Fixing The Game Awards - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Summary

Kinda Funny Gamescast: Fixing The Game Awards – Detailed Summary

Release Date: December 11, 2024

In this episode of the Kinda Funny Gamescast, hosts Greg Miller, Blessing Adeoye Jr., Snowbike Mike, and Andy Cortez dive deep into a critical analysis of The Game Awards, discussing its strengths, shortcomings, and potential improvements to better serve the gaming community.

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Introduction and Casual Banter (00:07 – 03:07)

The episode kicks off with the hosts engaging in light-hearted conversation about Blessing's jacket and some humorous teasing. Greg Miller humorously comments on Blessing's attire, leading to playful exchanges among the hosts. This segment sets a relaxed tone before transitioning into the main discussion.

Notable Quote:

• Blessing Adeoye Jr. (00:47): “I look like I'm Todd Howard trying to market the next Indiana Jones game.”

---

Recap of Last Night’s Gaming Session (03:07 – 06:52)

The hosts reminisce about their gaming session the previous night, where they played Marvel Rivals. They discuss their performance, the dynamics of their winning streak, and the challenges faced during the game, such as dealing with difficult opponents like Captain America.

Notable Quote:

• Greg Miller (03:48): “Jordan Midler, stop shaving your fucking head. Review Marvel Rivals.”

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Main Topic: Fixing The Game Awards (06:52 – 30:09)

The core of the episode centers on fixing The Game Awards, sparked by frustrations with the current award categories and the nomination process.

Critique of Current Categories

Blessing Adeoye Jr. and Greg Miller critique several existing categories, highlighting overlaps and the vagueness that detracts from the awards' prestige.

Key Points:

• Best Fighting Game: Considered unnecessary in years with weak nominees. Greg suggests rotating the category to ensure only years with strong contenders include it.

  Notable Quote:

  • Blessing Adeoye Jr. (20:20): “Best Fighting Game... I think that should be a rotated category every year.”

• Best Family Game: Seen as too broad and akin to a "Nintendo category," lacking clarity.

  Notable Quote:

  • Blessing Adeoye Jr. (26:30): “Best Family Game feels like a weird one... I have that one crossed out.”

• Best Game Direction: Viewed as amorphous and overlapping with Game of the Year. Greg proposes replacing it with more specific categories like Best Technical Achievement.

  Notable Quote:

  • Blessing Adeoye Jr. (30:47): “I think Best Game Direction could be replaced by something like Best Technical Achievement.”

• Games for Impact: Considered too vague and resembling a feel-good indie category without clear definition.

  Notable Quote:

  • Blessing Adeoye Jr. (67:13): “I do think the Best Games for Impact category feels more like a feel-good indie category.”

Proposal for New Categories and Refinements

Blessing proposes refining categories to better honor distinct genres and achievements, such as:

• Best Shooter: Highlighting the prevalence of shooter games each year.
• Best Action RPG and Best Turn-Based RPG: Splitting the RPG category to acknowledge different sub-genres.
• Best Early Access Game: Recognizing games still in development but made significant strides.

Notable Quote:

• Blessing Adeoye Jr. (25:24): “I would love an Early Access category. I think that would help out a lot.”

Greg counters some suggestions by emphasizing the importance of maintaining consistent categories to preserve lineage and avoid confusion.

Notable Quote:

• Greg Miller (22:19): “I feel like if you already have a judging panel... it does take away from the fact that we skipped fighting games for two years and then it was here.”

Game of the Year vs. Best Game

The hosts debate the distinction between Game of the Year and Best Game, suggesting that the former could become a popularity contest, whereas the latter should be a more objective recognition of excellence.

Notable Quote:

• Blessing Adeoye Jr. (54:34): “Game of the Year should be more of the game that defines 2024, but Best Game is the game that was developed exceptionally well.”

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Handling Independent Games Category (30:09 – 45:30)

The discussion shifts to Best Independent Game, where Greg and Blessing express concerns over the current definition being ambiguous and no longer fitting the traditional indie mold due to publishers like Devolver and Annapurna acting as independent labels.

Key Points:

• Definition Issues: Current criteria based on being produced outside the traditional publisher system is outdated.

  Notable Quote:

  • Blessing Adeoye Jr. (43:33): “Is a game independent when it's published by Xbox? Is Cyberpunk 2077 independent when it's published by CD Projekt?”

• Proposed Changes: Suggest redefining the category to focus on games developed without AAA production means, possibly renaming it to Best Indie Game for clarity.

  Notable Quote:

  • Greg Miller (45:43): “Changing it to Best Indie Game as opposed to Best Independent could help clarify the category.”

---

Addressing Overlapping Genres and Nomination Processes (45:30 – 56:00)

The hosts explore the complexity of genre overlap, such as RPG mechanics infiltrating various game types, making it challenging to classify accurately. They advocate for more granular categories to ensure fair recognition of diverse game types.

Key Points:

• Genre Overlap: RPG elements in action and adventure games blur category lines.

  Notable Quote:

  • Blessing Adeoye Jr. (33:09): “Action, Action Adventure, and RPG categories have so much overlap that it makes categorization confusing.”

• Judging Panels: Emphasize the need for specialized panels to assess nominations accurately, reducing ambiguity in category placements.

  Notable Quote:

  • Blessing Adeoye Jr. (68:52): “Reaching out to experts in specific genres to form dedicated panels would improve nomination accuracy.”

---

Celebrity Involvement and Show Length (56:00 – 75:47)

The episode addresses celebrity involvement in The Game Awards and the length of the show, critiquing how celebrity segments can disrupt the flow and feel impersonal.

Key Points:

• Celebrity Segments: Hosts express frustration with celebrities taking over the show, leading to extended and sometimes irrelevant segments.

  Notable Quote:

  • Andy Cortez (74:19): “Anthony Mackie needed to tone it down. He’s good in Marvel movies but not in improv on stage.”

• Show Length: Concerns about the Game Awards becoming too lengthy due to overlapping categories and extended speeches.

  Notable Quote:

  • Greg Miller (71:50): “If you add more categories, the show could become excessively long, detracting from the overall experience.”

---

Final Thoughts and Future Recommendations (75:47 – End)

In their concluding remarks, the hosts summarize their key recommendations for improving The Game Awards:

• Refine and Add Specific Categories: Introduce more granular categories to honor distinct game qualities and genres.
• Reevaluate Independent Game Criteria: Update the definition to reflect the current publishing landscape.
• Moderate Celebrity Involvement: Limit celebrity segments to maintain the show's focus on gaming achievements.
• Improve Judging Processes: Engage specialized panels for more accurate and fair evaluations.

Notable Quote:

• Blessing Adeoye Jr. (80:14): “The Game Awards should focus more on recognizing truly exceptional games and less on broad, overlapping categories.”

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Conclusion

The episode of Kinda Funny Gamescast provides a comprehensive critique of The Game Awards, emphasizing the need for clearer category definitions, better handling of independent games, and a reduction in unnecessary show length caused by celebrity segments. The hosts advocate for a more structured and genre-specific approach to ensure that outstanding games receive the recognition they deserve, ultimately enhancing the awards' credibility and relevance within the gaming community.

Final Quote:

• Greg Miller (76:50): “The Game Awards are beautiful, exactly as they are, but there's always room for improvement to honor the diverse and evolving gaming landscape.”

---

This summary captures the essence of the podcast episode, highlighting the hosts' in-depth analysis and thoughtful suggestions aimed at enhancing The Game Awards for both attendees and viewers.

Transcript

[Greg Miller]

What's up, everybody? Welcome to the Kind of Funny Games cast for Wednesday, December 11, 2024. I'm one of your hosts, Greg Miller, alongside Forbes 30 under 30 aka New York Game Awards nominated aka TikTok influencer blessing. Adio, Junior.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Good day, Greg.

[Greg Miller]

This is a great jacket.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, I got here late.

[Greg Miller]

I got here late because Ben had his holiday performance. Killed it. Oh, yeah, I got videos for you kids singing Killing it out there. But there's some. Some scuttlebutt about the outfit. The jacket's great. I don't. I don't know if that was that what they weren't saying or they weren't saying. Mike.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Well, all I heard was that I look like I'm Todd Howard trying to market the next Indiana Jones game.

[Greg Miller]

Ah, okay.

[Snowbike Mike]

I told him.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Snowbike Mike]

And then the Reddit's got him looking like Luther from Mission Impossible.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. Ah, yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

All right, all right.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

So I've not gotten the kind of feedback I was getting.

[Greg Miller]

Is a great outfit, a great jacket, great everything.

[Andy Cortez]

Thank you.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Appreciate it.

[Greg Miller]

Where'd you get the jacket?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Tick Tock shop.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, yeah, I'm.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I'm trying to work on. I want to figure out how to get the link to have other people buy.

[Snowbike Mike]

You have 40 days left of Tik Tok. You better make it happen.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

So I'm trying to make the money. I'm trying to make the commission, but I'm not. I put the horse before the cart or the cart before the horse. I put the cart before the horse where I didn't figure out how to, like, link my account or whatever. Yeah, I just bought the thing and I wore it. I like it.

[Greg Miller]

Well, from now on, if you buy a leather jacket that's brown with a hoodie in it, everybody, you gotta just say blessing. Did this do it that way? You know?

[Snowbike Mike]

Oh, it's a hoodie inside of it.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Well, it's a hoodie. Yeah. I can, like, I can take it off if I wanted to.

[Snowbike Mike]

Oh, oh, you can take it off.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I'm not trying to, but, like, there's an extra zipper here.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh.

[Greg Miller]

So it's just.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

You see that?

[Greg Miller]

Wow. But then you'd have just like.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

It'd be just a leather towel.

[Greg Miller]

Well, you don't have like, hoodie towel because not a full hoodie under there.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, yeah. But I do have a hood right now.

[Greg Miller]

It's hot. I like this whole outfit. Yeah. Thank you.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, let's love this whole outfit.

[Greg Miller]

Next to him, of course, is the master of hype, Snowbike Mike.

[Snowbike Mike]

Good morning. Greg, thanks for having me on today. Very excited to talk games cast with you and blessing. I love that you growing your hair out. I cannot wait for 2025 when we do something cool with.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

We're going to do something cool.

[Greg Miller]

Shave it. No, that's not what we put on the 10th anniversary wheel.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I like what he's saying. I like what he's saying.

[Greg Miller]

I do want to compliment your champion sweatshirt. You know I'm always a fan of this one.

[Snowbike Mike]

Thanks, homie. I appreciate that, Greg. I'm going to go buy four more of them because you gassed me up.

[Greg Miller]

That's what I like to hear about.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

All right.

[Greg Miller]

And rounding out the group, of course is the Hispanic heartthrob Texas treat Latino Heat. Clicking heads and ripping them to shreds. The globetrotting headshot and three point shooting Root and tootin Nitro rifle from Twitch tv. Andy Cortez.

