YOUR GAME AWARDS HOT TAKES - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Summary

Kinda Funny Gamescast: Video Game Podcast

Episode: YOUR GAME AWARDS HOT TAKES - Kinda Funny Gamescast
Date: December 12, 2025
Hosts: Tim Gettys, Greg Miller, Blessing Adeoye Jr., Andy Cortez, (with contributions by Brian and others)

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Episode Overview

This episode of Kinda Funny Gamescast is a lively post-mortem on The Game Awards 2025. The crew dives deep into their predictions, the actual winners, and the hottest (and coldest) takes from their community regarding the show. They dissect the merits and pitfalls of the awards, trailers, surprise announcements, ongoing franchise developments, and the evolving landscape of game awards in general, all with the characteristically fun, candid, and occasionally irreverent tone Kinda Funny is known for.

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Main Theme & Structure

The episode centers on three big pillars:

• Reflecting on The Game Awards 2025 – their predictions vs. reality, notable wins/losses for games and studios, and the show’s general entertainment value.
• Audience “Hot Takes” – reacting to a wide range of KFG community-submitted opinions on everything from specific awards to general show trends.
• Bigger Industry Conversations – legitimacy and presentation of certain categories, what should/shouldn’t be part of the show, and the health of common genres and studios.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Post-Game Awards Reflections & Results

• Pride in Game Awards Coverage
  Tim opens with gratitude for the entire Kinda Funny team, calling their Game Awards coverage the "best performance yet" and praising their blend of entertainment, information, and sheer passion for games.

  “...We absolutely crushed it last night...we have the knowledge base, the expertise...but then also being genuinely enthusiastic and excited about video games...” – Tim Geddes (02:00)

• Game Awards Prediction Results

  • Only two categories were completely missed by the group: Best VR and Innovation in Accessibility.
  • Blessing was the only one to predict Best Multiplayer correctly, while Andy nailed Best Ongoing (No Man’s Sky).
  • Tim won the Kinda Funny league (20/XX correct), with Andy second, and Blessing third.

    “I really wanted South of Midnight to win, so I just willed that, and I put that down and got me some points.” – Tim Geddes (07:51)

2. Awards Show Hot Takes

a. Tonal Shifts & Muppets vs. Mature Content

(Timestamp: 08:39–13:53)

• Miss Piggy and the Muppets at Game Awards
  The Muppet segment was divisive among listeners, with some loving the irreverence and nostalgia, and others feeling the tonal whiplash.

  “Can you really say that after we've watched countless Diablo trailers that are just skin peeling off of people?” – Greg Miller (10:35)
  “That's video games...there's something special about video games that's different from movies...adults can play...Divinity...and it's like, that's not that crazy...” – Tim Geddes (12:48)

• Divinity Trailer Shock Value
  Recurring debates about whether trailers like Divinity’s are “too far” for a general audience, especially following all-ages mascot segments.

  • Blessing: Not informed enough on Divinity’s previous tone to judge.
  • Andy: Tonal whiplash comes more from show arrangement than individual content.

    “I think a lot of it just comes down to the ordering of things...Game Awards have always had weird tonal shifts.” – Andy Cortez (11:32)

b. Multiplayer Game Announcements & Show Placement

(Timestamp: 14:04–19:40)

• High Guard and Multiplayer Game Skepticism
  • Audience cynical about multiplayer shooters “doomed to die” and the oversaturation of the genre.
  • Blessing & Andy stress that announcements should come with hands-on previews, as multiplayer games don’t show well in trailer form.

    “In a showcase like this, I think you have to do it hands on...otherwise they will write it off.” – Blessing Adeoye Jr. (15:38)

  • Discussion of how some games pay for prime “last slot” positions at the show, which can backfire if the reveal falls flat.

    “...if you're dropping next month, you're in the multiplayer market that is oversaturated...You need to make a splash.” – Greg Miller (17:31)
    “...it needs what Blessing was talking about. It needs to be hands on...or else back off and don't invest that heavily.” – Tim Geddes (18:36)

c. Capcom’s Big Night & Mega Man Letdown

(Timestamp: 20:11–27:21)

• Capcom Praised for Consistent Excellence

  • Capcom lauded for exciting ongoing output and “swinging above their weight class.”

    “Capcom has been delivering for the last decade...I was very, very happy with what we saw.” – Tim Geddes (20:50)

• Mixed Feelings on Mega Man Announcement

  • Buildup led to disappointment; the new Mega Man looked visually bland and failed to excite, even if gameplay will likely deliver.

    “I think this might have been the most deflating announcement in Game Awards history, personally, to me.” – Tim Geddes (25:10)
    “It just feels like when 2D games were first kind of experimenting with...3D.” – Andy Cortez (26:55)

  • Multiple panelists (and chat) dream of an HD-2D or Metroid Prime-like reinvention for Mega Man.

d. Category Integrity – Indie Games, Deliberation, and the "Sweep"

(Timestamp: 36:31–47:56)

• "Sweep" Controversy: Should One Game Win Everything?

  • Some argue for limiting the number of awards a single game can win; hosts strongly disagree, citing competitive merit.
  • Strong opinions that independent categories deserve main show time, especially in a year with so many powerful indies.

    “If everybody uniformly agrees that expedition 33 has the best art style, then it should win best art style.” – Blessing Adeoye Jr. (38:10)

  • Debate on how genre categories fit an evolving industry.
  • The Game Awards are a popularity contest only insofar as critical consensus, not raw fan voting.
  • Push for more nuanced nominee selection and jury-style deliberation, but acknowledgment that current global/infrastructure realities make this tough.

• Insight on the Judging Process

  • Multiple hosts explain the real voting process, countering accusations that Game Awards winners are pure fan favoritism.

    “...it's not a popularity Contest of just popularity, it's popularity of people that are doing this professionally...” – Tim Geddes (42:56)

e. Game of the Year Medley/Orchestra Critiques

(Timestamp: 49:55–52:46)

• Orchestra Medley Feels Too “Samey”
  • Several listeners lament the annual use of the same driving percussion/theme flattening the diversity of nominated games’ music.
  • Andy, Tim, and Blessing all wish for more variety in arrangement and acknowledgment of time limitations/prep challenges.

3. Other Notable Moments

• Control Resonate & Remedy Love

  • Audience and hosts laud Remedy as one of the most original studios working today; their Game Awards reveals (live-action, creative) praised for standing out.

    “They always deliver when it comes to art direction...every frame of painting type of studio.” – Andy Cortez (56:17)

• Touching Tribute to Jeff Keighley’s Father

  • Greg and Andy highlight the emotional authenticity of Keighley’s brief, heartfelt nod to his late father at the show’s start.

    “To put yourself out there like that, to talk about that...that tells you that, like, that's he's fucking being a person right there...” – Brian (58:59)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Kinda Funny approach to coverage:

  “We’re not just live reacting...but actually commentating from a place of an informed opinion that is backed up by us putting the work in..." – Tim Geddes (02:21)

• On the role of the Muppets at Game Awards:

  “The Muppets are there and they're seen as a children's thing because they are. But they're also at the Game Awards because we all grew up with the Muppets, so it's the Muppets kind of playing in a more adult space anyway.” – Brian (10:47)

• On Game Awards category fatigue:

  “There are things like best action game, best action adventure game, best RPG...that feel like we're just talking about the same type of game...I wish we could branch out and start to acknowledge things.” – Blessing Adeoye Jr. (39:07)

• On the “sweep” discourse:

  “It's a testament to...expedition 33, where the categories that are on paper are the places where that game happens to really hit hard.” – Blessing Adeoye Jr. (62:13) “Winning is not the end all be all...a nomination at the Game Awards is putting a light on it.” – Tim Geddes (61:18)

• On Control Resonate, Remedy, and showmanship:

  “...as pitch perfect of a reveal as you can have at the Game Awards. I thought they nailed it.” – Andy Cortez (56:17)

• On the Esports and VR/Accessibility Categories:

  “I do like it shining a light on esports, making sure that the mainstream still thinks about that.” – Greg Miller (34:43)

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Important Timestamps

• Opening Thoughts & Kinda Funny’s Pride – 00:58–03:46
• Prediction Results Break Down – 06:22–07:50
• Muppets, Miss Piggy, and Divinity Trailer Tonal Clash – 08:39–13:53
• Hot Takes on Multiplayer Games/Showcase Placement – 14:04–19:40
• Capcom Applause and Mega Man Disappointment – 20:11–27:21
• Indie Game Awards Controversies – 36:31–47:56
• Game of the Year Medley/Orchestra Critiques – 49:55–52:46
• Control Resonate & Remedy Segment – 54:18–58:08
• Jeff Keighley Tribute, Show Humanity – 58:39–60:23

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Tone & Delivery

Throughout, the hosts balance critical industry analysis with their trademark humor, personal stories, and “real talk” about disappointing reveals and industry pet peeves. Spirited, friendly disagreements abound, especially over the “best” approach to awards categorization and core show production values. There’s frequent direct engagement with live chat/community input, making the show communal and interactive.

