VGX (Spike TV's Video Game Awards 2013)

So yeah, Spike's VGAs got a swanky new rebranding.

I'm guessing that very few of you care about the actual awards, so just know that some new games and trailers will be shown off here (plus these past few years have had some pretty big reveals like The Last Of Us and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance)

The show starts December 7th 6 PM ET / 3 PM PT

edited 18th Nov '13 2:44:19 PM by dmysta3000

Jesus christ these are some of the worst nominees in years.

...I dunno, doesn't seem that bad to me, at least out of the stuff I've heard of. I don't know what they had in previous years though.

Wow, Troy Baker is nominated twice for Best Voice Actor (for The Last of Us and BioShock Infinite).

edited 18th Nov '13 2:59:50 PM by Alucard

It's just so...generic. There's nothing interesting here, nothing unique about these awards. The GOTY minimizes are Last Of Us, Bioshock, GTA V, and Mario 3D World. One of those games isn't even out? Everything on these lists are just pure award bait. Infinite was the mot prolific narrative based game, so despite it's gunplay being almost universally considered a detriment, it's going to win. There's no metal Gear Rising, No Wonderful 101, No beyond: Two Souls, no Fire Emblem, nothing unique.

God, VG As really are the Oscars of video games.

Um, you didn't look at the other categories, because those are on there......

Wonderful 101 is under best Nintendo game and Fire Emblem is under Best RPG.

Just saying.

edited 18th Nov '13 5:37:40 PM by Nap1100

I say we vote for the crappiest game in all the categories just to turn it hilarious.

Or we could vote for League of Draaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaven.

I am disappointed by the complete lack of MGR:R.

Implying MGSRR isn't a Visual Novel.

I've played visual novels. Some of my favorite games are visual novels, and MGR, sir, is no visual novel.

It's more along the lines of Kamiya's other games in terms of gameplay.

And yes, I do enjoy murdering sarcastic jokes with stone-headed literalism! And you can't stop me! BWAHAHAHAHA!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

• Arms giant bazooka that shoots "Jason!"s and "SHAWN!"s at 7 screams/second, and fires*

edited 18th Nov '13 6:37:14 PM by Trollblade69

Prefacing this note is that a lot of this is based off of sideline opinion for I only have a 3DS and a Vita to play games on. So grain of salt as I shout my opinions to the room.

Most Anticipated Game: THESE DON'T MATTER TO ME. -ahem- Nothing of much note has been annoucned for next year for the handhelds. 3DS has Bravely Default and Vita has some very Japanese things being brought over but so far, nothing much. That being said, Watch_Dogs out of pure interest.

Game of the Year: Well definitely not Super Mario 3D World or Tomb Raider. I think it's going to be a battle between Bioshock Infinite, Grand Theft Auto 5 and The Last of Us. Out of these, I kinda hope for Bioshock Infinite because I like my intracate crazy plots. Though I'd be col with Last of Us winning too.

Personal game of the Year is Fire Emblem: Awakening which single handily saved my 3DS from Persona Vita dominance.

Studio of the Year: So...Bioshock Infinite team, Last of Us team, GTA team and...who's Fullbright? -quick Google search- Ah. Gone Home team. No opinion here.

Best Shooter: Uhh...this really isn't my genre of choice...though as much as I like Bioshock Infinite, I do not love it for it's shooterness. Uhh...I hear that Battlefield 4 is quite good...

Best Action Adventure game: When I think of this genre, I think of Assassins Creed IV or Tomb Raider...but I would love to give The Last of Us more support. GTA might win though. We shall see.

Best Sports Game: -laughs maniacally- No opinions here.

Best Independent Game: Gone Home...meh. What's Kentucky Route Zero? -takes notes- Papers Please and Stanley Parable though. Ack. That's a battle I don't want to choose. Either could win and I'd be good.

