2015 Game Awards- 5 Things You Need To Know

Missed the 2015 Game Awards? CeX has you covered. Here's what you need to know.

Before we get into it, I must mention that Geoff Keighley (creator of the awards) has really done a great job at evolving what was once the Spike Video Game Awards. "Doritogate" aside and a long, long string of awards shows that were cringey, embarrassing to watch and that merely pandered to what games sold the most, this years Game Awards felt different. Kudos, Geoff! Anyway, lets get into it...

The Winners

Game of the Year
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Developer of the Year
CD Projekt Red

Best Independent Game
League

Best Mobile/Handheld Game
Lara Croft Go

Best Narrative
Her Story

Best Art Direction
Ori and the Blind Forest

Best Score/Soundtrack
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Best Performance
Viva Seifert (Her Story)

Games for Change Award
Life Is Strange (DONTNOD Entertainment / Square Enix)

Best Action/Adventure Game
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Best Role Playing Game
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Best Fighting Game
Mortal Kombat X

Best Family Game
Super Mario Maker

Best Sports/Racing Game
Rocket League

Best Multiplayer
Splatoon

Most Anticipated Game
No Man's Sky

Esports Player of the Year
Kenny "KennyS" Schrub

Esports Team of the Year
Optic Gaming

Esports Game of the Year
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Trending Gamer
Greg Miller

Best Fan Creation
Portal Stories: Mel (Prism Studios)

Telltale Games- Batman

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Telltale Games.  On one hand I love how the company itself was founded by ex-LucasArts employees, people who once worked on some of the classic point-and-click games from yesteryear. However, on the other hand all of Telltale Games' titles seem to be incredibly linear, pretty much all play the same and they all run on a game engine that works like dog shit. Still though, it hasn't stopped them making a lot of money, and that's mostly in part to the incredible franchises they're working alongside now. From Jurassic Park, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones to Minecraft, Telltale Games know what their fans want, and at the Game Awards Telltale Games revealed their next project- Batman. Very little is know by this point both in terms of story and visuals, but lets hope they give us something a little more in-depth than PRESS X TO SAVE GOTHAM.

Psychonauts 2

 

 

Though rumoured for years without any joy, Psychonauts 2 was officially announced by Tim Schafer, founder of Double Fine Studios and director of the original game. However, there's a bit of a catch here. Just like Shenmue 3 did back at E3 this year, fans will need to pony up some cold hard cash in order to make Psychonauts 2 a reality. Though there are other sources of money available to him, Schafer is looking to net 3.3 million from Psychonauts fans who have been wishing for a sequel since 2005. Schafer has seemingly gotten the old team back together too, so assuming it's funded (which I imagine it will be), it looks like it will be the Psychonauts 2 every fan has only dreamed about. Lets just hope it doesn't end up like Schafer's other crowdfunded effort, Broken Age- you know, a complete waste.

A tribute to Satoru Iwata

On July 11th of this year gaming lost one of its figureheads. Satoru Iwata, president and CEO of Nintendo, passed away due to a tumour found on his bile duct, an ailment that was discovered only the year before during a routine exam. From watching Mr. Iwata over the years at E3 and on Nintendo Direct, he was not only a man of great intellect and genius, but he was also a very likeable and funny guy. As a gamer I appreciated his enthusiasm whenever he was on screen, and though I of course didn't know him personally, he was a familiar presence that was comforting, reassuring and, well, good. The always great Reggie Fils-Aimé paid tribute to his friend at the Game Awards, and it was a bitter-sweet moment of reflection on what Mr. Iwata did for our industry.

The death of Konami

Alright, here we go. With what started as a "corporate restructuring" in March of this year, we're now at the point in which Hideo Kojima has been fired from Konami, Silent Hills has been canceled, both Kojima Productions and Kojima Productions Los Angeles have been officially disbanded, and the future of the Metal Gear Solid series is now up in the air as Konami is now focusing on slot machines. Yes, after creating some of the most iconic and memorable game franchises of all time, the once great Konami has all but destroyed their reputation and is now setting their sights on slot machines and mobile gaming. It's sad, but with Hideo Kojima slated to appear at the Game Awards and receive an award for Best Action Adventure Game, it was at least some small glimmer of hope for a nice ending.

With Metal Gear Solid related people such as Keifer Sutherland, Stefanie Joosten, Donna Burke, Troy Baker and Ludvig Forssell in attendance, it was revealed that Hideo Kojima was stopped from attending the Game Awards by Konami. Technically he's still under contract from them, and they essentially legally prevented him from going. So after almost 30 years with Konami, creating and designing some of its biggest franchises, Konami refuse to let Kojima accept an award. Even after all this bullshit, his firing, his dev teams being demolished, you'd think they'd at least let him do that. But no. Kojima had to watch his peers celebrate from Japan. A sad, sad day for gaming. Personally, I've been a massive Konami fan since 1997s Azure Dreams. Right now my opinion of them couldn't be lower. So, let me join the chorus of voices Reddit, Twitter, Facebook and every other social media hub online when I say F*ck Konami. Seriously. Hopefully for a legendary creator like Kojima the best is yet to come, but it's truly pathetic how it all ended. R.I.P Konami.

Denis Murphy

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