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Final Thoughts

Fan engagement with the show’s results and methods is at an all-time high, and so is skepticism toward certain reveals and perennial Game Awards quirks. The Kinda Funny crew offers a thoughtful, sometimes contrarian, but always entertaining perspective on gaming’s biggest night and its broader implications for the industry.

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To Listen or Not?

This episode is a must for anyone curious about The Game Awards’ behind-the-scenes dynamics, critical reception of its reveals, and a snapshot of the latest hot (and cold) takes in the gaming community – all filtered through Kinda Funny’s lively panel.

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Transcript

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

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[Brian]

There's a world where legends race across city skylines. Romance blossoms in glittering ballrooms, and there's magic around every corner. It's a world known to many as Great Britain. You've seen the action on screen. Now visit the real star of the show. Visit Great Britain. To discover more, go to tripadvisor.com Great

[Tim Geddes]

Britain this episode is brought to you by Stormlancers. Fight together. Rise together. Storm Lancers is available now on PC and Nintendo Switch 2. What's up and welcome back to the kinda funny Gamescast for Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. Of course, I'm your host, Tim Geddes. And before we even introduce these people, I just want to say to all the people at this table and to everybody watching and that watched last night that's been watching, I keep saying variations of this, but now that Game Awards are behind us, I really want to say I think we absolutely crushed it last night. I think that that was our, our best performance yet and I, I'm very, very, very proud of our entire team because we covered the Game Awards in I think such an entertaining, such an informative, just such a powerful way when we have such an awesome set, awesome talent to back it up. We have the knowledge base, we have the expertise going back so many decades between us of being able to speak to the video games being shown, having so many different perspectives, being able to have Greg make the run a show for the immediate afterwards, having pr, like having more information than they said on the show all organized in one place, but then also being able to pull in Roger for the Control preview and things like that.

[Brian]

Like our number one Control fan, number one Remedy fan.

[Tim Geddes]

We all always do this, right? Like we're able to do showcases and, and oftentimes have more information, have more access. And I feel like we have done this year such a great job of using that to better the content that we're making. That's not just us live reacting to something happening and commentating over it, but actually commentating from a place of an informed opinion that is backed up by us putting the work in throughout the year, playing the games, reading the news, talking about it all so we actually know what we're talking about. But then on the other side, just being genuinely enthusiastic and excited about video games and excited about what we're seeing and leaning into the fun of Miss Piggy. Jeff Keighley. Like, all of that stuff. I just feel like there's such a. Such an amazing thing that we have at. Kind of funny that I'm very lucky to have with you, gentlemen. So thank you. Just want.

[Brian]

Thank you.

[Andy Cortez]

Thank you, Tim. Wow.

[Greg Miller]

Shout out.

[Andy Cortez]

Kevin and Roger, of course.

[Tim Geddes]

Oh, yeah. I mean, yeah, the whole. The entire team. Right. But I. That is the thing. It's like Roger being able to clip things out so quickly and get them up. That is a dream that we had back in the day.

[Brian]

Yeah, of course, of course.

[Tim Geddes]

Even all the way back at ign, just imagining like, God, you imagine if we could do this, this, this. Now we just get to do it. This is the absolute dream come to fruition. Thank you all for allowing it to happen. But. And also, my voice is gone. Star wars announced a pod racing game. Like y', all, it happened. So I'm sorry. I'm gonna try my best to keep it going throughout the episode. But without further ado, let me introduce Blessing Adoh junior.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

Good day, Tim.

[Tim Geddes]

Snowbike Mike.

[Greg Miller]

Good morning, Tim.

[Tim Geddes]

Greg Miller. Hi, Tim and andy Cortez.

[Andy Cortez]

Hello. 10.

[Tim Geddes]

Hello. This is the Kind of Funny Games cast where each and every weekday we get together to talk about the biggest reviews, previews and topics in video games live on YouTube, Twitch and podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do, please support us with the Kind of Funny membership to keep us allowing doing all these cool things as we react to showcases and reviews for 2026 and beyond. A new year is upon us in just a few short weeks and I hope that you will continue to have Kind of Funny games be your place that you hang out with us to talk about video games. For a chance to be part of this show, submit your thoughts and opin as YouTube super chats as we go. We're looking for your hot takes. A little housekeeping for you. We are an 11 person business all about live talk shows. You already got games daily. That was a blessing. Mike. What y' all talk about?

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

We just talked more about the game awards.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, we talked about the game awards. Talked a little bit about Xbox and their presence there. Were they there? Were they not there? Let's talk about it.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

Let's talk about it.

[Brian]

Let's talk about it.

[Tim Geddes]

And then after this, a very exciting thing is happening as well. Terminator 2D. No. Fate is finally coming out real and Greg and Nick are going to play it. Kevin was set setting it up and as I was coming into the office, I heard the music playing and I'm like, this is awesome. You excited for that, Greg?

[Brian]

Can't wait. I've been waiting a long time for that. I'm glad they finally got the steelbooks put together and they were able to

[Tim Geddes]

release this game then. If you're a kind of funny member, today's Greg Ways. Greg building his holiday hit list. What games can he. And does he have to finish by January 5th, which is kind of funny. Day 2026. Thank you to our Patreon producers, Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney the Psalm Twining. Let's get to it. The topic of the show, your game awards Hot Takes. Trying something a little different, being inspired by Santi Zapp and Simon Miller, who cover a lot of wrestling content and they do an episode that is like your hot takes where after a big pay per view happens, they ask the audience for their takes on everything. And then we react to that. It's very fun. And y' all showed up. Thank you very much. We have a whole bunch of stuff to get to today. But before we get to the hot Takes, we. We got to talk about last night. The award winners. We all predicted who would Win Game Awards 2025, but only one of us could be the victor. Before we get there, I want to say two little fun facts. There were two categories that all of us missed where not a single one of us predicted the correct answer. Do you want to guess what it was?

[Andy Cortez]

I had it. It was. I had. I had it initially and then I decided to go with the crew up.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. Best VR.

[Andy Cortez]

That was.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

Yeah, yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Best VR and Innovation in accessibility. Those were the two that we did not get it at all. And both of those, we kind of were all over the board. We just didn't pick the one. But then there were only two categories where only one of us got it right. So congratulations to Blessing with best multiplayer.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

Let's go.

[Tim Geddes]

And congratulations to Andy Cortez. Do you know which one?

[Andy Cortez]

No.

[Tim Geddes]

Best ongoing. No Man's.

[Andy Cortez]

No Man's Sky.

[Brian]

No Man's sky

[Tim Geddes]

tied in last place with 13 correct answers. We have Greg Miller and Snow Mike.

[Greg Miller]

Mike.

[Andy Cortez]

That's what we're talking about.

[Brian]

That's what we're talking about right there. You know, it was the whole thing. Mike said it. You know, be spicy zigging and zagging.

[Greg Miller]

You know what I mean?

[Brian]

Like, we deviated, but we went too far from God.

[Andy Cortez]

Mike, you've won too much this year.

[Greg Miller]

I wanted this one. I really wanted.

[Tim Geddes]

In third place, we had 17 points. Blessing. Adio, Junior.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

I thought I did better than that. That's tough.

[Tim Geddes]

In second place, with 18 points, Eddie Cortez.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, wow. Always second. Always second, baby.

[Tim Geddes]

And I came through at number one with 20 points.

[Andy Cortez]

Wow.

[Tim Geddes]

I wasn't zigging, I wasn't zagging. I was sticking it right down the middle. The one that I think it, for me, like, I really pushed me over is the one place that I don't want to call it a zig or zag. It was more just like being stubborn. I really wanted south of Midnight to win, so I just. I willed that, and I put that down and got me some points. So let's get into the hot takes. There's so many of these. So many of these. All right. I tried organizing them to have some sense of, like, flow to conversation, but I might pack a couple together, and then we'll discuss as a whole thing, some. Stop me if you're like, hey, I want to talk about that point. We're trying something new, so we'll see how this goes. I do want to start with a very big one. Before you bring up this link. Kevin, Rumble pack says, hear me out. What do you think he's talking about?

[Brian]

Miss Piggy.

[Greg Miller]

How much fun Miss Piggy was The clear, obscure sweep.

[Tim Geddes]

Kevin, can you bring up the link?

[Andy Cortez]

Flute guy,

[Tim Geddes]

you did that?

[Andy Cortez]

Gotcha.

[Tim Geddes]

Tip of the hat to you, Phil says. Just my opinion. But as a big Muppets fan as a child, Miss Piggy was my least favorite Muppet. A lot of Miss Piggy.

[Brian]

She's rude.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah.

[Brian]

Let's just call it. She was mean to Kermit all the time. Drama queen takes all the attention away from everybody else. Mean to everybody else. That's why I love ham.