[Andy Cortez]

You know, one extra game was not needed last night. I don't know why we felt like we needed to play an extra game of Marvel Rivals.

[Snowbike Mike]

It was good though. We stayed together. It was really nice. We spent time together.

[Andy Cortez]

We had such a good run. And why not end the night? Why not go back to the hotel room when you're up in the casino? You know what I mean?

[Greg Miller]

30 bucks on black Chase.

[Andy Cortez]

But then you got this son of a. That just says you click one more game. We're on a three game winning streak. Why would you stop right now? And then we got trounced.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, but man, we got embarrassed. I'll tell you what. But it was so much fun, Greg. Like the cool part about it was it wasn't me instigating it this time. It was the jabronis. Right? The whole team was rallying behind. One more game, Andy. You can do it. Oh, I got a headache. I got to go to bed. I'm going to be on Gamescast. No, andy, it's only 10 o'clock. Let's go till 11. Let's go to 11:30. Why not? You know what I mean? And you just kept pressing that button. And I'm so proud of you for that.

[Greg Miller]

I think.

[Andy Cortez]

Well, I think you kind of gas up the jabronis to then start the. You can't do that, Andy. Don't fuck us on this, man. He's big timing us. It's just the big. The big timing conversation just would not stop last night.

[Greg Miller]

It's funny you bring up big timing in Marvel Rivals big time. Because what I'd like to do is put out the call to every One of our video game journalist critic friends. Get your fucking shit together and review Marvel Rivals, all right? The kind of funny fantasy critic league is we are hurdling. I put it on Friday, I put fri. I put it on Friday's gamescast, the finale of the thing, because I thought we'll have all the reviews locked by then. Right now for Marvel Rivals, there are only eight fucking reviews right now and it is not helping me. And there's only one that's really bad and that's what's fucking everything up. So Jordan Midler, stop shaving your fucking head. Review Marvel Rivals.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

You fuck yourself on this.

[Greg Miller]

Lucy, James, Tamor, Hussein, whoever the fuck is running goddamn gameSpot. Stop giving out game of the Year not even halfway through December. Review Marvel Rivals. Like, I don't understand what the fuck is happening.

[Andy Cortez]

Points for it. Look at that.

[Greg Miller]

11 points, not 7 points. And so in the same review, Jesse norris@xbox era. Retract your review. All right? I don't need a 7.5. Josh Broadwell, a Games Radar plus. Retract your 2.5 out of 5 stars review.

[Snowbike Mike]

Wow, that's crazy.

[Andy Cortez]

That's insane.

[Greg Miller]

Marvel Rivals wants to reinvent the adult. I don't even know.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

We can't appeal to that side.

[Greg Miller]

I'm kidding, Josh. You do your thing, Josh. I just care about scores right now. It's turning me into somebody I don't want to be. It's turning me into somebody I don't want to be. I just don't want to lose.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Who just reviewed Indiana Jones, by the way? Other reviewers.

[Greg Miller]

Bulletproof. Bulletproof. And of course, you know, as I look into the sea of Indiana Jones criticism, I'm just so happy to see my kindred spirit, my connected person, Janet Garcia putting up clips of how mid this game is. Her and Isaiah laughing at how bad it is. And I'm like, thanks, somebody for seeing again. Okay, it's not bad. It's not bad, but come on. Game of the year nine.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Game of the year might be pushing, but it's great. It's a great game.

[Andy Cortez]

Marvel Rivals minimum is eight.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, you said eight. So I'm like, oh, yeah, okay, it's.

[Snowbike Mike]

A rainbow six extraction again. Whereas I got a little bit more points for Mike, you know what I mean? He's got seven rainbow six extraction. Give me a couple more points from that last year.

[Andy Cortez]

God extract, what a good game. Come on. But Marvel Rivals, we have the whole team working. We got comp in now. There's competitors competitive mode now.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Where you start off at bronze three, we all got up to bronze to. Except Chris Anka. And Chris Anka said, andy, I'm seven points away or whatever from ranking up to bronze two. Just play one more game. And Mike was, oh, don't fucking big time us, Andy. Don't. Don't you fuck us on this, man. We need you to hop in. So we played one more game and this stupid HELA in the back line just all. Just sniping from everywhere. The Captain America was a nuisance.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yesterday was crazy.

[Andy Cortez]

Jesus.

[Greg Miller]

I downloaded Marvel's Rivals. I jumped into Marvel because I was like, I got to see Cap. I Cap wasn't available in betas or whatever. I jumped in, played about two and a half minutes is Cap. And then I was like, by delete out, uninstall the game. I'm like, I'm never going to like.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

This with an incomplete squad.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, yeah, that's on them. That's on them for not making a fight.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Can I put my name in the rotation of like, we love you people. That people detects when you guys are playing Marvel.

[Greg Miller]

Okay.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Because I'd be. I'd be seeing. I feel like Squidward looking out the window because I'm at home. I'm just opening magic packs.

[Greg Miller]

You're just streaming magic.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I'm like, I was. Even last night, I was just like fucking opening magic packs and trying to figure out what deck I want to go with. I still haven't figured out who I want to be my commander yet. I'm zeroing in on. There's this card, Zimone. I don't know if you know about Zimone.

[Snowbike Mike]

No, no.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I just like the design so much. I'm like, you might be my commander.

[Snowbike Mike]

I'll tell you what. Me and Barrett started opening up the Assassin Creeds packs last night. Yeah, it was exciting to see some of those.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

But I was doing it. I was watching you guys stream and I was like, man, I want to be with a cool people are. I want to be. I want to be with them.

[Andy Cortez]

We'll hit you with.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

We'll put them out.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Snowbike Mike]

Today we're going to play Fortnite together, though.

[Greg Miller]

It's going to be five first person.

[Snowbike Mike]

What do we call it?

[Andy Cortez]

It's tactical. I mean, the name of the mode is Ballistic, but it's a tactical shooter. Counter Strike, Valorant sort of thing.

[Snowbike Mike]

I'm really excited to see it. It's going to be a good time.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, yeah. 100%.

[Greg Miller]

I think this is the one I'll be great at. I'LL be God noticing.

[Snowbike Mike]

I got a good feeling that Greg.

[Greg Miller]

Miller what I got to do is just be. Is Nick playing with us, right? Yeah, I just got to be better than Nick. Better than Nick.

[Andy Cortez]

You know, not hard.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, I know. That's the hope. We'll see. Of course that's the stream coming up later, but right now you're watching the Kinda Funny Games Cast where each and every weekday we talk to you about the biggest topics in video games. They could be reviews, previews or just topics we need to get into. If you like that, we'd love you to support us with the Kinda Funny membership. Of course you can pick up a Kinda funny membership on YouTube.com kinda funny games or patreon.com kinda funny to get all of our shows that's more than 20 a week ad free. The ability of course to watch the afternoon podcast live as we record them and get your daily dose of me, Greg Miller in a series I call Greg Ware that I often record from my car but sometimes Mike and Nick record from the kitchen. Two extra ones just because Roger froze bagels and it's got to be a thing. Great episodes though, Mike.

[Snowbike Mike]

Thank you Greg. We love giving the people what they want and that's more content.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. Bagging on Roger specifically. Oh yeah, of course if you have no bucks to toss our way, no big deal. Like subscribe, share wherever you get the games cast. And of course remember we're a small business all about live talk shows. Which means if you're enjoying this, there's plenty more to enjoy. Before this, of course you got Kind of Funny Games D It was our last minute game awards predictions. After this you're getting our stream of Fortnite's new first person mode with a big old team. We're excited to dive into that. Of course tomorrow is the day. It is the Game Awards 2024. As such, we are running a different schedule. That's right. Programming will start later to go later. Of course you can catch tomorrow Kind of Funny games daily starting at 1pm followed by a stream followed by our live reaction to the game awards and then after that our post show for Games cast. So you can click it on kind of funny and stay there all day long or catch up later. Or again like subscribe, share, leave a review, yada yada yada.

[Andy Cortez]

Nice. Marvel Rivals. Real late then.

[Greg Miller]

Yep. Yeah, you sleep in. Yeah, but we could play path of exile 2 instead.

[Andy Cortez]

I don't have it though.

[Greg Miller]

I told I don't know how many more fucking times I can say Buy it in, Expense it. Buy it and expense it. Oh, your eye popped. You got Greg Miller eye going on.

[Andy Cortez]

My eye popped? Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, no.

[Andy Cortez]

I don't even know how probably from. I think it's just games.

[Tim Gettys]

I was gonna guess pooping.

[Andy Cortez]

I'm insane.

[Greg Miller]

That actually can't happen too.

[Andy Cortez]

No, I have a very regular. I have a very regular poop cycle.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, but. So if it was irregular and you had to push real hard. Blow out your blood vessel. Boom. I know a girl in high school, she peeked so hard she popped all the blood vessels in both her eyes. Puked.

[Snowbike Mike]

Oh, puked.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, my God. Anyways, if you remember, you can get today's Greg Way. It's all about getting divorced. And then of course, you can catch craving stuff in the afternoon.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Everything okay at home? Good.

[Greg Miller]

Is it or isn't it? You'll have to find out by watching Greg Way. Give me that. $10. All right, let me tell you the second a studio apartment's not gonna come cheap.

[Snowbike Mike]

He's on one today, ladies and gentlemen.

[Greg Miller]

I warned you when I came in. I warned you when I came in. No, I'm not getting divorced. Don't worry. Thank you to our Patreon producers, Carl Jacobs and Delaney Twining. Today we're brought to you by empty reel and aura frames. But we'll tell you about that later. For now, let's begin the show with what is and forever will be topic of the show. As I just mentioned, the one the only Game Awards. Jeff Keighley's the Keeley's are in fact tomorrow. We are excited as always to live react. This is the 10th anniversary of the Game Awards. Of course, very exciting. Of course, I'm the only person who has ever won a Game Award. No big deal. Thank you, Michael.

[Andy Cortez]

Is that why you haven't been here to react in about a goddamn decade?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

How dare you.

[Greg Miller]

I mean, they want to go. I got to go down there and press flesh.

[Snowbike Mike]

When you're a winner, you have to be there.

[Greg Miller]

And I hope you know this is this year. I was like, you know what I want to throw. I want to come up here and support Andy. Last year was just pitiful. It just you and Tim here.

[Andy Cortez]

It just seems like it's always been the big timing, you know.

[Snowbike Mike]

Oh, he's big time.

[Andy Cortez]

But now we're all on the same level. We're all going to be.

[Greg Miller]

Well, not really. I won a Game award. Bless his future class.

