Kinda Funny Gamescast: Video Game Podcast - YOUR GAME AWARDS HOT TAKES - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Episode Date: December 12, 2025

Storm Lancers is live on PC and Nintendo Switch 2. Fight together. Rise together. Repeat. Play Storm Lancers now https://www.probablymonsters.com/stormlancers/?utm_source=kindafunny&utm_medium=paidmedialqa&utm_campaign=storm-pclaunch-us Go to http://shadyrays.com and use code FUNNY for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/KINDAFUNNY. Promo Code KINDAFUNNY Thank you for the support! Run of Show - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode's brought to you by Storm Lancers. Fight together, rise together. Storm Lancers is available now on PC and Nintendo Switch 2. What's up and welcome back to the Kind of Funny Games cast for Friday, December 12th, 2025. Of course, I'm your host, Tim Geddes. And before we even introduce these people, I just want to say to all the people at this table and to everybody watching and that watched last night that's been watching, I keep saying variations of this.

But now that Game Awards are behind us, I really want to say, I think we absolutely crushed it last night. I think that that was our best performance yet. And I am very, very, very proud of our entire team because we covered the game awards in, I think, such an entertaining, such an informative, just such a powerful way. When we have such an awesome set, awesome talent to back it up, we have the knowledge base, we have the expertise going back so many decades between us of being able to speak to the video games being shown, having so many different perspectives, being able to have Greg make the run a show for the immediate afterwards, having PR, like, having more information than they said on the show, all organized in one place, but then also

being able to pull in Roger for the control preview and things like that. Our number one control fan, number one remedy fan. We always do this, right? Like, we're able to do showcases and oftentimes have more information, have more access. And I feel like we have done this year such a great job of using that. to better the content that we're making. That's not just us live reacting to something happening and commentating over it,

but actually commentating from a place of an informed opinion that is backed up by us putting the work in throughout the year, playing the games, reading the news, talking about it all, so we actually know what we're talking about. But then on the other side, just being genuinely enthusiastic and excited about video games and excited about what we're seeing and leaning into the fun of Miss Piggy fucking Jeff Keely,

like all of that stuff. I just feel like there's such a, such an amazing thing that we have a kind of funny that I'm very lucky to have with you gentlemen. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you for time. It's very nice. Shout out Kevin and Roger. Of course. Oh, I mean, yeah, the whole, the entire team, right?

But that is the thing. It's like Roger being able to clip things out so quickly and get them up. That is a dream that we had back of the day. Yeah, of course, of course. Even all the way back at IGN, just imagining like, God, can you imagine if we could do this, this, this? Now we just get to do it. This is the absolute dream. come to fruition. Thank you all for allowing it to happen. And also, my voice is gone.

Star Wars announced a pod racing game. Yeah. Yeah. It happened. So I'm sorry. I'm going to try my best to keep it going throughout the episode. But without further ado, let me introduce. Blessing. Adioia Jr. Good day, Tim. Snowbike, Mike. Good morning, Tim. Greg Miller. Hi, Tim. And Andy Cortez. Hello, Tim. Hello. This is the kind of funny games cast. We each and every weekday, we get together to talk about the biggest reviews, previews, and topics and video games live on YouTube Twitch and podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do, please support us with the Kind of Funny membership to keep us allowing doing all these cool things as we react to showcases and reviews for 2026 and beyond.

A new year is upon us in just a few short weeks and I hope that you will continue to have kind of funny games, be your place that you hang out with us to talk about video games. For a chance to be part of this show, submit your thoughts and opinions as YouTube super chats as we go. We're looking for your hot takes. a little housekeeping for you. We are an 11-person business all about live talk shows. You already got games daily that was a blessing, Mike.

What did y'all talk about? We just talked more about the game awards. Yeah, we talked about the game awards. Talked a little bit about Xbox and their presence there. Were they there? Were they not there? Let's talk about it. And then after this, a very exciting thing is happening as well.

Terminator 2D, no fate is finally coming out. It's real. And Greg and Nick are going to play it. Kevin was setting it up. And as I was coming into the office, I heard the music playing and I'm like, this is awesome. You excited for that, Greg?

Can't wait. It's been waiting a long time for that. I'm glad they finally got the steel books put together and they were able to release this game. Then if you're a kind of funny member, today's Greg Ways, Greg, building his holiday hit list. What games can he and does he have to finish by January 5th, which is kind of funny day, 2026?

Thank you to our Patreon producers, Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster, and Delaney the Sommeatwining. Let's get to it. the topic of the show. Your Game Awards Hot Takes, trying something a little different being inspired by Santysap and Simon Miller,

who cover a lot of wrestling content, and they do an episode that is, your hot takes, where after a big pay-per-view happens, they ask the audience for their takes on everything, and then we react to that. It's very fun, and y'all showed up. Thank you very much.

We have a whole bunch of stuff to get to today. But before we get to the hot takes, We got to talk about last night, the award winners. We all predicted who would win Game Awards 2025, but only one of us could be the victor. Before we get there, I want to say two little fun facts. There were two categories that all of us missed. We're not a single one of us predicted the correct answer.

Do you want to guess what it was? I had it initially and then I decided to go with the crew. fucked up. Best VR. Yep. Best VR. That was the one. Best VR and innovation and accessibility.

Those were the two that we did not get it at all. And both of those, we kind of were all over the board. We just didn't pick the one. Then there were only two categories where only one of us got it right. So congratulations to blessing with best multiplayer. Our players. Let's go. And congratulations to Andy,

Cortez. Do you know which one? No. Best ongoing. No man. No man sky. No man sky. Tied in last place with 13 correct answers.

We have Greg Miller and Snowmike Mike. Oh. That's what we're talking about. That's what we're talking about. You know, it was the whole thing. Mike said it, you know, be spicy. Ziggin and zagging and zagging.

You know what I mean? Like, we deviated, but we went too far from God. Mike, you've won too much this year. I wanted this one. I really wanted. In third place, we had 17 points. Blessing Adeliaia Jr. I thought I did better than that.

That's tough. In second place with 18 points. Andy Cortez. Oh, wow. Always second, always second, baby. And I came through at number one with 20 points. Wow. I wasn't zigging.

I wasn't zagging. I was sticking it right down the middle. The one that I think got it for me. me like if I really pushed me over is the one place that I don't want to call it a zig or zag it was more just like being stubborn I really wanted south and midnight to win so I just I willed that I put that down and it got me some points so let's get into the hot takes there's so many of these so many of these all right I tried organizing them to have some sense of like flow to conversation but I might pack a couple together and then we'll discuss

a whole thing some stop me if you're like hey I want to talk about that point we're trying something new, so we'll see how this goes. I do want to start with a very big one. Before you bring up this link, Kevin, Rumblepack says, hear me out. What do you think he's talking about? Miss Piggy.

How much fun Miss Piggy was? The clear obscure sweep. Kevin, can you bring up the link? Fluid guy. Oh, okay. You did that. Gotcha. Tip of the hat to you.

Phil says, just my opinion, but as a big Muppets fan as a child, Miss Piggy was my least favorite Muppet. A lot of Miss Piggy thought. She's rude. Yeah. Let's just call it. She was mean to Kermit all the time.

Drama Queen takes all the attention away from everybody else. Mean to everybody else. That's why I love him. Damn. Wow. Damn. I've got to grind for a long time. Yeah.

Now she's airing her Jeff business in front everybody. Was it the best Muppets appearance yet? No. No. Who did you like? Walldorf. I thought they were really good, but like Miss Piggy showed up. No, she didn't.