Best RPG: I HAVE OPINIONS! Final Fantasy XIV from what I hear, is a VERY good reboot for the MMO fans. Ni no Kuni is a lovely and wonderful RPG filled with charm and joy, from what I've heard. But here are the two handhelds of which I have strong opinions on. Pokemon X/Y is a strong entry but it's Pokemon. Besides, the most of the game I spend is on post game but flying around with no IV training/breeding. Just random battles. And while I like the options for continuing leveling up, I do not like the actual battle facility that they have. Besides, the region is so...barren with things to do. Not good. The award for personal favorite goes to Fire Emblem Shipping Awakening for it's tactical gameplay and it's glorious support system. But if Final Fantasy XIV or Ni no Kuni win, no harm done. But Pokemon... them's fighting words.

Best Fighter: Like the shooter, it's not something I'm into. And I don't even know enough to give a "Go this game!" vote. So...yeah.

Best Driving: Where have all the kart games gone? Guess none were made this year. Which is the only sort of driving game I really keep up on so...yeah.

Best DLC: -spit take- This is a thing?! Uh...I have seen Knife of Dunwall so...let's go with it. Eheheheh.

Best Xbox: -dies of laughter- All of these games are on different consoles. Even Brothers. I'm going with Brothers, A Tale of Two Sons then.

Best Playstation: Some exclusives but I see you GTA topping both categories and you too Tomb Raider. Last of Us then, for TRUE exclusivity.

Best Nintendo: I see that Rayman Legends has also crossed the not exclusive line. But eh, it's supposed to be best for the Wii U. Any of these could win and I'd be good. (Why does this section remind me of the Best Animated Film category?)

Best PC: Battlefield's on other systems. Gone Home, meh. Papers Please and Stanley Parable though...once again. That fight. That glorious battle. Don't win Battlefield. Please don't win.

Best Handheld: -opinion bomb-

No Fire Emblem Awakening? Awwww.

I remember last year there was a kerfuffle because Vita was outpacing the 3DS in nominations. WELL WHO'S LAUGHING NOW EH? Not me. -hugs Vita close to my chest- I'm so sorry my dear. You are unloved by the many but I shall stand by you no matter what.

-ahem- Anyway, we got Animal Crossing which I didn't get in favor of Muramasa Rebirth, we have Pokemon, (No.) and we have two games that will be released this Thursday. Animal Crossing, I'd be okay with. Pokemon...ngggggh. I'd want to save on Legend of Zelda and Tearaway until the general public gets their ideas on them. -still roots for Tearaway-

Best Casual: Meh meh meeeeeeeeh. There is fun to be had here, it's just not my fun. And the only game I could get anyway is Animal Crossing. So bleeeeeh.

Best Voice Actor: Troy Baker as Joel, T- wait... -double checks- huh. Troy Baker as Booker De Witt, Steven Olegg as Trevor Phillips, and William Dafoe as William Dafoe Nathan Dawkins. My money and hope is on Baker. Which is easier as he's nominated twice! But he's a cool guy and it's nice he's getting to be a Nolan North style lead in gaming. 'sides, dat improv.

Best Voice Actress: Ashley Johnson as Ellie, Courtnee Draper as Elizabeth, Camilla Luddington as Lara Croft and Ellen Page as Ellen Page Jodie Holmes. All expect Ellen I'd be fine with...expect maybe not Ashley for fear of the Flame Wars that might happen because of Ellen Page's remarks towards The Last of Us. Still rooting for Infinite.

Best Soundtrack: ... I have only heard of Infinite's. I shall go and correct this ASAP. (I hope they do that thing they did last year again for this year)

Best Song in a Game: ["A.D.H.D" by Kendrick Lamar for GTA V, "Sleepwalking" by The Chain Gang of 1974 for GTA V, "Survival" by Eminem for Call of Duty Ghosts, and "Will the Circle be Unbroken" by Courtnee Draper (and Troy Baker on guitar) for Bioshock Infinite.