[Snowbike Mike]

Future class?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I was in times for the New York.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, but so is that guy dressed as Elmo. But we're not like all excited about him. You know, they got all the tourist traps, the people who just dress as the characters. As it is the 10th game awards, there's a lot of things we already know is gonna happen. Of course we're reacting. That's exciting. Everybody will be out there, expectations are gonna get super high. There's no way they'll be possibly met during the show. Everyone's gonna sour on the show and start being a bunch of really negative Nancy's on content. And then the next day they will just be filled with the Twitterverse and the blue skies of how much they hate the game awards and how terrible the game awards are. Nothing ever works in yada yada yada. There is no discourse I hate more and that's saying something in gaming than the storm that starts during the game awards that carries over to the next day. Oh, it's just ads. Oh, it's just this. Why isn't it like this? Well, why isn't it like this? Well, why isn't it like this? And my argument every year is the same. When it gets to the really, really negative part of make your own fucking show, then go make your own thing. This is what Jeff has done. Why every, every year Jeff comes out and shows us his zebra and every year somebody goes, well, I want to be a camel. Well guess what, it's a fucking zebra. All right, so this fixing the game awards topic and I, we've had conversations on content off content. We're on the same page is us talking about how we would tweak the game awards. Correct blessing. Yeah, it's us talking about a show we enjoy, that we understand. But I don't want anyone to come in. And again, everybody can do whatever they want in terms of how you want to fix the game Awards, what you want to talk about. But it gets me so angry whenever he's like, well, fucking, I don't want, I just want devs on stage. And I always go, well that's the Dice Awards and I host them and you don't watch them because there are no big announcements and there are no super secret games that get announced.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

My first note here is we should have more prep or we should have more devs on stage.

[Greg Miller]

But now, hold on now I'm not saying. That's not me saying. I'm talking to people who are saying there should be no ads. There should be just this. It should just be about devs. There's a, a conversation here of salt and pepper and what we're doing is we season the game awards and whatever, but I think that there's a lot of people who want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. And I want to make sure from the jump I make it clear that I hate that conversation. And it drives me crazy when people the next day are like, this is how it should have been and they should have done this and Jeff's horrible and da, da, da, da, da.

[Andy Cortez]

I mean, I always have such a great time hanging out with you all and, you know, but again and again include them. Oh, well, yeah, yeah. You were sick last week.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, but I've been here the past couple years.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

What are you wearing tomorrow? Not you, not you. You're. You just insulted me. But Andy, who's my friend now?

[Andy Cortez]

Um, I mean, I have multiple jackets I bought on Amazon when we were doing the kffl, the kind of funny football league. And they're just. They've been sitting in the closet. They're super wrinkly. Who knows if I'll bust them out?

[Greg Miller]

Sure.

[Andy Cortez]

I want to wear a coat, at least a jacket over a, you know, a long sleeve button down.

[Greg Miller]

I'm gonna wear the. My mom was asking me about my blue suit from Tim's wedding, and I was like, I'm gonna wear that tomorrow maybe.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Hey, hey, hey.

[Andy Cortez]

Maybe I'll do that.

[Greg Miller]

Okay, good. So anyways, let's dive into this conversation. I don't even think so much about. It's not about fixing the Game Awards, and maybe it is for you guys. And I don't ever want to take away what you're going to talk about. I just don't think the Game Awards are broken. I think this is more augmenting the Game Awards or the little tweaks, at least in my head. Because again, I don't want us to deviate so much where we are just planning the kind of funny Game Awards, which is a completely different show.

[Andy Cortez]

That's the smileys.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

That is Smile.

[Greg Miller]

It is. You do a great job with that.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. Only me. Just me.

[Greg Miller]

First off, don't get me started on Andy. I've never met.

[Andy Cortez]

Seen her play the music, play the area.

[Greg Miller]

I just like. It just boggles my mind that, like, Andy is so open about how Luffy is so talented. We're on the fucking kind of funny podcast. Great episode. You guys killed it or whatever. He's just like, oh, yeah, I almost forgot about that demo. It's like, I want to know why.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Are you just admitting this?

[Greg Miller]

Why are you admitting that you didn't? You and then it's like, oh, he was late by three minutes. Like, why is everybody just blowing up.

[Barrett Courtney]

Each other's smiles on this content?

[Andy Cortez]

I mean, you know, I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why.

[Snowbike Mike]

I'll tell you why.

[Andy Cortez]

I didn't even know I was a part of it, apart from the couple emails. Let me say that. I mean, if you're gonna blow up a spot, let's blow up a spot. All right. We're gonna blow up a spot.

[Snowbike Mike]

Blow up a spot.

[Andy Cortez]

I didn't know I was a part of this until, like, a couple of meetings ago.

[Snowbike Mike]

There's a big email that says, hello, Mike and Andy.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, we gotta change the headline to how to fix. Kind of funny.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, that's where this is going.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

I got there a time. But here's the thing, though, Greg. I may have been three minutes late, but the presentation was about 40 minutes late, so we were fine.

[Greg Miller]

You crushed it. You're fine. Don't worry about it.

[Snowbike Mike]

I like to make sure I'm five minutes early, Greg, because if you're not five minutes early, you're late.

[Greg Miller]

This is, of course.

[Snowbike Mike]

So he was technically eight minutes late.

[Greg Miller]

We learned this in Falcon, the Winter Soldier.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yes, we did.

[Greg Miller]

You know what I mean?

[Andy Cortez]

Why are you going harder at me? What the fudge?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Remember when he went to Japan and, like, was going to bring us gifts and then. Never mind.

[Barrett Courtney]

Did what?

[Snowbike Mike]

I'm gonna land in.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I'm gonna tell a story about how I met you guys.

[Snowbike Mike]

Video games out there.

[Andy Cortez]

I mean, I haven't left his jacket. I have one goddamn less jacket because Blessing wanted a stupid souvenir.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

And where is my souvenir?

[Andy Cortez]

Blessing? The line was long at the Pokemon store.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Okay, and whose fault is that? You had days there. Days were there for nine days.

[Andy Cortez]

We're on a tour, you know, during this tour.

[Greg Miller]

Just real quick, you. What were you touring?

[Andy Cortez]

Multiple Doltan, Betty Dotenberg.

[Greg Miller]

What's that?

[Andy Cortez]

Just like a little. Is a. Kind of a general area.

[Greg Miller]

Sure. Okay.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

And all these. There was no tourist shops in these places. You were going through. Get Blessing a cool pair that says.

[Snowbike Mike]

I love Japan or anything that I could have worn.

[Andy Cortez]

Well, I just didn't have room for all of that stuff, you know? You know, I don't want to get stupid. Like a little.

[Greg Miller]

Let's get back.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

It's just the fact that he told the story. Blessing sitting here with no civilians about that camp.

[Greg Miller]

Blessing, I'm sorry this is happening to you.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Sorry.

[Greg Miller]

Big time. James. There's a rash of Big time going on in the office lately.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

It's really messed up.

[Greg Miller]

Blessing. I want to get back on track because whenever we do talk about fixing the Game Awards, changing the Game Awards, one of the things you bring up that I think is a salient point for 20, 24, 10 years after the start, let alone Spike TV awards and everything else is categories.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Oh, this is the conversation we were having when me and Mike were on khd and we went category by category, and we had a big debate about quite a few of the categories. I think the big ones being action and then action adventure. And I think that conversation then bled into gamescast, which is bled. Which bled into, like, the next kfgd about, like, all right, can we fix this? Can this be better? And this is going back to kind of your preamble, talking about what this topic is and why you want to do this topic now, right. Of the Game Awards. What happens every year after the Game Awards. I think I'm one of those people that is of the mind of. I think the Game Awards could be better. Right. Like, I don't think it's broken. I don't think Jeff is doing a bad job by any means.

[Greg Miller]

Exactly.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

But I do think that there are a lot of things where me personally, I will. I look at and I'm like, ooh, I don't like how this happens. I don't like how.

[Greg Miller]

And to be clear, I'm in that camp as well. I think there's augmentations, but there's so many people who want to blow it all up. But it's like, well, no, this is the Z.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

That's my thing is I don't think you. I don't think you blow it all up. Right. Because it is what it is. It is the. I compare it more to the VMAs than to the Oscars, of course. Right. This is a poppy. You're coming in for the flair. You're coming in to have fun. You're coming in for the performances and all the guests. The guests, right. I look at the Dice Awards or I look at the. Oh, what are the other.

[Greg Miller]

Hosted by me, an unemployed Stella Chun.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I look at, like, the bafta. Baftas.

[Greg Miller]

I'm gonna introduce her that way on the Dyson world.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I look at, like, the BAFTAs to be like, the Oscars, right. This is the more formalized. Hey, we care about this a lot, right? Not that people don't care about the Game Awards. They obviously do. But the Game Awards is more so for, I think, fan engagement and Audience engagement as opposed to a formal thing. So I think looking at it through that lens, I think that then brings us into what we can look at. And categories is the one I talk about probably the most because it's the one I care about the most, because I think it's the most fun thing to break down as far as how do you represent game categories in a way that honors the games industry in a way that spreads the love in ways that matter, in ways that the audience is satisfied with? And I went through. My original pitch for this episode was that we all bring our own pitches for what the categories are. I ended up just doing my own.

[Greg Miller]

Right.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Because I don't know if other people had the bandwidth or other people cared enough to go through and do that.

[Greg Miller]

But I. Well, start. I want you. And before you dive in, I want you to start with what categories you think need to go away, why they need to go, why the categories are outdated.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I crossed out, like, a. Like a number of them. Okay, I'll go through them. Right. Best performance. I actually that best performance stays. I just. In my. In my version of it, I have Best Leading performer and Best Supporting Performer.

[Greg Miller]

Which I think I'm right there with you.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Is. I think as game performances have become so much more important, getting more chances to honor those roles is a great.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Way to do exactly right. I think. Yeah. Video game narratives, video game stories, video game performances mean so much more nowadays than Maybe they did 10, 20 years ago in video games that I think you want to spread the love a little bit more there. Best fighting game, I have italicized. I don't think you get.

[Greg Miller]

That's an easy change.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. Well, what's your easy change?

[Greg Miller]

Oh, italicizing it.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Oh, yeah. Well, that's one that I have, like, I don't. You don't get rid of it fully, but I think that should be a rotated category every year.

[Greg Miller]

What does that mean?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I think you don't need Best Fighting Game every year because there are a lot of years where Best fighting game, the category is filled with, like, just duds. Right. Even this year, the fact that Multiverses makes it in, I'm like, well, if we're in a year where, like, you have bad nominees that are making it into the thing, maybe there aren't enough games that fill this category. And I would rotate it with like.

