Looking at: The 2014 Video Game Awards: Post Show

This is going to be super informal, really just stream of consious, even more so then my regular posts. I'm writing this literally minutes after the show ended because it's still fresh in my mind. It's current 12:05 and I'm kind of tired. 

It's better then last year

Not that that's a high hurdle to leap. At the very least Geoff Keighley should be proud, since it legitimately looked like a real award show. It was well put together, most of the hosts appeared pleased to be there, and there was an overwhelming amount of actual industry people present. Well done. 

There were still a number of issues. The camera work, at least on the Steam Stream I was using, was atrocious. Really bad angles of Reggi Fils Amie, shaky camera work all around, and out of focus shots everywhere. The lighting too, was noticeably bad, often casting bad shadows, and clearly blinding people on stage. 

The worst offender was the audio. This might just be me talking, as a man that prides himself in his audio knowledge, but the audio quality was terrible. More then half of the mics weren't on properly. and the levels were all over the place. There was some really nasty feedback to at times. Sloppy work, not well done at all. 

But there weren't as many awkward moments, and the overall flow was pretty ok. The stoppage for all the King's Quest was noticeable, and I don't know if that name carries as much weight as people think it does. The announcement for Before went on rather long as well, and it was clear they were just stalling while the next presentation went up. The announcement for Zelda at the end was cool, but scripted translations like that always come out terrible and awkward. It only lasted a few minutes, but Bioware's acceptance video for Dragon Age, with two ingame characters joking, was really bad, and I wish companies would stop doing that.

All in all, it wasn't as disappointing as it could've been, and Keighley certainly put a lot of effort. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, and his effort paid off. 

Predictions

I said I wasn't a statician, so let's see how my predictions held up. 

* The premier of Metal Gear Solid is weird, non-nonsensical, and kind of awesome: 67%

 - Correct. The gameplay was confusing, but looked real cool. 

* Imagine Dragons is terrible, and kind of awkward: 72%

 - Incorrect. Much as I dislike Imagine Dragons, they're performance was well done. 

* Imagine Dragons played Radioactive: 99%

 - Incorrect. They apparently do have other songs. 

* Bloodbourne is dark, hard to see, looks a lot like Dark Souls: 80%

 - Partially correct. While the gamma correction is better, it didn't hide the familiarity of this game. 

* The new King's Quest looks disappointing, is named just King's Quest despite eight previous games: 79%

 - Partially Correct. It is just called Kings Quest, but it's gameplay looked intriguing, and there's definitly a lot of respect for the title from the team. 

* The Order: 1886 continues to look really, really awful: 68%

 - Correct. Despite billing itself as a horror shooter, the short bit of gameplay looked bland and uninspired. 

* EA announces a new game, it's a rehash of an old franchise they should've left alone: 78%

 - Incorrect. EA's announcement was an indie sequel. 

* EA's announcement is weird, contains almost no trace of the actual game being announced: 79%

 -  Correct. EA clearly has no idea what a reveal trailer even is anymore. 

* The whole show feels weirdly PS4 centered, kind of like a pre-show for the Sony Expo tomorrow: 88%

 - Partially correct. While there cetainly was an overwhelming PS4 presence, there was a lot of mention towards Steam, and surprisingly Nintendo. 

* No Man's Sky footage is amazing, makes people actually want a PS4: 78%

 - Correct. Holy shit. 

The Unknown:

* Despite saying otherwise, Bethesda announces something: 55%

 - Incorrect. Bastards. 

* Bethesda announces Fallout 4: 24%

 - Incorrect. Bastards. 

* Capcom announces a remastered version of Dragon's Dogma for PS4, X1, and PC: 49%

 - Incorrect. While they didn't announce anything at the show, a trademark was just filed for Dragon's Dogma online. Stay tuned. 

* Capcom announces a new Devil May Cry, people complain: 51%

 - Incorrect. Despite popular belief, Capcom had no showing this year. 

* Naughty Dog announces new Crash Bandicoot game: 69%

 - Incorrect. Naughty Dog's only announcement was Uncharted 4 information at tomorrow's Sony expo. 

* Nintendo announces a new Metroid: 20%

 -  incorrect, again. 

* Nintendo announces a new Star Fox: 40%

 - Correct. In a last minute twist Nintendo literally snuck in a reveal that a new Star Fox will be out in the next year. 

* Ubisoft announces a sequel, it looks good but will be disappointing: 68%

 - Incorrect. Ubisoft, wisely, didn't show off anything, possibly because AssCreed 5 was leaked earlier this week. 

* The show is actually really good, creates a whole new level of game award shows: 5%

 - Partially correct. It was better then last year, that's for damn sure. 

* There's a frank and actual discussion on the deplorable level of video game journalism: 2%

 - Incorrect. Although, frankly, I'm kind of glad. 

* Everyone ignores how horrid and uninspired video games have gotten, how lazy and disgusting the state of video games journalism is, and how completely deplorable the actions of Kotaku, RockPaperShotgun, IGN, GameTrailers, Polygon, and even Giantbomb are: 98%

 - Correct, but I regret writing this. The awards aren't about the shit happening in the industry, they should just be about the games, and they really were. 

* Half Life 3 announced: .03% 

 - EVERY YEAR. 

 The Awards

List taken from Polygon (http://www.polygon.com/2014/12/5/7343105/the-game-awards-2014-winners)

Best Performance
Trey Parker as Various Voices, South Park: The Stick of Truth (Obsidian Entertainment/Ubisoft)

I'm fine with this, since Parker is clearly talented, but at this point voicing South Park Characters is just a normal day for him. 

Best Score/Soundtrack
Destiny (Marty O'Donnell/Bungie)

Somewhat surprising, but I haven't played Destiny, so maybe it really is good. 

Best Online Experience

Destiny (Bungie/Activision)

Don't know if I agree with this one. Not having pickup group raids is a bit weird for an MMO, and it still lacks an endgame. 

Trending Gamer
TotalBiscuit

Probably the best choice. Him or Jeff Gerstmann. 

Best Mobile/Handheld Game
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment)

No Surprise here. 

Best Fighting Game
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (Sora Ltd./Bandai Namco Games/Nintendo)

I'm slightly shocked, since SSB isn't really thought of as a hardcore fighting game. 

Developer of the Year
Nintendo

AKA: The only dev to actually release playable games this year. 

Best eSports Player of the Year
Matt "NaDeSHoT" Haag (Call of Duty)

No comment. 

Best Sports/Racing Game
Mario Kart 8

Much like SSB, I don't know how to feel about this. Also, it's a little weird that Mario Kart is stacked in the same category as an NBA game. 

Best Shooter

Far Cry 4

Personally, I don't think it desereved it. Far Cry 4 is great, but only because Far Cry 3 was great, and it's mostly the same game. Would've rather it'd gone to Wolfenstien, but I'm not totally surprised. 

Games for Change
Valiant Hearts: The Great War (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft)

Having not played it, I have not comment. 

Best Narrative
Valiant Hearts: The Great War (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft)

Definitely surprised a Telltale title didn't take this one. It's now got Valient Hearts on my short radar. 

Industry Icon
Roberta and Ken Williams

True visionaries in a field sorely lacking in them. 

Best Independent Game
Shovel Knight (Yacht Club Games)

A great game takes home a great award. 

Game of the Year
Dragon Age: Inquisition (BioWare/Electronic Arts)

I haven't played DA:I, and due to an ongoing boycott against EA, I likely never will. I am, however, starting the countdown to claims that EA bought the award. 

Ok, so it wasn't a sucky show. Well done, and I hope next year is as good as this one was. I'm going to bed now.