They had some jokes. They had some nice. Did you like the song? I liked the song. I liked the song. See, I think Miss Biggie, number one for me. Number one.

And then the other two bros, they're number two. All right. All right. Melanhead, he's number three. I think they had the scientist melonhead once.

Yeah, he was, but it's, what, Beaker and what's the other thing? No. Yeah, yeah, Beaker's the be be be me,

yeah. Fucking mum are so dumb. You know what I mean? You know what he is? He's like a green melon head. Oh, oh, but that's not his name. Yeah,

you're just describing. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Honey do, honey do. He said my two bros, Bunsen. Took his talk says one of the better game awards, but I would be okay if I never had to hear about Jeff and Miss Piggy having sex ever again.

And maybe I'm a prude, but that divinity trailer was just gross. Watching an orc vomit in pig shit doesn't exactly make me excited for your video game. John J. Smith says it may be time for the Muppets to go. The total shift between Miss Piggy and the Divinity trailer was a bit much. So a couple things to talk about there. There's the Muppets, right? And then there is the, was the Divinity Sain trailer going too far, or Divinity trailer going too far,

and the total shift between the two of them. That's the conversation, gentlemen. Interesting. Yeah, could you really say that after we've watched countless Diablo trailers that are just skin peeling off of people? Things explode left and right? I don't know, man. I think they hit the mark on that one.

Yeah, I don't think the trailer was too far. Jen and I were talking about this this morning too, where I was like, she was like, man, that Divinity, you know, Ben caught the item block and I was like, yeah, but I was like, I'm like, it's like a, Diablo. She's like, I think it was more intense than Diablo, not necessarily this year, but in general. I'm like, I don't know I necessarily agree, because I feel like that's what they all are. The tonal shift conversation, that's just having the Muppets at Game Awards.

Like, the Muppets are there and they're seen as a children's thing, because they are, but they're also at the game wars because we all grew up with the Muppets. So it's the Muppets kind of playing in a more adult space anyway. So it's either they got to go and we also don't do Lego Batman, I guess. But like, you're never, what are you, how are you ever going to have that connective tissue to do these kind of crazy, violent things? things that yeah every video game trailer is is you know fucking the not yakuza yakuza game had a guy get blown through the fucking forehead right like yeah i could i could see that i think a lot of it just comes down to like the ordering of things i it didn't come across as weird to me because i feel like the game awards has always had weird tonal shifts and uh or sometimes when a trailer

ends and we think it's still going but it's like some other thing happening now um yeah diablo has always shown really violent shit i think the divinity thing took it to like like the point five above what Diablo has ever done. And that probably comes down to like the people fucking in the background too. That was like hot. That was not overly shocking to me, but I could see why people would be like, whoa, damn.

Like this is kind of crazy. Again, they talked about Jeff Keeley having sex with a pig. So like, you know, clutch your pearls there, I think guys. All right,

that's beastiality. We're going to let that slide. Just like that. He called that out too. I like it bad. I don't really have. I don't really have thoughts. Yeah, I feel like as far as how far the divinity original or the divinity trailer went,

I would look back at the previous games. I don't know enough about original sin and the divinity franchise to say whether or not that's in line. I think maybe if it's not in line, you can make the argument of, oh, well, you're trying to use shock to sell a thing. And I think maybe there's a conversation there. But I don't, I'm not informed enough on divinity to even say that. And so I don't really have much of an opinion on it. Yeah, I definitely think that that trailer like pushed the lines compared to anything we've seen before because it did have like, there was violence, there was gore, there was nasty stuff, and there was sex, there was all that.

But I have no problem with that. I actually think it's like, yeah, cool, that seems, that's what they're selling. That is what it is. And the total shift stuff, I'm like, that's video games. I think that there's something special about video games that's different from movies necessarily, like movies is the closest analog. But, you know, we look at things like Pixar and it's like, oh, it's kid stuff, but it's also for adults. I feel like with video games, there's a much wider thing of like adults can play you know the badger game or divinity and it's like

that's not that crazy you know and so you're going to have to present them that way unless you're making a showcase that's very specifically targeting a specific audience which would be children right that's my thing right we're talking about a show that kicks off at five and goes till nine our time right like it you're these are adult hours it's an adult thing people are cursing on the show yeah and even the Muppets like originally maybe designed for kids, but they always

also have had that adult humor, right? Chat points out that they were actually originally a nightclub out. Wait, that's right. Yeah, I don't know anything about Muppets. There's like that level of sarcasm. Give me a high five of a Muppet Babies here, bless. Come on, get up there. Bipin Babies. Wesley LeBlanc says, Highguard, the new

multiplayer shooter from X Titanfall folks did nothing but remind me of Immortals of Avium. Sergio says Four Loop and High Guard were oversold is way more exciting than there will actually be. They'll just end up being a couple of more multiplayer games to come out dead on arrival into the oversaturated multiplayer

game market. Loss in the sauce says putting over under for how long Highguard lasts before they announce it's shutting down at six weeks. Device says closing with Concord 2 was brave. And then Jake Mosher says it won't be popular, but I think Highguard will be fun as hell.

Multiplayer games do not show off well and they should stop having trailers like this without any hands on coverage. I bet it's quite fun, but no trailer can properly show that. It's about the little moments. I agree with the last one. I feel like we would get those hot take comments regardless of like any, if it was any multiplayer game, I think if it was whatever, it could be the highest quality multiplayer game. You show us the same trailer of a Overwatch like, you know, four player

hell divers, like, whatever it is. And we're going to have the same reaction of like, oh, that's going to be Concord. Oh, that's going to come out and flop. And granted, like, I understand the sentiment because we've seen a lot of games come out and flop. Like, it's not like, I'm not saying it's impossible that High Guard comes out and doesn't do anything, right? Like, that's very much a possibility. But I think we write things off because there are most player a game in a showcase like this. I think you have to do it hands-on. I think we need to start making that the standard of if you're introducing a game like

this to the public, it has to come with either previews from people who have played the game or let people play the game. Otherwise, they will write it off. That's a great way to put it. Yeah, I think, you know, again, it goes back to what so many people's problem is with the game ward's often ride is pay-to-play, where it obviously. this is the last announcement. We as fans build up to that.

Like, it's going to be something huge. It's going to be a great thing. It's going to be. And you get there and it's high guard. It's like, oh, they paid a lot of money to be the last announcement on Jeff's show, which is good marketing for them in quotes. All marketing is good. But this is then the conversation we have where what a flat last announcement for us

as the fans, obviously for them is the developers, publishers, PR trying to make a splash. They get headlines, but are they getting the right kind? And I think, yeah, this is bad. you should have saved a couple hundred thousand dollars probably and been somewhere in the middle of the show. And because it was when it got going and they jumped on horse, you guys, I think maybe it was just handy,

but maybe it was my two popped. Like that, like for the multiplayer, people who want to go do that kind of stuff like that worked for them. But as an overall, this is the last announcement. It's very exciting from the former respawn people. It was like,

oh, do you think the announcement hits a little worse because it was the last one? Yes. And do you think that they pay for that? Yes. for the last spot. I do. I do.

Yeah, too. They request the last spot. Of course. I think they paid for it. That's such a wild thing to request. Like, put me somewhere in the middle. But give me the same.

But you get lost. But give me the same sort of hype up and lead in. You know, like, I think if that game is not the last thing, we'd be a little bit higher on it. But we kind of put it in that, ah, shit,

no half-life three. Fuck this game. Sort of this situation. I, I, I've always wondered the, the pay-to-play aspect and are they actually choosing the position of where they're...

