Sacred Symbols+, Episode LXXII: Awarding Greatness

It was surprising news, for sure.

Colin Moriarty

I was in this world; I know how it goes. I just think you've gotta find people you can trust. In this case, voting panels need to be better vetted if there are conflicts of interest.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you for your kind words. <3

Colin Moriarty

We'll see how it evolves. Like I said, I give Geoff credit.

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, they center around announcements for me, too, BUT the announcements are there because no one would watch for the awards.

Colin Moriarty

Operative term being "low budget".

Colin Moriarty

That's true. Awards matter! No doubt.

Colin Moriarty

Heh.

Colin Moriarty

One just went up. =)

Colin Moriarty

=\

Colin Moriarty

Did that not come up?

Colin Moriarty

I agree: TLoU2 is probably GotY for me.

Colin Moriarty

I wish I could have done the same, but alas.

Colin Moriarty

Hope you enjoyed!

Colin Moriarty

No matter what, it's subjective. There's simply no way to avoid it.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you for your kind words.

Colin Moriarty

Soon enough, I hope.

Colin Moriarty

I see.

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, this is a divisive thing. I think it deserves all of the credit.

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, this is true. Would be cool to see more granular exploration of who's-who.

Colin Moriarty

I can't speak to that yet.

Colin Moriarty

There are always other perspectives to consider. <3

Colin Moriarty

I think there's a chance of new Turoks, yes.

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, it's certainly the same-ol-crew doing most of the voting, for sure.

Colin Moriarty

No, this is me in a nutshell. Help, I'm in a nutshell.

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, I hear you. I'm just not sure our industry is really 'there' yet.

Colin Moriarty

That Codemasters news kinda sucks, although Take2 will save money realizing they have the Midnight Club series. Hopefully they bring it back at some point. The GTA 5 racing sections are also pretty good.

Brandon Soto

I disagree entirely on the impact that influencers receiving pay checks from publishers has on not only “awards” but reviews as well. Though the reviews are not explicitly paid for, there is an implied possibility of offers for pay in the future. Here’s an article on the topic, https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2020/2/12/21135183/ftc-influencer-ad-sponsored-tiktok-youtube-instagram-review

BlindRiot

Y’all two, and your newer additions Dustin and Matty, have been a godsend for me in this year. Thank you for keeping us company guys.

I agree with all you've said regarding the show but I think for now this current iteration is probably as good as it gets. Really wish the awards would go more into the game development side like you touched on about maybe specific scenes, why not best UI, best animation, best level design, combat design etc theres so many facets and components to game development, just rounding them into a few awards like best action, best direction feels to me like its doing the people behind the scenes who don't really get the attention a disservice

Craig Mcguire

My enjoyment of these awards always hinges on the quality of the announcements. I thought this year was pretty weak compared to 2018 for example where they revealed MK11 and Crash Team Racing.

Sumojoe118

When Colin said he couldn't produce a better game awards show, I immediately envisioned a sketchy CLS award show filmed in front of a green screen. I'd pay good money to see Colin and Chris take the mickey out of gameshows by hosting their own super low budget version.

Reuben Barrett

I’m an indie filmmaker and I’ve got to say, Awards are a big fucking deal. My career has been made by an award winning indie film. It’s super exciting when a friend gets an Emmy or nominated for an Oscar and it changes their careers. It completely changes a filmmakers trajectory by winning. The Game Awards, on the other hand, seems a lot more like typical awards. Everyone thinks they did a good job and the creators get to feel good with a statue, which is great, but this has no impact on the future of Naughty Dog at all and it probably wouldn’t have an impact on Supergiant either.

Oliver Johnson

I feel like most people don't care about the actual awards. Maybe Geoff could change it to be Fall Games Showcase or something. Make it just be new announcements.

Luke Silletta

Hey C&C, any chance of a mailbag episode coming soon? I know things have been busy with it being the end of the year and the recent release of the PS5, but they're some of my favorite episodes and I'm hoping for one soon!

yosh_wah

Disheartening that Geoff didnt award PSAS for fighting game of the year for the 8th year in a row.

Real Radec

I'm just around the first half of the episode, and I'm surprised you haven't thought of....investors. As someone in game development I can tell you that the industry is on a freaking crazy train when it comes to investors - which will probably end bad, CDPR alike. Everyone one is pouring money into the industry. EVERYONE. From pop stars, rappers, to football players. It's crazy. There is so much money being thrown into the studios that are on "wall street". And the amounts are just mind blowing. So an award show like that is a great marketplace to showoff where they should put that money to. Both from awarded studios and world premiers.