[Tim Geddes]

Damn.

[Brian]

Wow. Damn, Brian. For a long time.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, yeah.

[Brian]

Now she's airing her Jeff business.

[Tim Geddes]

What?

[Greg Miller]

Everybody the best Muppets appearance yet?

[Tim Geddes]

No, no.

[Greg Miller]

I thought they were really good, but, like, Miss Piggy showed up, like, they had some jokes. They had some nice.

[Brian]

Did you like the song?

[Greg Miller]

I liked the song. I liked the song. See, I think Miss Piggy, number one for me.

[Tim Geddes]

Number one.

[Greg Miller]

And then the. The other two bros, they're number two.

[Tim Geddes]

All right, all right.

[Greg Miller]

Melon Head, he's number three. I think they had the scientist Melon Head once.

[Brian]

Yeah, he was but it's what, Beaker and. Yeah, what's the other.

[Greg Miller]

No, yeah, yeah.

[Brian]

Beaker's the bb.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Brian]

So dumb. You know what I mean?

[Greg Miller]

You know what he is? He's got a melon head. He's like a green melon.

[Tim Geddes]

Oh. Oh, but that's not his name.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Describing. Okay.

[Brian]

Honeydew. Honeydew.

[Andy Cortez]

He said, my two bros. Bunson took his talk.

[Tim Geddes]

Says one of the Better Game Awards. But I would be okay if I never had to hear about Jeff and Miss Piggy having sex ever again. And maybe I'm a prude, but that divinity trailer was just gross. Watching an orc vomit in pig doesn't exactly make me excited for your video game. John J. Smith says it may be time for the Muppets to go. The total shift between Miss Piggy and the Divinity trailer was a bit much. So couple things to talk about there. There's the Muppets, right? And then there is the. Was the Divinity Satan trailer going too far or Divinity trailer going too far? And the total shift between the two of them? That's the conversation, gentlemen.

[Brian]

Interesting.

[Greg Miller]

Can you really say that after we've watched countless Diablo trailers that are just skin peeling off of people? Things explode left and right. I don't know, man. I think they hit the mark on that one.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah.

[Brian]

I don't think the trailer is too far. Jen and I were talking about this this morning, too, where I was like, she. She was like, man, that divinity, you know, Ben caught the eye black. And I was like, yeah. But I was like. I'm like, it's like a Diablo. She's like, I think it was more Diablo. Not necessarily this year, but in general, like, I don't know. I necessarily agree because I feel like that's what they all are. The tonal shift conversation that's just having the Muppets at Game Awards. Like, the Muppets are there and they're seen as a children's thing because they are. But they're also at the Game wars because we all grew up with the Muppets, so it's the Muppets kind of playing in a more adult space anyway. So it's either they got to go, and we also don't do Lego Batman, I guess. But, like, you're never. What are you. How are you ever going to have that connective tissue to do these kind of crazy, violent things that. Yeah, every video game trailer is. Is, you know, the. Not Yakuza. Yakuza game had a guy get blown through the forehead, right?

[Andy Cortez]

Like, yeah, I could. I could see that. I think a lot of it just comes down to, like, the ordering of things. I. It didn't come across as weird to me because I feel like the game awards has always had weird tonal shifts and. Or sometimes when a trailer ends and we think it's still going, but it's like some other thing happening now. Yeah, Diablo has always shown really violent shit. I think the divinity thing took it to, like, the. The 0.5 above what Diablo has ever done. And that probably comes down to, like, the people fucking in the background, too. That was, like, hot. That was not overly shocking to me, but I could see why people would be like, whoa, damn. Like, this is kind of crazy.

[Brian]

Again, they talked about Jeff Keighley having sex with a pig. So, like, you know, clutch your pearls there, I think, guys. All right, that's bestiality. We're gonna let that slide.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, just like, who called that out, too? Not liking that, but

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

I don't really have thoughts. Yeah, I feel like as far as how the Divinity original or the Divinity trailer went, I would look back at the previous games. I don't know enough about original sin and the Divinity franchise to say whether or not that's in line. I think maybe if it's not in line, you can make the argument of, oh, well, you're trying to use shock to sell a thing. And I think maybe there's a conversation there, but I don't know. I don't. I'm not informed enough on divinity to even say that. And so I don't really have much of an opinion on it.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, I definitely think that that trailer, like, pushed the lines compared to anything we've seen before, because it did have, like, there was violence, there was gore, there was nasty stuff, and there was sex. There was all that. But I have no problem with that. I actually think it's like, yeah, cool. That seems. That's what they're selling, that is. And the tonal ship stuff, I'm like, that's video games. I think that there's something special about video games that's different from movies necessarily. Like, the movies is the closest analog, but, you know, we look at things like Pixar and it's like, oh, it's kids stuff, but it's also for adults. I feel like with video games, there's a much wider thing of, like, adults can play, you know, bad the Badger Game or Divinity, and it's like, that's not that crazy, you know? And so you're gonna have to present them that way. Unless you're making a showcase that's very specifically targeting a specific audience, which would be children. Right.

[Brian]

And that's my thing. Right. We're talking about a show that kicks off at 5 and goes till 9 our time. Right. Like you're. These are adult hours. It's an adult thing. People are cursing on the show. Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

And even the Muppets, like originally maybe designed for kids, but they always also have had that adult humor. Right.

[Brian]

Chad points out that they were actually originally a nightclub.

[Tim Geddes]

Wait, that's right.

[Brian]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

I don't know Muppets, but there's like that level of sarcasm.

[Brian]

Give me a high five about Muppet babies here. Bless. Come on, get up there.

[Tim Geddes]

Wesley LeBlanc says high guard, the new multiplayer shooter from Titanfall, folks, did nothing but remind me of Immortals of avm. Sergio says for Loop and High Guard were oversold. Is way more exciting than there will actually be. They'll just end up being a couple of more multiplayer games to come out dead on arrival into the oversaturated multiplayer game market. Lost in the sauces. Put an over under for how long High Guard lasts before they announce it's shutting down at six weeks. Device says closing with Concord 2 was brave. And then Jake Mosher says it won't be popular, but I think High Guard will be fun as hell. Multiplayer games do not show off well and they should have. They should stop having trailers like this without any hands on coverage. I bet it's quite fun. But no trailer can properly show that. It's about the little moment.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

I agree with the last one. I feel like we would get those hot take comments regardless of like any. If it was any multiplayer game. I think if it was whatever, it could be the highest quality multiplayer game. You show us the same trailer of a Overwatch like you know, four player Helldivers, like whatever it is and we're going to have the same reaction of like oh that's going to be Concord. Oh that's going to come out and flop. And granted like I understand the sentiment because we've seen a lot of games come out and flop. Like it's not like I'm not saying it's impossible that High Guard comes out and doesn't do anything right. Like that's very much a possibility. But I think we write things off because they're a multiplayer game. In a showcase like this, I think you have to do it hands on. I think we need to start making that the standard of if you're introducing a game like this to the public it has to come with either previews from people who have played the game or let people play the game otherwise they will write it off.

[Brian]

That's a great way to put it. Yeah, I think you know again it goes back to what so many people's problem is with the game. Wards often ride is pay to play. Where obviously this is the last announcement. Announcement. We as fans build up to that like it's going to be something huge. It's going to be a great thing. It's going to be. And you get there and it's high guard. It's like oh, they paid a lot of money to be the last announcement on Jeff's show. Which is good marketing for them in quotes all marketing is good. But this is then the conversation we have where what a flat last announcement from for us as the fans obviously for them is the developers, publishers, PR trying to make a splash. They get headlines but are they getting the right kind? And I think yeah, this is bad. You should have saved a couple hundred thousand dollars probably and been somewhere in the middle of the show and because it was when it got going and we they jumped on horse, you guys. I think maybe it was just Andy but maybe it was my two pop like that like for the multiplayer people who want to go do that kind of stuff like that worked for them. But as an overall this is the last announcement and it's very exciting. From the former respawn people it was

[Andy Cortez]

like oh, do you think, do you think the announcement hits a little worse because it was the last one and do you think that they pay for that for the last spot?

[Brian]

I do, I do, yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

They request the last.

[Tim Geddes]

Of course I think they paid.

[Andy Cortez]

That's such a wild thing to request. Like put me somewhere in the middle but give me. But you get lost but give me the same sort of hype up and lead in, you know like I, I think if that game is not the last thing we'd be a little bit higher on it. But we kind of put it in that ah shit no half life 3 fuck this game sort of situation. I, I, I've always wondered the, the pay to play aspect and are they actually choosing the position of where they're.

[Brian]

I think for the right dollar amount.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

If they paid for it though. Like I have way more questions about this game and the people who are behind it because didn't they say it was like a 61 person studio and this is a game that's self published. Like I got, I got way more questions about where you're Getting that money to pay for a last slot at the game awards.

