The 2013 Vidya Gaem Awards

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Eye Candy Award

for best visual aesthetics

Pick your nominees
It's hard to top the dark, gloomy beauty of Rapture, but Columbia makes a damn fine challenge. The gently floating city featured a cohesive and unique visual aesthetic that blended Americana with an off-settling social twist, providing one of the most beautiful settings of 2013.
BioShock Infinite
Irrational Games and 2K Australia
It's Crysis? Does it really need an explanation? Realistic graphics, amazing physics, and water that will cause you to cream yourself, it's really not a surprise a CryEngine game made it in here.
Crysis 3
Crytek
With hand-painted sprites with an art style that seems to be its own spectrum, Dragon's Crown gives hope to the side scrolling beat-em-up genre both gameplay-wise and artistically. Coupled with George Kamitani's fantastic art and concepts, the PS3 and Vita acquired a very unique title this year. Now to decide who is sexier: Sorceress or Dwarf?
Dragon's Crown
Vanillaware and Atlus
VHS tracking, neon blur, and other excesses of Neo 80s styling make Blood Dragon a game as hilariously fun to look at it as it is to play.
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Shanghai
Guacamelee! was a recent game that follows a very strict theme: Mexico. And damn does it show. With stylized graphics inspired by Huichol art, and an alternate world with an undead calaca theme to it, the game looks like one giant world from Mexican history. Or Mucha Lucha. Or a tattoo.
Guacamelee!
Drinkbox Studios
Killer Is Dead has Suda's trademarked hyper stylized visuals and bright, striking look with realistic character models combined in stark contrast with high contrast cel shaded art.
Killer Is Dead
Grasshopper Manufacture
Metro: Last Light came out of nowhere this year, surprising everyone with a surprisingly really good title that really makes you feel as if you're in an abandoned subway, fending for survival. With realistic graphics, dark environments that make use of the scenery, and probably the best modeled boobs in video games, Metro stands out with its visuals.
Metro: Last Light
4A Games
A Studio Ghibli game that looks as if it's straight out of a Miyazaki film, Ni No Kuni gave jRPG fans a title unlike anything they've played in recent years. With its cel-shaded graphics and beautiful art style, the visuals in Ni No Kuni stick out amongst a sea of jRPG titles.
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Level-5
Making excellent use of dated hardware, Pikmin 3 shows that the Wii U is capable of pumping out some beautiful games. With great framerate, wonderful detailing on environments and fruits that make you hungry just looking at them, Pikmin 3 is the sequel we all wanted.
Pikmin 3
Nintendo EAD and Monolith Soft
Ubisoft once again creates a vibrant and colourful game filled with character and charm. By subtly mixing 2D art elements with 3D, the levels in Rayman Legends are an optical treat to run through.
Rayman Legends
Ubisoft Montpellier
Rock-solid, no hiccups, not a single frame missing 60 FPS. SM3DW is one of the few next-gen games to accomplish this technical feat while still delivering incredible graphics and a beautiful visual aesthetic. Sorry, folks - you're going to have to blame that humiliating fall solely on your lack of skills.
Super Mario 3D World
Nintendo EAD Tokyo and 1-UP Studio
Inspired by doodles and papercraft, Tearaway is a visual delight, and stands on its own in a world of hyper realism with its own world of bright and textured cuts of paper.
Tearaway
Media Molecule
 
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The Awards

Most Hated Award

for most hated game of the year

Least Worst Award

for least worst game of the year

Press X To Win The Award

for worst gameplay

"Actually Kind of Fun" Award

for best gameplay

Fanfiction Award

for most atrocious writing

Reading Rainbow Award

for best writing

You're Waifu Award

for worst character

Doomguy Award

for best character

Blunder of the Year

for setting a new standard for failure

Not in Another Castle Award

for a great sequel

"We're Sorry®" Award

for most egregious technical problem

Hyperbole Award

for best trailer

Pixels Are Art Award

for most pretentious indie game

/v/irgin Award

for best new IP

4chan Pass Award

for biggest cashgrab

Golden Voice Award

for best voice acting performance

Challenger Award

for the worst console launch

Cranky Kong Award

for best soundtrack

Precipitation Award

for biggest emotional impact

IP Twist Award

for best new implementation of an old franchise

Plot & Backstory Award

for the best representation of women

Eye Candy Award

for best visual aesthetics

Shareholder's Award

for betraying your own industry

SammyClassicSonicFan Award

for least cancerous vidya personality

/v/ Grammy Award

for the best song from /v/ - The Musical