Year: 2019

Game Developers Choice Awards 2019: Winners

The GDC winners for this year were announced about a week back, and so it’s back to me to check in with my predictions and see how I fared. Let’s just press start and go into it then:

Best Audio:

My pick: Red Dead Redemption 2

GDC: Celeste

Wrong on all fronts to begin with it seems. I had RDR2 or God of War taking this one, although in my brief defense as mentioned in my predictions, I was fairly unfamiliar with a few games on the list, Celeste being one of them. So I can’t say whether it was truly deserved or not, but I will congratulate it, while still saying one last time RDR2’s soundscape is sublime.

Best Debut:

My pick: Florence

GDC: Florence

A sort of default win for me, since I didn’t actually play any of the titles on the debut list this year, but had heard significant buzz/praise for Florence at the time of the nominees announcement, and so gave it the best odds to win purely based on that. Hopefully this coming year I’ll be able to check out more new/fresh releases and have more insight when 2020’s GDC rolls around.

Best Design

My pick: Into the Breach*

GDC: Into the Breach

Another backdoor-ish victory. Though I had assessed it might be a struggle between the three big AAA heavyweights; Spider-Man, God of War and RDR2, I did also state that Intro the Breach has a chance based on the high praise it received regarding design in the turn-based strategy sector, so I’ll count one for me, and give it the credit it seems it earned.

Innovation Award

My pick: Return of the Obra Dinn

GDC: Nintendo Labo

Not too sure how to feel about this. Obviously I missed the mark, but I’ve always had reservations about Nintendo’s Labo initiative. Not that I’m vehemently against it, it’s just that attaching a bunch of cardboard gewgaws to a controller etc. seemed odd to me as an idea for a “game.” But apparently it was fun/interesting enough to the community to win here. Although my pick Obra Dinn did take down…

Best Narrative

My pick: Spider-Man

GDC: Return of the Obra Dinn

This was a tough one, as I wanted Obra Dinn to be recognized for sure, just perhaps in a slightly different spot. Still, I’m not upset by any means it nabbed the nod here. Spider-Man might have been my personal choice, but Obra Dinn is a worthy pick and I still recommend checking it out. That only leaves us with…

Game of the Year

My pick: God of War

GDC: God of War 

At least my winning streak continues when calling GOTY, and really I don’t see any other choice but to put the masterful new iteration of the journey of Kratos (and his boy) in the top spot of the year. The GDC correctly agreed and of all the titles in this year’s running, this one was the most deserving of the recognition and heaps of praise it garnered. It is truly a milestone in modern games, and if there is any small sliver of positivity in the industry, it’s that more games will take notes from God of War and push themselves to the heights that it did. 

That about wraps-up the GDC 2019 winners. You can check out our own picks and thoughts on best (and not best) games of 2018 here. See you in 2020 for the next round of awards. 

 

Games & Gaming Culture: Top Games of 2018

We’re back with our picks for the best games of 2018, as well as some not-so-top, a few in-between, and a look at some of the intriguing forthcoming titles of 2019.

A few friends mentioned in this episode: Michelle Iannantuono of Octopunk Media, who we interviewed last year, has recently released a trailer for an upcoming game-based project.

And check out Steevo’s noted wine supplier/reviewer of choice: International Wine Report.

Finally, Scott has a breakdown of the GDC game winners over on Dialogue Tree.

Film & TV: Us

Facing our own dopplegangers, we take on Jordan Peele’s latest (and arguably greatest) modern horror film. [Aggregate score: 10]

Philosophy & Narrative: Bahktin and Discourse in the Novel

Our exploration into narrative turns to selections on why novels are not poems.

Reading: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~carlos/607/readings/bakhtin.pdf

Film & TV: Captain Marvel

TLS goes back to back in time to 1995 to discuss the newest Avenger who’s always been there, “Captain Marvel.” [Aggregate score 8.25]

Games & Gaming Culture: Industry Madness Wrap-up

TLS opens this new season of Games Culture with a look back at some of the big, and often bad, noteworthy occurrences from around and within the video gaming industry in the past year.

