The Game Awards 2014 took place this past Friday. Let's talk about them for a moment.


Gone are the VGAs, VGXs, and VGwhatevers. Geoff Keighley had a new vision for an award show that focused on games in 2014 and they were The Game Awards. With a shift to being an online only event, the show did away with a lot of the immature nonsense of previous events.


The move away from childish pandering was perhaps due to not having to air the show on Spike TV. Perhaps it was simply due to a desire by Keighley to have a more "adult" oriented award show and to show that games, like some of those that play them, have matured. Whatever the reason, it was a move in the right direction and a great first showing of what has the potential to be the de facto awards show in the years to come.

Even with that said, The Game Awards had some rather rough edges. The show was nearly three hours long, nothing really unusual for an industry-wide awards show. However, a number of awards were either given to the winners off to the side of the main stage or they were omitted entirely from the show.

I cannot recall seeing who the winners were for the Best Remaster, Best Family game, nor Best RPG. I only found out the winners in those categories after the official website was updated with the list of winners. It is entirely possible that I simply missed those awards being announced during the show. Who can really blame me though when a number of awards were almost completely glossed over in these brief side segments featuring Geoff Keighley talking to the winners. These segments came off as very short interview type segments that felt almost completely out of place in the middle of an awards show.

What's more is that during these side segments, Keighley would go, "oh, by the way, here's this award you won for such and such!" Naturally, this is just paraphrasing but it really isn't far off the mark. The most disheartening moment came when Keighley was talking to Reggie Fils-Aime from Nintendo. It was during this particular side discussion that Keighley revealed that Nintendo won for Developer of the Year.

Yes, Developer of the Year was pushed to a quick mention. It wasn't given any stage time in the slightest. That's frankly a bit appalling and perhaps a bit insulting to the winner. Developer of the Year is actually a huge deal when you think about it. It's the developer that, for one reason or another, completely outshined every other developer in the world.

Instead, stage time was granted to a few presenters that were a bit long winded in their lead up to announcing a winner of whatever category they were there to present. The ones that immediately come to mind is the presentation by the two comedians. I don't mind comedians but they went on a bit too long and were rather unnecessary to have. If it wasn't spending time with the presenters, there was just too much time given to musical guests. Did we need to take the time for a musical group that used beams of light to "play" music? No. Did we need to take extended breaks to show off trailers for old games on a show that was online only? No. I will say that ending the show with a musical guest is just fine. I really had no issue with that since all of the awards and trailers were shown already and there was nothing more to really stick around for.

A lot of the fluff could have been cut down to create an awards show that was closer to two hours that allowed every award to have a proper stage presentation while still showing off every new game trailer they were under obligation to show. I sincerely doubt that many people would object to a more formal presentation for The Game Awards. Have it so that the presenters are on the same level of Neil Druckmann, someone who is formal while still interesting to listen to, and doesn't extend their welcome. I also can't help but feel that anybody would be upset if they eliminate the "Game of the Year" presentations with Conan (or anybody). They still showed a brief bit of the games nominated after Conan said what they were, so why not just cut out the fluff and make the announcement along with the gameplay snippet at the same time. Frankly, for its first showing, it was actually quite good and a good first step in the right direction. There is just a bit more that could be done.

I will say that the opening of the show that took us briefly through the history of gaming was fantastic. It was a wonderful look that reminded me why deep down I really do love this industry even when the unsavory aspects become overwhelming from time to time.

Another incredibly positive moment came with the presentation of the Industry Icon Award.


The history of Sierra and the Icon Award presentation with both Ken and Roberta Williams was easily the highlight of the night. It was also incredibly heart touching and adorable. Here we have two pioneers in the industry on stage and every developer, publisher, and media person in the audience rising and giving a standing ovation. Simply put, it was a great thing to behold.

I want to see more of this in The Game Awards in the years to come. I want to see things that remind me of why this industry still holds a place in my heart and why I'm even here in the first place.