I think for the right dollar amount, yeah. But if they paid for it, though, like I have way more questions about this game and the people who are behind it, because didn't they say it was like a 61 person studio? And this is a game that's self-published. Like, I got way more questions about where you're getting that money to pay

for a last slot at the Game Awards. It drops next month. Like, the big positive of this team is like they wanted to make a splash because this comes down like 30 days, right? And like, if you're in the middle, you get kind of lost in translation. Like, I saw numerous amounts of,

TikToks talking about this game last night of like, positive or negative? Positive. Like excitement, like at least just general conversation, right? Like that is the big thing here is if you're dropping next month, you're in the multiplayer market that is oversaturated, has every game that looks identical to what the other game is. You need to make a splash.

I do think that was the move for this team. I think it's the right call, especially if you're launching in 30 days to make a big mark on the scene here. Will it pay off? Of course, we'll see, right? But like, I think that's the right move from this team. There's an audience out there that wants that, right? I think we at the table might not love the multiplayer genre like others do,

but we're riding a high of arc raiders, hell divers, taking over the market and being big splashes. You need to make a big splash if you want to stand out in a list of 75 game announcements throughout the game awards that we just went through. I think the biggest problem is that it's not the placement. It's not that it's a multiplayer game. It's that with the placement, and with it being a multiplayer game,

it needs what Blessing was talking about. It needs to be hands-on. If you're going to have that last spot, if you're going to pay for that last spot, if you're going to get some type of Jeff push and rub from that for the placement of it all, you need the call to action right then. You need to have the stuff,

especially if your game's coming out one month from now. You've got to figure that out or else back off and don't invest that heavily. Don't have that level of eyes and scrutiny there because I do think that if this was Apex Legends, which that was nothing until it was something, If they ended that and it's like, hey, guess what? The embargo game journalists have played this and like it a lot and streamers and all that stuff

and y'all can play it right now. That would be huge for them. But that didn't happen. So I just think that then the conversation starts to be talking about around the game as opposed to talking about the game. Having said that, we were talking about this game way more than we would if it was anywhere else in the show. Oh, for sure. Sure. Sure.

Should have been a beta. You're right. Should have had a beta today. Moving on, we both simply just says. Subbulba. And I don't know what the hot take is there, but I appreciate it. I can't believe our boy's back. He has a little beard, Andy. He has a beard. I thought he always had a beard. He looks a little older. Oh, you know what I mean? I have a lot of lore questions. What's going on? He's a veteran in the circuit. A lot of people riding him off.

Don't count out subalba, you know? One more ride, you know? This is the time of the year where like experience really mad. He's losing his hair, but he's still got it. Yeah, exactly. Okay, so then Mark writes in with one that I really, really liked here. Forget Claire Obscure. Capcom fans were the biggest winners of the night. Requiem looks fantastic. Pragmat is shaping up impressively. Mega Man is back and the Street Fighter movie seems absurd in a good way.

The only thing missing was Dino Crisis. I don't think every single thing was a win from Capcom necessarily, but I do think overall the energy is right. Capcom has been delivering for the last decade. We've talked about it a whole bunch. I was very, very happy with what we saw from Resident Evil. And the fact that y'all could play Pragmatta now and understand why we are as high as we are on it, I think is a very good thing. Getting that release date seems like a great spot.

Yeah, 100% agreed, right? Like, Reson Evil Requiemic, especially for the Resident Evil sickos who go even deeper than I do, right? Having played most of the mainline ones at this point, hearing Tim talk about like some of the specific lore stuff that even you say like you're not the keeper, the arbiter of Resident Evil lore, I think the fact that you have a trade like this, leading into, what, a month and a half from now the game launching. Very exciting stuff. And yeah, I just wish if that Megman trailer hit a bit more, then, yeah, I think we'd be talking about it as being like, oh, all-time Capcom year of announcements happening right here. Shout to Capcom staying on the stage.

Like you said, like past five years, 10 years, like they're just there all the time. And they're having fun announcements, exciting news. And they're just staying in the news. And it's awowing to me that like this team is, they're still swinging above their weight class, which I like a lot. in that category that when I first started it kind of funny, they are in that sort of Ubisoft

area where Ubisoft was very consistent with their output and quality. And that's where Capcom is for me right now, where you're going to get a couple titles a year and they are going to be very highly regarded and very well thought of. So then jump

in from the positive Capcom to a bit more negative here. Devin saying probably a lukewarm take at best, but oh dear Lord, what on Earth was all that buildup for a mid-Megaman reveal. Dre says that was way too little for Mega Man. It almost had the opposite effect on me as it deflated my expectations of Mega Man going back to being a flagship franchise for Capcom. They need to either reinvent the series or take another shot at Legends to have any impact.

Zondo says Hot Take, it's stupid to be begging for a new Mega Man game and then be disappointed. It's a new Mega Man game in the style we all love. But also why is just the same ass, why is it just the same ass Mega Man game? Resident Evil has had like 19 different gameplay styles, but robot that transforms to use powers of defeated robots can only be a side-scroller. Lots to talk about there. Andy, start us off. I mean, I feel all of that.

I think that it's something about the art style that just looks like this game could have come out eight years ago and been a game that we all sort of brush off. The return of Mega Man should be a lot more exciting for me, and it's just, it just wasn't last side because of the way the gameplay looked, because of it being, again, I mentioned last time, I'd be way more stoked

if this were the pixel art style of cosmic invasion or all of the dot emu sort of style of games. I just didn't really vibe with the art style and like, again, pie in the sky wish, and I've been saying this for multiple different IP, but Mega Man in particular of like, I want a returnal-like game

that could be, that's Mega Man, where it is Rogue Light, it is running around and a third person shooter, bullet hell, awesome boss fights, getting the pieces of whatever boss you just beat it and transforming your suit into it. And, you know, my number one wish was to be, we're zooming in on that 2D sort of image and then the camera turns and it's suddenly a third, and you're like, whoa, holy shit, this is, what a big brand new way to, you know, to bring back Mega Man. man in a big, massive way, and it was just pretty disappointing, unfortunately. Yeah, I'm right there with you. I mean, that build up, that's what dreams are made up for me, right?

It's like, Jeff, using the stage to, like, go all out to build the hype up for, holy crap, it's a return, it's a big deal. There's unique music being played for this. What is it? It's Mega Man. Oh, my God. And then you see the game and you're like, oh, damn, damn. Like, I think this might have been the most deflating announcement in Game Awards history,

personally to me. And the thing is, I think the game's probably going to be great. Like, I think that it's probably going to be an eight out of ten, and that's awesome. But I just think with the expectations

that I have, the hopes that I would have. And to Zondo's point of just, like, it's stupid to beg for a new thing and be disappointed when it's in a style we all love. It's like, I don't love this style.

No, yeah. It's like, this look to me just feels like the easiest answer to just put out a new Mega Man game. And again, I still expect that it's going to be good. I don't think that this is a cash grab,

but I just don't think that this is exciting. 100% another game coming. You know, when you talk about spinning the camera back and it's behind the back Mega Man, people down in the chat over here we're talking about they need to Metroid Prime Mega Man. Like all that gets me a non-Megaman fan excited to play it. Whereas to look at this and go,

man, this looks, in my opinion, worse than Mega Man 11 in Mega Man 10, which I also didn't play. It looks like a point-pie version of my version of my. Mighty number nine. It looks so much like Mighty Number 9. Every time David says, I don't know, Tim, it looks a lot like 11. So just for you, Greg, 9 and 10 were the ones that looked like the video.

