“I just like talking, writing about, and playing games,”
December 12, 2019 5:20 AM Subscribe
The Game Awards: How Geoff Keighley helped create The Oscars for gaming [The Washington Post] “ In 2014, Keighley created The Game Awards, which the New York Times once called the “Oscars of gaming.” But that undercuts Keighley’s ambition. He wants The Game Awards to be the best awards show on the planet. [...] “As a 14-year-old kid, sitting next to [The Sims creator] Will Wright and have him talk about science and life, I felt like I was meeting Albert Einstein," Keighley said. "It’s always driven me. How do we recognize these people?” The Game Awards were borne out of this question, and his view that prior awards shows seemed to prioritize marketing product over the games’ creators. [...] The entire show is only available online, streamed on a dozen platforms, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Steam, without any assistance from cable networks.” [The Game Awards Nominees]
• What Time Does The Game Awards 2019 Start?
• What Time Does The Game Awards 2019 Start?
‣ North America: 5:30pm PST / 6:30pm MST / 7:30pm CST / 8:30pm EST• Death Stranding's Nominations At The Game Awards Can't Help But Raise Questions [Kotaku]
‣ UK/Ire: 1:30am GMT
‣ Europe: 2:30am CET / 3:30am EET
‣ Asia/Oceania: 10:30am JST / 9:30am AWST / 12:30pm AEDT
“The Games Awards is the largest video games awards ceremony of the year in large part because it’s full of new game announcements, but the industry takes the awards seriously as well. This year, with Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding nominated for a number of awards including Game of the Year, viewers are openly wondering whether or not that’s related to The Game Awards producer Geoff Keighley’s very public relationship with Kojima. Keighley says he doesn’t nominate or vote on awards, but there are plenty of questions here. [...] most well-known directors, which would typically prime it for awards season. Sure enough, it has received nine nominations this year including Game of the Year and Best Game Direction. These nominations, received so soon after release, have drawn some attention as show producer Geoff Keighley has been a friend of Kojima’s for years, talking about him on Twitter and bringing him on stage at various events, including previous iterations of The Game Awards. Keighley even appears as a non-player character in Death Stranding.”• The Game Awards offers an E3-esque buffet of Steam demos for unreleased games [Polygon]
“Geoff Keighley, the founder and host of The Game Awards, announced a new project on Wednesday morning called The Game Festival. The Festival is designed to work hand-in-hand with the Game Awards to give players the chance to try out some new games being discussed on the show with Steam acting as the digital event space. The demos will only be available for 48 hours, but giving fans a way to actually try these games for themselves is an interesting move for the awards show. According to Keighley, the idea behind the Festival is to mimic the experience of a gaming trade show or consumer event, like E3, digitally. “Now feels like the right time to take the next step with The Game Festival, a completely digital approach to the consumer event space,” Keighley said. “Let’s face it: Not everyone can attend a physical trade show or consumer event. The Game Festival is designed from the ground-up as an event without barriers, extending the benefits of a physical event to the global gaming community that watches The Game Awards.” [...] The Game Festival will begin on Thursday at 1 p.m. ET and end on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. Players will be able to play any of the available demos through Steam while the Festival is happening”• The Game Awards 2019 will reveal around ten unheard of games [Rock Paper Shotgun]
“Along with the trophies though, The Game Awards has also become a show where, like E3, developers and publishers show up to show off what they’ll be releasing the following year. Last year’s show had a few big announcements, some expected and others less so. The first teaser trailer for Dragon Age 4 was debuted, despite the game’s development being a pretty open secret. Obsidian Entertainment announced The Outer Worlds. Supergiant Games simultaneously announced and launched their roguelike game Hades in early access. Keighley confirmed during his Reddit AMAtodaythat viewers are right to assume that there will be big announcements again this year. When asked how many reveals could be anticipated for this year’s show, Keighley says, “I think there are around 10 new games/projects being revealed if you want to count the things that no one has heard about yet.””