[Greg Miller]

It drops next month. Like, the big positive of this, this team is like they wanted to make a splash because this comes down like 30 days, right? Like, if you're in the middle, you get kind of lost in translation. Like, I saw numerous amounts of tick tocks talking about this game last night

[Brian]

of like positive or negative?

[Greg Miller]

Positive, like excitement. Like, at least just general conversation, right? Like, that is the big thing here is if you're dropping next month, you're in the multiplayer market that is oversaturated, has every game that looks identical to what the other game is. You need to make a splash. I do think that was the move for this team. I think it's the right call, especially if you're launching in 30 days to make a big mark on the scene here. Will it pay off? Of course, we'll see. Right? But like, I think that's the right move from this team. There's an audience out there that wants that.

[Tim Geddes]

Right.

[Greg Miller]

I think we at the table might not love the multiplayer genre like others do, but we're riding a high of Arc Raiders, Helldivers taking over the market and being big splashes. You need to make a big splash if you want to stand out in a list of 75 game announcements throughout the game awards that we just went through.

[Tim Geddes]

I think the biggest problem is that it's not the placement. It's not that it's a multiplayer game. It's that with the placement and with it being a multiplayer game, it needs what Blessing was talking about. It needs to be hands on. Like, if you're going to have that last spot, if you're going to pay for that last spot, if you're going to get some type of Jeff push and rub from that for the placement of it all, you need to call to action, right? Then you need to have the stuff. Especially if your game's coming out one month from now, you've got to figure that out or else back off and don't invest that heavily. Don't have that level of eyes and scrutiny there. Because I do think that if this was Apex Legends, which that was nothing until it was something. If they ended that and it's like, hey, guess what? The embargo games. Journalists have played this and like it a lot and streamers and all that stuff and y' all can play it right now, that would be huge for them. But that didn't happen. So I just think that then the conversation starts be talking about around the game as opposed to talking about the game. Having said that, we were talking about this game way more than we would if it was anywhere else in the show.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

Oh, for sure, sure, sure.

[Greg Miller]

Should have been a beta.

[Tim Geddes]

You're right.

[Greg Miller]

Should have had a beta today.

[Tim Geddes]

Moving on. We both simply just says Subulba. And I don't know what the hot take is there, but I appreciate it. I can't believe our boy's back. He has a little beard. Andy. He has a beard?

[Andy Cortez]

I thought he always had a beard.

[Tim Geddes]

Now he looks a little older. Oh, I have a lot of lore questions. What's going on?

[Andy Cortez]

He's a veteran in the circuit. A lot of people writing him off. Don't count out the Bulba, you know,

[Tim Geddes]

one more ride, you know, part.

[Andy Cortez]

This is the time of the year where, like, experience really matters.

[Greg Miller]

He's losing his hair, but he's still got it.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, exactly.

[Tim Geddes]

Okay, so then Mark writes in with one that I really, really liked here. Forget Clair obscure. Capcom fans were the biggest winners of the night. Requiem looks fantastic. Pragmata shaping up impressively. Mega man is back and the Street Fighter movie seems absurd in a good way. The only thing missing was Dino Crisis. I don't think every single thing was a win from Capcom necessarily, but I do think overall the energy is right. Capcom has been delivering for the last decade. We've talked about it a whole bunch. I was very, very happy with what we saw from Resident Evil. And the fact that y' all can play pragmatic now and understand why we are as high as we are on it, I think is a very good thing. Getting that release date seems like a great spot.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

100 agreed. Right. Like resident Evil Requiem. Especially for the Resident Evil sickos who go even deeper than I do.

[Tim Geddes]

Right.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

Having played most, most of the mainline ones at this point, hearing Tim talk about like some of the specific lore stuff that even you say, like you're not the keeper, the arbiter of Resident Evil lore. I think the fact that you have a trailer like this leading into what, a month and a half from now, the game launching, very exciting stuff. And yeah, I just wish if that Mega man trailer hit a bit more, then yeah, I think we'd be talking about it as being like, oh, all time Capcom year of announcement announcements happening right here.

[Greg Miller]

Shout out to Capcom. Staying on the stage like you said, like past five years, 10 years. Like they're just there all the time and they're having fun announcements, exciting news and they're just staying in the news and it's allowing to me that like this team is they're still swinging above their weight class which I like a lot.

[Andy Cortez]

They're in that category that when I first started it kind of funny they are in that sort of Ubisoft area where Ubisoft was cons very consistent with their output and quality and that's where Capcom is for me right now, where you're going to get a couple titles a year and they are going to be very highly regarded and very well thought of.

[Tim Geddes]

So then jumping from the positive Capcom to a bit more negative here. Devin saying probably a lukewarm take at best. But oh dear Lord, what on earth was all that build up for a mid Mega man reveal? Dre says that was way too little for Mega Man. It almost had the opposite effect on me as it deflated my expectations of Mega man going back to being a flagship franchise for Capcom. The need to either reinvent the series or take another shot at Legends to have any impact. Zondo says Hot take. It's stupid to be begging for a new Mega man game and then be disappointed. It's a new Mega man game in the style we all love. But also why is just the same ass. Why is it just the same ass? Mega man game Resident Evil has had like 19 different gameplay styles. But robot that transforms to use powers of defeated robots can only be a side scroller. Lot to talk about there. Andy, start us off.

[Andy Cortez]

I mean I feel all of that. I. I think that it's. It's something about the art style that just looks like this game could have come out eight years ago and been a game that we all sort of brush off. The return of Mega man should be a lot more exciting for me and it's just. It just wasn't last night because of the way the gameplay looked. Because of it being again I mentioned last time. I'd be way more stoked if this were the pixel art style of cosmic invasion or all of the dot emu sort of style of games. I. I just didn't really vibe with the art style. And like again Pie in the sky wish and I've been saying this for multiple different IP but Mega man in particular of like I want a returnal like game that could be that's Mega man where it is Roguelite it is running around and third person shooter bullet hell. Awesome boss fights, getting the pieces of whatever boss he just beat and transforming your suit into it. And you know my number one wish was to be we're zooming in on that 2D sort of image and then the Camera turns and it's suddenly a third and you're like, whoa, holy shit. This is what a big, brand new way to, you know, to bring back Mega man in a big, massive way. And it was just pretty disappointing, unfortunately.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, I'm right there with you. I mean, that. That build up, that's what dreams are made of for me, right? Is like Jeff using the stage to like, go all out to build the hype up for. Holy crap. It's a return. It's a big deal. There unique music being played for this. What is it? It's Mega Man. Oh, my God. And then you see the game and you're like, oh, damn. Damn. Like, I think this might have been the most deflating announcement in game awards history, personally, to me. And the thing is, I think the game's probably gonna be great. Like, I think that it's probably going to be an 8 out of 10. And that's awesome. But I just think with the expectations that I have, the, the hopes that I would have, and to Zondo's point of just like, it's stupid to beg for a new thing and be disappointed when it's in the style we all love. It's like, I don't love this style. No, that's the thing is, like, this look to me just feels like the easiest answer to just put out a new Mega man game. And again, I still expect that it's going to be good. I don't think that this is a cash grab, but I just don't think that this is exciting. This is another game coming.

[Brian]

You know when you talk about spinning the camera back and it's behind the back, Mega man people down in the chat over here were talking about they need the Metroid Prime Mega Man. Like, all that gets me, a non Mega man fan, excited to play it. Whereas to look at this and go, man, this looks, in my opinion, worse than Mega Man 11 in Mega Man 10, which I also didn't.

[Tim Geddes]

Let me stop. Let me stop.

[Andy Cortez]

Version of Mighty Number Nine.

[Brian]

It looks so much like Mighty Number

[Tim Geddes]

Nine every time David says, I don't know, Tim, it looks a lot like 11. So. So just for. For you, Greg, 9 and 10 were the ones that look like.

[Brian]

My apologies.

[Tim Geddes]

11 looked like this. And that's. That's what I'm saying is like, yes, I understand. Gameplay wise, this is going to deliver. This is a 2D Mega man game. I'm saying the look of it and the style of it, it makes it feel cheaper than the games that have that pixel art. Love and care. And I'm not saying we have to go back to nes. I think Andy's idea is actually great. Like a modern pixel. Pixel style, something different. This just has that mighty number nine polygonal look.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

Dude, if.

[Andy Cortez]

If fucking if. If Game Kitchen, the devs of Blasphemous and Ninja Gaiden Ragebound, if they were to be able to like, get in the fucking kitchen and cook with art direction and make it this, like, oh my God, I would lose my shit for that. But there's just something about this. This 3D style that just isn't. It hasn't really worked for me. Even going back to like fucking Mega Man Maverick or Maverick Hunter or whatever, you know, it just doesn't really vibe with me. I don't know.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah. And I also think that, like, a lot of the disappointment that I have is if this was just a trailer that just dropped. It says Capcom Presents and it's Mega man. And be like, oh, shit it, Mega Man's back. That's great. And we wouldn't be having this conversation, but it's the freaking epic build up. Like, this was the second coming of Jesus.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, sensual thing says do an HD2D like Octopath. I would lose my man. I would be so much more into that than this. This just feels like when. When 2D games were first kind of experimenting with what will our game look like in 3D? And that was a very novel and exciting thing 15 to 20 years ago. And it's just like. It just didn't work for me, unfortunately.

