Game Awards and Announcements

<ramble mode engaged>

Apparently there was a big game awards show the other day. I guess
it's a big thing since that's it's actual name: "The Game Awards",
implying there are no others anymore. Not only have video game
publishers all consolidated into a tiny handful, now the same thing
happened with the awards shows? Which might actually be the case. I
remember there used to be a bunch of shows and awards given away at
the end of the year but in 2024? All I've heard about was that one
show.

Which might reflect that a lot of people -and not just myself- really
don't /care/ about these stupid things anymore. Or maybe it just is me
after all. I mean, I never was all that excited about these stupid
'best of year' awards anyway... but these days I find myself less and
less engaged. This new show just feels too glitzy, too polished... and
too distant from the actual games. It's marketing frenzy industry
back-patting, and not representative of what gamers really like.

Or so it seems to me.

So there were a bunch of announcements of "best mobile" or "best
strategy" or whatever, and I can't even be bothered to read the whole
list. In part, that may be because I don't really play NEW games
anymore. My library of unplayed games is large enough --and there are
enough games on sale or being given away for free-- that I can't be
bothered to rush out and get anything just because it's newly
released. Maybe I'll pick up some of those titles in a year or three
but right now? Nah.

So there's a lot of those games I just don't recognize at all. Did you
know there was another Batman: Arkham game (this one in VR) released?
Or that Ubisoft plopped out another Prince of Persia game? I didn't.
Apparently the second part of the Final Fantasy VII remake released;
I'd no idea. I knew the first part had come out but the second game?
Skipped right past me.

And the thing is, I don't think I'm _that) ignorant when it comes to
what's going on in the video-game world. I /do/ keep my ear to the
ground; I do try to notice new releases. Yet so much of what the
industry considers their 'best' works just didn't register.

Maybe its because the industry has fucked itself over by embracing the
whole "early access" thing that makes it really confusing when trying
to figure out if a game is released or not. There's a lot of hype when
it first drops on Steam, until all its early-access bugs and lack of
content drain that away. But when it's finally released 'for real',
I've lost a lot of the energy and expectation about the title. It's
old news.


The other half of these game awards ceremonies is the opportunity to
announce new games. Stuff like Witcher 4 and a co-op Elden Ring and a
bunch of others. My reaction is much the same as with the awards
themselves; a big yawn. I know that not only aren't these games going
to be released for probably a year, but I almost certainly won't be
PLAYING them for several years after that. Besides, far too many of
these games were -unsurprisingly- just sequels and remixes of existing
franchises. Oh good, more of the same. Wake me up in 2028 when there's
something new I might actually want to play.


Did you enjoy THE Awards Show? Did you even know it happened?


</ramble>