The Game Awards 2016! “Super Metalborne 3: The Wild Fallout”

HAI GUYS.

Tonight, the Game Awards 2015 will take place, this time in Los Angeles, at the Microsoft Theater. It’s been a mixed bag for video games this year (at least for me). Sort of like a bag of Chex Mix that you pick around in, eating only the super salty Chex pieces, and ignoring the gross  brown circle thingies that you just know have some sinister intent  that you can’t quite place.

For those too lazy to go to their official website: the Game Awards 2015 begins at 6 PM Pacific, and you can watch it on the usual channels (Twitch, Youtube, etc.)!

Disclaimer: I have not played every game in this list nor am I an expert analyst of interactive media. I just get excited 🙂 and super nerdy about awards shows . . .

Best Shooter

• CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 3 – Treyarch
• DESTINY: THE TAKEN KING – Bungie
• HALO 5: GUARDIANS – 343 Industries
• SPLATOON – Nintendo <WINNER>
  
• STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT – DICE

Should win: Destiny: The Taken King
Will probably win: Destiny still has, in my opinion, the best controls of any modern console shooter, which makes it my pick to win here. It didn’t take the prize last year (although there was more competition in 2014) and it has only gotten better with its latest expansion.
Dark horse: Splatoon

Best Action/Adventure

• ASSASSIN’S CREED SYNDICATE – Ubisoft Quebec
• BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT – Rocksteady Studios
• METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN – Kojima Productions <WINNER>
• ORI AND THE BLIND FOREST – Moon Studios
• RISE OF THE TOMB RAIDER – Crystal Dynamics

Should win: Batman: Arkham Knight
Will probably win: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Dark horse: Rise of the Tomb Raider

Best Role Playing Game

• BLOODBORNE – FromSoftware
• FALLOUT 4 – Bethesda Game Studios
• PILLARS OF ETERNITY – Obsidian Entertainment
• THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT – CD Projekt Red <WINNER>
• UNDERTALE – tobyfox

Should win: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Will probably win: Interesting that Bloodborne was nominated as an RPG and not an Action/Adventure. If it weren’t in the same category as the Witcher 3, I might have picked it here. That said, it still has a strong chance of winning. Fallout 4 is pretty great, but has too many bugs for me to pick it confidently. Pillars of Eternity’s throwback RPG style puts it comfortably in the running, but again, I just have to give the win to the Witcher 3.
Dark horse: Undertale

Best Fighting Game

• GUILTY GEAR XRD -SIGN- – Arc System Works
• MORTAL KOMBAT X – NetherRealm Studios <WINNER>
• RISE OF INCARNATES – Bandai Namco Entertainment
• RISING THUNDER – Radiant Entertainment

Should win: Guilty Gear XRD -SIGN-
Will probably win: Mortal Kombat X
Dark horse: Rising Thunder

Best Family Game

• DISNEY INFINITY 3.0 – Avalanche Studios
• LEGO DIMENSIONS – Traveller’s Tales
• SKYLANDERS: SUPERCHARGERS – Vicarious Visions
• SPLATOON – Nintendo
• SUPER MARIO MAKER – Nintendo <WINNER>

Should win: Super Mario Maker
Will probably win: Disney Infinity 3.0 (total guess)
Dark horse: Splatoon

Best Sports/Racing Game

• FIFA 16 – EA Canada
• FORZA MOTORSPORT 6 – Turn 1 0 Studios
• NBA 2K16 – Visual Concepts
• PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2016 – PES Productions
• ROCKET LEAGUE – Psyonix <WINNER>

Should win: I dont know
Will probably win: Forza? I don’t know
Dark horse: Rock . . . rocket league? I don’t know

Best Mobile/Handheld

• DOWNWELL – Moppin
• FALLOUT SHELTER – Behaviour Interactive
• LARA CROFT GO – Square Enix Montreal <WINNER>
• MONSTER HUNTER 4: ULTIMATE – Capcom
• PAC-MAN 256 – Hipster Whale

Should win:  Pac-Man 256
Will probably win: Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate
Dark horse: Downwell

Best Narrative

• HER STORY – Sam Barlow <WINNER>
• LIFE IS STRANGE – DONTNOD Entertainment
• TALES FROM THE BORDERLANDS – TellTale Games
• THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT – CD Projekt Red
• UNTIL DAWN – Supermassive Games

