The annual Video Game Awards aired last night on Spike TV. Among the release of greatly anticipated trailers and newly announced titles, some of the biggest names within the gaming industry competed for the much coveted glory of Game of the Year. So who went home with the grand prize? Who went home with anything? Here’s the breakdown:
Game of the Year: Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar Games)
Best Independent Game: World of Goo (2D Boy)
Studio of the Year: Media Molecule (LittleBigPlanet)
Best Team Sports Game: NHL 09 (EA Canada)
Big Name in the Game Female: Jenny McCarthy (C&C: Red Alert 3)
Big Name in the Game Male: Kiefer Sutherland (CoD: World at War)
Best Performance by a Human Female: Debbie Mae West (MGS4)
Best Performance by a Human Male: Michael Hollick (GTA IV)
Best Multi-Player Game: Left 4 Dead (Valve)
Best Original Score: Metal Gear Solid 4 (Kojima Productions)
Best PC Game: Left 4 Dead (Valve)
Best PS3 Game: LittleBigPlanet (Media Molecule)
Best Wii Game: Boom Blox (EA Casual Studios)
Best Xbox 360 Game: Gears of War 2 (Epic Games)
Best Soundtrack: Rock Band 2 (Harmonix)
Best Action Adventure Game: Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar Games)
Best Driving Game: Burnout Paradise (Criterion)
Best Music Game: Rock Band 2 (Harmonix)
Best Game Based on a Movie or TV Show: LEGO Indiana Jones (Traveller’s Tales)
Best Graphics: Metal Gear Solid 4 (Kojima Productions)
Best Handheld Game: Professor Layton and the Curios Village (Level 5)
Best Individual Sports Game: Shaun White Snowboarding (Ubisoft Montreal)
Best Fighting Game: Soul Calibur IV (Project Soul)
Best RPG: Fallout 3 (Bethesda Game Studios)
Best Shooter: Gears of War 2 (Epic Games)
A quick look at this list and it seems that everything worth playing has come out within the last month or so. And just in time for the holiday season! Gamers best have their wish lists prepared.
While I agree with most of the choices on this list, Grand Theft Auto IV as Game of the Year does not sit well with me. Don’t get me wrong. It was a great game but it just wasn’t worthy of this honor.
To be honest, this entire fanboy fest is not really about the awards for me. Yes, it is fine and dandy that recognition can be given to some truly wondrous achievements in the industry but when all is said and done, what we are left with is a short list of games and a lot of arrogant fans. This entire event gives gamers the ammunition the need to wage their inane message board battles of why what they have is better than anything else and just how hard everything else sucks. I do not care for fanboyism or the brain-dead notion that one company or game series is better than the other. But if you take a second to browse any forum after the announcements of the winners, it comes to no surprise as to how fast the hate speech has begun to spread amongst the interwebs. It just continues to remind if me, if but over and over again, that most of the gaming community cares a lot more about what they can brag about than about the games they are actually playing.
As I said, awards do not interest me. I would much rather focus on these much talked about trailers that premiered last night. So here is what I am currently excited about:
God of War III – Not enough was shown to warrant the overdose of positive feedback but it does looks really well put together. I’m interested in those ornamental gloves that the revenge fueled Kratos is wearing and hoping that this so called ‘end’ that the God of War is talking about is anything but.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – The original Uncharted had franchise written all over it and it comes to no surprise that the next installment looks just as gorgeous and retains the same level of humor the fans have come to expect. Nathan Drake looks to be in really dangerous predicament and the tagline does well to set the stage for his latest shenanigans.
Dante’s Inferno – So very little was shown about this title but the any game which takes the Nine Circles of Hell as its primary setting, has my undivided attention. Using Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy as an inspiration tool, Dante’s Inferno could manage to be a great surprise for the gaming community even if the ‘Go to Hell’ line was a tad ill-advised and completely cheese-tastic.
Mafia II – I liked Mafia. Its ending was nothing short of f’ed up and the fast paced shoot-em world of mob life was executed masterfully. Mafia II looks to build on the same mechanics as its predecessor with plenty of betrayal, corruption, and Italians accents thrown in for good measure.
Fight Night Round 4 – Unheard of since the debut of the Xbox 360, Fight Nights makes its long awaited return as players will finally be able to pit the ear biting frenzy of Mike Tyson against the butterfly floating, bee stinging moves of Mohammed Ali. Good times had by all.
Watchmen: The End is Nigh - Games based on movies, based on comic books don’t always equal great success but I’m keeping my mind open with this title. Like all superhero games it looks fantastic in trailer form but time will tell if this adaptation has what it takes to survive in the video game world.
Terminator: Salvation – Joining Watchmen in the movie based category, Salvation is another title that I will keep an eye out for. It doesn’t look like anything that gamers haven’t seen before but if it manages to capture the imagination of the Terminator series then Salvation could be worth the wait.
Overall, the event was a well done, even if it did have Jack Black hosting as a not so coincidental means to shamelessly plug his own game. The trailers were alright but again, the secrecy and the anticipation of the footage was a bit overdone. In the end, we are only offered a brief glimpse into what may or may not be a stellar gaming experience. I would have liked to have seen more developers using this mainstream event to promote some of their upcoming software but with E3 looming its electronic head in the not so distant future, something tells me that the glimpse we have seen is a mere drop in the bucket compared to the amount of high profile titles to be announced earlier next year.
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