The Game Awards don't matter
590:00 - The Game Awards
1:25 - A sequel that outdid its predecessor
3:26 - A beautiful, smart puzzler
5:12 - The indie that surprised me
6:33 - Rethinking an earlier video
8:07 - A game DEMO?!
More writing at https://MattHorton.live
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I enjoy the Game Awards. It's often a great show.
I enjoy what Geoff Keighley is trying to do for the games industry, and honestly, the orchestra is what keeps me coming back every year, ever since their rendition of the Animal Crossing New Horizons theme made me cry back in 2020. But I have to admit that the choices, both for nominees and for winners, often leave me scratching my head.
Video games like any art form are subjective. You have your opinions, I have mine, and the people nominating things for the Game Awards clearly have theirs. For example, they seem to hold the opinion that the 12th biggest games publisher in the world can have a game nominated for best independent game.
But precisely because art is subjective, and because the Game Awards makes strange decisions basically every year, I think to culturally cede the title of Game of the Year to Keighley's list of games that had big marketing budgets is weak of us. Our opinions are just as valid as those of the nominating committee and the people who voted for the Game Awards. And that goes for you too. Your opinions are just as valid as mine. I mean, you know, I don't really know enough about your opinion to say that, but the spirit of it is right.
The only thing that can make a game the Game of the Year is whether or not you thought it was the best game you played that year.
So here's my personal list of my favorite games from 2023.