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DLC 24. The Game Awards Predictions
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Join us for a special DLC where we predict the winners and losers of the 2025 Game Awards! We also make three predictions each on what will show up at the show. Who will win?
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Podcast - http://www.x.com/gameoverplastic
Midnight- http://www.x.com/midnightdt
Sean- http://www.x.com/seanlikestobake
Hodge- http://www.x.com/hodgebaba57
Video and Audio edited by: Hodge OR Midnight (episode dependent)
Intro and Graphics by: Hodge
Intro music credits:
Epic Cinematic Trailer | ELITE by Alex-Productions | https://onsound.eu/
Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Creative Commons CC BY 3.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Recommended
Transcript
00:00:29
Speaker
And welcome
Introduction and Podcast Goals
00:00:30
Speaker
everybody. This is Games Over Plastic, the podcast for the agnostic gamer. I am Midnight, coming to you on a special DLC episode here. We're coming to you in our off week. We're going to be on this episode making our predictions for who or what we think will win each Each major game award. We're going to go through all the game awards for the game awards show, which is on December 11th. And we're going to pick what game or or whoever we think will win.
00:00:59
Speaker
And at the end, we're also going to have three general predictions for the show. And then, you know, when we get together for our holiday episode or the copies, we'll do a just a quick recap of who had the most points and who got the most right. So. This is going to be fun. i do want to stress this is what we think we will win the award. This is not what we want to win.
Personal Views on Game Awards
00:01:18
Speaker
If you want to know what we thought was the best of what we want to win, stay tuned to the Goppy's later this year hosted by the one and only Sean Mason. And speaking of Sean Mason, let me introduce my co-host Sean. How you doing?
00:01:31
Speaker
I do want to reiterate, on on our award show, these are not the awards we do. like none of like Barely any of these would be in our award show. Except Game of the Year, basically. really don't care about half these awards. yeah Probably more than half. awards Honestly, I don't really care about awards in general. I think they kind of don't.
00:01:49
Speaker
That's just me. I like our own award show. I mean, that's why the copies are more of just a year in review kind of thing for us, if anything. Yeah. Exactly, Kat. Exactly. Exactly.
Weather and Weekend Plans
00:02:00
Speaker
But yeah, I'm doing great. I'm doing all right. You know, just hanging in there. It's really cool. It's all sudden, it's like really, really cold last couple weeks. It's like winter's here. It felt like February yesterday because it was like three degrees outside.
00:02:14
Speaker
Fahrenheit. Yeah. Yeah. It's been cold for Texas standards. It's been cold here too. It's been in the thirties and you know, for here that's cold. So I haven't been a fan of that. Yeah.
00:02:26
Speaker
yeah I know when I, when I lived in Columbus, you know, obviously I was used to some real cold, you know, it would be negative degrees and snowing and icing a lot of the time, but for Texas 30 is pretty cold and you don't like that.
00:02:39
Speaker
We're not built for that cold. You get used to 112 degree summers. So when it's 30 degrees, you're like, fuck. Yeah. Last but not least, Hodge, the master of graphics. How are you, sir?
00:02:52
Speaker
I'm good. we're Obviously, we're not talking about kind of what we're playing yesterday or this episode, but I beat Yote yesterday and I started DK Bonanza this morning and I'm loving it. But. I'm doing good. It's the weekend, ah thankfully, because I was working on roofs the last two days when it is freezing cold outside. So I'm happy to sit inside and do nothing this weekend. And Bears Packers is this weekend. So I was wrong last time when I predicted the Bears would get crushed. You were actually right. Predicting Eagles would lose.
00:03:21
Speaker
But Bears-Packers, that's an up-in-the-air type thing. so So I put Moneyline Packers just to make myself feel a little better if they do win. But I'd rather lose my money and have the Bears win. So hopefully Monday morning you ah the Bears are 10-3 and I'm not like $30 richer. All right.
00:03:40
Speaker
Good thing you didn't fall off the roof.
Sports and Risks Discussion
00:03:43
Speaker
Yeah, it's slow and they're slick up there because it's like just this yeah plastic crap that's up on the roof. So if you hit the if you hit a patch of ice wrong, you're s slipping. And i have a bum knee, so every time I slip, my knee tweaks a little. And I'm like, I'm going to freaking tear something in my knee one of these days walking around on this crap. So, jeez yeah, not fun. Well, if you ever do tear your knee at work, that's workers' comp. So at least you'll be covered. Yeah. um Speaking of games that are taking place.
