Well, Not-E3 is virtually over. All of the big players, such as Sony PlayStation with their State of Play and Microsoft with their Xbox Showcase, have already shot their shot. But the crown jewel of Not-E3 is always going to be Summer Game Fest. Every year, Geoff Keighley has the arduous task of trying to round up some major surprises for Summer Game Fest as well as The Game Awards. That can’t be an easy task.

This year, I do think he did a commendable job but I can’t help but feel a little disappointed with Summer Game Fest overall. There were a couple of big reveals, like Resident Evil Requiem, however, I just feel Sony stole a lot of his thunder with Silent Hill f and Marvel TOKON: Fighting Souls. Even so, there were some good bits throughout this year’s Summer Game Fest that deserve some kind of commendation. So, with that in mind, like with what I did with last year’s Game Awards, here are five “awards” I would like to give to Summer Game Fest!

Best Talking Over A Person Award

The Best Talking Over A Person Award is given to the individual who manages to just make a segment even more unintelligible by speaking while another person is speaking. This award shows the importance of keeping silent while another person is talking, even though you may not know what that other person is saying.

And the winner for the Best Talking Over A Person Award goes to… Hideo Kojima‘s translator for the Death Stranding 2: On The Beach segment!

Even though Death Stranding 2 had a totally separate show during Not-E3, Geoff Keighley just had to show he’s buddies with Hideo Kojima. Now, I also know Geoff Keighley had to keep the show moving as well so he did try to speed the segment up a bit. However, I don’t think having the translator speak while Hideo Kojima was talking was the way to do this. It just made things much harder to understand and both of them were talking at the same time and both their mics were active as well.

Now, I only know a few words of Japanese so I wouldn’t have been able to understand what Hideo Kojima was saying. But by not having the translator wait for him to stop talking, it just made it difficult to hear what he was saying! Next time, wait!

Worst Sound Alike Award

The Worst Sound Alike Award goes to the voice actor who tries to sound like another person but, for one reason or another, it just doesn’t sound right. It may be because, through no fault of the new actor at all, the original person is just too ingrained in our brains so much we can tell something is off.

And the winner for the Worst Sound Alike Award goes to… Neil Patrick Harris for Deadpool VR!

Now, I love myself some Neil Patrick Harris. I love him so much I bought a hardcopy of his Choose Your Own Adventure style autobiography! But, let’s face it: Ryan Reynolds is Deadpool now. Sure, I’m fine with Nolan North‘s take on the Merc With The Mouth because he does tend to put his own spin and not try to sound like Ryan Reynolds. In Deadpool VR, although he does generally speak with his normal voice, Neil Patrick Harris just doesn’t sound like Deadpool because… he doesn’t sound like Ryan Reynolds! Heck, even Ryan Reynolds sorta acknowledges it… in a joking manner, of course.

I guess, for me, the main problem is Neil Patrick Harris doesn’t make it sound like Deadpool is having a gay old time while maiming people. Then again, this is just the voiceover for the Deadpool VR trailer. Maybe he sounds a whole lot better in the game or I’ll grow more accustomed to not hearing Ryan Reynolds and listening to Doogie Houser? Maybe?

Most Realistic Looking Unreal Engine 5 Graphics of Summer Games Fest Award

The Most Realistic Looking Unreal Engine 5 Graphics of Summer Game Fest Award is a testament to the power of the graphics engine and the developers with the skills to put that power to make super detailed graphics. As computers get more powerful, these coders are able to use Unreal Engine 5 to make things look photorealistic, blurring the lines between 3D computer models and real things you can touch.

And the winner of the Most Realistic Looking Unreal Engine 5 Graphics of Summer Game Fest Award goes to… San Strings Studios‘ Felt That Boxing!

Oh, you can try to make a game with humans and make them move like how a person would walk, run and jump in real life. But to try doing that with puppets? That’s a whole other different thing! Still, San Strings Studios managed to do just that with Felt That Boxing!

We’ve all grown up watching puppets on shows like Sesame Street so we know how they would bounce around and move around as if they were being tossed from side-to-side and whatnot. There’s also the fact you have to get the camera angles right so you see just enough of the “puppet” but never too much to break the immersion that you’re actually seeing a 3D model of a puppet. So, getting them to animate and come off as real puppets can be tricky. That’s what makes the animation of Felt That Boxing look so… real, despite them all being puppets.

Best Cosplay Award

The Best Cosplay Award is given to the individual who, due to their love of video games, dresses up as their favorite video game character and, for even more accuracy, copies, or tries to copy, their mannerisms to complete the ensemble.

And the winner of the Best Cosplay Award (because he was the only one who did any cosplay during Summer Game Fest) is… Kenny Omega for Street Fighter 6!

Okay, so I’m technically two of six with my predictions for Summer Game Fest. Honestly, those predictions were essentially the potential surprises and partially the ones I wanted to see. But the one thing I was sure of was them showing off the Year 3 DLC roster for Street Fighter 6. After all, they did this last year and the timing was just right.

I would still want to give props to Kenny Omega for doing all of the cosplay for Alex, C. Viper, Ingrid and Sagat. I mean, he did look really good in those Alex and Sagat cosplays. And seeing Kenny Omenga in C. Viper and Ingrid cosplays will haunt my dreams for the next couple of weeks. So, yeah. I would say these were successful cosplays!

Biggest Game Reveal of Summer Game Fest

The Biggest Game Reveal of Summer Game Fest is, well, the name says it’s all, doesn’t it? This is the game that the entire show has been building up to. This is usually the one that closes out the show to end Summer Game Fest on a high note. But that’s not necessarily the case for all shows, though.

And the winner of the Biggest Game Reveal of Summer Game Fest is… Capcom‘s Resident Evil: Requiem!

Although Summer Game Fest did show us huge games like Onimusha: Way of the Sword, Stranger Than Heaven and the Lies of P: Overture DLC, there is no doubt the biggest game of this year’s Summer Game Fest was the reveal of Resident Evil: Requiem, the ninth entry in Capcom’s long-running survival horror franchise.

Despite not really showing off any gameplay, you can see the RE Engine working its magic to make things look gorgeous. No details regarding the story or the setting but the trailer does suggest we might be revisiting the decimated Raccoon City! They also slyly mentioned that one of the characters, Grace Ashcroft, is actually connected to the Resident Evil’s longtime continuity. Now, there’s no confirmation if she’ll actually be a playable character or not. Still, the trailer definitely piqued a lot of fan’s interest.

What are some of the “awards” you would want to give this year’s Summer Game Fest? Let me know in the comments section below!