In 2004, an American television network called Spike began hosting an annual award ceremony celebrating video games called The Spike Video Game Awards or VGA’s. In 2012 when the “eighth generation” of video game consoles came into view (Wii U, Xbox One, PS4), Spike began to consider how they would adapt their awards to this new era. In 2014, they officially changed their name to VGX to not only highlight the next generation of gaming, but also to commemorate their tenth and last ceremony. Later that year, VGA host and video game journalist Geoff Keighly produced and began hosting a new honoring of the industry which he called simply: The Game Award.
So what are they?
For many people, it’s hard to believe that such a seemingly geeky industry grew large enough to even have such ceremonies. But like any other sport (besides the severe lack of physicality) video games can bring people together in a setting of friendly competition, they can create life-long relationships and, thanks to their increasing accessibility via streams and videos, it has indeed become embedded very deeply in pop culture that can be found on an international scale.
To put it simply, The Game Awards are to video games as the Oscars are to cinema. They celebrate everything that quality video games have to offer which are featured in a wide range of categories. Everything from Game of the Year, Best Narrative, and Best Game Direction to Best Esports Athlete, Best Performance(actor/voice actor) as well as several other awards that highlight individual genres of video games. What makes this ceremony unique is that the nominees are determined by anyone who casts a vote on the official website. Unfortunately for you, the reader, you are currently 5+ days too late and the winners will have already been announced. The following games have been revered as this year’s best and thus have been nominated for multiple awards:
A Plague Tale: Requiem
By Asobo Studio
Nominated for Best Narrative, Best Action/Adventure, Best Score
The sequel to its predecessor A Plague Tale: Innocence, this is the continued story of Hugo and Amicia de Rune, siblings that find themselves in a struggle for survival in plague-ridden 14th century Southern France. As the story progresses it is revealed that Hugo has arcane powers that have dwelled in the de Rune family for generations, putting him and his sister at risk of being caught by the heretic-hunting Inquisition, because hordes of plague-spreading rats weren’t enough to handle already.
Elden Ring
By FromSoftware
Nominated for Game of the Year, Most Anticipated Game, Best RPG, and 5 others
From the legendary creative director and designer Hidetaka Miyazaki comes what critics are calling an absolute masterpiece. Continuing his award-winning line of souls-like games comes Elden Ring which, like many of the Souls games, does not have a super clear and defined story/plot. In the world of Elden Ring, known as the Lands Between, a deity called the Greater Will once blessed the Lands Between with an object known as the Elden Ring: a magical object that forever changed and, in a way, defined the natural laws and physics of the world. A great war was fought over control of the Elden Ring that would have dubbed the winner as the Elden Lord, but that was never the case as the Elden Ring was shattered into multiple pieces. Your quest: seek out the shards, defeat their keepers and become the Elden Lord.
God of War: Ragnorök
By Sony Santa Monica
Nominated for Game of the Year, Most Anticipated Game, Best Narrative, and 7 others.
God of War: Ragnorök is the sequel to the 2018 game of the year award-winning title God of War. Continuing the story of Kratos and his son Atreus, Kratos seeks to learn his place in Ragnarök(the apocalypse) by seeking the truth behind the prophecy of “Loki”. Not much can be said about the story without severely spoiling the narrative, as there are many twists and turns throughout the plot.“I have yet to play Ragnarök but that’s my pick for game of the year”, Eli Smith’s answer for which game is going to win G.O.T.Y.
Horizon Forbidden West
By Guerilla Games
Nominated for Game of the Year, Best Narrative, Best Game Direction, and 4 others.
With yet another sequel comes Horizon Forbidden West where we proceed with the story of Aloy’s journey from Horizon Zero Dawn. In an alternate version of Earth where humanity has been defeated by machines, people now live in primitive tribes and live in fear of colossal machines. You play as Aloy, an outcast from the Nora tribe who has trained her entire life to hunt and combat these mechanical beasts. In this sequel, Ally sets off on a quest to track down the source of a mysterious disease that destroys everything it touches.