[Greg Miller]

But then the argument becomes, right, if you were to do that, how. Who's is it? The game, Awards, judging. And is that. What if there is one great fighting game that year? But like, and I.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

That's where it comes into. I think there's a deeper conversation there. Right. The way I would have it is I'll leave it up to Jeff and maybe like a smaller committee of people to go to look at the year and go, all right, what's the cat? What's like the rotating category you want to bring in? So one of the ones I have here is Best Survival, because guess what? In 2024, survival games are. They're all the rage. Right. Like when we talk about games like this year, just this year, you're talking about Pal World, you're talking about Lego Fortnite that came out toward the end of last year. I forget if Enshrouded was this year or not. But yeah, you have games like Icarus. Right. Like you have more release that are a bit higher profile in that genre for a year like this then maybe sometimes fighting games or maybe sometimes other things. Right. I have Best Horror as another one here where maybe not every year this needs to be a category, but you can rotate it that way. You can highlight the best of four year that was heavy in that thing. So that would be my personal fix. I don't know if that's a clean fix because I know there's also just the built in prestige of having a category B every year.

[Greg Miller]

See, that's my. Where my counter argument why I would push back and vote against it as a change is the idea that I feel like if you already have a judging panel, which I think we need to discuss at some point, changing and how that all shakes out and yada yada, you have this judging panel that's going through and deciding already if it was a good enough year for any category and then you're already judging the games the next against each other. And I think it does take away from the fact that, oh well, we skipped fighting games for two years and then it was here. I think there needs to be a lineage of it, of where it was. It's not just there. When there are three great games, I don't even, you know, I mean, because there's. I think there's. And you can tell me if I'm wrong. I'm not a fighting game person. Yeah, I think every year there's always going to be at least one. Oh, that's a great fighting game or a fun fighting game or whatever.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

That you'd like to get flowers and.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Like, I mean this year, I think this year is one of those years where I think it's a good category. Not a great category. There have been past years where it's like, oh, Sifu gets nominated. And that's just because you run out of fighting games.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. And for right now, for best fighting game for 2024. Right. Dragon Ball Sparking, Zero Grand Blue, Fantasy vs Rising, Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection, Arcade Classics, Multiversus and Tekken 8. So, yeah, great category.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, I think there are plenty of. I could definitely see if that change were to be made in future years, people going, why is there not a best fighting game this year? Like, that game is definitely good enough to have been, you know.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Like these two games, it should be there that year. And I just feel like we're already kind of. We would be in that territory of needing, you know, an Early Access category or should we have DLCs nominated to the game or for Game of the Year. I've been seeing a lot of people obviously over the years or over the past couple of months being angry that DLCs can be nominated and getting angry that last year Phantom Liberty couldn't have been nominated or even the year before that other larger DLCs not being.

[Greg Miller]

Was that true that it couldn't have been or just wasn't?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

It just wasn't.

[Greg Miller]

It just wasn't. It just wasn't. Just making sure.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Well, I think a lot of people misinterpret it and think that, like, they couldn't be nominated.

[Greg Miller]

Right.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Because I saw one of those this morning too, of somebody being like, oh, a cyberpunk was nominated last year and that's just because it just wasn't nominated.

[Andy Cortez]

Right, Exactly. And yeah, I think it. That because the landscape is just so ever changing, you have to kind of pivot and be quick about things. I would love an Early Access category. I think that would help out a lot, especially for people like me who even on our Game of the Year list. I don't know if I want to put Hades 2, even though I probably will, but Deadlock. Like, there's so many of these games that I put in hours and hours into and I loved and they're not finished products. And Tim makes a great point where it's like, well, fuck it. That's their fault for, you know, that's. That's the nature of what they're doing. They're putting a game on Early Access. You, you know, if you don't get nominations when your game hits 1.0, you already sort of had that time in the limelight during Early Access. It's a weird thing that could even.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Fit in Best anti or most Anticipated but like maybe you replace most anticipated with something that is like the Early Access category of like game that came out. But a game that like is showing potential for. See, I like it's full release.

[Greg Miller]

That's interesting. And that's another great comparison to a VMAs or a more poppy show. Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, right. Where I personally would rather see an Early Access category rather than most Anticipated. Because most anticipated is just like, all right, who's had the best trailer? Who has the Most high performance? GTA 6 is going to fucking win this year. Okay, cool. Like, yeah, we already knew we were excited for that. I'd rather. I like the minutia categories that we. I assume you're going to talk about more getting away from the broad genre stuff where in early access would be interesting as well. I would still aside that if you're early access you can still be. If you're. If people are playing your game. I think you should be eligible to be Game of the Year. Whatever the. You break outside of Early Access in the same way indie game, right. In the old days used to be. Well, you put in the indie category now, of course it could be Best Indian. It could be Game of the Year at the same time.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, more of the ones I crossed out. There's some that I definitely need the context as I talk about crossing out and I'll come to those later. But like Best Family Game, I feel like that's a weird one of it's just a Nintendo category and I feel like it's not a category that I feel like is super needed at the game awards. You guys can disagree if I'm wrong but like I have that one crossed out. I have most.

[Greg Miller]

Well, no, I want to talk about as you go, right. Like so family games this year, right. Are Astrobot Princess Peach Mario Party Jamboree, the Legend of Zelda and the Plucky Squire. Right. And I think it's an awkward category. Yes, I do think it needs to be tweaked. Every year we joke that it does come down to being the Nintendo category. Of course this year there is Plucky and there is Astrobot. Not Nintendo games. But it is one of like. Yeah, I don't know. I understand wanting to have it in there. If I'm Jeff, I understand. Especially for a show that, you know, started 10 years ago hoping and now 10 years later is going to be talked about in USA Today and on the. In the news somewhere. Right. And you're going to have non gamers looking at it. Family Game is a, is a powerful category there of, oh, what if I wanted to get in games or my son or daughter has a switch, what should I be getting them and playing with them? I understand that there, but I do think the family game, like you say, does it need to be a game awards for us watching live, excited for whatever trailers and announcements. No, but for mainstream, which Game wars is always trying to. Yes, but there has to be a better way to noodle and do it.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. I just think how no other award show has the, you know, best, you know, best show for kids. You know, when we talk about the Emmys or the Golden Globes, like, that's just not a thing. But to your point, Greg, I think it is great for marketing and it does help a lot of these games sort of be seen. And if you're a mom who has no idea about gaming, but you see this game won best family game of the year or was nominated for best family game. You know, and my thing is, like.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I think even best kids game would probably make more sense or at least be clearer as to what it is.

[Greg Miller]

Because I could see best game for kids.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. Because I could see the argument for, oh, yeah, like, okay, game for kids. I understand what that means. Like, there is a market for that. When the best family category comes up. Right. It is for the best game appropriate for family play, irrespective of genre or platform. I still don't know what that means.

[Tim Gettys]

To me, I interpret that as like the entire family is playing. Right. And then usually nine times out of ten, most of the nominees are single player games. And it's like, all right.

[Andy Cortez]

I guess I compare it to like when people say family friendly content. Yeah.

[Snowbike Mike]

The game that you can trust your kids playing.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, that, that's. I don't, I've never.

[Tim Gettys]

I just think it's awkwardly named. I just don't.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

For sure, that's my thing.

[Andy Cortez]

I think early on I initially thought this has to be a Mario party or Mario Kart, a multiplayer thing where, you know, all the kids from around the neighborhood are all playing together with the parents or whatever. But I have more and more understood that no, it's, it just means family friendly. It really is a game that you can toss on and not feel like you're going to hear a swear word.

[Greg Miller]

And see, I think again, back to again, not changing what the game awards are.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Right.

[Greg Miller]

I think it's so simple to start trying to make them dice, make them the Oscars, do whatever. I think if they were to lean into the DNA of being the VMAs, being the kids Choice Awards where they had stuff like Best Kiss. Right.

[Andy Cortez]

Best fight, Kids game Awards.

[Greg Miller]

Well, you know, Jeff's noodling that got to be a million spinoffs he's thought about. But for this one being like, well, yeah, let's do the best game to play with kids. Best game to have on in the living room with kids. Like, that's something we would do, I feel as a Smiley's Award category or something like that. Right. But if the. If Jeff blew this up a little bit. Right. And went away from some of these more like Locked, what you'd expect what I was doing at IGN in 2009, game award, game of the Year thing. And you broke those definitions out and made them broader. I think you could keep the DNA of what this already is, but make it more where you look at it go. I get exactly what it is. Because for the longest time, yeah, family game it is. And even voting, maybe it was, well, I'm voting for a game to play with your family. Right. Like, and so Astrobot is a single player game. Why would I say vote for your family with that one?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. Also I've crossed out here. Well, most antispeed game and then also best game direction. I feel like that's another one that when we get to talking about it, it feels a little bit amorphous and it feels like just a. Like a sister category to Game of the Year. And I feel like that's one of those ones where I think that could be replaced by something else. Like in my mind, I would replace it with like maybe best technical achievement or something. Right. Something that is a bit more. Oh, I can. Like, this is more exciting to judge and talk about as far as what is the game that pushed things forward the most.

[Greg Miller]

Best game direction awarded for outstanding creative vision and innovation in game direction and design.

[Andy Cortez]

The Smileys has best innovation.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. And I like best.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. And I think it's. I think it's a much better idea because. Yeah, yeah, you nailed it. It reminds me of the Oscars whenever. Or it reminds me of record of the Year, album of the year, you know, that sort of thing. And I feel like I. I do agree with Blessed. It should be. These should be titles that even though God of War stunned you the most because of its story and its characters or whatever, the game that was pushing weird tech or that other game that had wild mechanics that you never thought could work in a video game and somehow it all sort of comes together and you're like, wow, what a creative vision. It's not game of the year, but I'm really impressed by that sort of thing. I think of. Think of Wayfinder or. No, not. Sorry, not Wayfinder. Viewfinder.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yes.

[Andy Cortez]

I think of Viewfinder and how stunning that was. Just on a technical aspect, but the whole game wasn't incredible. But I still wanted to be recognized for how awesome those devs were and. And making this weird sort of creative thing work.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. And if I was to swing around to another one, I could see replacing it with like, best Studio instead.

[Andy Cortez]

Right.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Like, I think best game direction, I think maybe implies a bit of. Oh, like, what was, I guess the director input here? Like, what was like, the direction in which the studio took this thing in order to make it special.

[Greg Miller]

And I feel like so many times that's not applauded or. No, it's not. Right. Championed. Where I don't think, you know, behind the scenes, who. At this studio or whatever, what studio is really going. This is the direction we're going in, what we're doing.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

I can speak for it. Right. You can see the games that are nominated, like, oh, I get that there would have been direction there, but that is a category I agree with. That does feel like it's been put out with the best intentions, but it's eating up a space that could be somewhere else and could be more interesting.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. The next two I have here, I'll bundle together. Because for me, this.