11 looked like this. And that's what I'm saying. It's like, yes, I understand gameplay-wise, this is going to deliver. This is a 2D Mega Man game. I'm saying the look of it and the style of it, it makes it feel cheaper than the games that have that pixel art, love, and care. And I'm not saying we have to go back to N. I think Andy's idea is actually great, like a modern pixel style, something different. different. This just has that mighty number nine,

polygatal look to. Dude, if, if fucking, if, if game kitchen, the devs of, uh, blasphemous and ninja guide and rage bound, if they were to be able to like get in the fucking kitchen and, and, and cook with art direction and make it this,

like, oh my God, I would lose my shit for that, but there's just something about this, this 3D style that just isn't, it hasn't really worked for me. Even going back to like, fucking Mega Man Maver or Maverick Hunter

or whatever. It just doesn't really vibe with me. I don't know. Yeah. And I also think that like a lot of the disappointment that I have is if this was just a trailer that just dropped as it Capcom Presents and it's like oh shit it Megamman's back. That's great. And we wouldn't be having this conversation. But it's the freaking epic buildup

like this was the second coming of Jesus. Oh shit. Central thing says do an HD2D like Octopath. I would lose my shit man. I would be so much more into that than this. This just feels like when 2D games were first kind of

experimenting with what will our game look like in 3D and that was a very novel and exciting thing 15 to 20 years ago and it's just like it just didn't work for me unfortunately. Bless this one's for you. Happy to be here says not entirely about the game awards

but considering it was the last place they could show off this year are we concerned about the state of Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls? No new characters since announcement, skipping Comic-Con twice, and now Game Awards, concerning, in my opinion. Ooh, and correct me from wrong people in chat, right? Evo announced their upcoming lineup for their 2026 tournament, and I don't think Marvel Tocon Fighting Souls is on the list there.

And so, like, concerning, no, it just makes me think that that game is going to be second half of next year. You know, I was really hoping that we'd see it in the first six months, but now I don't think that's the case. I think maybe that's either a fall game, could even see it being delayed to 2027, depending on what's going on with it. But yeah, like I right now, if you were to ask me where I expect to see more of that game, I'll just say at a state of play. I think maybe that's the place where they're keeping it, since that is a PlayStation exclusive game. That is also like, you know, evil has those

PlayStation ties as well. I think PlayStation might be wanting to try and handle this the best they can personally. But I think this stage would have been great for Marvel Tollcon, something that is that IP, something that is that exciting for fans. So it not appearing here, I think is a bit of a missed opportunity. Final Fan TV says, I feel like it was a misstep not announcing Final Fantasy 7 remake part 3 at the game awards. To let the entire gaming world know, there's never been a better time to begin your Final Fantasy 7 journey than right now with the Switch 2 and Xbox re-releases and then the final part imminent. If not now, then when? Early next year, summer Game Fest 26. Yeah, obviously I very, very much agree with you, but I do think that maybe this,

maybe I'm off about how far along I think this game is, but I'm only saying that based on what the director's been saying to everybody. So I definitely my biggest surprise of last night, uh, besides Star Wars Racer was, uh, the lack of Final Fantasy 7 remake. I thought that that was a guarantee thing. Did they show it at all in that Nintendo sizzle reel? No. Well, in the commercial. Yes. In the commercial they did. That was like, switch to third party like that was the focus of it. Right. Okay. Um, and yeah, where will we see it? Like at this point? I don't know. But that's a game that's so big you can do whatever it wants, essentially, like whether it's a square presents thing or state of play or wherever.

Before we continue on with way more of your Game Awards hot takes, I want you to hear a word from our sponsors. If you live for high stakes runs, tight teamwork, and that rush when the extraction timer is ticking down, this might be your next obsession. You've already seen us obsessing over Arc Raiders, the multiplayer extraction adventure, set on a lethal future earth where mechanized killing machines rule the surface, and humanity hides below. As a raider, you brave top side to loot, complete quests, fight arc robots, and extract safely,

if you can. Underground and Speranza, you'll upgrade your den, boost your abilities, and gear up for raids. On the surface, there are no rules, swarms of drones, massive robots, and rival raiders make every trip unique. Choose solo, duo, or squad of three, but rival players are never far away. team up or take their loot. What kind of raider will you be in the Rust Belt? Arc Raiders is available now for PlayStation 5 Xbox series X-slash-S and PC.

This episode's brought you by Stormlancers. If you're looking for your next great co-op obsession, check out Stormlancers. A retro-inspired rogue light with anime energy and chaotic action. In Storm Lancers, you and a friend crash land on a dying alien planet charged with unstable magic. It's fast, fluid, and the action is non-stop, but this rogue light isn't about.

flawless runs. The devs call it crash out co-op because the real fun comes from those chaotic party moments like messing up, reviving your partner at the last second, and carving up enemy hordes with your newly unlocked powers. Invite a friend for old school couch co-op or team up online. On PC and Nintendo Switch 2, only one of you needs to own the game. Steam's remote play together and Switch 2's GameShare lets you hop online with a friend instantly. One copy, two players. Stormlancers is live on PC and Nintendo Switch 2. Fight together, rise together, repeat. Play Stormlancers now.

This episode is brought to you by Shady Ray's. Let's Talk Gifts. Not the kind that get tossed in a drawer, but the kind that actually get used and appreciated. The holidays are coming up fast, and Shady Ray sunglasses are an easy win. Every pair is polarized, durable, and lightweight. They've got a ton of great-looking high-performance styles

that hold up no matter what you throw at them. And the price? Way less than you'd expect for the quality. And here's what sets them apart. If you lose or break your shades, Shady Rays has your back with their lost and broken protection. So whether you're picking up a pair for someone on your list or grabbing one for yourself,

Shady Rays makes gifting simple. Quality built, looks great, and actually worth it. Start your holiday gifting early and head to ShadyRays.com using code funny for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated. five stars by over 300,000 people. Go to Shadyrays.com, use

code funny for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Again, that's shadyrays.com. Use code funny for 35% off polarized sunglasses. This episode's brought to you by AuraFrames. If you are a last minute shopper, don't worry at all. I have the perfect gift

that solves all the problems you might be having. No lie, ORA frames are undeniably the best gift I've ever given and I'm going to be sad when I run out of people to give it to because I'll never give a gift this great again, families, friends, partners, everyone loves being able to have beautiful frames showing off their loved ones and all of their favorite memories. And also, it's so easy to add the photos using the ORA app. It's set up to go right out of the box. There's unlimited storage.

You can add as many photos and videos as you can find. Just download the ORA app and connect to Wi-Fi with no hidden fees. For a limited time, save on the perfect gift by visiting ORAFrames. to get $35 off or his best selling car for Matt Frames, named number one by wirecutter by using promo code Kind of Funny at checkout. That's A-U-R-A-Frames.com promo code Kind of Funny. This deal is exclusive to listeners and frames sell-out fast, so order yours now to get it in time for the holidays.

Support our show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. We're back with more of your Game Awards hot takes. Mike Cochinane says Esports and content creation categories. Who are they there for? The nominees and winners never get a spotlight. I'm not sure they ever attend anyways. Creators often

stream those awards from home for content. Doesn't seem to be much of an overlapping audience either. The esports guys don't seem to be too bothered by the show and the game's on display and the game awards fans seem largely clueless and uninterested in the esports side of things. It would feel weird to ignore them, but does either side really care?

