The 2010 Arcade Games of the Year are...

The time has passed and the polls are closed. So what did you pick as the Arcade Game of The Year?

For the US/European markets: TERMINATOR SALVATION (Raw Thrills)

For Asian markets: DARIUS BURST ANOTHER CHRONICLE (Taito)

Out of the 102 votes cast over a month, Terminator Salvation garnered 18 votes total and was followed closely by Sega’s Let’s Go Island with 15 votes and Namco’s Deadstorm Pirates with 14 votes, making the light-gun genre the dominating force in this poll. Only 9 games in the poll got no love at all, otherwise there was some interest in everything else to a degree.

The Asian market poll had lower participation with only 59 votes cast – if we had an official page in Japanese, Chinese or Korean, then it would have been interesting to see the results as they might have been different in some regard, although from what I have seen, Darius Burst has been drawing crowds to arcades after it’s release so it might have come out on top regardless. Either way, Darius Burst Another Chronicle won with 14 votes cast, followed by Konami’s Beatmania IIDX 18 Resort Anthem with 8 votes and Sega’s Shining Force Cross Raid with 7 votes.

I do think that the winning games deserve it – Terminator has been big success in many places including my own arcade, which I have talked about previously. On the other side, I’ve had more player requests for a Darius Burst than I’ve had for something like Super Street Fighter IV AE. I havent’ played the latter game (yet) but seeing the different photos of crowds lining up to play it in Japan have been impressive as well.

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11 comments

arcades4ever January 24, 2011 at 3:18 pm

somehow I just knew terminator would come out on top which hasn’t surprised me one bit especially sales wise and dead storm pirates too but I think thats a bit unfair as lets go island and darias BAC hasn’t been out long enough I don’t think so they shouldn’t count as I haven’t played any of the 2 yet

arcadehero January 24, 2011 at 3:26 pm

Let’s Go Island will probably be eligible for GOTY 2011 since it’s only getting a US release this year. I know it’s been out in Europe though for a month or two which is why it was there. Same thing with Deadstorm Pirates, it will get another chance because of the 3D release.

But honestly Terminator was going to be hard to beat because of how well it’s done since it was released. I imagine that most people who voted in the Asian market poll hadn’t played any of the games but I couldn’t figure a better way to do a GOTY without splitting them up.

Greenlig January 24, 2011 at 5:47 pm

I didn’t love Terminator. Sure, it’s taking money, but it really isn’t a great game. I guess in the end, the cashbox talks, but it seems a pity that a relatively bland and innovation-less game is the success story of the year.

That said, I am speaking from a designer/player point of view.

Fred January 25, 2011 at 9:04 am

The Terminator game is pretty cool. Only problem is finding an arcade to play it in.

60Hz January 25, 2011 at 11:49 am

I have to agree with greenlig, i found terminator to be as far from fun as possible (and i was very excited to play it). strange that it would garner so many points. i must’ve missed the poll and so i really can’t complain since i didn’t participate but i must say its pretty strange.

the pirates game is hands down the most fun i’ve had with a gun game since lets go jungle…

arcadehero January 25, 2011 at 11:56 am

I wouldn’t call it strange – if the game is busting cash boxes pretty much everywhere then it’s because most people find it fun. I’ve seen a lot of repeat plays with the game, I’d probably get more if I could charge a little less on it, which I will do later this year once it’s paid off.

arcades4ever January 25, 2011 at 1:15 pm

dead storm pirates was my favourite game of last year like 60hz said which is what I voted, love the motion version of the game even if its a bit simular to pirates of the carabean with the main captain and lets go jungle, they’ve taken whats good about LGJ and made it even better. I think terminator is good with its graphics and challenging gameplay but I do feel its needs fine tuning and tweaking and on the whole its nothing new to be honest and I don’t think it would be game of the year if it weren’t based on the actual franchise

arcadehero January 25, 2011 at 1:33 pm

That’s a strong point. I played through all of DSP recently and it was a lot of fun, original and cheesy. It’s certainly an excellent game but not enough people voted for it at the end of the day

arcades4ever January 26, 2011 at 3:18 am

like I said its because its based on a popular licnence and therefore stronger sales of the machince and plus using cheaper hardware than DSP, and also because of its more compact sice unlike DSP which uses a lot of room up. if namco sold more DSP than rawthrills terminator and being more easier to come across then DSP would no doubt win. I find DSP alot more fun and exciting and engaging than terminator to be honest.

60Hz January 27, 2011 at 1:14 pm

good points all around and next poll i’m voting for sure!

i do understand that the license coupled with the price means Terminator has a higher market saturation leading to more people playing it than DSP, thus more votes (why vote for something you haven’t played)… but thats too bad.

NAMCO drop your price lol!

arcadehero January 27, 2011 at 1:30 pm

I think this is why Sega is taking a multi-cabinet approach to Let’s Go Island. With those options it increases the chances of the game making it out there. I am a little surprise that Namco hasn’t really done this as much as their competitors. Even Grid is being made in two flavors now.

Arcade Heroes