[Greg Miller]

Love a bundle. This is the.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

This is the conversation that me and Mike were having. Embarrassed, I believe too, that, like, got into the weeds of how do we really fix this. Right. And it is for me, best action and best action adventure. That's a coupling of categories that I never loved because I think best action and action adventure. And also lump in best RPG with this as well, because for me, it is all the same thing. Of so many games, so many action adventure games have RPG mechanics. So many action adventure games you could probably categorize also in action. Right. Like, I don't know if you have the. Yeah. Mike has here the best action adventure description, which is for the best action adventure game combining combat with traversal and puzzle solving.

[Greg Miller]

Best action game for the best games in the action genre focused on combat. For the best role playing game, the best games designed for rich player character customization and progression, both offline and online, including massively multiplayer.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yes.

[Greg Miller]

And they're just putting so many words into the role playing category.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

And I think those three categories have so much overlap with each other, and I think they could be a bit neater. And like I'm not going to say that I have the answer. I have like my proposal which I think is going to still strike people the same way of like that's so confusing. But the ones that I have here would be I would take the RPG category. I'll split it into two categories because there are so many RPGs and RPGs are such a big portion of like the AAA games that come out right and the games that people people play. I have it split into best action RPG and best turn based rpg. The justification I have for that for action rpg, right. It would essentially be the similar description of everything is an rpg. This is the clearest and easiest and in my opinion the most meaningful line that we can draw in the genre to respect how vast the genre is. And so for action RPG it would be game design with rich player character customization progression including massively multiplayer experiences. These games have real time combat. In the examples that I give here I am talking about games like Dragon Age, the Vealgard. I'm talking about Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree. I'm Talking about Dragon's Dogma 2, Path of Exile 2 Final Fantasies and Rebirth. I think for this year those five games have enough similarities where it's like this makes sense to compare to each other as opposed to something like Unicorn Overlord or Metaphor E Fantasio or like a Dragon Infinite wealth or Persona 3 reload. Those are the games I put in the best turn based RPG category. I think as far as RPGs those are different enough at their core design to where I think they deserve to be honored separately. I don't know if that's a crazy thing to say. I. I know Barry disagrees because we.

[Tim Gettys]

Had this conversation vehemently. I don't know how to say that word right now. My brain is broken.

[Andy Cortez]

Nailed it.

[Tim Gettys]

I don't know, it feels othering just because of a mechanic and I just think that's weird.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

But I think that's all video game genres, right? Like we video game genres are determined.

[Tim Gettys]

By mechanics genre but they just take one mechanic and to make it different. I don't know. I just. I don't know. It feels weird to me.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I think for me I think that's video game categorization, right? Like I think the way that we create genres is by looking at mechanics. And I think again I look at Metaphor Refantasio and I look at Lack of Dragon Infinite wealth and I, and I say those are better compared to each other. As opposed to either of them being compared to Dragon Age the Veilguard.

[Greg Miller]

Right. Jump in real quick.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Go for it.

[Greg Miller]

Live chat on YouTube. Mike Jonas. Turn based RPGs are niche and not so many. Mike, you gotta expand where you're looking for your video games.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yes.

[Greg Miller]

Because this is again, the upside to having more categories is more chances to recognize the amazing games that are happening. There are so Many turn based RPG's each and every year. They're not on the scale necessarily of a metaphor or something like that. They're a smaller game on Steam or whatever.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

And this isn't from this year, but I even have Baldur's Gate 3 in this conversation. Right? Like this isn't even me being like JRPG versus Western rpg. This is me saying that like I think there are like more than enough turn based RPGs to make banger categories. Like if I'm just talking about this year and I remove Baldur's Gate 3 there, I'm sure there's another I can replace. But Persona 3 reload. Like a Dragon Infinite wealth metaphor Refantasio Unicorn Overlord. Like if I search, I'm sure I'll bring up Shin Megami Tensei, Revengeance. And I'm sure there are like even higher profile games that I'm not thinking about right now.

[Andy Cortez]

But I think if I don't hate it. But my only thing is then we would have to get granular. Granular with every.

[Tim Gettys]

Yes.

[Andy Cortez]

Genre someone brings up. There would be best shooter. There would be Metroidvania.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Best shooter I have here. The reason I have it for RPG and not those other ones though is because RPG is such a big genre. Like find me another genre that are. That's that high profile. That is as big.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

And it's not even. I'm with you and I agree with you. It's not even the genre as much as the way RPG mechanics have infiltrated everything.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yes.

[Greg Miller]

Every game you're. You have a skill tree now. You're leveling something up, you're doing whatever. And I'm not saying they should all be lumped in here either. But it is that idea of. I do think action game, action adventure and role playing to toss in for the argument bleed together so much that again 10 years into the game awards and again decades into honoring games at the end of the year, I feel like the lines are so blurred that it's worth trying to figure out a way to go through and see these things the other one and to jump in here and keep going. Right. One of the things I do feel is like, well then what about shooter? What about that? That's where you start to get into. I would say yeah, let's really again, I'd like to honor more games. I'd like to showcase more games. But at what point does it become no longer what the Game Awards is trying to do? Remember, the Game Awards is trying to be mainstream. It's trying to get through a whole bunch of different content as fast as possible while also selling you stuff and also hyping you up. And there's so many masters. The Game Awards is trying to serve that that this sounds awesome again for the smileys, for us, for you know, getting need, you know, doing a game awards in quote show that goes on all week, like something Giant Bomb kind of does. Right? But like getting into the minutia of what these things are and talking about.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

To the shooter argument. Like one of the ones that I have here in this conversation is adding best shooter as a category. I think there are more shooter games than fighting games in a year when we're talking about just 2024. You got call of Duty Black Ops, you got Helldivers 2, you got I Am your Beast, Soccer 2 and Warhammer 40K, Space Marine 2. I think those are all games that you could. I could. I think those games make sense to categorize with each other. And I think that's a genre that is popular enough, that is widespread enough that it is worth like looking at as a genre worth like worth awarding and honoring.

[Andy Cortez]

Don't forget about that.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

You would put Soccer two in the.

[Tim Gettys]

Same category as like multiplayer shooters.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I'm. I've not played much soccer too, admittedly. So like that's just me knowing that you shoot things in that game.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

But yeah, I would put it. I would put in that category and like the other one I have here would be like action adventure. Right. Like my beef with it is mainly having both action and action adventure. I'll just put action adventure as one thing and have it encompass it. All right. So I look at that and the examples I have for that would be Hellblade 2, Prince of Purge, of the Lost Crown, Blackmith, Wukong and Astrobot.

[Andy Cortez]

Right.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Like the games where it is, you are going on a journey and there is action involved in that thing. What's up Bear?

[Tim Gettys]

It means nothing. Action adventure means nothing anymore.

[Greg Miller]

Oh. It means best action adventure games combining combat with traversal and puzzles.

[Tim Gettys]

It's like fucking every game for give.

[Andy Cortez]

Back to the RPG Com.

[Greg Miller]

Sometimes you puzzle solving, sometimes you're traversing.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Sometimes there aren't enough. I wouldn't look at Prince of Persia Lost Crown and say that's an RPG.

[Andy Cortez]

Some games are 80%, you know, traversal and puzzle solving and 20% combat. And some games are the other half. You know what I mean?

[Greg Miller]

Totally. Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

The other half. 20%.

[Greg Miller]

Ladies gentlemen and enbies, what do you want changed at the Game Awards? I need your super chats. Of course you can super chat on YouTube.com kind of funny games if you're watching live to be part of the show. And of course, why not get a membership while you're there with the kind of funny membership either on patreon.com kinda funny or YouTube.com kinda funny games. You can get all of our shows ad free. You can get the ability to watch the afternoon podcasts like Friday's Craven the Hunter in Review or your daily dose of Me in a series we call Greg Way. But right now you're not using your benefits. So here's a word from our sponsor.

[Barrett Courtney]

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[Greg Miller]

And we're back. Blessing. What else you got from your category wise?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

You want to get it controversial?

[Greg Miller]

Oh, I mean I'm the most controversial man in video game criticism in 2024.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

My most controversial statement. We got to figure out this independent thing this year. Not as much of a problem, but like last year I think the hubbub was so crazy that like I don't know Dave the Diver. And that's the thing is like I don't have an answer. I just have like, like a one paragraph manifesto of like what the issues are which is for outs like. Right?

[Greg Miller]

Manifesto.

[Andy Cortez]

That's a bu buzzword that's been in me.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, he got that from Twitter.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I would read a lot about Manifesto Luigi.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, weirdly enough, Luigi as well.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Hey man, he's back. So of course right now it says on the website for outstanding creative and technical achievement in a game made outside the traditional publisher system. Which is in theory I think a good pitch for best independent game. But in practice I think it's a bit messy when we get into the minutia because you know, is Pentiment independent when it was published by Xbox? Is Cyberpunk 2077 independent when it's published by CD Projekt?

[Greg Miller]

Right.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Like it's self published. Thing is a game independent when it's published by Devolver.

[Greg Miller]

And that's why, I mean you can jump right into what we're looking at here. Right? So this year's nominees, Animal. Well, Balatro, Lorelei and the Laser eyes, Neva and UFO 50. Right. And so you look at this and the first ones that jump out to me and these games are independent obviously because the studios are independent and not owned by anybody, yada yada yada. And they're working with independent labels like AnnaPurna Interactive and Devolver. AnnaPurna being Lorelai, never being Devolver. But it Is that idea of like produced outside the traditional publisher system? This is in 2024. The traditional publisher system, yes. Like, I understand that Annapurna and devolver. Devolver work with independent game studios to publish independent games. And that's fucking awesome and I love it. But it doesn't. That is. That is now traditional. That is normal. That isn't weird anymore to me and Andy. Could tomorrow be like, we're starting an independent label and we should. But it wouldn't be like, oh my God, that's so. It'd be crazy for us, obviously, but it wouldn't be weird in the industry. Yeah. Like, I feel like if they want to do this, I would blow it up and change it to self published. Best self published game.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Doesn't that get. Because for me, that comes back to Baldur's Gate 3, I believe was self published.

[Greg Miller]

There's gonna be things like that you.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Wanted to like the cyberpunk thing and. Or yeah, like cyberpunk slash the Witcher. Like big, big studios, Triple A studios that are publishing their own projects. Do we then just ignore them? Do we like.

[Tim Gettys]

I mean, that gentleman's agreement wasn't self published. Like, that was big mode.

[Greg Miller]

But I mean, that's my thing where again, like, I think you're into an interesting one of how you do this. I mean, like, how big the studio is, studio size.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

It might be weird, but the pitch that I have written down here, and this is again another weird one that we'll get to. It is, you know, I'm in favor of like you're saying, blowing it up and maybe even changing it to best indie game as opposed to best independent and defining it as games developed without a AAA means of production.

