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Finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020 have been announced
The finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020 have been announced… and they’re on fire.
This year’s honorees include titles from every era of gaming, though the Star Power of Guitar Hero looms large over the competition. But that’s OK, because there’s a few other firestarters vying for a spot in this year’s class, including Midway’s NBA Jam, Mojang’s Minecraft, and Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Melee.
There’s also the groundbreaking GoldenEye 007, the unforgettable Nokia Snake, the edutaining Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, and the addicting Bejeweled. Rounding out this year’s crop of finalists is Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and a trio of classics from the early 80s (Centipede, Frogger, and King’s Quest).
This isn’t the first opportunity to join the World Video Game Hall of Fame for some of these games, and fans will have the chance to make their voice heard by submitting a Player’s Choice Ballot. The public can vote once per day now through April 2nd, and the three games that receive the most votes will join the 29 other ballots submitted by members of the Hall of Fame’s International Selection Advisory Committee.
The Strong Museum’s International Center for the History of Electronic Games, the entity that oversees the World Video Game Hall of Fame, will announce the inductees from the Class of 2020 at a date to be determined in a special ceremony. For now, you can learn more about this year’s finalists after the break. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS2, PS3, PS4, Retro, Switch, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Bejeweled, Centipede, GoldenEye 007, Guitar Hero, King's Quest, Minecraft, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, World Video Game Hall of Fame
Untitled Goose Game wins “Game of the Year” at 2020 GDC Awards
The 2020 Game Developers Conference isn’t happening in San Francisco this year due to global health concerns, but the event’s organizers still put together a a pre-recorded version of the Game Developers Choice Awards, and House House’s Untitled Goose Game won “Game of the Year.”
In addition to The Goose running away with yet another “Game of the Year” award, the rest of the indie world had a pretty good night as well.
Hempuli’s Baba Is You collected statuettes for “Best Design” and the “Innovation Award,” ZA/UM’s Disco Elysium danced away with “Best Debut” and “Best Narrative,” and thatgamecompany’s Sky: Children of the Light claimed the “Audience Award.”
But the most-decorated game of the night was Remedy’s Control, which won in three categories. The mindbending action-adventure game was honored with awards for “Best Visual Art,” “Best Audio,” and “Best Technology.”
A full list of winners, nominees, and Honorable Mentions from this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards at Video Game Canon.
A Short Hike wins the “Seumas McNally Grand Prize” at 2020 IGF Awards
Even though there is no Game Developers Conference this year, the 2020 Independent Games Festival Awards went on as a pre-recorded show last night.
Adam Robinson-Yu’s A Short Hike beat the competition and went home with the “Seumas McNally Grand Prize,” and then he delivered a victory speech from his living room. The bite-sized adventure game also charmed IGF voters, who bestowed the “Audience Award” upon it.
Other winners from last night include Foam Sword’s Knights and Bikes (“Excellence In Visual Art”), Inkle’s Heaven’s Vault (“Excellence In Narrative”), Patrick Traynor’s Patrick’s Parabox (“Excellence In Design”), Die Gute Fabrik’s Mutazione (“Excellence In Audio”), Christoph Frey’s The Space Between (“Nuovo Award”), and Goblin Rage’s Bore Dome (“Best Student Game”).
A complete list of all winners, nominees, and Honorable Mentions from the 2020 Independent Games Festival Awards can be found after the break. (more…)
Control and Death Stranding set a BAFTA Games Awards record with 11 nominations apiece
This year’s BAFTA Games Awards are likely to break some records as the nominating process has already yielded two games that can lay claim to the honor of “highest number of nominations in a single year.”
Remedy’s Control and Kojima Productions’s Death Stranding both earned 11 nominations this year, one up on Sony Santa Monica’s God of War, which earned 10 nominations ahead of last year’s ceremony. While both games received a bucketful of nominations, only Control will be competing for the BAFTA’s “Game of the Year” prize, and it’ll be going up against ZA/UM’s Disco Elysium, Nintendo’s Luigi’s Mansion 3, Mobius Digital’s Outer Wilds, From Software’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and House House’s Untitled Goose Game.
The 2020 BAFTA Games Awards will be held on April 2. You can find a complete list of the nominees in all categories after the break. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Control, Death Stranding, Disco Elysium, Outer Wilds, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Untitled Goose Game
Game Developers Conference postponed amid fears of coronavirus
The organizers of the Game Developers Conference have announced that this year’s edition of the annual gathering has been postponed.