00:04:12
Speaker
My Ohio State Buckeyes are playing tonight in the Big Ten Championship against number two, Indiana. Number one versus number two. What a meaningless game this is. It is meaningless for the playoff sense, but it's still going to be a good game and it's going to be fun because you want to win the Big Ten.
00:04:29
Speaker
um I think my Buckeyes will win, but I think it's going to be really close. I'm i'm thinking like ah like a four points or less. That's what Vegas says, four and a half points, and I agree with that. I think it's going to be four points or less.
00:04:41
Speaker
The winner will be decided. I have a question. have a question. You said my Ohio State Buckeyes. I didn't know you are you're a member of the school. I am. I'm the number one fanboy. We've been over this before.
00:04:55
Speaker
I am a member of the team. but So you're the number one fanboy, yet you live in a different state. But I was born in Columbus. I lived there for 30 years. I was born in the darkness.
00:05:06
Speaker
yeah So you're the number one fan of Batman? Yeah. Or you are Batman. Sean Mason is Batman, boys. Bane. Bane. Bane. Oh, you're Bane. Okay. Well. You're right. Batman just embraced the darkness, right? Yeah. All right, all right.
Platform and Engagement
00:05:20
Speaker
All right, guys. So this is Games Over Plastic coming to you every other Monday on YouTube at youtube.com slash at games over plastic in full 4K glory with masterful graphics and edits done usually by our one and only Hodge.
00:05:36
Speaker
Every now and then I'll do an edit as well, which won't be as good, but yeah. um You can also find this on all audio platforms, such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, and everywhere else. Just look for Games Over Plastic. Leave us likes and comments and subscriptions on YouTube if you can, because it helps us move up that algorithm and maybe get a new listener or two, which would be nice. And if you're on audio platforms, if you like the podcast, if you haven't yet, you know click on the podcast and rate us five stars, please. But yeah, so this is a DLC coming to you in our off week. And yeah,
00:06:09
Speaker
Let's go ahead and get into this here in a second. That sound good, boys? Yeah. All right. Okay. So now we are going to jump into the awards. So at thegameawards.com, we all have this pulled
Game Award Predictions Begin
00:06:23
Speaker
up. I am going to read through each award, and then we are going to pick which game or whatever we think is going to win. Is somebody going to keep track of this in the notes?
00:06:33
Speaker
Can somebody? Yeah, I can do ahger I can do it. Okay. All right. One of you. Yeah. um and That way we'll know who got the most points. Each correct pick will be worth one point, I suppose. And then on the random ones, do we want to do two points for that?
00:06:47
Speaker
Yeah. if If it's a correct prediction. yeah Okay. And then we'll tally it up and you know we'll reveal later who had the most points just for fun. All right. So starting this off, boys, with the most anticipated game.
00:07:00
Speaker
So it says, recognizing an announced game that has demonstrated, illustrated potential to push the gaming medium forward. And the nominees were 007 First Light, GTA 6, Marvel's Wolverine, Resident Evil Requiem, and The Witcher 4. These are some big games.
00:07:19
Speaker
um I'll go ahead and I guess I'll start it off and I'll say ah GTA 6 is my favorite. Yeah, i think we can I think we can all probably agree that GTA 6 is going to win this. yeah We all agree? Yeah, that's a big one. There's, yeah, no, yeah, no chance. Like, all those games are obviously highly anticipated, but there's zero chance it's not GTA 6. Yeah, it's going to be GTA.
00:07:40
Speaker
Did GTA 6 win it last year, too? I don't recall. Probably. Probably. Wouldn't surprise me. But yeah, these are all pretty great games that I am anticipating, except for 007. I don't know if I care, but maybe I'll still check that out.
00:07:53
Speaker
All right, guys, moving on to the next is best adaptation. Just hit previous. ah Recognizing outstanding creative work that faithfully and authentically adapts a video game to another entertainment medium.
00:08:06
Speaker
And the nominees are a Minecraft movie, Devil May Cry, Splinter Cell Death Wish, The Last of Us Season 2, and Until Dawn for some reason. Did people not watch that movie? Yeah. They just needed one to have. I was going to say, apparently there's only five things that came out this year. So this is all of them. All right, boys. Sean, what's your pick for the winner? Who do you think will win?