[Tim Geddes]

Bless, this one's for you. Happy to be here. Says not entirely about the game awards, but considering it was the last place they could show off this year. Are we concerned about the state of Marvel Token Fighting Souls? No new characters since announcement. Skipping Comic Con twice, and now game awards. Concerning, in my opinion.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

Ooh, and correct me if I'm wrong. People in chat.

[Andy Cortez]

Right.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

Evo announced their upcoming lineup for their 2026 tournament. And I don't think Marvel Token Fighting Souls is on the list there. And so like, concerning. No, it just makes me think that that game is going to be second half of next year. You know, I was really hoping that we'd see it in the first six months, but now I don't think that's the case. I think maybe that's either a fall game could even see it being delayed to 2027, depending on what's going on with it. But yeah, like I. Right now, if you were to ask me where I expect to see more of that game, I'll just say at a state of play. I think maybe that's the place where they're keeping it since that is a PlayStation exclusive game that is also like, you know, evo has those PlayStation ties as well. I think PlayStation might be wanting to try and handle this the best they can personally, but I think this stage would have been great for Marvel to a con something that is that IP something that is that exciting for fans. So it not appearing here I think is a bit of a missed opportunity.

[Tim Geddes]

Final fantv says I feel like it was a misstep not announcing Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3 at the game awards to let the entire gaming world know there's never been a better time to begin your Final Fantasy 7 journey than right now with the Switch 2 and Xbox Re releases. And then the final part imminent. If not now, then when? Early next year? Summer Game Fest 26 yeah, obviously I very very much agree with you, but I do think that maybe this, maybe I'm off about how far along I think this game is. But. But I'm only saying that based on what the director's been saying to everybody. So I definitely my biggest surprise of last night besides Star Wars Racer was the lack of Final Fantasy 7 Remake. I thought that that was a guarantee thing.

[Andy Cortez]

Did they show it at all in that Nintendo sizzle reel?

[Tim Geddes]

No. Commercial? Yes, in the commercial they did that was like, yeah, Switch to third party. Like that was the focus of it. Right.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay.

[Tim Geddes]

And yeah. Where will we see it at this point? I don't know. But that's a game that's so big it can do whatever it wants, essentially. Like whether it's it's a square presents thing or state of play or wherever. Before we continue on with way more of your game awards hot takes, I want you to hear a word from our sponsors.

[Brian]

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[Tim Geddes]

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[Andy Cortez]

This is a great point, right?

[Tim Geddes]

It's a thing where it's like I understand the game awards are kind of trying to represent all the video games are and can be and I think that for the most part they do a good job with that and being able to show look, it's esports, but it's also this. And it's also this. There's value there. But I, I am, I understand this. Especially when I feel like there there's room for improvement here and there. And we do have esports award shows that I think are up to par enough and that those people are more tuned into. Am I right, Mike and Andy on that?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, the esports award show is a big deal each and every year. It is the place that I would go to for my esports centric awards. I however, I'm on the opposite side. I do like the awards being here. I think the game Awards encompasses all things video games. It is a Very small, brief moment sponsored by gain. So you know he's getting that money, right? And like I like these moments for me and I know that esports is a global market. It is probably tough to get these kids from around the globe to come in for a one day expedition in LA and be a part of this. But I, I do like it. Shining a light on esports, making sure that the mainstream still thinks about that. Especially when we talk about the esports bubble, about the pop and is it still worth it to be putting on these big productions and all these teams coming from around the globe to compete? I, I like it though. I'm in it.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, I totally see the point of the message though. I. It like feels like I can make the comparison to having smaller genre awards for like best cozy game or whatever. Like best esports athlete to me is kind of on that same level where I totally see everybody going, we don't know what this is. And I don't think they care about this much either. Yeah, I. If they did decide to exit, I don't really think that a whole lot would go missed because the esports awards are for that. Like Michael's just mentioning.

[Brian]

I feel like, yeah, it's just Jeff trying to represent the industry but also kind of future proofing too. In the same way you do VR, right? Hoping that VR grows and gets bigger and then you can get eyes on that and make a bigger deal out of it. I would imagine esports, same way that if we hit that mainstream crossover point where suddenly it is a bigger thing, well, we already have this established wars and then yes, we can get those athletes to come here and get those people rewarded.

[Tim Geddes]

Papa Toss says great show all the way around. However, some games were not meant for me and that's okay. But here's my hot take. I'm glad Expedition 33 won Game of the Year. However, going forward, I'd like to see a limit on how many awards a game can be nominated for. Druson says the winner of Game of the Year should not be allowed to win best independent game. Whatever got second place in best Indie should be pushed up to win it. The ability for one game to win both makes the latter irrelevant. Best independent game should be in the main show on stage, not the pre show. It's the second most important award. It deserves a big presentation. You can't pretend you care about indie games on stage while also pushing them to the side. Otherwise, Good show. Congrats Expedition 33 and its fans. Zack Ruger says this was such a Huge year for indie, the indie scene and debut game studios. And it feels cheap to only award expedition 33. Each game nominated was a very, very type of game and set out to deliver in different areas. There needs to be room to celebrate the new games and developers who gave us some of the best experiences. Jeremy Saunders says, I was in disbelief when the award for best independent game was given out during the pre show. Easily the strongest category this year needed to be part of the main show. Kelsey Lynn says awards shouldn't be given during the pre show and speedrunning multiple awards categories in between trailers is awful at an award show. Gary says people complaining about Expedition 33 winning Best Indie are babies and do not understand what the definition of indie game is. This isn't Dave the diver, y'. All. One more here Bullet Farm says Clare obscure. Expedition 33 deserved all the awards they received. This is an important moment for the industry. An independent studio with a DEB game making the game they wanted to make not only needs to be celebrated but encouraged. This should be the future of the industry. There's a lot there, but there's a lot of different takes about similar things. Bless.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

Yes, I disagree strongly with the first one as far as like limiting the people who can win a certain amount of awards. I think that's against the spirit of hey, like we have the best soundtrack or we have the best, like, you know, I think we can debate these things, right? Like obviously even when I look at the picks for best art director or best soundtrack, there are other picks out in there that I'll make maybe besides clear obscure exhibition 33. But if everybody uniformly agrees that expedition 33 has the best art style, then it should win best art style. If you agree with independent, it should win independent, right? Like I think that's just the nature of competition and how these things go and I think that leads to moments where we can go, wow, this game was the highest award winning game at the game awards. I think that's a special milestone. I think that's something that's really cool and should be a thing that's attainable. And so I strongly disagree with that first point. I do think like, and this is just a personal opinion, right? Like, and I'm sure people feel this way in varying degrees. I don't really love a lot of the categories that we have for game awards and I think it comes down to the variety that we have within video games and how much video games have changed over the last decade and a half, genre wise, scope wise, all these things. And Like, I know it's a. It's a big ship to pilot. And so you can't just go in there and gut things because guess what? Video games are always changing and you need to maintain a level of prestige in these categories. And so when you're constantly changing things up, at a certain point the awards stop to stop mattering. So I don't have a good solution to it. But there are things like best action game, best action adventure game, best rpg, best game direction, best game of the year. Where things start to get into this place where they feel like we're just talking about the same type of game and where genres are becoming a lot more different and more niche genres starting to rise up as more popular. I wish we could branch out and start to acknowledge things. Right. Start to talk about, you know, best. We still don't have a great word for friend slot, but like best survival. Best survival game, Right? Like best. I don't know if Extraction game is popular enough yet, but.

[Brian]

But you get the vibe, get the new genres in there. Trying to be like, is this action or action adventure? How are we shoehorning it into one of these categories?

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

Exactly. Like, I'm even of the mind of like. Even for best rpg, I've seen a lot of conversation about Kingdom Come Deliverance versus Clear Obscure and how Kingdom Come Deliverance is a better rpg. And this comes back to a conversation of like, well, they're both RPGs. Like Clear Obscure and Kingdom Deliverance are both RPGs. They're different types of RPG. Is that a thing worth breaking out? Should we have it be best turn based, best action rpg? I think there's a lot of things you can do there, but I don't think there's a perfect solution as far as fixing it all.