Shouldn't the award, like Oscar and Tony, be called either the Nolan or the Stevie?
posted by sammyo at 6:09 AM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by sammyo at 6:09 AM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
Death Stranding is the video game version of that banana duct taped to the wall of a museum: extremely fresh and exciting to a certain kind of extremely enthusiastic game-liker but deeply alienating and off-putting to everyone else.
posted by Reyturner at 6:11 AM on December 12, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Reyturner at 6:11 AM on December 12, 2019 [2 favorites]
If I were working on a Game Award and someone called it the Oscars of gaming, I'd be livid. The Oscars have major problems, and serve not movies as an artform, but the movie industry as a business.
posted by explosion at 6:32 AM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by explosion at 6:32 AM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
Actually that's pretty accurate to the Game Awards, so....
posted by selfnoise at 6:36 AM on December 12, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by selfnoise at 6:36 AM on December 12, 2019 [11 favorites]
More accurate for the Game Awards than the Oscars, even, since the show itself is awards interspersed with ~exclusive previews~ advertising new games.
posted by graventy at 6:53 AM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by graventy at 6:53 AM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
Before anybody gets excited, this is about video games, not real games.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:11 AM on December 12, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:11 AM on December 12, 2019 [2 favorites]
Many of the reactions to this tweet touch on why the tweet itself casts some light on just how much weight to put on claims that the dream is a pure and unsullied celebration of game creators and not marketing. (Spoiler: not really any. The PR physics engine isn't up to it.)
posted by Drastic at 7:15 AM on December 12, 2019
posted by Drastic at 7:15 AM on December 12, 2019
I like the idea of a specific awards weekend when demos of big upcoming games are playable on Steam. It could be quite fun if it gets a decent community conversation going, and might help some decent indie games with their pre-release promotion.
posted by Eleven at 7:27 AM on December 12, 2019
posted by Eleven at 7:27 AM on December 12, 2019
The Wash Po article is kind of absurd. Geoff talking about how he wants to make this show this place to reward creators, but the actual truth of The Game Awards is that it's a marketing/publicity/spectacle. It's become a showcase for major developers and the industry itself. It's capitalism personified.
And I'm a sucker for it, like so many others who enjoy playing video-games. You tune in for the big game trailer reveals, for the announcement of the next big new thing. I don't see this changing any time soon, it feels like it's only going to get worse.
I can see why people are a little bit concerned about Geoff's relationship to Kojima and what that might mean for GOTY.
posted by Fizz at 7:27 AM on December 12, 2019
And I'm a sucker for it, like so many others who enjoy playing video-games. You tune in for the big game trailer reveals, for the announcement of the next big new thing. I don't see this changing any time soon, it feels like it's only going to get worse.
I can see why people are a little bit concerned about Geoff's relationship to Kojima and what that might mean for GOTY.
posted by Fizz at 7:27 AM on December 12, 2019
Death Stranding includes nine hours of cutscenes. I just can't.
posted by SoberHighland at 8:04 AM on December 12, 2019
posted by SoberHighland at 8:04 AM on December 12, 2019
Recency bias is a thing that should also be acknowledged
I read this as Regency bias and was about to get super excited about the game.
posted by corb at 8:40 AM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
I read this as Regency bias and was about to get super excited about the game.
posted by corb at 8:40 AM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
Death Stranding includes nine hours of cutscenes. I just can't.
I feel you. I am still waiting the year for the PC release but I hope in the meantime he patches the game to include more. Don't get me wrong, 9 is nice after what felt like 0 in MGSV, but I was hoping for a little more at least.
posted by GoblinHoney at 8:48 AM on December 12, 2019
I feel you. I am still waiting the year for the PC release but I hope in the meantime he patches the game to include more. Don't get me wrong, 9 is nice after what felt like 0 in MGSV, but I was hoping for a little more at least.
posted by GoblinHoney at 8:48 AM on December 12, 2019
I had no knowledge of Kojima outside of reading that many really like his games. I played Control a few months ago, and adored it. I heard there were a couple segments that Kojima wrote/directed. So I eagerly sought those parts out.
The Kojima parts were the absolute low point of that game for me. Insufferable. It came across as undergrad creative writing from a middling student after reading the Wikipedia article about Surrealism. The forklifts and trees stuff. Pure cringe.
50 hours of that, with Monster® Energy Drink™ and celebrity cameos? No, thank you very much. I'm happy that fans are happy, but no thanks!
posted by SoberHighland at 9:03 AM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
The Kojima parts were the absolute low point of that game for me. Insufferable. It came across as undergrad creative writing from a middling student after reading the Wikipedia article about Surrealism. The forklifts and trees stuff. Pure cringe.