[Greg Miller]

And see, there you go. That. That I think would solve it because that would also. Then you're in that sense kicking out Baldur's Gate.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, yeah, probably.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. Yeah, we're kicking out Baldur's Gate. What about Super Giant? Are you keeping in?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I mean, would you say. Well, that's where this gets Harry is because then we need to define aaa.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

And can we look in like we don't have access to the budgets. Well, that's what I'm saying.

[Andy Cortez]

I think. I think if you want to be nominated, you sent all your books to fucking Keely. Keely has financial advisors looking over and be like, you know what? This spent enough money to be categorized as an indie thing. Done deal. You know what I mean? If you. If there's a lot of zeros in that budget.

[Greg Miller]

Sorry, Sorry, Double A, triple A, fat cat.

[Tim Gettys]

Get the fuck out of here.

[Greg Miller]

We don't want this shit.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Because for me I think I do think and maybe Pentiment might be a bad example because I've not played it. So I don't know how much like Juice is in that game as far as the production and triple anus of it of Pentiment. A Pentime.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, very good.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Like would you look at that and.

[Greg Miller]

Go yeah, but how much like that's.

[Tim Gettys]

Not to me definitively that is not an indie.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I'm not, I'm not. Well I'm not saying based on it being published by Xbox. I'm saying based on just like would you believe in indie developer made it.

[Greg Miller]

Erase all the information you know about it. And you look at I think unfair.

[Tim Gettys]

Question though because then we're just defining indie game by like the vibes of it.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Small buzz. Well, I guess removing independent.

[Greg Miller]

I mean Dave the Diver got nominated last year.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Dave the Diver. Dave the Diver is my. Would be my example then of like, like what is the solution to go like let's look at games that are made by smaller teams.

[Andy Cortez]

You know it when you see it.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, see I don't think it is.

[Greg Miller]

But that's Vibes.

[Tim Gettys]

I don't think that should be how that's described because then yeah, Pentiment should be indie game because it looks like an indie game. And I just don't think that's. I don't know.

[Greg Miller]

I agree. No, I. That's why I was so against Dave the Diver last year. Great game.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I'm basically trying to find any common ground as far as like is it the team size, is it the level of budget which we don't have access.

[Greg Miller]

To another one where I think it's a weird solution but again getting it blowing up this category when along with several others and then making space for more genre based categories like you're talking about if turn based rpg, regular rpg, you know, regular RPG quest rpg, you know, I'm saying like if you then went in and did stuff like that of like best. Best pixel art game. And I'm not saying that's the solution but I am saying like. Like let's get specific. The problem with the game award categories right now is that they're very vague where they are general. And you run into this where you read the, you know, it doesn't mean anything. And then I read the description like well that means everything. And it's like that's where you're at is that you can't Read these categories and go instantaneously. I know exactly what that is. Best game direction. You're like, what? And you read about like, okay, so, okay, I'm gonna go do that. And da da, da, da, da.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Another controversial one. I might get booed out the room for this one. Add best expansion and just like, not have. Don't have expansions and DLC be eligible for Game of the Year.

[Andy Cortez]

I love that.

[Greg Miller]

I'd boo you for that one.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, I'm okay with that because I'm.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

On your side, Greg. Of like, I think expansions should be honored, but I think there's been enough hubbub from audiences and even just reading chat, reading reddits, reading. I think enough people are mad that this is one of those ones where I'm like, I'll throw you a bone.

[Greg Miller]

But here's my thing where it's like, but here I would do it in the same way we did with the other one. Fuck, it's gone. But the other hypothetical one up. All right, cool. We're doing best expansion as a category. Right. But that's still. That can still be nominated for Game of the Year. That can still be nominated for best whatever. It's putting it over here to do something with it. My problem with the hubbub of Eldest Shadow, what the streets are saying, right, is the fact that it's just to me, fucking, I'm in this. I've lived long enough to go back through the Matrix where when it was that indie games can't be nominated for Game of the Year, you know, oh, this, a downloadable game can't be nominated for this because it has its own catego. It's like, you bought this game and play this game. Yeah, but I would have also had have bought this thing and played 60 hours. Who the fuck. You would have had to buy the PlayStation exclusive. You have to buy the PlayStation to play that. Like, we're just getting caught up on things that there's no reason. Why are we getting caught up on this? There's no reason to get caught. And I also think that this is such a rare example. Cyberpunk Phantom Liberty was not available to be nominated last year. Correct?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Right?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. So, I mean, like, it didn't get Game of the Year this year. Erdtree is so good that it got. Okay. Why are we mad about that?

[Andy Cortez]

I'm. I'm definitely with Greg, where it's like my defense for why I had it voted or whatever. Like, why I think it should be nominated is because. Because I don't have an expansion category. And because I don't have an expansion category I'm not going to not nominate one of the best gaming experiences I've had all year like that. It's a no brainer that Erdtree deserves recognition. And then what I really really hate is like yeah, but Elden Ring already got a lot of love. I don't give a fuck. Like I'm still going to praise the thing that I really enjoy.

[Greg Miller]

Shit up. You know what I mean?

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, exactly.

[Greg Miller]

Dragon Age, Veil Guard, you should have been better.

[Snowbike Mike]

I don't know.

[Greg Miller]

What do you want me to say to that?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

My devil's advocate argument for it would be that I think there are certain games though that just have so much sauce to them. And again I don't believe in this argument as I make. There's some games like I feel like you create the scenario where every year like if Elden Ring had an expansion come out every two years that's going to be in the best games category or Game of the year category every two years. Right. Like I think you're setting up these games that you know, have the notoriety, have the popularity, have like this chokehold on the industry to then make that return into Game of the Year every, every other year in a way that can just make that category less exciting for like the actual generally new games that are coming out year to year. That's like my.

[Greg Miller]

I hear you. Yeah. But my argument would be the same of those new games should be better. Like, and I mean like, you know, and I'm not like trying to be insulting but it's the case. And not to mention Elden Ring isn't going to do that. We're not going to have it two years. Right. And not to mention this is the same argument that if we ever want to talk about categories and how to judge this, which is a whole argument, right is the fact that like when the best ongoing support comes out I'm always flooded with people who are like if this was a real category it would be World of Warcraft, blah, blah. But nobody's playing that anymore. No one's playing. There's these games that are still thriving and going but no one's playing that. So it's like Fortnite is easy because this got a giant update and everybody came back to play it. So obviously that's going to get nominated. When in reality some people who are in these communities would argue this over.

[Andy Cortez]

Here I'd be totally done with Expansion of the Year.

[Barrett Courtney]

I.

[Greg Miller]

Because you know, would you then say it's not nominal. It's not nominatable for Game of the Year.

[Andy Cortez]

I wouldn't say it shouldn't be, but I personally would not put it in Game of the Year.

[Greg Miller]

Interesting.

[Andy Cortez]

Like, I'm putting it there only because that's the only place it can really be recognized along with like action adventure or whatever point. But if I had just the expansion category, that's where I would put it. And then I wouldn't put it in Game of the Year. But because I don't have that, I'm not going to not nominate it. You know, it's like I'm not going to punish it because you don't have a category or whatever.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, right now there's not really. There's not a way to nominate a shadow.

[Andy Cortez]

And I still feel like it deserves recognition.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I agree with that.

[Andy Cortez]

Also, Community support and ongoing game.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

That's another one I have here. I have Best communities for. Just crossed out, like we got Best ongoing game and.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, you figure there. I mean, like, unless you want to say Best Community management. You know what I mean? Community Spike, because what's their definition?

[Andy Cortez]

But that's also really odd because. No, I guess. Never mind. I was gonna say we don't recognize Best Art teams, but we do Best Community Support.

[Greg Miller]

Recognizing a game and studio for outstanding community support and transparency, inclusive of social media activity and game. I lost my updates and patches versus Ongoing, which is awarded to a game for outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience. Again, one of the problems I think with this is the Best Whatever isn't descriptive enough. This is what we've talked about with a few different categories. This is another one where when you read it, you go, okay, I see the difference, but when you look at the thing, it doesn't make sense. So again, Best Community Management, which I think you could just change the title and then it would also. It would be social media and what they're doing inside of the game to communicate. Cool. That makes sense to me.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

The one last thing I have here is more for me, more of like a semantics thing. I just want to Best blessing. Let me just put the, you know, put the sample on the table, let you guys taste it and see how you feel about it. All right, Game of the Year. I would change it to Best Game. I think Game of the Year is one of those, like, I feel like Best Game feels a bit more formalized for what we're doing here, and it feels a bit more. All right, we got to make an objective statement about what is the Best game that came out this year. Game of the year feels like more of a popularity contest to me. And if you wanted to keep it, maybe that becomes the fan voted thing and it gets a bit demoted in terms of like the prestige of it. But I feel like Best game feels a bit more award show appropriate because like.

[Greg Miller]

Interesting.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Incorrect. Does VMAs have album of the year or is it best album or is it like song?

[Greg Miller]

VMAs is video music Awards. Right? Yeah, so they want to. Oh, so that is your question?

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, I guess I was going to.

[Greg Miller]

Say they do video of the year.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Oh, do they?

[Greg Miller]

I think so. Right.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

And that's what I don't care about as much. But it's one that I just want to put because I've always been like, I don't know, I like the idea of doing a best video category.

[Greg Miller]

MTV Video Music Award for video of the year. Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

So you're talking more about, you know, one category is recognizing what you think is the overall best video game. And one is more of like this captured the zeitgeist.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yes. Almost like times person of the year. Right. Like I think Game of the year should be more of the. Hey, this is like the game that defines 2024. But best game is the. This is the fucking. Like this game was developed as fucked right here. Like this game fucking brought the fucking sauce. And it's the best thing that we played this this year.

[Andy Cortez]

What would be your game that brought the sauce, Mike?

[Snowbike Mike]

This year?

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. Hell World. Let's train together, man.

[Snowbike Mike]

Shout out.

[Andy Cortez]

Because I think helldivers too. Helldivers brought kind of hat had the largest moment of the year. But I wouldn't say that that's game of or best game. But also goatee is just so nice to say.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Cody is nice to say Goatee.

[Greg Miller]

This is the one that I wouldn't get rid of Game of the Year. I would keep Game of the Year.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. This is what I did. I didn't cook on as much. This is just one that I had the thought of. Of like I could see us trying to like maybe make it like a times person thing of the year.

[Tim Gettys]

Because I. I think Best game also feels like Best picture for the Oscars and like, like again, I feel like there's a little bit of separation of what the game wars actually are versus like what we perceive them to be. And a lot of people equate it to the Oscars when it's not really, you know, that's fair.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

That's all I have for categories Okay. I think I crossed out more things.

[Snowbike Mike]

But great job going in depth on that one.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Thank you. I was bored last week. Last.

[Snowbike Mike]

I like that you really thought about that. That's good.