It is interesting. This is a great point. Right? It's a thing where it's I understand the game awards are kind of trying to represent all that video games are and can be. And I think that for the most part, they do a good job with that and being able to show, look, it's e-sports. But it's also this and it's also this. There's value there. But I understand this, especially when I feel like there's room for improvement here and there. And we do have e-sports award shows that I think are up to par enough and that those people are more tuned into.

Am I right, Mike and Andy on that? Yeah, the E-Sports Award show is a big deal each and every. every year. It is the place that I would go to for my ESports-centric awards. I, however, I'm on the opposite side. I do like the awards being here. I think the game awards encompasses all things video games. It is a very small brief moment sponsored by gain. So you know he's getting that money, right? And like, I like these moments for me. And I know

that Eastport is a global market. It is probably tough to get these kids from around the globe to come in for a one-day expedition in L.A. and be a part of this. But I do like it. shining a light on e-sports, making sure that the mainstream still thinks about that, especially when we're talking about the e-sports bubble about the pop, and is it still worth it to be putting on these big productions and all these teams coming from around the globe to compete? I like it, though.

I'm in it. Yeah, I totally see the point of the message, though. I, it, like, it feels like I can make the comparison to having smaller genre awards for, like, Best Cozy Game or whatever. Like best e-sports athlete to me is kind of on that same level where I totally see everybody going, we don't know what this is. And I don't think they care about this much either. Yeah.

If they did decide to exit, I don't really think that a whole lot would go missed because the esports awards are for that. Like Michael's just mentioning. I feel like, yeah, it's just Jeff trying to represent the industry, but also kind of future-proofing, too. In the same way, you do VR, right, hoping that VR grows and gets bigger. and then you can get eyes on that and make a bigger deal out of it. I would imagine e-sports is the same way. But if we hit that mainstream crossover point where suddenly it is a bigger thing,

well, we already have this established wars, and then yes, we can get those athletes to come here and get those people rewarded. Papa Taz says, great show all the way around. However, some games were not meant for me, and that's okay. But here's my hot take. I'm glad Expedition 33 won game of the year. However, going forward, I'd like to see a limit

on how many awards a game can be nominated for. Drew Sun says the winner of Game of the Year, should not be allowed to win best independent game. Whatever got second place in best indie should be pushed up to win it. The ability for one game to win both makes the latter irrelevant. Best independent games should be in the main show on stage, not the pre-show. It's the second

most important award. It deserves a big presentation. You can't pretend you care about indie games on stage while she're pushing them to the side. Otherwise, good show. Congrats Expedition 33 and its fans. Zach Ruger says this was such a huge year for the indie scene and debut game studios and it feels cheap to only award Expedition 33. Each game nominated

was a very type of game and set out to deliver in different areas. There needs to be room to celebrate the new games and developers who gave us some of the best experiences.

Jeremy Saunders says, I was in disbelief when the award for best independent game was given out during the pre-show. Easily the strongest category this year needed to be part of the main show.

Kelsey Lynn says, award shouldn't be given during the pre-show and speed running multiple awards categories in between trailers is awful at an award show. Gary says people complaining about Expedition 33

winning Best Indie or Babies and do not understand what the definition of indie game is. This isn't Dave the diver, y'all. One more here. Bullet Farm says, Claire Obscure Expedition 33, deserved all the awards they received. This is an important moment for the industry.

An independent studio with the debut game making the game they wanted to make not only needs to be celebrated, but encouraged. This should be the future of the industry. There's a lot there, but there's a lot of different takes about similar things.

Bless. Yes. I disagree strongly with the first one as far as limiting the people who can win a certain amount of award. I think that's against the spirit of, hey, like, we have the best soundtrack or we have the best, like, you know, I think we can debate these things, right? Like, obviously, even when I look at the picks for best art director or best soundtrack, there are other picks out in there that I'll make maybe besides clear, obscure, Exhibition 33. But if everybody uniformly agrees that Expedition 33 has the best art style, then it should win best art style.

We agree with independent. It should win independent, right? Like, I think that's just the nature of competition and how these things go. And I think that leads to moments where we can go, wow, this game was the highest award-winning game at the game awards. I think that's a special milestone. I think that's something that's really cool and should be a thing that's attainable. And so I strongly disagree with that first point.

I do think, like, and this is just a personal opinion, right? Like, and I'm sure people feel this way in varying degrees. I don't really love a lot of the categories that we have for game awards. And I think it comes down to the variety that we have within video games and how much video games have changed over the last decade and a half, genre-wise, scope-wise, all these things. And, like, I know it's a big ship to pilot. And so you can't just go in there and gut things because guess what? Video games are always changing.

And you need to maintain a level of prestige in these categories. And so when you're constantly changing things up, at a certain point, the awards stop mattering. So I don't have a good solution to it. But there are things like best action game, best action adventure game, best RPG, best game direction, best game of the year, where things start to get into this place where they feel like we're just talking about

the same type of game and where genres are becoming a lot more different and more niche genres starting to rise up as more popular, I wish we could branch out and start to acknowledge things, right? Start to talk about, you know, best, I don't know, we still don't have a great word for friend slot, but like, best survival game, best survival game, right? Like, best, I don't know if extraction game is popular,

enough yet, but we're getting the vibe, get the new genres in there. Yeah. Trying to be like, is this action or action adventure? How are we shoehorning it into one of these categories? Exactly. Like, I'm even of the mind of like, even for best RPG, I've seen a lot of conversation about Kingdom of Come Deliverance versus Clear obscure and how

Kingdom Come Deliverance is a better RPG and this comes back to a conversation of like, well, they're both RPGs. Like Clear Obscure and and Kingdom Become Con deliverance are both RPGs. They're different types of RPG. Is that a thing worth breaking out? Should we have it be best term based best action RPG? I think there's a lot of things you can do there,

but I don't think there's a perfect solution as far as fixing it at all. As always, when we start diving into this, how quickly do we make a show that's no longer the game awards? That's the biggest problem, right? At what point are we designing the kind of funny awards or moving towards the BAFTAs or whatever, right? I vehemently disagree with it. If you win this, you can't win that.

That's just, no, that's nonsense. There was a chat that I think is an interesting one that goes back to a conversation we were having yesterday about all these awards, where I think it was Gore Dragon, maybe, had said somebody effective, but only, you know, small groups of judges vote on these categories, right? No, right? There's 130 some game awards judging outlets slash influencers slash whatever it is, but 130 votes get cast representing either a company like kind of funny or one person if that exists.

And they're voting on everything from all over the world. And I feel like that could be when you're talking about the BFTAs the other day of like, oh no, whether, you know, you break into smaller groups and that panel is deciding it. That could be, again, we're no longer making the game. words anymore, but I would find that to be a way around this if Jeff cared, and I'm not saying he should, but if this was something, he's like, well, how could we shake it up? To have it be that I brought together these five outlets slash things, and they've said that we are RPG outlets and people, put them together and have them deliberate and have that be kind of like the giant bomb ones.