While the announcement on their official website doesn’t name the coronavirus (more formally known as COVID-19) as the cause, it comes after dozens of exhibitors and media outlets (including Sony, Microsoft, and Activision) dropped out of the show to protect their employees from coming into contact with the disease during travel:
After close consultation with our partners in the game development industry and community around the world, we’ve made the difficult decision to postpone the Game Developers Conference this March.
Having spent the past year preparing for the show with our advisory boards, speakers, exhibitors, and event partners, we’re genuinely upset and disappointed not to be able to host you at this time.
We want to thank all our customers and partners for their support, open discussions and encouragement. As everyone has been reminding us, great things happen when the community comes together and connects at GDC. For this reason, we fully intend to host a GDC event later in the summer. We will be working with our partners to finalize the details and will share more information about our plans in the coming weeks.
GDC 2020 will now take place sometime this Summer, but in an FAQ posted alongside the announcement, the organizers confirmed that the Twitch livestreams for the Independent Games Festival Awards and the Game Developers Choice Awards will still happen as planned in March.
Control leads the way with seven nominations at the 2020 SXSW Gaming Awards
The SXSW Gaming Awards will once again play a big role in the annual Austin arts festival, and this year’s nominees were announced earlier this week.
Remedy’s Control and Kojima Productions’s Death Stranding lead the way with seven nominations apiece, but Kojima’s latest mindbender won’t be competing for “Video Game of the Year.” Instead, Control will do battle with Capcom’s Devil May Cry 5, ZA/UM’s Disco Elysium, From Software’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for the coveted award.
Winners at the 2020 SXSW Gaming Awards will be determined by a split vote between the festival’s advisory board and a public poll, which is now open at SXSW.com through Sunday, February 23.
This year’s ceremony will be held on on Sunday, March 15, and it’ll be hosted by Wil Wheaton and Star Wars: Battlefront II‘s Janina Gavankar. All SXSW registrants will be able to attend the ceremony as part of their festival ticket, and the rest of us will be able to tune in to the festivities via SXSW’s Twitch channel.
You can find a complete list of this year’s nominees in all categories after the break. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Control, Death Stranding, Devil May Cry 5, Disco Elysium, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Tabletop Games
House House’s Untitled Goose Game wins “Game of the Year” at 2020 DICE Awards
I guess The Goose can cross “Win a Few Major Awards” off of its To-Do List. And that’s because House House’s Untitled Goose Game won “Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game,” “Outstanding Achievement in Character,” and “Game of the Year” at this year’s DICE Awards.
While the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences’s voting body (which is comprised of more than 30,000 members) loves The Goose, it was Remedy’s Control that took home the most statuettes last night. Predictably, the outstanding action game won “Action Game of the Year,” as well as “Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction,” “Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition,” and “Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction.” Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding was the only other game to win multiple awards, with the AIAS honoring it with “Outstanding Technical Achievement” and “Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design.”
A nice array of other games were also big winners at the 2020 DICE Awards, including Sayonara Wild Hearts (“Portable Game of the Year”), Apex Legends (“Online Game of the Year”), Super Mario Maker 2 (“Family Game of the Year”), Mortal Kombat 11 (“Fighting Game of the Year”), Baba Is You (“Outstanding Achievement in Game Design”), and more.
The complete list of winners and nominees for the 2020 DICE Awards can be found after the break. (more…)
Zach Gage’s SpellTower+ will be available for iOS devices this week
If you owned a smartphone in 2011, you almost surely played a few rounds of Zach Gage’s SpellTower, a ridiculously-popular word game that took inspiration from both Tetris and Boggle. But now it’s nine years later, and if you’re still playing SpellTower, you’ll be happy to know that the developer is launching a sequel this week.
SpellTower+ will be available as a free download through the iOS App Store this Thursday, January 30, and it’ll include five brand new game modes:
Pick your words wisely! As you play, more tiles rise from the bottom of the screen! It’ll take all of your lexicological wits, and tactical know-how to keep your columns down. If any letters make it to the top row, it’s game over.
Classic modes Daily Tower, Tower, Puzzle, Rush, and Zen are all back and packed with brand new BONUS TILES that double (or more!) word values.
Joining them is the brand new Search Mode, plus ExPuzzle, Double Puzzle, Bubble Puzzle, and Blitz Mode!
The success of the original SpellTower meant a lot to Gage, and he shared some of his thoughts about the massive response to the game on Apple.com.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged SpellTower