AFI Top 100 #062: American Graffiti

TLS travels back to 1962 to discuss number 62 on the AFI, George Lucas’ “American Graffiti.” The Wolfman says, have a popsicle! [Aggregate score 6.75]

Film & TV Special: Network (Broadway Production 2019)

We get mad as hell in a not-quite review, but more of an impression/discussion of the recent Broadway production of classic AFI film Network (which we did review previously) featuring Bryan Cranston in the role of Howard Beale.

Literature: The Game of Smash and Recovery by Kelly Link

TLS grapples with the problems of A.I. and identity in this intriguing although often opaque short sci-fi story. [Aggregate score: 7.5]

The 2019 Errant Indication Awards

Hello one and all, and welcome to the inaugural Errant Indication…ies where, along with your help, we pick the best movies of the year because the Academy has no idea what they’re doing. If you’re interested on our thoughts on that, we did just put out a couple of episodes — The Morganaissance: A Conversation with Morgan Goldin and The MOTScars: Our Annual pre-Oscars Roundup

And now, without further adieu, here are your 2019 Errant Indication winners:

Best Narrative Structure:

The Nominees:

One of our two bigger categories, there were some real heavy weights in the Narrative Structure category this year, but only one reigned supreme. And the winner is:

BlacKkKlansman


Strongest Themes:

The Nominees:

In a year of some incredibly poignant films, there were many and varied powerful themes. However, according to our poll, one film (that the Academy didn’t even deign to nominate for a single award, ahem) went above and beyond. And the winner is:

Sorry to Bother You

Most Antagonizing Element or Character

The Nominees:

I wouldn’t want to go up against any of these formidable foes, but you voted that the only intangible nominee in this list was the worst. And the votes went to:

Institutionalized Racism (“If Beale Street Could Talk”)

Best Protagonist

The Nominees:

The ladies cleaned up this year in our poll, and for good reason. So many incredible performances, and you couldn’t decide on just one. With our first tie of the night are:

Cleo played by Yalitza Aparicio (“Roma”) || Queen Anne played by Olivia Coleman (“The Favourite”)

Favorite Supporting Character

The Nominees:

This category started as a landslide and ended with the ultimate winner just edging out the runner up. And the winner is:

Shuri played by Letitia Wright (“Black Panther”)

Best Dialogue

The Nominees:


In an incredibly strong category this year, people could not decide which film’s dialogue was the best. We ended up with a four-way tie! And the FOUR winners are:

The Favourite (screenplay by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara) ||
If Beale Street Could Talk (based on the book by James Baldwin, adapted for the screen by Barry Jenkins) ||
Eighth Grade (screenplay by Bo Burnham) ||
Sorry to Bother You (screenplay by Boots Riley)

Most Impressive Style

The Nominees:

There were some truly beautiful films this year, even ones that were left off this list, but as for what the people voted on, it was one more tie, and it goes to:

“Black Panther” dir. by Ryan Coogler ||
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” dir. by Bob Persichetti and Peter Ramsey (no TLS review yet)

Highest Recommendation

The Nominees:

We always like to leave off with our recommendation. What was your favorite film of the year? For the majority of voters in our poll, it was:

BlacKkKlansman!

A few final thoughts:
– Looking back on these choices, this list was bad in terms of female directed films and we could have included some great ones such as Can You Ever Forgive Me, Leave No Trace, and You Were Never Really Here, among others. Something I absolutely need to keep in mind next year.
– How the hell did the Oscars snub If Beale Street Could Talk? It was pretty easily one of the best movies of 2018 and I’m glad it took a couple of categories here.
– I think Spike Lee would’ve been alright with this one.


We’d like to thank you, the fan(s), for playing. It’s been a rush. We’ll see you next year!