Topic: The Game Awards 2014 - MGO 3 Debuts! Zelda U footage! Mario Maker trailer!

I think the nominations are actually pretty fair and balanced. Everything is pretty equally represented, and pretty much everything that designed to be nominated, was.

If there was one thing I would nitpick, it would be lack of Japanese representation outside of Nintendo, but it's a Western award show so it makes sense. Nice to see Bravely Default get a couple of noms though, and I actually hope Persona 4 Arena takes the fighting award over Smash, because I have trouble considering P4A and Smash in the same genre, and P4A was the best traditional fighter of the year IMO.

Can someone explain to my why the highest metacritic rating of the year, Smash Bros Wii U, isn't a nomination for GOTY?

The entire category is crap.

You don't see the Oscars or Emmys awarding a "most anticipated movie" or "most anticipated show" do you?

Oh you know why... Nintendo can't have too much dominance.

Its another example of overhyping games. But still... Get Evolve outta there.

The Oscars and Emmy Awards also don't have a user voted section which that is apart of.

Not betting on it, but Nintendo this year totally deserves the best dev/publisher award. If not them, who else? Ubisoft should get the award for the "publisher with the most over-hyped and under-delivering games of the year".

Yeah you either disappointed people, made 1 game or were Nintendo.

tbh this award is kinda questionable for devs because how many developers, instead of publishers, actually make more than 1 game in a year? Probably not a ton...and it's probably ridiculously small if it's beyond 2. And I would give it to whoever combined both quality and quantity so yeah, Nintendo is literally the only answer. Especially since like...maybe half of major publishers actually released a lot of titles this year that anyone cares about.

Telltale is the only other one you could really argue for at all.

So can I still expect kind of interesting reveal trailers or is there no reason to watch this this year?

I doubt they would stop that, just because in the past that was the only reason anyone watched.

I gotta admit, this award show is showing actual promise. Let's just hope it doesn't just end up pi$$ing us all off like the VGAs...

Publisher of the Year would make much more sense, because really, Nintendo would be dev of the year all years except 2012.

Well Konami is letting Kojima work on that horror game.

So, I know it's on Dec. 5th, but what time does it start, and who'll be carrying it?

Here are my predictions.

Game of the year - Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (It's mainstream enough to please the mass market, and since it's not part of an annualized series, it'll also please the more core gamer crowd)

Developer of the Year* - *Nintendo (For their strong, consistent showing across the board)</strong>

Best Independent Game - [strong]Shovel Knight (I'm really guessing at this one. Just picked it because I hear a lot about it here at NL)

Best Handheld/Mobile Game - Hearthstone (It'd be inconsistent to have the GOTY candidate lose it's own category)

Best Narrative - The Wolf Among Us (Telltale's games seem to be the top dog when it comes to story in games these days, and I'm going with this as it's not a sequel)

Best Scores/Soundtrack - Child of Light (Just randomly guessing here. Guess they'll throw Ubisoft a bone)

Best Performance - Trey Parker, South Park: the Stick of Truth (The official voice actor putting as much care into this game, which itself is a loving homage to the source material, as he does the official show itself)

Games for Change* - <strong>The Last of Us: Left Behind (Again, guessing here. This is the bone they'll throw to Sony)</strong>

The Best Remaster - [strong]Halo: the Master Chief Collection (I don't know much about the series, but I find it hard to believe such a valuable collection, four games in one, would lose out)

Best Action Adventure - Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (If this does end up winning GOTY, it should also win it's "lesser" category)

Best Role Playing Game* - <strong>Dragon Age: Inquisition (Toss up between this & DSII, being the two GOTY candidates here. Chose this because it seems the bit more mainstream of the two)</strong>

Best Fighting Game - [strong]Super Smash Bros. Wii U (it's competition is an episodic game, a spin off of a niche series, a game many consider to be a "lesser" version of itself, and yet another update of an older release)

Best Family Game - Mario Kart 8 (Disney & Skylanders seem to be incremental upgrades over last year's installments, with the others not being big contenders, IMO)

Best Sports/Racing Game* - <strong>Forza Horizon 2 (Mario Kart 8 is probably the biggest competition, but I don't see it winning two categories)</strong>

Best Online Experience - [strong]Destiny (While it's had it's issues, it is a game completely played online, with a bigger scope than Titanfall)

Well now I have to watch.

It couldn't just be a Cranky Kong announcement to warrant a playlist by Nintendo is it? Maybe there won't be a December direct.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=945778

I hope they have a Ridley announcement...if it's not too big for the awards

Event timings and distribution details added.

You can watch it on your Wii Us!

Even though it starts at 2am my time, I'll stay up for at least some of it because Nintendo. I need my 2nd Mario Kart main (Bowser Jr.) in MK8 already!