Should win: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Will probably win: The Witcher 3’s story manages to be epic in scale, while maintaining excellent character development and side quests with substance and heart. It’s definitely a favorite to win here.
Dark horse: Her Story

Best Multiplayer

• CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 3 – Treyarch
• DESTINY: THE TAKEN KING – Bungie
• HALO 5: GUARDIANS – 343 Industries
• ROCKET LEAGUE – Psyonix
• SPLATOON – Nintendo <WINNER>

Should win: Destiny: The Taken King (The game is basically unplayable by yourself)
Will probably win: I assume Super Smash Bros was omitted here because it was technically released last year? Oh well. I guess a lot of people play Call of Duty, and Halo 5 multiplayer is apparently super fun. Never played Rocket League or Splatoon. I suck, I’m sorry.
Dark horse: Rocket League

Best Art Direction

• BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT – Rocksteady Studios
• BLOODBORNE – FromSoftware
• METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN – Kojima Productions
• ORI AND THE BLIND FOREST – Moon Studios <WINNER>
• THE WITCHER 3: THE WILD HUNT – CD Projekt Red

Should win: Bloodborne (Although, I just want to say, that I am appalled–APPALLED–that Halo 5: Guardians wasn’t nominated here)
Will probably win: Bloodborne I think is the favorite here, with its lush gothic and Lovecraftian stage.
Dark horse: Ori and the Blind Forest

Best Score/Soundtrack

• FALLOUT 4 – Inon Zur
• HALO 5: GUARDIANS – Kazuma Jinnouchi
• METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN – Justin Burnett <WINNER>
• ORI AND THE BLIND FOREST – Gareth Cooker
• THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT – Marcin Przybylowicz

Should win:  Halo 5: Guardians
Will probably win: Halo 5: Guardians. Although Halo 5 (to me) is probably the weakest in the series, the music was just ridiculous. After Neil Davidge came into score Halo 4, I thought they’d never find someone to replace Marty O’Donnell (all hail), but Jinnouchi combines both themes from the original Halo trilogy with those of the “Reclaimer” saga, and it is nothing short of a masterpiece. Still, Inon Zur’s score for Fallout 4 is award-worthy, despite it sometimes taking a backseat to the 50s/60s era soundtrack in the game itself.
Dark horse: The Witcher 3. I’m placing it here as a dark horse, but has a definite chance of winning here, and I wouldn’t be too disappointed.

Best Performance

• ASHLEY BURCH as Chloe Price – Life is Strange
• CAMILLA LUDDINGTON as Lara Croft – Rise of the Tomb Raider
• DOUG COCKLE as Geralt – The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
• MARK HAMILL as The Joker – Batman: Arkham Knight
• VIVA SEIFERT – Her Story <WINNER>

Should win: Doug Cockle (Sorry Markham)
Will probably win: Oh, this is hard. Mark Hamill, I think. His Joker performance has always been something to behold, but there are some great performances here. Too close to call, really.
Dark horse: Viva Seifert

Best Independent Game

• AXIOM VERGE – Tom Happ
• HER STORY – Sam Barlow
• ORI AND THE BLIND FOREST – Moon Studios
• ROCKET LEAGUE – Psyonix <WINNER>
• UNDERTALE – tobyfox

Should win: Undertale
Will probably win: Undertale
Dark horse: Her Story

Games for Impact

• CIBELE – Star Maid Games
• HER STORY – Sam Barlow
• LIFE IS STRANGE – DONTNOD Entertainment <WINNER>
• SUNSET – Tale of Tales
• UNDERTALE – tobyfox

Should win: Haven’t played any of these games . . . YET
Will probably win: So I’m not entirely sure what the criteria for “Games for Impact” are, so I’m going to go with Undertale because I’ve heard it’s amazeballssauce (ew). Also, Her Story.
Dark horse: Life is Strange

eSports Player of the Year – (Fan’s Choice)

• KENNY “KENNYS” SCHRUB – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive <WINNER>
• LEE “FAKER” SANG-HYEOK – League of Legends
• OLOF “OLOFMEISTER” KAJBJER – Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
• PETER “PPD” DAGER – Dota 2
• SYED SUMAIL “SUMA1L” HASSAN – Dota 2

Should win: Faker (2-time LoL Worlds Champion is no small feat)
Will probably win: I honestly do not know. I think my brother-in-law Jeff would be more qualified for this eSports stuff!
Dark horse: ^^^^

eSports Team of the Year – (Fan’s Choice)

