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Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice wins “Video Game of the Year” at the 2020 SXSW Gaming Awards
The cancellation of this year’s South By Southwest feels like a distant memory, but in the weeks since the announcement was made, a few people have started to wonder if the winning envelopes from the 2020 SXSW Gaming Awards would also remain locked away forever. Thankfully, the festival’s organizers recently fired off a press release that revealed all the winners.
Drumroll, please…
From Software’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice won “Video Game of the Year,” and the one-armed ninja also snuck away with a win for “Excellence in Visual Achievement.” Only ZA/UM’s Disco Elysium (the “Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award” and “Excellence in Narrative”) and Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding (“Excellence in Musical Score” and “Excellence in Technical Achievement”) were able to earn more than a single award from this year’s voters.
“Gaming is a key part of the creative ecosystem that brings us together, and now more than ever it provides us with a unique sense of escape and adventure in uncertain times,” said Hugh Forrest, the Chief Programming Officer for South By Southwest. “We were devastated that we weren’t able to celebrate our honorees in person with the cancellation of our event, but glad that we’re still able to share their achievements and creative works with our community.”
A complete list of winners from the 2020 SXSW Gaming Awards can be found at Video Game Canon.
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…)
An expanded version of Exit the Gungeon is now available for the Switch and PC
Fans of Dodge Roll’s Gungeonverse will be pleased to know that they can finally Exit the Gungeon on the PC and Switch.
Announced today as part of Nintendo’s latest Indie World Showcase, the side-scrolling shooter is now available for both platforms in an expanded version that includes new weapons, items, and enemies, a revamped Gungeon, and rebalanced gameplay:
New Weapons, Items, Enemies, and Bosses – Jump into battle with dozens of upgraded weapons and new items like the Spiked Boots, while striking down new Gundead foes including the Minecart Shotgun Kin, Bullet Cardinal, and Flying Fungun. Watch out for the return of the legendary Jammed enemy variants…
Revamped Gungeon with New Rooms and Elevators – Square off in a dramatically redesigned Gungeon with improved room variety, increased room size, and many updated and devious elevators. With this increased variety, we’ve expanded Exit the Gungeon runs to more closely match Enter the Gungeon’s playtimes.
Rebalanced and Reloaded Gameplay – Massive changes to how the game spawns and places enemies, and an increased challenge level to match what veteran Gungeoneers have come to expect. An overhauled combo system yields better guns faster and throws down more money to reward Gungeoneers for fantastic combo runs.
Hats, Minigames, and Gungeon Dwellers – Look sharp with new character-specific hats as you tackle redesigned minigames and chat up a host of NPCs with new interactions and quests.
And don’t worry, Apple Arcade subscribers will also be able to download this new update for Exit the Gungeon beginning today.
Finally, a charming new trailer for Exit the Gungeon has been embedded above.
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, Switch
Tagged Exit the Gungeon
The ESA has officially canceled this year’s E3 Expo
After concerns over the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) caused the cancellation of this year’s Game Developers Conference and South By Southwest, many assumed that the Entertainment Software Association would follow suit and cancel the 2020 E3 Expo as well. Today, they did just that, with an announcement on their official website:
After careful consultation with our member companies regarding the health and safety of everyone in our industry – our fans, our employees, our exhibitors and our longtime E3 partners – we have made the difficult decision to cancel E3 2020, scheduled for June 9-11 in Los Angeles.
Following increased and overwhelming concerns about the COVID-19 virus, we felt this was the best way to proceed during such an unprecedented global situation. We are very disappointed that we are unable to hold this event for our fans and supporters. But we know it’s the right decision based on the information we have today.
The ESA is looking to coordinate an “online experience” for the publishers and developers still interested in making major game announcements this June. While it’s unknown which companies are currently planning to participate in this digital event, further details will be announced soon at E3Expo.com.
Finally, the ESA promised that the E3 Expo will return in 2021 with “a reimagined event that brings fans, media, and the industry together in a showcase that celebrates the global video game industry.”
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.