[Brian]

As always, when we start diving into this, how quickly do we make a show that's no longer the game awards? That's the biggest problem. Right? At what point are we designing the kind of funny awards or moving towards the baftas or whatever? Right. I vehemently disagree with it. If you win this, you can't win that. That's just. No, that's nonsense. There was a chat that I think is an interesting one that goes back to a conversation we were having yesterday about all these awards where I think it was Gore Dragon, maybe had said something effective. But only, you know, small groups of judges vote on these categories, right? No. Right. There's 130some game awards, judging outlets, slash, influencer, slash, whatever it is. But 130 votes get cast representing either a company like kind of funny or one person, if that exists. And they're voting on everything from all over the world. And I feel like that could be. When you were talking about the baftas the other day of like, oh no. Well they're, you know, you, you break into smaller groups and that. That panel is deciding it. That could be. Again, we're no longer making the game boards anymore. But I would find that to be a way around this if Jeff cared. And I'm not saying he should, but if this was something he's like, well, how could we shake it up to have it be that. I brought together these five outlets slash things and they've said that we are RPG outlets and people put them together and have them deliberate and have that be kind of like the, the giant bomb ones. I don't want to say the old ones, but the, you know, the, the giant bomb ones where they just argue at a table forever and that'd be interesting content. Now again, discord around the world languages. There's so many reasons this wouldn't work for the game awards but would be an interesting way of hope, maybe shaking it up where it is. Somebody vehemently arguing at the table. Listen, I hear you, Claire. Obscure is amazing and it is my game of the year. But if we're talking about RPG come Deliverance, you are role playing an XY

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

like, like right now there's no space for me to go in and be like guys, we got to talk about Death Straining 2's art direction. Because I think it is better than Clear Obscure. Right. If you have a group of 10 people that are on a call or that are in a room deliberating, you can make that argument and at least make people go oh, I'm not thought about it in that direction that in that way. Right. Right now it is a popularity contest. Most people have played Clear Obscure and hark and put it up there as like, oh, this is a game of the year. And so yeah, any category for the most part that Clear Obscure is in, it's gonna win. And that's always how the game awards is going to be. Unless they do the deliberation thing.

[Brian]

Yeah, yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

But see with that though, I, I don't agree with that because the deliber within the companies that are then voting, right. It's like that goes back to doing the due diligence as a team and then we decide we're voting for this. And that's kind of funny as vote. Right. So it's not a popularity Contest of just popularity it's popularity of people that

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

are doing this professionally I agree and disagree I think the part where I disagree is that when you make that 130 outlets that are then doing that same thing I think we end up in the same place where it then becomes a popularity contest because not every I, I I think when you have 130 people deliberating and then giving their vote that just ends up just correct

[Brian]

me if I'm wrong maybe I, I don't want to misconstrued your point but I think when you talk about a popularity contest you're not talking about this game's the most I guess you are but they stick with me as I fumble around to get to where I'm going It's not the most popular game because it's pop it's the most pop I'm not saying sales Everybody's played it here and loves that game it's like you haven't seen everything it's the way that you just fucking discovered Aaron Roger But I was like talking about it earlier right But I could never get anyone to vote for that and octopath traveler 7 hours so I can't get any of you to do that in December to worry about Game of the it's like just the shakeup of how it is I think because of the

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

Clear Obscure How Clear Obscure is hit critically right. You go to any outlet and ask do a poll of people of like what's your pick for game of the year? I think Clear Obscures is going to win. Yeah and so I think when you drill that down into categories you look at any of these categories and go well I like Claire Obscure the most so we're going to vote for it for best Independent or best Art or best music or whatever because most people just have a passion for it. I think that just ends up as

[Brian]

a popular I think it's a usual thing when we go through and we do the nominee or we predict who's going to win occasionally you go up and you read the category right like the description of it and I'm not saying people don't do that but I don't think necessarily they vote with that in mind sometimes where it is I've come to this and I remember this song well okay that song was great but what about the entire thing and what about this moment and that moment if you're not in a room at a table to scream at each other like we see at Ignition do for IGN gaming that you're not IGN Game Awards.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

Like right now, if we were to deliberate Best RPG right now, right. I think most of us would probably say clear obscure. Greg would probably say Octopath. I think Mike would say Kingdom Deliverance too. I think if we're deliberating, Mike could probably make a compelling argument for Kingdom Come. Deliverance two. That makes us go, you know what, you make a valid point. Let's consider that strong more in a stronger way. And that's my whole point.

[Brian]

I agree with that. 100. Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

I also do think that you. If, if Expedition 33 looked generic then it wouldn't win Best Art Direction or it wouldn't even be nominated. But like it did really, really excel in those spots and it still was my. Like it's what I voted for and what I thought. Like I, I think it's not just. That's the game that I love the most. I'm gonna vote for that. I think people are still able to look at exhibition 33 and go, well it really excels at a lot of stuff art direction wise. So I'm gonna vote for it for best Art Direction. I, I really disagree with that. The one point or no, I, I totally agree with the fact that Independent Game should be a more prestigious let's announce this game at the on stage with the winner or whatever. I don't love that. That is just a pre show kind of get through it quickly.

[Tim Geddes]

But how much of that was produced ahead of time known by Jeff and the team that pacing wise expedition is going to win all this stuff. So let's put it here. Hollow Knight, Silksong Devs weren't there. They knew that like we're not going to, you know, do the award on stage when there's no on stage moment to have. Right. Like, right. I. There has to be some level of like understanding of the production of it all. Like that. The question is, do they know ahead of time who wins? The answer is yes. Doug Bowser was standing next to Sidney Goodman the moment that that Donkey Kong was announced. Right. So it's like we know that. So it's like, like clearly I don't think Best Independent Game is in the pre show next year. I mean there's a lot of factors.

[Andy Cortez]

You think it's a case by case basis.

[Tim Geddes]

It's case by case. Yeah. Yeah.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

I.

[Andy Cortez]

There was another thing I wanted to say.

[Tim Geddes]

It's about.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

I do want to say you love

[Brian]

DICE because all the DICE awards are

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

on stage to the clear Ups guard art direction thing. Right. Like I do think that that one of the things that especially lends itself to Clear Obscure this year is that for all the things that it's nominated in, for the most part, it is a contender. Like 100 direction. For sure. Clear Obscure is a contender. Music for sure. Clear Obscure is. Is a contender. And I think the fact that it does all these specific things so well. Like, again, I would argue for some other games, but again, I'm. I can't be. I can't be mad that Clear Obscure won any of these because, yeah, like, like, you know, you move a pebble left, you know, 2 inches and I'm picking Claire's gear, right. I wake up on a Tuesday instead of a Wednesday, I'm picking Claire's gear for art direction or whatever

[Tim Geddes]

Ghost Hounding says TJ just showed last night. It's a popularity contest. You may as well just let fans run the thing and choose all the winners. Expedition 33 should not have swept. And the point there is one over Expedition 33 and Hollow Knight, Silk Song and Kingdom Come delivery. It's like, no, that's not how that works.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Brian]

Clarifskar is an amazing game. Like, how could. I don't understand. Oh, it's a popularity. What are you talking about?

[Andy Cortez]

We talking about it's popular because it deserves it.

[Brian]

Yeah, it's because it's great.

[Andy Cortez]

Because it is a phenomenal experience.

[Tim Geddes]

And yeah, just a couple people in the chat too were bringing up the, like, who knows what it's like? We. We have enough information on this table big because we're part of the voting process and we can only talk certain amounts about that whatever, just because of how that works. But what I can say is Greg Miller won a game award. Greg Miller did not know he was going on stage. Right. Yo.

[Brian]

I mean, I'm a special case and it was a different thing, but, like, at what point did I not.

[Tim Geddes]

Are you asked when you went to the game boards, you didn't know you won?

[Brian]

We knew we were leading, though. Remember, this is a fan voted one and they used to show you the percentages.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

So.

[Brian]

And remember that that day of is. I remember Jeff did a live stream while I was getting ready and my Twitter blew up of people like, Jeff says you're still in the lead. So I was pretty sure.

[Tim Geddes]

Okay. Okay. But they didn't tell you, though?

[Brian]

No.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah. No, no, no.

[Brian]

And they took that when I wasn't at my seat.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, exactly. Because someone was talking about Hideo Kojima like. Like, he clearly didn't know. They didn't tell him. It's like, yeah, they don't tell.

[Brian]

Oh, yeah. No, no, no, no. They don't know that. What do we.

[Andy Cortez]

What did we feel about Jeff Keighley saying, see, you guys won something to Silksong when they won? What was that?

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

I didn't like it.

[Brian]

Oh, you didn't like it?

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

No, because I think that was. There was an article that went up the other day that, yeah, we're not

[Brian]

gonna go because we're not gonna win. Players gonna win.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

So I, I don't know. I felt like it was a little bit of a jab.

[Brian]

But see, I think that's just.

[Tim Geddes]

Isn't a jab saying you're not gonna go because you're not gonna win.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

Oh, well, I don't have to go

[Brian]

to anything the way Jeff ad libs on stage and delivers jokes in person as somebody who talks him at events. And that's just how he jokes. And I thought he said it with enough of a smile that it wasn't a you, you idiots. It was just like, come on, you could have been, you know, you wouldn't want.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

You could have been here, you could have came.