Alright. I judge this based on how the song serves it's game. Bonus points if it was talior made for it. "A.D.H.D" seems to just be a radio song from a popular singer for GTA V just judging by the quick glance at the info I got from it. So...meh. Sleepwalking though, along with being a radio song, is also used in a trailer and is an ending song for one of the multiple endings. There is effort there. And it's a good sounding song. While Eminem...just gave one of his songs off of his album and said "I DO THIS FOR CALL OF DUTY!" essentially. Bleh. But all are outclassed in my mind for "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" which has meaning within the story. Plus the voice actors worked on it! Bonus.

Not to mention, I love the choral version.

So yep. There's my 2 cents. Now to go and hear Phoenixor's complaints on no Metal Gear Rising: Revengence.

edited 18th Nov '13 9:47:02 PM by phoenixdaughterAM

I don't give two shits about the VGA - I don't consider them legitimate - but nitpicks about various comments:

"Will The Circle Be Unbroken" is an old hymn, not original to Bioshock (though it was well chosen and performed).

Ni No Kuni's soundtrack was composed by Joe Hisaishi. I feel pretty safe saying it's probably awesome without having heard any of it.

I'm a little surprised that they even have an indie category. Kentucky Route Zero is the least recent of the nominees but it was in the IGF this past year and I think it won the visual art prize. It's been on my "I should play this but I want to wait for the price to go down" radar for a while and best I can gather, it falls loosely into the adventure/narrative genre.

edited 18th Nov '13 10:03:35 PM by Elle

Indeed. Well chosen and performed and why I really hope it wins.

Oh god thanks for the reminder on who does Ni no Kuni soundtrack. MUST. LISTEN.

Don't know where to start on GTA V's soundtrack music. So much music. Overwhelming. Should check the Awesome Music page to start.

No MGR means this is completely shit.

Also, KI isn't even out yet, so it has no business being in this show. I know all the good fighters this year haven't been released stateside yet, but they could've used Darkstalkers Resurrection or something.

Gave up on the VG As a long time ago, because they only try to attract the dudebro crowd and focus on the big-name hits or companies who are willing to throw cash their way.

Then, the exclusive preview trailers they tend to get are usually VERY good, so...

The fact that MGR didn't get nominated for best OST automatically discredits these awards.

That, and the Spike VG As are almost always catered mainly towards the dudebro crowd.

Given the nature of Spike Tv, of course they're directed to the dudebro crowd.

Funny, I wonder if there'll be a big one like The Phantom Pain this year.

Guys, the only award decided by popular vote is Most Anticipated. All of the others are decided by "council" which is presumably made up of the people who have been playing these games already.

My predictions (not my personal picks)

• Most Anticipated — Titanfall
• Game of the Year — The Last of Us
• Studio of the Year — Naughty Dog
• Best Shooter — BioShock Infinite
• Best Action Adventure Game — The Last of Us
• Best Sports Game — NBA 2K14
• Best Independent Game — Gone Home
• Best RPG — Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
• Best Fighting Game — Injustice: Gods Among Us
• Best Driving Game — Forza Motorsport 5
• Best DLC — Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
• Best Xbox Game — Grand Theft Auto V
• Best Playstation Game — The Last of Us
• Best Nintendo Game — Super Mario 3D World
• Best PC Game — Battlefield 4
• Best Handheld Game — Pokemon X/Y
• Best Casual Game — Disney Infinity
• Best Voice Actor — Steven Ogg as Trevor Philips
• Best Voice Actress — Ellen Page as Jodie Holmes
• Best Soundtrack — I haven't heard any of them, so I have no idea; possibly Ni no Kuni
• Best Song in a Game — I haven't heard any of them, so again, no idea

Looks like we got at least one new announcement to look forwards too.

So what kind of antics do you all think Kojima will be up to this year?

Would singlehandedly justify watching this thing.

edited 19th Nov '13 6:20:52 PM by TheAirman

Revengence 2 reveal?

ZOE 3....

Never gonna happen.

A prequel that focuses on Solidus' time in Africa. And it's called The Phantom pain. or Revengeance 2 would be cool.

edited 19th Nov '13 6:43:26 PM by OdieFromTheOz