• EVIL GENIUSES
• FNATIC
• OPTIC GAMING <WINNER>
• SK TELECOM T1
• TEAM SOLO MID

Should win:  Evil Geniuses
Will probably win: Evil Geniuses for their surgical victory at the International 2015, becoming the first North American team to bring home Dota 2’s number one prize.
Dark horse: SK Telecom T1

eSports Game of the Year – (Fan’s Choice)

• CALL OF DUTY: ADVANCED WARFARE – Sledgehammer Games
• COUNTER-STRIKE: GLOBAL OFFENSIVE – Valve <WINNER>
• DOTA 2 – Valve
• HEARTHSTONE – Blizzard Entertainment
• LEAGUE OF LEGENDS – Riot Games

Should win:  League of Legends (I may be biased)
Will probably win: Counter-Strike or Dota 2 (Am I cheating by saying “or”? Possibly)
Dark horse: Hearthstone

Trending Gamer – (Fan’s Choice)

• CHRISTOPHER “MONTECRISTO” MYKLES
• GREG MILLER <WINNER>
• MARKIPLIER
• PEWDIEPIE
• TOTALBISCUIT

Should win:  Greg Miller
Will probably win: I think TotalBiscuit has a lot of fans? I honestly don’t know who he and Markiplier are. Greg Miller is my hero and I am 100% apathetic towards Pewdiepie. You know what? As long as it’s not Montecristo, I’ll be happy.
Dark horse: I DON’T KNOW

Best Fan Creation (Fan’s Choice)

• GTA V: TARGETS – Hoodoo Operator
• PORTAL STORIES: MEL – Prism Studios <WINNER>
• REAL GTA – Corridor Digital
• TWITCH PLAYS DARK SOULS – Twitch Community

Should win: I . . . no comment
Will probably win: Twitch Plays Dark Souls
Dark horse: The other three

Most Anticipated Game (Fan’s Choice)

• HORIZON ZERO DAWN – Guerilla Games
• NO MAN’S SKY – Hello Games <WINNER>
• QUANTUM BREAK – Remedy Entertainment
• THE LAST GUARDIAN – GenDesign
• UNCHARTED 4: A THIEF’S END – Naughty Dog

Should win:  No Man’s Sky
Will probably win: The Last Guardian. I, for one, can’t believe this game is still happening. Like, I actually forgot about it. And I thought everyone else did too. I sort of hope it never gets released, and becomes mythologized, kind of in the same vein as that E.T. Atari game or the Nintendo Playstation.
Dark horse: Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Industry Icon

BRETT SPERRY AND LEWIS CASTLE (Co-Founders of Westwood Studios)

Developer of the Year

• BETHESDA
• CD PROJEKT RED <WINNER>
• FROMSOFTWARE
• KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS
• NINTENDO

Should win: CD Projekt Red
Will probably win: CD Projekt Red. The Polish developers knocked it out of the park with The Witcher 3, and gave players a ton of great free DLC throughout its first month of release–ACTUAL DLC, mind you. FromSoftware could take a win in this category, too with Bloodborne’s The Old Hunters receiving positive reviews (and eyeball-bulging bouts of frustration, no doubt).
Dark horse: Kojima Productions is going to be the fan favorite at the Game Awards this year, due to its dramatic split from publisher Konami and subsequent “closing of doors” after completion of MGSV. Its fate is nebulous to say the least, and the award as “Developer of the Year” would be sweet.

Game of the Year

• BLOODBORNE – FromSoftware
• FALLOUT 4 – Bethesda Game Studios
• METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN – Kojima Productions
• SUPER MARIO MAKER – Nintendo
• THE WITCHER 3: THE WILD HUNT – CD Projekt Red <WINNER>

Should win: Bloodborne/The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Will probably win: It’s so damn hard to call this one. Bloodborne is consistently challenging, horrific, and rewarding throughout, while the Witcher 3 sets the modern standard for role-playing games. I would put Metal Gear Solid V in the running, if its last third wasn’t so poor. Still, it’s probably the closest category of the year, and the most important one, at that. All I can say is that I DON’T think it will be Fallout 4.
Dark horse:  Can’t really call it a dark horse, considering how tight the race is here, but I’m going to go with Super Mario Maker. You can never count out Nintendo’s flagship plumber!

And that’s it. I’d love to know your picks (and the reasoning behind them)–so leave a comment below! And don’t forget to come back here after the event and see how many I got wrong, which will, I guarantee, be a lot.