getting anything done. What can I say? I've basically been doing nothing worth mentioning, but pfft. Not that it matters. Pretty much nothing exciting happening to speak of. I haven't been up to much these days.

even as a huge final fantasy fan, i still disagree. twelve is the weakest game in the series since the SNES days and has little or no plot, the side quests are merely "hunt this annoying monster by repeatedly entering the same area on the off chance it might appear eventually" instead of the old variety, the characters undergo little or no development throughout the course of the game... about the only thing it has going for it is the admittedly excellant new fight system, but that's only half the game for an FF fanatic. i mean, seven had a better storyline not only than any other game, but most films i've seen. 12 is a laughable mishmash of tired medieval cliches (that the staff claimed they wanted to avoid from now on in the making of FFX dvd documentary) and clumsy references to star wars / pirates of the carribbean. i was so gutted when i finished it, i thought i was about a two thirds of the way thru the game max as the plot had just started to become hazilly apparent but then the ending shattered all my illusions and seemed either a complete "the games taken long enough, lets bang it out half finished" a la san andreas attitude or a blatant setup for the sequel on DS. which is highly unfair if that is the case. i'm not going to be wasting forty pound on another final fantasy again, i tell you that.