Well, this year’s Game Awards has come and gone. I’m frankly happy the show went off without a hitch as there wasn’t an idiot trying to steal the spotlight from the show this year. This year’s Game Awards was not without controversy, however, as some gamers and gaming news sites were grumbling how Geoff Keighley didn’t mention all the firings done in the past year and how some winners’ speeches were forcibly cut short to give more time to things like new trailers and stuff.

I get all of that and they are valid complaints to make. But there are much more qualified and more articulate persons who can talk about these issues much better than me. What I would rather do is take a look at some of the more silly stuff I noticed during the Game Awards themselves. There was a bunch of them this year but that’s par for the course for every Game Awards it seems.

So, let’s take a deep breath and look at some of the “awards” I would like to honor the Game Awards with this year.

#1 Best Burn of the Night: Christopher Judge telling truth about Call of Duty’s short campaign

I don’t play Call of Duty… but even I know what Christopher Judge said was true!

Is it weird that I find it strange not a lot of shade is thrown in the Game Awards? I mean, a lot of awards shows like in the Oscars like to poke fun at the entire industry and even specific people who work in the industry. Heck, that’s exactly why Chris Rock got smacked in the face by Will Smith! Then again, I don’t think there’s a developer from the Call of Duty franchise who would have the guts to try that same thing with Christopher Judge when he joked about how short that game’s single player campaign is.

There is some aftershock to Christopher Judge’s slight as some developers from the Call of Duty franchise went on social media to say they were miffed at the allegation. But why? I mean, the single player campaign for Call of Duty isn’t exactly the focus so it’s not shocking that they don’t put a lot of time and effort to crafting a complex story with twists and turns. It’s the multiplayer experience that sells Call of Duty each and every year, right? But if Christopher Judge’s burn lights a fire under the Call of Duty devs to make a better single player campaign, then it was all worth it.

#2 Best Musical Act Involving a Developer: Sam Lake for Alan Wake 2’s “We Sing” Performance

I didn’t know Max Payne could dance!

I never played Alan Wake 2 but, after seeing the Old Gods of Asgard perform with Alan Wake’s actor as well as his voice actor and Mr. Door, I might just get it. While the performance literally had nothing to do with the gameplay or even follow the spooky tone of Alan Wake, just watching everyone on stage seemingly have fun doing this silly dance number made me curious about it.

But what really sold me on the dance was Sam Lake, the brains behind Alan Wake 2, joining in and doing this dumb performance. He was just so joyful doing all of the twirling and hand raising at the end. He didn’t care that he was a bigwig head of a development studio. He was just happy to be there and I was all for it.

#3 Best Awkward Celebrity Moment: Anthony Mackie

Looks like the MCU’s Falcon really loves getting high up there!

Look, I’m kidding when I say Anthony Mackie must’ve been on something when he came on stage to reveal that Twisted Metal was getting a second season and present the award for Best Ongoing Game. He was obviously playing to the crowd who was yelling all sorts of stuff at him for god knows why. Still, Anthony Mackie was a little too hyped up to be just calling the winner for Best Ongoing Game or whatever.

The entire thing was this weird mixture of cringe and awkward funny, which is something of a Game Awards staple whenever they have some kind of celebrity come on stage to do something. I’m just amazed it wasn’t Matthew McConaughey winning this award!

#4 Best Distraction of Premiering Something Without Showing Anything: Hideo Kojima for OD

So, all we got to see was floating faces speaking gibberish and that’s it?

I understand that, whenever Hideo Kojima is working on a new game, it’s big news. I also know Geoff Keighley is good friends with Hideo Kojima so I get why they devoted a good chunk of time to talk about OD, his latest project. It was also nice to know that Jordan Peele will be collaborating with Kojima for this as his horror movies are generally different than the standard schlock from big movie studios.

But did we really need to devote more than eight minutes to this when they, and let’s be real here, didn’t show anything? All they did was show Sophie Lillis and Hunter Schaefer talking about dinosaurs and hippos or whatever and that was it. Did they talk about what the game was about? Not really. How is the gameplay like? You’ll have to wait and see. If this entire segment was trimmed down to around half of how long it was, I would’ve appreciated it. This just went on too long as they really didn’t talk about anything but say “Oh, it’s going to be a good game!” Maybe but, next time, give us a little bit more to really use the time properly.

#5 Best Use of Plate Armor: Swen Vincke from Larain Studios

I gotta know… Did he wear it the entire night?

If he did, you just know Swen Vincke was pretty confident that Baldur’s Gate 3 was going to win Game of the Year. I mean, have you tried wearing plate mail? Even if it’s not authentic, a suit of armor is just uncomfortable. It doesn’t breathe. It has the tendency to dig into the wrong places. You can’t move your arms freely. It looks cool and it fun for around the first ten minutes you’re wearing it. But past that point, you just want to take it off.

I do have to give props to Swen Vincke as, despite the Game Awards being a gaming event, he was the only one who really show his geeky side with his outfit. He was the lead in one of the best RPGs made, not just this year, but ever in Baldur’s Gate 3. He wanted to show how proud he was that me made a great RPG and he did so by wearing this uncomfortable piece of metal on him. He deserves and extra award for doing that!

What other “award” would you give the Game Awards? Let me know in the comments section below!