So, I specifically stated substitute goods, not perfectly substitute goods. And I need to be clear, the tone of this response and others following are slightly coming off as elitism.
If we compare corn syrup and maple syrup (and I'm Canadian, so I don't mess with around with my syrups), they are substitute goods. They don't taste anything alike, but if you don't have maple syrup, you're going to use something else and corn syrup is such a substitute. Elitism is basically calling corn syrup not a syrup. Even though you do the same things with them, like pouring them on pancakes. The line of thought here is no different than, someone telling me I've never had Ramen, if I've never been to Tokyo; or that a person would tell me I can't use Kraft Parmesan cheese to make a lasagne; the recipe calls for parmesan cheese, not parmesan cheese from Modena.
The Video Game Awards please look at the groupings, and I didn't make these. So please drop attacking my categorization methods as a position in this argument.
Best Narrative Game
2014:
2015:
2016:
2017:
If you thought my categories were bad I think you need to readdress your categories. These are judges that have spent a lot more time looking at the games and the experiences they bring.
Again. The above category was narrative.
I'm going to do Action/Adventure next:
2014:
2015:
2016:
2017:
There is another category called Action. Gears of War is in there. You and I can have a debate of where God of War 4 will land. It's either going to be Action/Adventure, or straight up Action. There are other categories in which a great deal of many games are mixed together, like Splatoon and Halo 5 for instance.
If you want to know where else there are robot dinosaurs here:
When I read this:
It's just elitism. I didn't say critically acclaimed games and that's where most of these arguments stem from. Listen you guys might have grown up with consoles, but I grew up playing PC. The concept of exclusives has never ever been a thing for me, until I started with XBO. So yea, I've always gone into these debates with a slanted view of things because everyone holds exclusives as this pedestal of gaming achievement, and the best games and experiences I've always had have been from 3rd party multiplatform games. Halo doesn't compare to my time playing CounterStrike, and it never will. Sea of Thieves can't compare to World of Warcraft and likely no other GaaS ever will. I've read so much stuff on this forum from graphics to narrative etc, where people have been largely inflating the value of these titles so much so because they are exclusives, that every other game out there that isn't exclusive is some second class citizen.
And that's confusing for me. Flat out, I'll be honest. No one talks about movies or TV Shows in this way. No one cares who produces the content of that movie, or show, just as long as the show is good.
And I play Inside and the gameplay has nothing to do with Uncharted 4 sorry to say this to you. Or maybe you have no idea of what is a TPS but I doubt it...
It's not elitism but an appreciation of the unique properties of that thing that mean it has no substitute. I like Calvin and Hobbes. It is a comic strip. It could be said that if I didn't read Calvin and Hobbes, I could read Garfield or Peanuts, but C&H is the only comic strip I enjoy due to the specifics. I like peanut butter. I could eat almond butter instead, or jam, but none is a real substitute for PB for me and I'd feel I have less eating these alternatives.
It is elitism when you’re so above it all that’s you can’t even properly put it in the same category of game.
Or the book. Finish the fucking books, man!!! 
Knack, Drive Club, Ryse, The Order 1886, Killzone Shadow Fall... For sure they are the darling of the critics... This is a concept unrelated to exclusives.I don't believe in a magic formula. A manufacturer is ideally wanting to be serving what the greater market wants (PlayStation, PS2, PS4) or try to convince the greater market on some new concept (PS3) which may or may not work. But it's not something that is reliably repeatable as market preferences can and do change although from where I sit, the video games market has changed very little compared to markets like the mobile phone space or car space.
'Substitute' is an absolute noun, in creative terms it's impossible to have a 'perfect substitute'. Even within a franchise, if you have hankering to play Halo 3 or Mass Effect 2, for a particular reason but you lent to a friend, playing any other Halo or Mass Effect game won't be a perfect substitute. You're playing someything you didn't what to play because what else are you going to do?
Elitism is having a superior view or attitude and being dismissive other views that are contrary to yours. Because I know what I want doesn't make me elitist. When I chose a game, book, movie or TV show it's because that is what tickles my fancy at that particular time. Occasionally, very occasionally, I'll be in one of those moods where I don't care but that's pretty rare.
Speaking for myself, I'm not "attacking" your categorisation, I'm saying for that me none of what you presented as substitutes work for me. I didn't follow any of your point about games put up for narrative awards. I've not played all those games but the ones I have (or know) are all heavy on narrative. ]Th narrative awards are there to recognise good story-telling in videogames, it's not - as I believe you think - for games where narrative is that game's raison d'être.
It's not elitism. Based on your posts you're somebody who can kill time with something, rather than something specific. This principle isn't even about exclusives. Again, if you wake up and think "I really want to play Halo 2" but it's not accessible, you'll probably play something you didn't have wake up wanting to play. It's called making do.
Some of us, don't want to do that. Or do as little as possible.
Again, you're mentally tying this to exclusivity when it's not. But the preferences and/or desires for something specific you claim not to understand, exist very much in other creative fields. If you're really looking forward to the next episode of Game of Thrones episode, there is no damn substitute for that.
SUBSTITUTE = NOT THAT THING YOU WANTED.
I think you're drawing a correlation between the viewpoints expressed and the combination with exclusivity that doesn't exist. The argument is that some products have no substitute, be they exclusive or not. Whether HZD is exclusive or cross-platform, fans of the game won't find a true substitute in any other game.
This is exactly what I would be okay with. I do it all the time. Ive stopped playing SoT to play The Division. I’ll go back to Destiny 2 as well despite how much people hate it. And later back to SoT. Depends on what I want to do. Availability is the key here.
You've missed half the post. Is there literally nothing in your life that you can't do without? Not a single thing or person you consider irreplaceable? If not, you can't comprehend how others can not find Product B a replacement for Product A. That doesn't make those people elitist!