50 hours of that, with Monster® Energy Drink™ and celebrity cameos? No, thank you very much. I'm happy that fans are happy, but no thanks!
posted by SoberHighland at 9:03 AM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
The difference between the Keighleys and the Oscars is that the film industry actually cares about and tries to build up the perception of artistic legitimacy, because of both Hollywood's self-obsession and the increased profits that can be made from Oscar prestige. I believe Geoff Keighley when he says he wants the show to celebrate the creators of games, but the game industry doesn't see the value ($) in that, only in how the show can get eyeballs on trailers.
Anyway, I'm rooting for Mobius Digital to win Fresh Indie Game Presented By Subway™.
posted by skymt at 9:21 AM on December 12, 2019
Anyway, I'm rooting for Mobius Digital to win Fresh Indie Game Presented By Subway™.
posted by skymt at 9:21 AM on December 12, 2019
9 is nice after what felt like 0 in MGSV
God I loved the change of approach to exposition in this one. Loved being out in the wilderness listening to the tapes while I'm headed to my next op, or just rounding up soldiers. Still felt like there were too many cassettes to get through though. I did listen to all the yellow ones.
Having not played Control (and actually haven't heard of it? it's right up my alley too - Agents of SHIELD vibes are my jam) or Death Stranding (one day I will, bought the PS4 on sale this holiday and am playing through the hits), it seems them or Sekiro are the obvious choice. I haven't beaten Sekiro because I just don't have the dedication these days. I admit that warrior man that beat me is just better than me at swordplay, and I've made my peace. But here's a studio that flipped their formula on their head, did something very different, and succeeded aesthetically and gameplay-wise. Other studios are looking to them for their own next steps, and fleshing out genres that didn't exist prior to (at least not with the commercial success).
I think risks that pay off should be rewarded because I believe they push the medium forward. Outer Worlds (on my second playthrough), I love, but it's just reiteration. Really well executed reiteration with Obsidian's trademark world-building, but reiteration nonetheless. It could be an elaborate Fallout 3 mod. Smash is great, but it's just honing of a formula on a new platform. Resident Evil 2 is a remake, and the majority of the gameplay is the same as the original. I love it as well, and I loved the original, but it didn't bring a lot that was new. I'd put Nier:
posted by avalonian at 9:25 AM on December 12, 2019
God I loved the change of approach to exposition in this one. Loved being out in the wilderness listening to the tapes while I'm headed to my next op, or just rounding up soldiers. Still felt like there were too many cassettes to get through though. I did listen to all the yellow ones.
Having not played Control (and actually haven't heard of it? it's right up my alley too - Agents of SHIELD vibes are my jam) or Death Stranding (one day I will, bought the PS4 on sale this holiday and am playing through the hits), it seems them or Sekiro are the obvious choice. I haven't beaten Sekiro because I just don't have the dedication these days. I admit that warrior man that beat me is just better than me at swordplay, and I've made my peace. But here's a studio that flipped their formula on their head, did something very different, and succeeded aesthetically and gameplay-wise. Other studios are looking to them for their own next steps, and fleshing out genres that didn't exist prior to (at least not with the commercial success).
I think risks that pay off should be rewarded because I believe they push the medium forward. Outer Worlds (on my second playthrough), I love, but it's just reiteration. Really well executed reiteration with Obsidian's trademark world-building, but reiteration nonetheless. It could be an elaborate Fallout 3 mod. Smash is great, but it's just honing of a formula on a new platform. Resident Evil 2 is a remake, and the majority of the gameplay is the same as the original. I love it as well, and I loved the original, but it didn't bring a lot that was new. I'd put Nier:
posted by avalonian at 9:25 AM on December 12, 2019
Wait, is Nier: Automata really from this year? It feels like I've been itching to play that game for years!
posted by GoblinHoney at 9:35 AM on December 12, 2019
posted by GoblinHoney at 9:35 AM on December 12, 2019
Control (and actually haven't heard of it? it's right up my alley too - Agents of SHIELD vibes are my jam)
It's not on Steam yet (but it is on Humble store? weird) so it's been a bit off the radar for PC gamers. It's a pretty good X-Files/SCP pastiche (although I wish they'd leaned harder into the weird bits) with nicely explosive power-fantasy combat.
(Apparently in my playthrough I didn't even find the Kojima cameo. Doh!)
Looks fantastic too, but the fancy rendering is a real GPU-melter.
posted by neckro23 at 9:46 AM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
It's not on Steam yet (but it is on Humble store? weird) so it's been a bit off the radar for PC gamers. It's a pretty good X-Files/SCP pastiche (although I wish they'd leaned harder into the weird bits) with nicely explosive power-fantasy combat.