Germanos

I do think that, from a pure quality standpoint, Last of Us II DOES deserve Game of the Year. It is quite frustrating that it also won so many other categories that other games could have. And Doom Eternal not winning anything is absurd. Oh well. The Game Awards is a good entertainment piece, but I'm not overly attached to what wins, and I do enjoy the trailers.

JusticeSoulTuna

I'll be honest I only watch the announcement highlights after. As the industry has become more and more antagonistic to the average gamer I've cared less and less about the people who are talking heads in the industry. Your knowledge and experience in the industry only gets you so far with people, if they don't like you then they couldn't care less about you. That goes both ways though. I wish people were less venomous

Empty Symbol

Looking forward to listening to this today when I do my round at work 😊👍.

Jake Mcaulay

To Chris’ point, the OFK thing is an actual game but it was just messaged poorly. The song is 🔥 though. To me, GOTY means the best overall game released in that year, and that’s in terms of design, gameplay, impact, etc. I think for the most part the voters get it right.

NeO JD

CLS has been a beacon in this awful year. Wishing you guys a well deserved break!

Stephen Forgione

Hit the nail on the head in the beginning. This whole year has been nothing but a depressing drag, and I really cannot wait for normalcy to return.

Brandon Soto

Being British myself, I used to care a lot about the BAFTA Video Game awards... Until they awarded Destiny the game of year.

TROTMAC96

Chris really likes to reference that tweet he saw about “The Last of Us Part 2 wins the Last Of Us Part 2 award for best Last of Us Part 2”. We get it Bro you didn’t like the game. It appears lots of other people in your industry disagree with you.

AllTooEasy_

Best weapon skin, best level design, let’s get a little more granular and reward PEOPLE. Story lines drive the Oscars and that’s why I watch every year, but the game rewards its just I don’t give a shit

Andrew

Nothing about Cyberpunk seems AAA. Technical issues aside it still seems like a AA game

Dom posa

Thanks for reading my comment! You’ve changed my mind. I didn’t consider the consequences that any infamy for a game at all can still bring to an innocent coder or artist on the team who was only trying to do their best. I do feel bad for the CDPR coders who must have seen a reaction like this coming but obviously couldn’t say anything. Also it was funny to hear you say my typo out loud. Sorry about that. I’ll prrof Red my submissions better next time 👍🏻

Josh Lyon

Random question as I catch up on episodes at work. With the recent success of game remakes like Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil 2 & 3 and the announcement from Xbox of a new Perfect Dark game. Do you think there’s any chance of a remake or full on revival of the Turok games? I remember playing the first 3 on N64 and absolutely loving them. A remake of Turok 2 or 3 in the likes of RE2 would be insane if handled correctly. Thanks for keeping me entertained at work!

Tony Zook

I think it sucks that 90% of the biggest award is based on games "journalists" picks. So often we learn that these people are completely incompetent and often have an agenda. They *dont* know more about whats going on than the average consumer.

Douglas Morreale

The game awards in a nutshell https://youtu.be/wkqq3lt1Py4

Sean

Not to defend the Oscars, but I would prefer their voting practices over the game awards' method. "The Academy" , which is made up of various technical experts ranging from actors, directors, producers, editors, writers votes for movies that are nominated for a category that falls within their craft. The game awards however simply gathers votes from a bunch of journalists and critics. The awards votes are derived 90% from journalists and 10% from fans. People these days could give a shit about what gaming journalists think. That's why the Dice awards are more regarded as consequential, and the fan choice awards are a better gauge for how a game is viewed by the public

Jack Sibert

You want the announcements. =)

Colin Moriarty

You're very welcome.

Colin Moriarty

I'm just trying to see it through the lens of those who it really affects. I'm not it!

Colin Moriarty

Happy Holidays. =)

Colin Moriarty

The Game Awards are never really great, yet I watch them every year. What is the matter with me 🤷🏽‍♂️

Thanks for reading my question and providing some good insight. I strongly agree with Chris’s take to try and compare games 100% Also to help with my name just say Thm afterward if you like my question. It has a meaning but it's dumb lol.

Adamthm

I am the exact same way about Covid as Colin. It really doesn't affect me as much as most people. Professionally it even finally gave me the possibility to work from home, so really not that bad on that side. I did cry from joy a little last week when my old friend told me I know we can't see each other for your birthday because of Covid, but I still bought you a cake, that's when I knew that ok maybe it is affecting me a little.

RD_21

Yo Chris, I fucking feel you big dogg. Let's all hope for normalcy sometime soon. Until then, I look forward to hearing y'all. Thank you guys for being there for us. Definitely has made all this shit just that much more barrable.

Carlos Fregoso