I don't want to say the old ones, but the, you know, the giant bomb ones where they just argued a table forever. And that'd be interesting content. Now, again, Discord around the world, languages. There's so many reasons this wouldn't work for the game awards, but would be an interesting way of maybe shaking it up, where it is somebody vehemently arguing at the table, listen, I hear you. Claire Obscure is amazing and it is my game of the year. But if we're talking about RPGs, it's kingdom come deliverance. You are role playing an X-Wi. Like right now, there's no space for me to go in and be like, guys, we got to talk about death straining two's our direction. Because I think it is better than Claire Obscure, right? If you have a group of

10 people that are on a call or that are in a room deliberating, you can make that argument and at least make people go, oh, I'm not thought about it in that direction in that way, right? Right now it is a popularity contest. Most people have played Clare obscure and put it up there as like, oh, this is a game of the year. And so, yeah, any category for the most part that Clarebscare is in, it's going to win. And that's always how the Game Awards is going to be unless they do the deliberation thing. Yeah. Yeah, but see, with that, though, I don't agree with that because the deliberation comes within the companies that are then voting, right?

It's like that goes back to doing the due diligence as a team. and then we decide we're voting for this and that's kind of funniest vote, right? So it's not a popularity contest of just popularity. It's popularity of people that are doing this professionally. I agree and disagree. I think the part where I disagree is that

when you make that 130 outlets that are then doing that same thing, I think we end up in the same place where it then becomes a popularity contest because not every, I think when you have 130 people deliberating and then giving their vote, that just ends up just... Correct me if I'm wrong.

Maybe I don't want to misconstrude your point, but I think when you talk about a popularity contest. You're not talking about this game's the most I guess you are but they stick with me as I fumble around

to get to where I'm going it's not the most popular because it's the most pop I'm not saying sales everybody's played it here and loves that game it's like you haven't seen everything it's the way that you just

fucking discovered Ann Roger but I was like talking about it earlier right but I could never get anyone to vote for that and Octopath Traveler 70 hours so I can't get any of you to do that in December to worry about game of it's like

just the shakeup of how it is I think because of the clear obscure, how Claire Obscure is hit critically, right? You go to any outlet and ask, do a poll of people of like, what's your pick for game of the year? I think clear obscures is going to win. And so I think when you drill that down in the categories, you look at any of these categories and go, well, I like Clear Obscure the most. So we're going to vote for it for Best Independent or Best Art or Best Music or whatever

because most people just have a passion for it. I think that just ends up as a popular. I think it's the usual thing when we go through and we do the nominee, or we predict who who's going to win. Occasionally you go up and you read the category, right? like the description of it. And I'm not saying people don't do that, but I don't think necessarily they vote with that in mind sometimes.

Where it is, I've come to this and I remember this song, well, okay, that song was great, but what about the entire thing? And what about this moment and that moment? If you're not in a room at a table to scream at each other, like we see it at IGN,

for IGN game, but you're not IGN game awards. Like right now, if we were to deliberate best RPG right now, right? I think most of us would probably say, Claire, I'm scared. Greg would probably say Octopath. I think Mike would say can and come deliverance too.

I think if we're deliberating, Mike could probably make a compelling argument for getting condoliverance to you. The mixes go, you know what? You make a valid point. Let's consider that more in a stronger way. And that's my whole point. I agree with that 100%.

I also do think that if Expedition 33 looked generic, then it wouldn't win best art direction or it wouldn't even be nominated. But it did really, really excel in those spots. And it still was my, like it's what I voted for and what I thought. Like I think it's not just that's the game that I love the most.

I'm going to vote for that. I think people are still able to look at Exposition Territory and go, well, it really excels at a lot of stuff, art direction-wise, so I'm going to vote for it for best art direction. I really disagree with that. The one point, or no, I totally agree with the fact that independent games should be a more prestigious, let's announce this game at the, on stage with the winner or whatever.

I don't love if that is just a pre-show kind of get through it quickly. But how much of that was produced ahead of time known by Jeff and the team that pacing-wise, expedition's going to win all this stuff, so let's put it here. Holiday Night Silk Song devs weren't there.

They knew that. Like, we're not going to, you know, do the award on stage when there's no on-stage moment to have, right? Right. There has to be some level of, like, understanding of the production of it all. Like, that, The question is, do they know ahead of time who wins? The answer is, yes.

Doug Bowser was standing next to Sidney Goodman, the moment that Donkey Kong was announced, right? So it's like, we know that. So it's like, like, clearly, I don't think best independent game is in the pre-show next year. I mean, there's a lot of factors. You think it's a case-by-case basis. It's case by case. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I, uh, there was another thing I wanted to say.

It's about how cool you are. You love dice because all the dice awards are on stage. to the clear obscure art direction thing, right? Like, I do think that one of the things that especially lends itself to clear obscure this year is that for all the things that it's nominated in for the most part, it is a contender. Like, our direction, for sure,

clear obscure is a contender. Um, music, for sure, clear obscures is a contender. And I think the fact that it does all these specific things so well. Like, again, I would argue for some other games, but again, I can't be, I can't be mad that Claire Obscure won any of these. because, yeah, like, you know, you move a pebble left, you know, two inches, and I'm picking Clarepscare, right? I wake up on a Tuesday instead of a Wednesday.

I'm picking Clarepscare for art direction or whatever. Ghost Hounding says, T.J. just showed last night. It's a popularity contest. You may as well just let fans run the thing and choose all the winners. Expedition 33 should not have swept. And the point there is, Wuthering waves won over Expedition 33 and Hollow Night Silk Song and Kingdom Come Delivery. And it's like, no, that's not how that works.

Yeah. Claire Obscare is an amazing game. Like, how can speed? I don't understand. It's a popularity. We're talking about. We're talking about. It's popular because it deserves it.

Yeah, it's because it's great. Because it is a phenomenal experience. And yeah, just a couple of people in the chat who are bringing up the, like, who knows what. It's like we have enough information on this table because we're part of the voting process and we can only talk certain amounts about that, whatever, just because of how that works. But what I can say is Greg Miller won a game award. Greg Miller did not know he was going on stage, right?

I mean, I'm a special case, and it was a different thing. Like, at what point did I not, are you asking? When you went to the game boards, you didn't know you won. We knew we were leading, though. Remember, this is a fan voted one, and they used to show you the percentages. Oh. And remember that day of is, I remember Jeff did a live stream while I was getting ready. And my Twitter blew up of people like, Jeff says you're still in the lead.

So I was pretty sure. Okay, okay. But they didn't tell you, though. No, no, no. And they split that when I wasn't at my seat. Yeah, exactly. Because someone was talking about Hideo, Kijima, like, he clearly didn't know. They didn't tell them.

It's like, yeah, they don't tell them. Yeah, no, no, no, no. They don't know. What do we feel about Jeff Keely saying, see, you guys won something to Silk Song when they won. I didn't like it. No, because I think that was, there was an article that went up the other day.

We're not going to go. We're not going to win. Players are going to win. Yeah. So I don't know. I felt like it was a little bit of a jab, but. See, I think that's just, it's going to jab saying you're not going to go because you're not going to win.

Oh. Well, why? I don't have to go. I don't have to go to anything. The way Jeff ad-libs on stage and delivers jokes in person as somebody who talks him at events, and that's just how he jokes. And I thought he said it with enough of a smile that it wasn't a fuck you, you idiots. It was just like, come on.

You could have been. You could have been here. But he's also addressing the fact that he knows Australia. That's like, yeah, yeah, yeah. I totally get it. Laser beam came to fucking Fortnite for. Didn't even get to play it. 18 hours.

Oh, man. My guy. That's crazy. Lannon. Lewis says the. The game of the year medley has been lackluster for a while now, and it's because of the musical arrangement. It's always the same drums in each part. The music's all, the music in the games is always super different, and the medley homogenizes them into an okay montage that doesn't capture the real unique sound of each of the games.