[Andy Cortez]

Triforce guy in the YouTube chat says hell divers fall off hard. And that's. That's what I fucking hate about an ongoing game. That.

[Greg Miller]

That's the. Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Still completely overachieved in what it was trying to do where it was so relevant for so long, but it wasn't relevant in the right time. If Helldivers came out in October, it would still have the moment.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. Fell off hard is such a real moment. My PlayStation says I've done like 75 hours of helldivers. Gary has more than a thousand because he kept playing and never stopped. Like there's a community that has never stopped. It's just not that zeitgeist. Everyone's playing it, everyone's streaming, it's going. And also who cares? Are we saying it's the best. The most fun you had the best game of the year? Like every game goes away at some point.

[Andy Cortez]

Exactly.

[Greg Miller]

Shadow the retreat fell off hard. Like what are you talking about? Like, no. Yeah, people beat it and moved on to the other thing.

[Andy Cortez]

It's like when everybody was like man, blackmith Wukong already. It's like, well, everybody's asleep. Like that's where the player. Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

I want to get some super chats in. Remember of course. If you want to be part of this show, YouTube.com kind of funny games you can super chat to be in here. Zeke speak says uproar instigates change. Oh, he's talking about the feedback when game wars is happening and then after the fact some of it's dumb. Yeah. But Jeff not mentioning layoffs comma wrap it up while folks are giving tearful speeches. It was tone deaf, downright rude and trying so hard to be the Oscars that it was embarrassing thing. I disagree. I mean, I think again Jeff not mentioning layoffs. So what was it?

[Andy Cortez]

That was 2022. Right. Because last year he did mention layoffs.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. I'm trying to remember who's that. Or if it was at summer game fest.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, was it sgf?

[Greg Miller]

I don't know. I think so. I can't remember. He.

[Andy Cortez]

Whatever the most recent thing was, Jeff went on stage and talked about the turmoil and layoffs and employees and game devs and company. You know, like that there was a speech that happened. I don't know.

[Tim Gettys]

Chat saying sgl.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah, I think it was.

[Greg Miller]

Thank you.

[Andy Cortez]

Really. I could have sworn Those Game Awards.

[Greg Miller]

Well, I remember so the iterating off it. I'm more hung up on the wrap it up while giving tearful speeches is tone deaf, downright rude, and trying so hard to be the Oscars. What? So what's interesting about this and the Game Awards is that I said this before, I'll say it again and I'll say it until something changes. Jeff cares more about his shows than I think anybody gives him credits for. And so I think you look at last year's Game Awards and he said, what does everybody think about it? And they were like, you should have fucking talked about layoffs. So at sgf he talks about layoffs. Right. I think there's a struggle there of when you're trying to do a polished award show. And again, I love the Game Awards. Jeff's always been nice to us, except that when he's mean to Mike. But it's that thing of with all due respect to Jeff, Jeff is not the lightning rod of controversy, nor is he the man who comes out and speaks from his heart, off his cuff or whatever. I think it's weird for Jeff at the Game wars to come out and talk about layoffs. I'm glad he found a way at SGF answering what the criticisms were because whether he likes it or not, he is the. Not the founding father. He's the figurehead of games. Right. In terms of talking about it like he has a platform that none of us will ever have. So I'm glad he found a way to do it. But I don't look to him to ever be cutting edge doing because again, I think that's what the Game Awards are and what Jeff is the wrap it up thing is a direct response to everyone being like, this award show is too fucking long. I'm. These awards, these speeches are going too long. Every one of you who made fun of Chris Judge's speech while Al Pacino held the statue, that is a direct response to this. And I imagine, even though I have no inside information whatsoever, that this year you will see the speeches be longer but still have the just wrap it up thing and you have to play music because otherwise people like me won't shut the fuck up. We will just keep talking.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, we addressed a lot of this as well, like immediately where it was an overcorrection and that's all it was. And I don't think a bigger deal needs to be made out of it. I think the memes were funny.

[Greg Miller]

The fact of it was downright rude. Wasn't meant to Be rude. It was meant to keep the show moving.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, it was. I just think it was an overcorrection where it's like you just move that slider a little bit more from 60.

[Greg Miller]

Seconds to 90 to 2 minutes, and that's 2 minutes.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I think just because he didn't mean for it to be rude doesn't mean that it wasn't rude. Like, as a viewer, I was like, oh, man, this feels rude. Like, I think for most people watching, they were like, oh, this feels disrespectful to the people on stage. I know Jeff doesn't mean it to be disrespectful. Right. Like, he cares in that way. But I don't think we can look at, like, I don't think we tell people to not feel like he. He didn't disrespect people by doing that. When, like, that is the thing that it comes off of.

[Tim Gettys]

Comes off as to most people, intent doesn't equal impact.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

In terms of.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. So like, and I, like, as far as, like, the overblownness of it. Yeah. Like, I don't. I think he's heard it loud and clear, like, I'm with you. That I think he's going to change it for this year. But, like, that's one that I do. I want. I 100 understand from people as far as coming out of it being like, damn, fuck that. Like, you only gave these developers a minute to speak. Like, yeah, it's a response to the Christopher Judge thing. Yeah, it's a response to the link. But like, like, I think when people are asking to cut down on the length of the game awards, I don't think they mean cut down on the length of the speeches. That's one of the things that people ask for the most. Right. People want to hear the developers speak. People want to hear the developers, like, get highlighted on stage. I think people are just like, see.

[Greg Miller]

I think a lot of vocal people say that. I don't think that's what the majority of the audience wants and is serving multiple people. They're watching for the announcements. They're watching for their favorite game to.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Win, but then call it the game announcements. Like, you're watching the game Awards. Like you're going to watch awards. Like, I think that should be the expectation.

[Greg Miller]

I hear you. But you're still getting the awards this way. I, you know, to blow back again and try to defend the game awards on this. To defend Jeff on this. You know, people last year who were nominated were told, you will have 60 seconds so I think there is an argument there of them being disrespectful to the show, which I know sounds crazy, and I'm sure I'll get crucified for. But a great example is when I won my game award, I went up there and I fucking went. And there was no timer and there was no nothing, and there was great, right? Everybody loved me, and it was fantastic. When I won the south by Southwest award, I had a diff. I had a different speech where I was going to honor our community. And I got up there and I go into it, and if you go back and watch that, I go, yeah. I'd like to thank Amy. Oh, fuck, I'm almost out of time. Because there was a clock down there that was counting down, and so rather than do my thing, I stopped and I thanked who I needed to thank, and I was done. Like, there's. There's a push and pull to this, and I'm not saying anybody's got it right, nor. I am also saying that the people who got up there and Talked longer than 60 seconds, I do not think that they were downright rude. I am not saying that. But I am saying that there needs to be an acknowledgment from both sides of this. And it'll be interesting this year to see how they change it. If it is two, if it is still 60 seconds, or if it is two minutes or whatever it's going to be.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, I think. I think a change will be made for sure. And that's all that needs to, you know, happen.

[Greg Miller]

Aaron, that says dice is better. That's right, because we don't give a shit. We're all drunk. Talk as long as you want.

[Snowbike Mike]

We're taking shooter.

[Greg Miller]

When Christopher Judged went up, it was me, Mark Cerny, and Phil Spencer backstage laughing.

[Andy Cortez]

This is great arm wrestling.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Going back to the point of please, gray or not. Greg, Jeff KE saying something on stage about the layoffs, right? Like, I. Do you see your point? I do think that this is one of those Spider man scenarios of, with great power comes great responsibility. And to your point, like, Jeff is the figurehead of this shit, right? Like, Jeff might not have chose to be like, hey, I. Like, he might not be choosing to want to talk about, like, the layoffs and do all that stuff here, but he did choose to be the figurehead of the industry, Right? He did make all the decisions to then become the face of all this. I think when you are, what is required of you is to, I think, speak to what's going on in the industry and listen to what the streets are saying and try to try to communicate that in a way that could inspire people, could uplift people. And if he doesn't want to say it because, like, I understand also of him being, like, I am not that person. Get somebody on stage who will. You don't have to, like, I don't think he has to be the one to say it. If he wants to bring on a different voice, if he wants to bring on a Greg Miller, if he wants to bring on somebody who can make that speech or make a segment in the show to do that, I think he has that power. And I think that is a worthwhile thing to think about and a worthwhile thing to do.

[Greg Miller]

Well, this is another one, I think that's interesting with the conversation about fixing or changing or whatever, the Game Awards. Right. I think sometimes, to its detriment, Jeff is too hands off because that. That's my point of. Right. Like, of course, even the Game Awards, being a zebra, not a camel. Right. Jeff is the same way of, like, I just don't expect that from Jeff because when you look at his Twitter, what's he's promoting, the Game Awards, SGF randomly, some PlayStation news put out that he's, like, talking about. He's never like, hey, I did this, or that's fucked up or this, that, unless it's Kojima, you know, blah, blah, blah. Like, so I think that, yeah, if you. The show, I just don't expect to be infused with any of that from a production standpoint. Because Jeff would never do that, I think. Right, Right. Good or bad. Right. But then it's the idea that, like, since he's not going to, it then falls to the people giving their speeches if they want to bring it up or do something with it. But you're up there for 60 seconds and you're trying to honor your team and all the things. And how do you rope that in and make it make sense? Right. In a way that actually works for it. In a way that is whatever you're trying to do and what the Game Awards are. And the Game Awards could be that, but aren't. And it's the same thing where I think just two hands off in what we're talking about with categories, Right. Where Jeff sends out the categories. And remember, Jeff Keighley doesn't vote in this. Jeff sends out the things to the panel of judges he's selected and worked with or whatever. And then they all vote. And so when it comes back, that's Why I at least I think in particular this year at nominations. Right. What was it Game of the year when he was like, I want to remind you, I don't vote in these because it was like he was already like, this is a weird selection of games of the year. But this is what came in and this is how it nets out. Out. Jordan likes you, Mike.

[Snowbike Mike]

Hello, Jordan. Thank you.

[Greg Miller]

C.J. splits on says new diverse guest hosts like the Oscars. That is an interesting question of. I wonder how long Jeff hosts.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

That's what I was going to drive to as well. Where like I, I love that Jeff has built this like trio shows that you have throughout the year and like it is. He is the face of it. He is doing it every, every single time. I do think that it is getting to the point of I would love to see somebody else like step in for at least one of these things every year.

[Greg Miller]

Right.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Like I know he has Sydney Goodman.

[Greg Miller]

Always on the pre show.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. Doing the pre show.

[Andy Cortez]

Like Bosman.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yeah. Like I would, I would love to see Sydney Goodman maybe host the main show.

[Greg Miller]

Right.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Or somebody else step in and host the main show. I'd love to see him like build up people that can take those reigns and be the faces of it. Because I do think that, that we like he has the power. He has the opportunity to bring in. Yeah. More diverse faces to actually being the hosts of these things.