(Apparently in my playthrough I didn't even find the Kojima cameo. Doh!)
Looks fantastic too, but the fancy rendering is a real GPU-melter.
posted by neckro23 at 9:46 AM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
Wait, is Nier: Automata really from this year?
Confused myself with that, too. The Game of the YoRHa Edition was released in 2019. The original release was February 2017.
posted by avalonian at 9:51 AM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
Confused myself with that, too. The Game of the YoRHa Edition was released in 2019. The original release was February 2017.
posted by avalonian at 9:51 AM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
[Control]'s not on Steam yet (but it is on Humble store? weird)
That would be because it's one of those Epic Store Exclusives. I bought it from the Humble Store on release and got a key to redeem on the EGS.
posted by aranyx at 10:00 AM on December 12, 2019
That would be because it's one of those Epic Store Exclusives. I bought it from the Humble Store on release and got a key to redeem on the EGS.
posted by aranyx at 10:00 AM on December 12, 2019
I believe Geoff Keighley when he says he wants the show to celebrate the creators of games, but the game industry doesn't see the value ($) in that, only in how the show can get eyeballs on trailers.
Well, one of the best initial steps one can take to get the industry to see the value ($) in celebrating creators is to get fans interested in those creators and give their work a sense of importance. The Oscars, like 'em or not, do somehow still carry a sense of importance to a lot of audience members as if they actually did recognize artistic excellence.
posted by gusottertrout at 10:03 AM on December 12, 2019
Well, one of the best initial steps one can take to get the industry to see the value ($) in celebrating creators is to get fans interested in those creators and give their work a sense of importance. The Oscars, like 'em or not, do somehow still carry a sense of importance to a lot of audience members as if they actually did recognize artistic excellence.
posted by gusottertrout at 10:03 AM on December 12, 2019
Well, one of the best initial steps one can take to get the industry to see the value ($) in celebrating creators is to get fans interested in those creators and give their work a sense of importance.
Sure, but what's the first step towards that first step? I'm not sure it's The Game Awards, at least as they are. The Oscars are treated as if they're important because they present themselves as important, and they celebrate personal achievement because they began at a time when the entertainment industry was interested in building up stars rather than brands.
posted by skymt at 10:40 AM on December 12, 2019
Sure, but what's the first step towards that first step? I'm not sure it's The Game Awards, at least as they are. The Oscars are treated as if they're important because they present themselves as important, and they celebrate personal achievement because they began at a time when the entertainment industry was interested in building up stars rather than brands.
posted by skymt at 10:40 AM on December 12, 2019
Do they mention how the award recipients are decided? I'd definitely prefer it, and actually value the outcome, if members of the industry decided (like the Screen Actors Guild Awards).
posted by avalonian at 11:21 AM on December 12, 2019
posted by avalonian at 11:21 AM on December 12, 2019
Yeah, I'm not sure it's the Game Awards either but all an award show really needs to do to be taken seriously is to get viewers to watch it and eventually they'll care about the outcomes. The Golden Globes weren't serious awards at first, and were openly mocked for being able to be "bought" but they gained a measure of respect over the years once they were televised and the industry stars showed up to get their awards.
Games don't have the same built in celebrity industry around them, though they do now seem to have a lot of stars serving as models and doing the voice overs, so their hook is more the previews of upcoming games and the like I imagine, so they just need to hook enough casual gamers into watching for those reasons and have enough awards somehow connect to things they care about and the other awards will start to matter more. Some of the most famous Hollywood directors are those that are more award types then strictly box office faves, so it can lead to more people seeing a separation behind alleged quality products and mass market appeal.
But I'm not sure how much more gamers need care about the creators of the games, since there already seems to be a fair amount of notice given some of the main creators/companies, so I'm not sure how much more interest there will be around behind the scenes work since it isn't all that glamorous.
posted by gusottertrout at 11:38 AM on December 12, 2019
Games don't have the same built in celebrity industry around them, though they do now seem to have a lot of stars serving as models and doing the voice overs, so their hook is more the previews of upcoming games and the like I imagine, so they just need to hook enough casual gamers into watching for those reasons and have enough awards somehow connect to things they care about and the other awards will start to matter more. Some of the most famous Hollywood directors are those that are more award types then strictly box office faves, so it can lead to more people seeing a separation behind alleged quality products and mass market appeal.