Dean Morrison says the Game Awards Orchestra must stop playing the same exact song with the same beat every single year. Most of the time, the game featured don't match the energy of the song, and some variety would be really nice. If you're going to do a medley, make it match the vibe. Brandon Gahn says, while I have criticisms of this specific show, Miss Piggy and the Miss. of the one more thing. The lasting criticism I've had since 2020 is the implementation of high-tempo percussion for the game of the year medley.

It's very distracting, takes away from every game featured, and ultimately ruins the segment. Michael writes insane, the game of year medley did not live up to my expectations and was the first time I was underwhelmed by it. The choice of Lumiere over Alicia for the Expedition 33 theme felt odd in context and Lace instead of Enter Farloom

or last die was very surprising. I just love how into stuff he got with that one. I appreciate that a lot. Mike says, My hot takes Donkey Kong had the best song. in the orchestra medley. I totally see the point of the homogenization of it, but I still love that it's a creative thing

for this orchestra and for these conductors to go, we got to kind of keep a similar tempo. Now, granted, the tempo has always been very similar, and I don't love that. I wish it, like, maybe they slow it down, but it's always a, it's always a driving sort of beat, and then everything matches there.

and because of that, because you don't want to have things sounding too differently, you have to key change some songs to, so it isn't like suddenly it completely, it just sounds like you're just hitting forward on your MP3 player or whatever. Like, I love that the medley, it's a medley because it's trying to melt all of these things together. I do think it could change up what the tempo is because it has sounded the same the past couple of years. I do you think that made the Claire obscure moment though hit It did when they got clear Yeah they like slowed down for a second

It's like oh this is fucking fire Yeah I'm firmly on that side because like it's There's the game of the year song like the theme song That they all start and end with And then they match everything to that I'm like that's cool it's like if I wanted to hear The songs normal versions without that style of percussion It's like I would listen to the soundtracks

I like that there is an artistry to composing This specific thing to match the Game Awards theme song Like I think that's super cool But I think you could speed up the game award song a little bit or slow it down. Yeah. Because it has always, like, kind of felt the same. I wonder if that's like a time thing, though. Like, how far before do they know the nominees for Game of the Year?

And how much is it like, all right, we have an established base. Now we've got to fit everything into this in only three weeks. We have our template in whatever program we're using. I do love that they will go a little bit extra sometimes, specifically with the Mario vocal themes. Like this one, I loved having the actress from. Rosalina in Duncan Bonanza. That was awesome. I've loved that they chose that song. But like, I don't know if you all remember.

Paulied, yeah. Sorry, what I said? I said Roseleena. I was supposed to be like, what? I don't know if you guys remember, but back when Mario Odyssey, so I guess 2017, when they did it, they ended with like the whole fucking song. Which was a lot. One from the chat, they were going back and forth

about awards and Sage said, I think you have to pay for award if you want it. No. If you win an award and something's drastically changed, you get the award, you get one award. If your studio wants multiple for multiple people, you'd have to pay for the multiple awards. Lucid Dream says, Phantom Blade Zero will not hit the September dates. S game boxed themselves in by promising a release date.

They could have waited and announced the date at SGF. Andy? Um, I, I could totally see them not hitting the date just because I, as I mentioned yesterday, anything that they had told me felt like this game was still years away, like minimum two. Now, you're in that weird spot, which is like, well, either you release in September or you delay it maybe a month to October, but you cannot go into November. So then at that point, are you delaying until 2027?

Like, that's where it kind of becomes a really messy situation. Yeah. Max Lemms says, personally, I like when games that are more than one year away are T's. It gets me excited for the next generation. Also, Bradley the Badger was the most interesting looking game at the TGA's. Can't believe Jeff porked the pig. Yeah, dude, shout out to Bradley the Badger, something that we didn't get to talk about, but I was so excited about Grant Kirk Hope doing the soundtrack for it.

Oh, shit. Yeah, so there's a lot for that game. It's like things are looking really, really good. Keep your eyes on it for sure. These next couple ones I really want to talk about too. Matt Mania saying, Remedy are the best and most interesting developers. are out there. Tristan says control resonant is my most anticipated game of 2026. Control is one of my top favorite games of all time. Remedy are goaded.

Also hype for Divinity from the best RPG studio. Saros Wu, Raul, and Star Wars Fates of the Old Republic. Shout out Casey Hudson. What a banger of a show it was. Like, God damn, dude. Now I'm really stoked to, like, I would not have really been that excited about divinity had it not been for Baldus Gate 3. And now I'm like, oh, shit. Now I need to know about this divinity game and I'm very much looking forward to it now. Night Fox says one, we don't put enough respect on control. Two, Control Resonant will win Best Game Direction at next year's Game Awards.

So yeah, just kind of talking about control and remedy as a whole. And I want to talk about them in the framework of the Game Awards. I love that the Game Awards goes all out with production, but I think this year was their best attempt at that, whether it's the live performances musically, but also having the people like from the... Larian with Divinity Head, live actors out there that was crazy

and control it's so cool very cool and that comes from the studios they like Jeff was talking about today that like they pitch those ideas they work on it together and it's like that's super super awesome and we didn't get to see it on the thing but I heard in the live audience that after Doug Bowser won they yanked him up to but I thought that stuff was

rad but who wants to jump off about control and remedy let's fucking go dude that's still my that's my game of the show I wow it they always deliver when it comes to art direction.

They are the every frame of painting type of studio. And for them to say, let's dive deeper into an action-adventure type of video game. Let's use what made control so much fun. Again, it's a tie that I've been chasing since 2019. I want that feeling again

of like flying around and just doing awesome shit with superpowers. And yeah, I think that they that's like as pitch perfect of a reveal as you can have at the game awards. I thought they nailed it. Yeah, I think most interesting developer I agree with from Matt Mania, right? Like, I'm, Control was one that hit way more for me than Alan Wake, but even Allen Wake 2 was such a cool one, like seeing how they're trying to expand out the Remedyverse, seeing the weird shit that they're doing there.

But I think game design-wise, control was the one that like, oh shit, these guys are making an action game that also is fucking weird and I'm exploring and it's doing all these things. And the oldest house is such an interesting location. I think what they do with that stuff and the fact that they're trying to create a connective universe with it is really cool. I'm excited for Max Payne one and two, not just because those are remakes, but because I'm so fascinated to see, are they going to loop that in with everything else they're doing?

I was very sort of kind of surprised by Sam Lake's tweet saying, huge congrats on the announcement of Control Resonet at the Game Awards to the visionary creative director, Mikhail Kassarinen, and executive producer, let me get their actual name,

not their Twitter name, Juha Vianio. Vianio? And their super talented team at Remedyinin. games with the support of Anapurna, it's going to get weirder. So I just, I assumed this would be a Sam Lake-led project, but again, they do have so many projects now, man.

So many projects now. But yeah, still super, super pumped about it. Jerica says, Orbital was one of the coolest games shown. Yes, it was. Bob says Orbital was easily my game in the show. Its sense of style and execution of it, 80s anime, emphasizing the Japanese VO, made it strum my heart more than anything else there. Foto was a hype reveal, but it should have closed the show. I agree about all of that. Orbitals looks awesome.

You got to run it back with me. Let's do it. Let's do it. I'm sitting downplay the entire thing. I'm so in. Record it, I'll put it up. Then, uh, let's see. Those are hot takes, by the way.

Yeah. Yeah. It's just a regular take. It's our first time. I agree with those. I agree with all. We're getting better. Give me some of that makes me want to fight.

