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After days of nominating, voting and counting of results, the final verdicts have been reached in this year’s Negative Gamer Awards! We brought back some awards from last year and gained two new ones covering journalism and casual gaming.
The NGAs are both our annual look back on all the BS we’ve had to put up with this year, and a way for us to highlight those truly exceptional cases. Mediocrity begone as we highlight the failed terrible PR attempts, pocket gouging extras and … brown games.
All the results (if you don’t want to listen to the NGCast special) have been listed below for you to skim read then complain about. How dare Imagine Babies not get an award! Read more →
Nominations for this year’s Negative Gamer Awards are closing soon. If you’ve yet to tell us which games, events or people you think should win each of our awards, what the hell are you waiting for? Head to the official nominations post and leave a comment!
There is one award that, once the nominations have been decided upon, you get to pick the winner of. The People’s Choice Award For Biggest Disappointment is for the thing that has most let you down this year. The one thing that has left you hurt, that ran around and/or deserted you.
Not all nominations for the award will make the final shortlist, but those that will shall join last year’s nominees in shame. So far the list look like this;
Add your say right here! You can nominate as many things as you like and the final short lists will be calculated using SCIENCE in the next few days.
Dear Brütal Legend,
I don’t know of any good way of putting this so I’m going to come right out and say it: it’s over.
Believe me, I wish I didn’t have to do this. I still love you and treasure all the good times we had. You made me laugh, we had a lot of fun and even though I was never as into Metal music as you, you took me to a place where I finally learned to appreciate it. Well, almost. Still, our time together was full of moments that will stay with me for a long, long time and I don’t regret a single second – for all of these things, I thank you.
When I introduced you to my friends, some of them didn’t understand you. You were different from who they expected you to be and they shunned you; some of the others even laughed at me for wanting to be around you. I defended you every time because I know that there’s so much to love – but now I realise that it’s been eating away at me. What I’m talking about is… well, it’s complicated.
A few weeks ago, Gamasutra news director Leigh Alexander wrote at length about Activision’s CEO Bobby Kotick, who she believes to be the industry’s newest punching bag. After the comments he made in September’s Deutsche Bank Securities Technology Conference in San Francisco such as his intentions “to take all the fun out of making video games,” it’s not hard to see why. Alexander asks a question that others thought not to ask: Should we really hate Bobby Kotick, who wishes to “exploit” IP for their sequels, and therefore capital investment, potential?
Why yes, we should. Read more →
Business mergers. Cancellations. Lawsuits. “Brutal” is certainly an apt description for the journey to market taken by Tim Schafer’s latest game. As the creative mind behind the critically successfully but commercially lacking Grim Fandango and Psychonauts, Schafer is probably hoping that Brutal Legend will be able to leave its troubled development history behind and become a genuine hit.
The game stars Jack Black as Eddie Riggs, a roadie who magically travels back in time to a heavy metal inspired fantasy land where guitar solos can literally melt your face off. Its inhabitants have been enslaved by demons and forgotten the teachings of the metal god Ormagöden, so Riggs joins a band of resistance fighters and shows them how to rock. Read more →
A spoken word poem about Brutal Legend written in a hurry, by Wardrox.
Oh Videogames,
how I love our time
My life is simple
I feel fine
That feeling grows Read more →
into a grin
a few more hits
I might just win
I think we all learn a bit more about ourselves on this podcast. Please don’t psychoanalyse us and tell us things about our parents. Also, sorry to disappoint but there’s no Lauren on this week’s show, as was promised in the forum. She’s silly busy doing “education” or something. This week we discuss:
Also, find out how Gandy made a woman cry! Not to be missed.
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After recording of this week’s episode finished, I counted 12 separate insect bites on my arms. This doesn’t actually factor into this episode, but thought you might be interested. Other things we talk about are:
All that and some other things too. Listen will you please!
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I love Tim Schafer,
But combat could get old fast,
Best menu ever.
Realizing that dropping Brutal Legend may have been a mistake has prompted Activision a response this week. Hitting up Double Fine with a lawsuit, Activision claims that Double Fine were paid 15 million in order to complete the game. Double Fine, according to Activision, missed a deadline and requested more funding and an extension of 9 months.
Tim Schafer has wittily replied, stating:
Hey, if Activision liked it, then they should have put a ring on it. Oh great, now Beyoncé is going to sue me too.
A justifiable response considering that Activision dropped Brutal Legend and numerous other titles last year. This whole ordeal comes off as strange, seeing how Activision should have taken care of this before dumping them. Activision seems to be throwing a tantrum over the fact that they didn’t realize what Brutal Legend could be, and are now childishly trying to make something out of this.
This game probably wouldn’t fit the exploitable yearly game series mould that Activision wants anyway. Kind of a bummer to end E3 with for Double Fine, EA, and gamers overall. I don’t see why Activision continues to do charades like this. They’re not winning anyone over. But hey… I guess that’s what Modern Warfare is for.
Via: Kotaku
A spoken word poem about Brutal Legend written in a hurry, by Wardrox.
iTunes