[Andy Cortez]

But they're also.

[Brian]

But he's also addressing the fact that he knows Australia.

[Andy Cortez]

That's like, I totally get it.

[Brian]

Laser beam came to Fortnite for.

[Andy Cortez]

Didn't even get to play it 18 hours.

[Brian]

Oh, man, that's amazing.

[Tim Geddes]

Lannan Lilwith says the the Game of the Year medley has been lackluster for a while now. And it's because of the musical arrangement. It's always the same drums in each part. The music's. All the music in the Games is always super different and the Medley homogenizes them into an okay montage that doesn't capture the real unique sound of each of the games. Dean Morrison says the Game Awards Orchestra must stop playing the same exact song with the same beat every single year. Most of the times the Game featured don't match the energy of the song. And some variety would be really nice. If you're gonna do a medley, make it match the vibe. Brandon Gahn says, while I have criticisms of this specific show, Miss Piggy and the Miss of the One More Thing, the lasting criticism I've had since 2020 is the implementation of high tempo percussion for the Game of the Year medley. It's very distracting, takes away from every Game featured and ultimately ruins the segment. Michael writes in saying, the Game the Year medley did not live up to my expectations and was the first time I was underwhelmed by it. The choice of Lumiere over alicia for the Expedition 33 theme felt odd in context. And Lace instead of Enter Pharloom or Last. I was very surprising. I just love how into stuff he got with that one. I appreciate that a lot. Mike says my Hot Takes. Donkey Kong had the best song in Orcas in the orchestra medley.

[Andy Cortez]

I totally, I totally see the point of the homogenization of it, but I still love that it's a creative thing for this orchestra and for these conductors to go. We got to kind of keep a similar tempo. Now, granted, the tempo has always been very similar, and I don't love that. I wish that, like, maybe they slow it down, but it's always a, it's always a driving sort of beat, and then everything matches there. And because of that, because you don't want to have things sounding too differently, you have to key change some songs to. So it isn't like suddenly it completely. It just sounds like you're just hitting forward on Your, on your MP3 player or whatever. Like, I, I love that the medley. It's a medley because it's trying to meld all of these things together. I do think it could change up what the tempo is because the. It has sounded the same the past couple of years.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

I do think that made the Claire obscure moment, though, hit.

[Brian]

It did.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

When they got.

[Andy Cortez]

Because it was so different.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

Yeah. They like, slowed down for a second. It's like, oh, this is fucking fire.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah. I'm firmly on that side because, like, it's, there's the, the Game of the Year song. Like the theme song that they all start and end with, and then they match everything to that, and I'm like, that's cool. It's like if I wanted to hear the songs normal versions without that style of percussion, it's like I would listen to the soundtracks. Like, I, I, I like that there is an artistry to composing this specific thing to match the Game Awards theme song. Like, I think that's super cool, but

[Andy Cortez]

I think you could speed up the game Award song a little bit or slow it down.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

Yes.

[Andy Cortez]

Because it has always, like, kind of felt the same.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

I wonder if that's like a time thing, though. Like, how, how far before do they know the nominees for Game of the Year and how much is it? Like, all right, we have an established base now. We got to fit everything into this.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. In only three weeks we have our template and yeah. Yeah. On whatever program we're using.

[Tim Geddes]

I do love that they will go bit extra sometimes specifically with the Mario vocal themes. Like this one, I loved having the, the actress from Rosalina in Donkey Ha Bonanza. That was awesome. I love that they chose that song. But like, I don't know if y' all remember Paul. Yeah, sorry. What? I say what? My bad, my bad. But I love if. I don't know if you guys remember. But back when Mario Odyssey. So I guess 2017 when they did it like they just did like the whole. They ended with like the whole song which was a lot.

[Brian]

One from the chat they were going back and forth about awards and Sage said, I think you have to pay for the award if you want it. No, they everybody if you win an award and something's drastically changed, you get the award. Well, you get one award. If your studio wants multiple for multiple people, you'd have to pay for the multiple awards.

[Tim Geddes]

Lucid Dream says Phantom Blade zero will not hit the September dates. S game box themselves in by promising a release date. They could have waited and announced the date at sgf.

[Andy Cortez]

Andy I. I could totally see them not hitting the date just because I as I mentioned yesterday, anything that they had told me felt like this game was still years away. Like minimum two now you're in that weird spot with just like, well, either you release in September or you delay it maybe a month to October, but you cannot go into November. So then at that point are you delaying until 2027? Like that's where it kind of becomes a really messy situation.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah. Max Lem says, personally I like when games that are more than one year away are teased. It gets me excited for the next generation. Also, Bradley the Badger was the most interesting looking game at the TGAs. Can't believe Jeff porked the pig. Yeah, dude. Shout out to Bradley the Badger. Something that we didn't get to talk about but I was so excited about Grant Kirk Hope doing the soundtrack for. Oh yeah. So there's a lot for that game. It's like things are looking really, really good. So keep your eyes on it for sure. These next couple ones I really want to talk about too. Matt Mania saying Remedy are the best and most interesting developer out there. Tristan says Control Resonate is my most anticipated game of 2026. Controls one of my top favorite games of all time. Remedy or Goated. Also hyped for Divinity from the best RPG studio Soros, Woo Ra and Star Wars. Fates of the Old Republic. Shout out Casey Hudson.

[Andy Cortez]

What a banger of a show. It was like God damn dude. Now I'm really stoked to like I would not have really been that excited about Divinity had it not been for Baldur's Gate 3. And now I'm like, oh, now I need to know about this Divinity game. And I'm very much looking forward to it now.

[Tim Geddes]

Night Fox says one we don't put enough respect on Control to Control Resident will win best game direction at next year's Game Awards. So yeah, just kind of talking about Control and Remedy as a whole. And I want to talk about them in the framework of the Game Awards. Like, I love that the Game Awards is go goes all out with production, but I think this year was their best attempt at that. Whether it's the live performances musically, but also having the people like from the

[Greg Miller]

Larian with Divinity had live actors out there. That was crazy. And Control, it's so cool. Very cool.

[Tim Geddes]

And that comes from the studios they like Jeff was talking about today that like they pitch those ideas, they work on it together and it's like, that's super, super awesome.

[Brian]

And we didn't get to see it on the thing. But I heard in the live audience that after Doug Bowser won, they yanked him up too.

[Tim Geddes]

But I thought that stuff was. Was rad. But who wants to jump off about Control and Remedy?

[Brian]

Let's go, dude.

[Tim Geddes]

It.

[Andy Cortez]

That's still my. That's my game of the show. I wow it. They always deliver when it comes to art direction. They are the every frame of pain painting type of studio. And for them to say, let's dive deeper into an action adventure type of video game, let's use what made Control so much fun. Again, it's a. It's a high that I've been chasing since 2019. I want that feeling again of like flying around and just doing awesome with superpowers. And yeah, I think that they. That's like as pitch perfect of a reveal as you can have at the Game Awards. I thought they nailed it.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

I think most interesting developer I. I agree with from at Mania. Right. Like I'm Control was one that hit way more for me than Alan Wake. But Even Alan Wake 2 was such a cool one. Seeing how they're trying to expand out the Remedy verse, seeing the weird shit that they're doing there. But I think game design wise, Control was the one that like, oh shit, these guys are making an action game that also is fucking weird. And I'm exploring and it's doing all these things and the oldest house is such an interesting location. I think what they do with that stuff and the fact that they're trying to create a connective universe with it is really cool. I'm excited for Max Payne 1 and 2. Not just because those are remakes but because I'm so fascinated to see are they gonna loop that in with everything else they're doing.

[Andy Cortez]

I was very sort of kind of surprised by Sam Lake's tweet saying huge congrats on the announcement of Control resident at the Game Awards to the visionary creative director Mikhail Kassarinen and executive producer. Let me get their actual name, not their Twitter name. Juha Viennio. And they're super talented team at Remedy Games with the support of Annapurna. It's going to get weirder. So I just. I assume this would be a Sam Lake like bled project but again, they

[Brian]

do have so many projects now, man. So many projects now.

[Andy Cortez]

But yeah, still super, super pumped about it.

[Tim Geddes]

Jerrica says Orbitals was one of the coolest games shown.

[Brian]

Yes, it was.

[Tim Geddes]

But Bob says Orbitals was easily my game of the show. Its sense of style and execution of it 80s anime emphasizing the Japanese VO made it strum my heart more than anything else. There photo was a hyper reveal but it should have closed the show. Agree about all of that. Orbitals looks awesome.

[Brian]

You gotta run it back with me. Do our downplay the entire thing recorded.