But I'm not sure how much more gamers need care about the creators of the games, since there already seems to be a fair amount of notice given some of the main creators/companies, so I'm not sure how much more interest there will be around behind the scenes work since it isn't all that glamorous.
posted by gusottertrout at 11:38 AM on December 12, 2019
Do they mention how the award recipients are decided? I'd definitely prefer it, and actually value the outcome, if members of the industry decided (like the Screen Actors Guild Awards).
Winners of The Game Awards are chosen by combined vote of a jury of games media outlets (90% share) and public online voting (10% share). (According to this archived rules page that no longer exists on the live site.) Oddly enough, the outlets themselves have the vote: they're supposed to poll their editorial staff and send a single combined ballot.
The DICE Awards (unrelated to the Battlefield studio DICE) have a process closer to the Academy Awards: finalists are chosen by a panel of industry professionals, and voting is done by the members of a major industry organization, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. It's not equivalent to the SAG awards because voting is cross-field.
posted by skymt at 12:05 PM on December 12, 2019
Winners of The Game Awards are chosen by combined vote of a jury of games media outlets (90% share) and public online voting (10% share). (According to this archived rules page that no longer exists on the live site.) Oddly enough, the outlets themselves have the vote: they're supposed to poll their editorial staff and send a single combined ballot.
The DICE Awards (unrelated to the Battlefield studio DICE) have a process closer to the Academy Awards: finalists are chosen by a panel of industry professionals, and voting is done by the members of a major industry organization, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. It's not equivalent to the SAG awards because voting is cross-field.
posted by skymt at 12:05 PM on December 12, 2019
Death Stranding is the video game version of that banana duct taped to the wall of a museum
I'd say it's more like a Banksy work or a Christopher Nolan film: yeah it's a bit weird, but it's a very mainstream kind of weird.
posted by Pyry at 12:55 PM on December 12, 2019 [3 favorites]
I'd say it's more like a Banksy work or a Christopher Nolan film: yeah it's a bit weird, but it's a very mainstream kind of weird.
posted by Pyry at 12:55 PM on December 12, 2019 [3 favorites]
The DICE Awards (unrelated to the Battlefield studio DICE) have a process closer to the Academy Awards: finalists are chosen by a panel of industry professionals, and voting is done by the members of a major industry organization, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.
They are also, I think, a lot better - the Game Awards has the Oscar problem of wildly undeserving winners, except without the prestige of the Oscars that lets them get away with it.
posted by Merus at 3:14 PM on December 12, 2019
They are also, I think, a lot better - the Game Awards has the Oscar problem of wildly undeserving winners, except without the prestige of the Oscars that lets them get away with it.
posted by Merus at 3:14 PM on December 12, 2019
The AIAS awards are also at the right time, like, months after the year has closed, with enough time to actually play all the contenders.
Developers Choice Awards at GDC are the only ones that matter though. Nothing quite like the judgment of your actual peers.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 4:34 PM on December 12, 2019
Developers Choice Awards at GDC are the only ones that matter though. Nothing quite like the judgment of your actual peers.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 4:34 PM on December 12, 2019
Watching the first nine minutes of this was worth it to see Disco Elysium win something.
posted by selfnoise at 6:10 PM on December 12, 2019
posted by selfnoise at 6:10 PM on December 12, 2019
I'd say it's more like a Banksy work or a Christopher Nolan film: yeah it's a bit weird, but it's a very mainstream kind of weird.
In terms of writing and world building, I'd agree; Kojima has always had a few good, prescient ideas narratively, but their always deeply buried in a lot of "I'm 14 and this is deep", anime dad fiction nonsense.
What it's doing with the mechanics is genuinely pretty radical, imo.
posted by Reyturner at 10:15 AM on December 13, 2019
In terms of writing and world building, I'd agree; Kojima has always had a few good, prescient ideas narratively, but their always deeply buried in a lot of "I'm 14 and this is deep", anime dad fiction nonsense.
What it's doing with the mechanics is genuinely pretty radical, imo.
posted by Reyturner at 10:15 AM on December 13, 2019
« Older On the troubling trail of psychiatry’s... | unexpectedly confronted with circumstances Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
Also, for anyone wondering why Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is in 2019's list of nominees, despite being released in 2018, it's because of a cut-off deadline that Nintendo missed. This kind of wonkiness always seems to happen. It's why Star Jedi: Fallen Order missed the cut-off for this year.
posted by Fizz at 5:37 AM on December 12, 2019