[Snowbike Mike]

When has that happened? Year 15, year 20. I hope he takes the back step and just produces it all instead. It's right.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I think in the next few years. Yeah, I think, I think soon. I would hope soon. My request would be soon. Get out of here, Jeff.

[Greg Miller]

I'm taking requests now on what we're doing. We have a couple here about Games for Impact. We'll go with Aaron Lime game. Games for Impact needs more clarification as a genre as it's currently used, it feels more like a feel good indie category. He says twee feel good indie category. I don't know. Games for Impact. How do we feel about this category, everybody right now? This year it's Indica Neva, Life is Strange, Double Exposure, senua Saga, Hellblade 2, Tales of Kinzera, Zao and Closer the Distance. Of course the official description of what it is is no longer on my screen but it is for a thought provoking game with a profound pro social meme meaning or message. Games in this category should be somewhat non traditional and focus on creating an experience with a deep, meaningful and mess.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

That's one of the ones I had Crossed out that I didn't mention during the segment earlier, but I did. I am of the mind of. I don't think we need that category. Yeah, yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

It just feels like best Story, but like it's kind of weird and it like has like, I don't know, not a typical just hero's journey type of.

[Andy Cortez]

Thing Indiegogo category that isn't an action.

[Greg Miller]

Roguelite says nebulous, condescending, unhelpful, which I get the vibe of. Again, I like the granular stuff because I want more games to get in there. So it isn't the same dozen games that are getting nominated throughout a million different categories or whatever. But I don't hate it.

[Andy Cortez]

I. I would be. I mean, I would love a lot more. I'm with you, Greg. That I love the granularity of. Of some of these, you know, nomination categories. But. But I do understand that the show would then become 17 hours long. You know, go. Sorry.

[Tim Gettys]

Another. You just reminded me of something that I think remap was talking about that I would love is for some of these specific categories, like if we were to keep a games for Impact or Best Fighting Game, I would like another recommendation I would say is or best like sim strategy game. Get the experts from these outlets to come together to discuss the nominations for these things rather than an entire outlet who is like, I don't know how each outlet does their own, like nominations and all this stuff, but like, I don't. It just feels weird. Words like everybody might have from one outlet might have played Unicorn Overlord and that was just like the one thing that they played and all that stuff.

[Greg Miller]

So Motor World Hype, Super Chat and says racing and sports shouldn't be combined into one category. It makes no sense that a Mario Kart or Need for Speed game would go up against Madden or NBA 2K game. Luckily that didn't happen this year. But the fact remains and I think that's a great way to piggyback off what Barrett's talking to. Talk a bit about the judges. Right? The judges are up on game awards. Kind of funny as a judge. Hooray for us. But it's IGN GameSpot, a bunch of international things, yada yada yada. And Barrett just hit, I think, a big nail on the head for why so many categories are combined. Why people like Sifu is a fighting game. You know what I mean? There is this idea that when you have to boil down these votes to, hey, here's what's going on. Here's this company's opinion Right. And again we're an 11 person company. IGN is how many people on the editorial board. You know, you have Gamertag radio voting and I don't know who officially with Danny is. You know, there's all these different sizes and scopes and things that are happening. I think it would be a very interesting and perhaps necessary take moving forward to be like cool. These are all the outlets we work with and Game of the year. Yeah, they all come together and they vote as an outlet. But for your JRPG category, for your fighting game thing, for your racing game category, we are taking people from those things and putting them together as the panel to vote and decide rather than coming together to also cast a vote here. Like we're always great. I feel as a company of I'm abstaining from this category. I don't know it or you know, overall nominations or something like that. But the idea that like it would be all right, cool, I'm sending and it could be Andy and Mike are the representatives for Kinda Funny. For Kinda Funny's one vote to do that doesn't make sense because that's how it works for us. But you understand what I'm saying of we need expert analysis so that it isn't Sifu in fighting category which I don't think makes sense even though I'm not fighting games. You know, it's a different.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I did the BAFTA game awards like I judged for one of the categories in like 2021 or 2022, I forget which one. And it was like that. Where? Not necessarily because like my category I think was like the EE game of the year, which is the fan. So we, we figure out the nominees and then the fans vote for it. So it's like the fan voted one, but they did bring in a group of six to eight of us that they had reached out to individually to discuss in a room and figure out what those categories were going to be. So like. And I'm sure a lot of game or a lot of award shows are like that. I think that's the right move. Yeah, I think like I and I think you have the capability to do it right. Especially for those categories that are best fighting game or those categories where you look at them and immediately go that doesn't seem right. Like that happens all the time for the best fighting game. I forget what it was like Sifu was one of those situations. But even before that I remember like tweeting out like what the fuck are these nominees? And somebody else who one of my friends who's in, like, the fighting game community. DM me. And they're like, dude, what the fuck is up with the nominees? And I was like, hey, man, I.

[Tim Gettys]

Don'T fight in that game, though. So, you know.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Yes.

[Andy Cortez]

Like, people put Elden Ring in there too.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Generally. I think you can make these. Make some of these nomination lists better. Like, more quality if you reach out to people, people direct.

[Andy Cortez]

I think if the game is F1 or NASCAR related, then it goes in the sports category. But if it's a Mario Kart, it does not give me the vote.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Arcade sports game. Best arcade racing.

[Tim Gettys]

Best family game.

[Andy Cortez]

Best family game. I thought in family.

[Greg Miller]

I forget who it was. Somebody on the social media spaces had put something up of, like, the flaw in the company outlets in voting or whatever is that you inevitably get to. Here's the best thing I played for work. Here was the best thing I was assigned. Not here's the best thing I played. Because, of course, I talk about this all the time, that I want to go play this, but I need to go play these things. And so I play these things. And that builds up my knowledge base for the year on what I had to play for review, but not necessarily getting back to go. I still. I booted with Ben Zelda, and I haven't actually made it even out of the intro. You know what I mean? Like, that kind of thing, where it's like that then gets to a voting point where it's like. Well, I've heard great things about game acts that Andy's talking about, but I haven't. So you have to either be ready to. I'm rocking for this thing because I think it's that good, or I need to stand down and let Andy's voice be louder because he's awesome.

[Andy Cortez]

Thanks, man. You are shorter games, you know, that's what it really comes down to.

[Greg Miller]

Sure.

[Andy Cortez]

I'd have time to play all these damn games if, you know. Well, I mean, I gotta blame myself because I. I'm the one who put 40 and 60 hours into enshrouded and nightingale and deadlock and 90 hours with deadlock. So many early access games that needs its own category. Early access.

[Greg Miller]

That's the one that I guess. I mean, path of exile 2. Come on, let's get in the game of the year.

[Andy Cortez]

It's too late for an early access. It's too late for that in my. Yeah, it's. It's in a different fiscal calendar for me, like.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

A smiley category. That's early access.

[Andy Cortez]

Best early access. I like it, though.

[Greg Miller]

We started the smileys are coming back, everybody. I forgot. I remember after our game of the year.

[Andy Cortez]

I hope I remember how to render that little 3D smiley.

[Greg Miller]

You'll figure it out.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Again you.

[Greg Miller]

Well, our final comment comes from somebody else added, no, I'm not doing that. Nestlehan, who says the show is too long because of random celebrities who couldn't give a fuck. Not having a time limit while indie devs don't get a speech at all. Now what I would counter with is, of course the random celebrities are very much on book. They are reading whatever is in the prompter and going away. So I don't think that is. And then I would also pivot back to yeah, yes. Because it's a zebra, not a camel. All right. That's what the game awards are. That's beautiful. Exactly, exactly.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I'm definitely not on the mind of people who are like, oh, we need no celebrities in this thing. We need way less celebrities. I think sadly you need the celebrities.

[Greg Miller]

I'll never forget Michelle Rodriguez. That can. Come on. Come on.

[Andy Cortez]

I guess, like, I think as of recent times we've had the correct selections. I would say it's not.

[Greg Miller]

When you go back and you watch Spike TV and it's like, here's Elijah Dushku to talk about Uncharted.

[Andy Cortez]

Like, what the fuck? We're going. Yeah, I feel like recently it's been an okay but you know, selection. I do think that when people talk about celebrities taking the most time, it really was just Simu Liu going on really long because he loves video games or whatever. Did that one. He did an advertisement. He talked about some sort of like mobile game ad.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Oh, yes.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, it was like a top down sort of rts.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Was that the ad that went on forever?

[Andy Cortez]

No, that's the one with Ken Jeong and yes, that's what I'm talking about. Chris Hemsworth was in that.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Chickens in it or something.

[Andy Cortez]

Yes, yeah, sure did.

[Tim Gettys]

There's also Anthony Mackey as well.

[Andy Cortez]

Chat reminded me he was in the game.

[Tim Gettys]

No, like he he game awards and had a.

[Snowbike Mike]

This year they got Snoop Dogg though.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

They do have Snoop Dogg.

[Andy Cortez]

Anthony Mackie needed to tone it down. That was one where it's like, Anthony, Maggie, you gotta understand your lane. You gotta understand that like Steph Curry can shoot three points from wherever because he's really good at it. You got to understand what you're good at. Anthony Mackie. And I don't think you're like, he's.

[Greg Miller]

On stage trying to be saying it.

[Andy Cortez]

He's trying to be he's trying to be a comedian up there. It's like Anthony, Maggie, you're, you're good in Marvel movies but I don't need you improv, you know, that's a lot.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Of, that's a lot of shade at Anthony Mackie.

[Andy Cortez]

I got beef with Andy.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

I got beef with Anthony Mackie.

[Andy Cortez]

I got beef with a Mac dog. You know, it's just Mack Truck.

[Greg Miller]

Ladies, gentlemen and enemies. That's the games cast in the books. Your final kind of funny games cast before the game awards tomorrow. Remember of course we'll be starting the day late with kind of funny games daily streaming and then going live around 4 or 4, I think it's 4 o'clock for our reaction. So we'll be live during the pre show for game awards, live throughout the game awards and then of course doing our post show analysis gamescast immediately following. We hope you come join us live to be part of the chats. But if you want to watch it on your own private time and then come to see our reactions, no big deal. Of course everything's live and later on YouTube.com kinda funny games you can watch on twitch tv, kindafunnygameslive and of course there'll be podcast versions of all the shows up for your listening pleasure. No matter where you get kinda funny. Thank you for your support. Consider picking up that member membership to get everything ad free and of course keep the lights and mics on. For our 11 person small business. We're all about live talk shows which means we're not done by a long shot. Games cast is ending and we're going right into first person fortnite where I'm going to be better than Nick. Until next time. It's been a pleasure to see you. I will be.

[Blessing Adeoye Jr.]

Love you. Anthony Mackey.