[Tim Geddes]

I'll put it up then. Let's see.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

Those are hot takes, by the way.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, yeah, those are just takes.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

Those are regular takes.

[Greg Miller]

Our first time.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

I agree with those.

[Greg Miller]

I agree with. All better. We're getting better.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

Give me something that makes me want to fight.

[Brian]

What about makes you want to fight other people? I think we didn't talk about it that much. It happened so fast and then moved on. But I don't think enough people are talking about and giving Jeff credit for honoring his father at the beginning of it. It like I think, you know, we talk so much about the game. Wards are the keys. But it's all, you know, the thing is, oh, it's so corporate, it's so bland. It's a popularity contest.

[Tim Geddes]

Blah, blah, blah.

[Brian]

And like we're always like, well, no, Jeff is that guy. He pours his heart and soul into this. He cares so much. He edits the trailer on himself. Blah, blah, blah. The strength. And then for Jeff Keighley not being the most beloved person in games, right. He's a polarizing personality. To put yourself out there like that, to talk about that. I only saw in our live chat, which obviously is always very positive. Like two people who were wanted to be negative about it and called it. I think one person might have called it like, you know, ugh, tugging your heartstrings on. And it's like the fact that when he said, my mom's here tonight with an empty chair next to her and they didn't cut to it, that tells you that, like, that's he's fucking being a person right there, right? He's being a kid who just lost his fucking dad. You know what I mean? Like, I thought that was really powerful and cool of him to do because Jeff does not open up like that, that on stage or when you talk to Jeff. Jeff is such a closed book. You never know what the going on in there.

[Andy Cortez]

Mike's gonna get an open up too.

[Greg Miller]

Lost his home in the LA wildfire. Like, man, I just wanted to give the dude a big hug, man. I didn't know he was going through that because, yeah, when we see him, he is very positive. He keeps it very professional, polite. He's on by the book. Like, there's never moments where like, oh, man, Jeff, I didn't know you were going through so much.

[Andy Cortez]

I, I, we, we also called it out last night and Blessing was the one who mentioned how much he loved the the Girls Make Games sort of segment. And we all loved it. It was beautiful. But I don't, I also wanted to shout out Felicia Day for running that segment.

[Brian]

Yeah, she did a great job.

[Andy Cortez]

I thought she did an awesome job being this affable, likable personality and kind of getting through these little interviews. Like, she was hilarious and awesome. And that segment, like, really, really got me emotional. That was real good.

[Greg Miller]

I think they've done that two years in a row. They've done a really good job with that. Because Blessing, you brought up the last year one. I thought last year we all highlighted that as well. Like, oh, this was really, really well done.

[Tim Geddes]

Just trying to like, condense a bunch of them into kind of just general, like conversation points. I think one, one big thing is variations on Expedition 1 too much. Which meant that a lot of games that deserve love didn't get love. I really would challenge you to look at it from a different perspective of how many times Jeff on stage was like shouting out how many indie games were being nominated for different things and like showing love to the games and, and a nomination at the Game Awards is putting a light on it. Winning is not the end all be all. Like, I really, I really don't understand the idea that, like, oh, they're not getting enough love. It's like, that's on you. Then, like, you need to look at the nominations and if you're interested in these games, you're like, well, I know I like this game and don't like that game. Whatever. Like, look at the ones next to it and be like, what is Blueprints? I haven't heard of that. But if I like these other games, I should probably try that, right?

[Andy Cortez]

Like, yeah, it's such a weird thing to be mad at Expedition for winning so much because this never happens at the game Awards. Like, there's never a clear runaway sort of. It rarely happens. There's like a clear sweep. There's always like this, oh, is it going to be eldering? Is it going to be so and so or Zelda? Is it going to be. Yeah, like, I think obviously you're more angry at this because it just happened and. But like this rarely ever happens. And it's also kind of on. It's on Sandfall for just making such a banger game. Like, they hit on everything they needed to hit and they put out an amazing experience.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

It's a testament to like, even in previous years where it feels like there's a clear winner. Like when I think back to Elden Ring or when I think to the Legend of Zelda tears the Kingdom or I guess Baldur's Gate 3 might have been the same year. It was that same year. But like, even when there's a clear winner, I think you have certain categories where it's all right, Best performance. I'm not really going to give this to Legends, all the Tears of the Kingdom or like, you know, best whatever. Like, usually there's things where it's. Well, not every game can be all things. It's a testament to clear obscure Expedition 33, where the categories that are on paper are the places where that game happens to really hit hard.

[Tim Geddes]

And I think. I think it's in an even more unique position. And again, this is to their credit that it. They're never going to be able to do this again because their next game's not going to be able to get best debut.

[Brian]

All eyes will be on it too,

[Tim Geddes]

and all that too. But I'm even saying just literally by definition, it's like they're. They were primed and they showed up and they did it. And for a game that like, yes, like I. I'm glazing the game. You all know I love the game. Like it's my game of the year. Like, I'm not even trying to back off of that at all. Like that it is what it is. But I also can look at it and just Be like, yeah, it is a game to Blessing and Andy's points in different ways. It's like the narrative mattered to them and they delivered the art direction was different than things that we've ever seen and they delivered the gameplay and how much of a a RPG that is following in the footsteps of Final Fantasy to the point that in their Game of the Year speech they're shouting out the creator of Final Fantasy. It's like all of that stuff, the music, the like performance, all of that stuff they put the utmost.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

You can't look at any of those categories and be like, I doesn't deserve to be here. Like in any other year. It deserves to win those categories in this year. It obviously deserved to win those categories.

[Tim Geddes]

So. And then the final thing I want to oh, I got one.

[Greg Miller]

I know you got a lot. I got a hot take that resonated with me. Maybe in time Wrote in says hot take. I'm so tired of Military Sims winning audio design. Congrats. You recorded a bunch of guns being shot just like all the other games. Then blew out our eardrums with the same loud explosions we've heard for decades. Oh, what's that this time? The audio sounds different depending on where it's coming from.

[Andy Cortez]

Wow.

[Greg Miller]

That's never been done in games before. At least Arc Raiders is a shooter with recognizable sound rounds by now for different robots, extractions, etc. Battlefield and Call of Duty always gets nominated is insane to me and I like this hot take.

[Brian]

That's a good because it is a

[Greg Miller]

hot take and I wrote for Battlefield right. So I do a little research. Tim.

[Tim Geddes]

Oh, love back at me. Wrote notes.

[Greg Miller]

We might be mad that Battlefield 6 won this year. You might be mad. I am very happy with that. I think they did a fantastic job job with the audio design this year. Truly fit. The chaos of the game made my ears bleed. It was a perfect mix of all that. But I had to go back for you and I wanted to look at it because you said I'm tired of Military Sims winning audio design. Well, here's a quick rundown for you. In 2024 Hellblade 2 won best audio design. Only one military sim shooter was nominated that year. 2023 hi Fi Rush won best audio design. No shooters were nominated that year. 2022 God of War Ragnarok won with only one military shooter being Call of Duty. 2021 Forza Horizon 5 won Best Audio design with no shooters on the list. 2020 Last of Us Part 21 with only one shooter being Doom Eternal on the list. Which doesn't fit your criteria. All the way back to 2019. Call of Duty. Modern Warfare there won. So I would give you a big list of. Hey, there's a lot of audio design being highlighted and represented here that are not military sims. And most of the time, they ain't winning, Big dog.

[Brian]

In other words, eat.

[Greg Miller]

It's hot and I like it. Maybe in time. Great job. This year on your hot take, you

[Andy Cortez]

come for the king.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

That was not crazy sarcasm to end

[Greg Miller]

that one brings up, like, we want hot takes. When I watch Santi Zap, I like hot takes. I make you go, hold up.

[Tim Geddes]

Wait a minute.

[Greg Miller]

We got to discuss that. And that's what that is.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

That was toxic positivity on another level. Crazy.

[Andy Cortez]

I also want to just bring up going back to more of the Expedition 33 stuff. You could just look back to last year of like, Game of the Year was Astrobot. So was Game Direction. Astrobot. Narrative was Metaphori Fantasio.

[Brian]

Oh, yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Our direction was Metaphor Fantasia, which, like, should not have won. That was like. The game looks awful. Best score in music.

[Brian]

Final Fantasy Rebirth.

[Andy Cortez]

Like, everybody got love. It's just Expedition did all of it in every category. Fantastically.

[Blessing Adoh Jr.]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

God, metaphor is ugly. Holy. That's an ugly ass game. Ugly as as sin. Man, this looks like someone just cranked up contrast on the background. God damn, dude.

[Tim Geddes]

You know what?

[Brian]

In la, Bear just dropped to his knees.

[Tim Geddes]

Thank you so much for hanging out with us today with your hot takes for the Game Awards 2025. Nick and Greg are about to play Terminator 2D. No fate. I'm so excited about it. Until next time, though. Love you all. Goodbye.

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[Greg Miller]

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[Brian]

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