What about makes you want to fight other people? I think we didn't talk about it that much. It happened so fast and then moved on. But I don't think, uh, enough people are talking about and giving Jeff credit for for honoring his father at the beginning of it. like I think you know we talk so much about the game boards are the keyleys but it's all you know the thing is oh it's so corporate is so bland it's a popularity contest blah blah blah and like we're always like well no Jeff is that guy he pours his heart and soul into this he cares so much he edits the trailer on itself blah blah blah the strength and then for Jeff keely not being the most beloved person in games right he's a polarizing personality to put yourself out there like that to talk about that I only saw in our live chat which obviously is always very positive like two people who were wanted to be negative about it and called it. One person might have called it like, you know,

ugh, tugging your heartstrings on, and it's like the fact that when he said, my mom's here tonight with an empty chair next to her and they didn't cut to it, that tells you that like that's, he's fucking being a person right there, right? He's being a kid who just lost his fucking dad.

You know what I mean? Like, I thought that was really powerful and cool of him to do because Jeff does not open up like that. On stage or when you talk to Jeff. Jeff is such a closed book. You never know what the fuck's going on in there. Mike's going to get him to open up to it. lost his home in the L.A. Wildfires.

Like, man, I just wanted to give the dude a big hug, man. I didn't know he was going through that. Because, yeah, when we see him, he is very positive. He keeps it very professional, polite. He's on by the book. Like, there's never moments of him like, oh, man, Jeff, I didn't know you were going through so much. Yeah, yeah.

We also called it out last night, and Blessing was the one to mention how much he loved the girls' make games sort of segment. And we all love that it was beautiful. But I also wanted to shout, out Felicia Day 4 running that segment. Yeah, she did a good job. I thought she did an awesome job being this affable, likable personality and kind of getting through these little interviews.

Like she was hilarious and awesome. And that segment like really, really got me emotional. That shit was real good. I think they've done that two years in a row. They've done a really good job with that because Blessing you brought up the last year one. I thought last year we all highlighted that as well. Like, oh, this was really, really well done. Just trying to like condense a bunch of them into kind of just general like conversation points.

I think one big thing is variations on Expedition 1 too much, which meant that a lot of games that deserve love didn't get love. I really would challenge you to look at it from a different perspective of how many times Jeff on stage was like shouting out how many indie games were being nominated for different things and like showing love to the games. And a nomination at the Game Awards is putting a light on it. Winning is not the end-all be-all. I really don't understand the idea that like, oh, they're not getting enough love.

It's like that's on you then. Like you need to look at the nominations and if you're interested in these games you're like, well, I know I like this game and don't like that game, whatever. Like look at the ones next to it and be like, what is blueprints? I haven't heard of that.

But if I like these other games, I should probably try that, right? Yeah, it's such a weird thing to be mad at Expedition for winning so much because this never happens at the game awards. Like there's never a clear runaway sort of, it rarely happens if there's like a clear sweep. There's always like this,

oh is it going to be eldering? Is it going to be Sonsor? Or is it going to be? Yeah, like I think obviously you're more angry at this because it just happened. But like this rarely ever happens. And it's also kind of on, it's on sandfall for just making such a banger game.

They hit on everything they needed to hit and they put out an amazing experience. It's a testament to like, even in previous years where it feels like there's a clear winner, like when I think back to Eldon, or when I think to the Legend of Zelda Tears the Kingdom or I guess Baldur's Gate 3 might have been that same year. It was that same year. But like even when there's a clear winner,

I think you have certain categories where it's all right, best performance. I'm not really going to give this to Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom or like, you know, best whatever. Like usually there's things where it's, well, not every game can be all things. It's a testament to clear obscure Expedition 33 where the categories that are on paper

are the places where that game happens to really hit hard. And I think it's in an even more unique position. And again, this is to their credit that they're never going to be able to do this again because their next game's not going to be able to get best debut. All eyes will be on it too. And all that too but I'm even saying just literally by definition.

It's like they were primed and they showed up and they did it and for a game that like yes, I'm glazing the game. You all know I love the game. Like it's my game in the year. Like I'm not even trying to back off that at all. Like that is what it is. But I also can look at it and just be like, yeah, it is a game to blessing in Andy's points in different ways. It's like the narrative mattered

to them and they delivered. The art direction was different than things that we've ever seen and they delivered the gameplay and how much of a RPG that is following in the footsteps of Final Fantasy to the point that in their game of the year's speech they're shouting out the creator of Final Fantasy it's like all of that stuff the music the like performance it all of that stuff they put the utmost you can't look at any of those categories and be like I doesn't deserve to be here like in any other year it deserves to win those categories in this year it obviously deserved to win those categories So.

And then the final thing I want to, oh, go for it. I know you got a lot, too. I got a hot take that resonated with me. Maybe in time wrote in says hot take, I'm so tired of military sims winning audio design. Congrats. You recorded a bunch of guns being shot just like all the other games. Then blew out our eardrums with the same loud explosions we've heard for decades.

Oh, what's that? This time the audio sounds different depending on where it's coming from. Wow. That's never been done. in games before. At least Arc Raiders is a shooter with recognizable sounds by now for different robots, extractions, etc. Battlefield and Call of Duty always gets nominated is insane to me.

And I like this hot take. That's a good hot take. That's a good hot take. And I wrote for Battlefield, right? So I do a little research, Tim. Oh, love this. Oh, shit. No, he wrote notes.

We might be mad that Battlefield 6 won this year. You might be mad. I am very happy with that. I think they did a fantastic job. job with the audio design this year. Truly fit the chaos of the game, made my ears bleed. It was a perfect mix of all that.

But I had to go back for you. And I wanted to look at it because you said, I'm tired of military Sims winning audio design. Well, here's a quick rundown for you. In 2024, Hellblade 2 won Best Audio Design. Only one military Sim shooter was nominated that year. 2023, High-Fi Rush won Best Audio Design. No shooters were nominated that year.

2022, God of War Ragnarok won, with only one military shooter being Call of Duty. 2021, Fortune Horizon 5 won Best Audio Design with no shooters on the list. 2020, Last of Us, Part 2, 1 with only one shooter being Doom Eternal on the list, which doesn't fit your criteria. Damn. All the way back to 2019, Call of Duty Modern Warfare, won. So I would give you a big list of, hey, there's a lot of audio design being highlighted, and represented here that are not military sims, and most of the time, they ain't winning, big dogs.

In other words, eat shit. Your hot is hot, and I like it maybe in time. Great job this year on your hot take. You come for the king. That was crazy sarcasm to end that one. No, for real? That was fucking nuts. When Tim brings up, like, we want hot takes.

When I watch Santi's app, I like hot takes that make you go, hold up, wait a minute. We got to discuss that. And that's what that is. That was toxic positivity on another level. No, that was crazy. I also want to just bring up, going back to more of the Expedition 33 stuff, you could just look back to last year of like,

game of the year was Astrobot. So was Game Direction, Astrobot. Narrative was Metaphorie Fantazio. Oh, yeah. Art direction was metaphor of Fantasia, which like should not have one. That was like, the game looks awful. Best score in music, Final Fantasy rebirth. Like, everybody got love.

It's just Expedition did all of it in every category. fantastically. Yeah. The hot metaphor is ugly. Holy shit. That's an ugly ass game. Ugly as sin, man. This looks like

someone just cranked up contrast on the background. God damn, dude. You know what? And LA Bear just dropped to his knees. What is happening? Thank you so much for hanging out with us today

with your hot takes for the game awards 2025. Nick and Greg are about to play some of that. God, Terminator 2D, no fate. I'm so excited about it.

Until next time, though, love you all. Goodbye.