00:08:35
Speaker
um Well, I've only seen The Last of Us 2. I've seen Until Dawn as well, so I'm trying to figure out. Was The Devil May Cry, people like that show? I think so, but I didn't... I'm going to go with Devil May Cry, because I'm not really sure. It's either going to be that, or I think it could be Minecraft.
00:08:52
Speaker
All right. Hodge, you? What's your pick? Oh, didn't even think about that. mine It could be Minecraft, like, purely for the lulz. People might vote for it, but...
00:09:05
Speaker
going to go last of us part two, even though no way that's winning. There's no way that's what I know. I didn't, I don't think so, but don't know. Until dawn is garbage. I think people hated splinter cell if I remember right.
00:09:17
Speaker
But like I said, Minecraft for the lulls and devil may cry. People liked it, but no one really talked about it. So I'm just going with last of us purely from name recognition. You got to think about the types of people that vote for these awards. They might be Last of Us part Season 2 fans. Totally were not. Trust me.
00:09:34
Speaker
yeah I'm going to go with Minecraft Movie. Why not? Just for fun. I didn't see that movie, but I heard it was, you know, reasonably good, I thought i think. I heard a lot of people yell Chicken Jockey.
00:09:46
Speaker
Chicken Jockey. Yeah. All right. Moving on to the next one. Best multiplayer for outstanding online multiplayer gameplay and design, including co-op and massively multiplayer experiences, irrespective of game genre or platform.
00:10:01
Speaker
And then we have Ark Raiders, Battlefield 6, Elden Ring Night Reign, Peak, which is this podcast, actually, and Split Fiction. Hodge, what do you think is going to win?
00:10:13
Speaker
Arc Raiders. Arc Raiders, yeah. it's well It's little bit of recency bias and people are obsessed with it, so it's it's I think it's going to win. Yeah. ah Four of these are all really big. I don't know about Peak. Maybe that is too. But yeah, I'm also going to pick Arc Raiders just because it's just so zeitgeisty right now. Sean, what say you? um I'm going to go Peak.
00:10:37
Speaker
Are you really? Yeah. Okay. People talked about that like it was like it was an awesome game. I honestly I've never heard of this game. Was it is it good? suppose Yeah. yeah Supposedly it was really good.
00:10:50
Speaker
Okay. Honestly, I think Split Fiction should win. I just don't think it will because it came out so early in the year. I think it's just going to be forgotten about in every award basically. Yeah, probably. That's the curse of coming out early.
00:11:03
Speaker
All right. Moving on to the next one. Best sports and racing for the best traditional and non-traditional sports and racing game. Before we continue this, Mario Kart and Sonic Racing should not be in this category. I'm sorry. Those should not be in this category. Right, right. You don't consider those racing games, I guess? They're different types of games.
00:11:23
Speaker
True. I guess they want to squeeze it in somewhere, I guess. All right, the nominees are, as mentioned, Mario Kart World, Sonic Racing Cross Worlds, Rematch, F-125, and EA Sports Football Club 26, formerly known as FIFA. I'll start this one off, and I'm going to say that the winner of this one is going to be F-125 by Codemasters. Sean, what do you think? Zero shot that F-1 is going to win this because Mario Kart World is going to win given the audience that is voting on this.
00:11:55
Speaker
I think you're right. I think I made a shitty pick there. but I'll stick by it, though. i'll still You can't change. You can't change too much. I think it's going to win, too, but I'm going to go with rematch just to be different because I know that one was pretty big for a while, so I'm going go with rematch. And like soccer is a world beloved sport, just not where we're from. so Again, look look who's voting on these awards. True. Yeah, but it it wasn't like it's not FIFA. It's like an arcade soccer game, so I can see it I could see it winning, but I think Mario Kart might win, but I'm going to rematch anyway.
00:12:32
Speaker
Okay. All right, boys, let's go and move on to the the next one. So best Sims slash strategy game. The best game focused on real time or turn based simulation or strategy gameplay, irrespective of platform.
00:12:45
Speaker
And the nominees are Final Fantasy Tactics, The Evil East Chronicles, Jurassic World Evolution 3, Sid Meier's Civilization 7, Tempest Rising, The Altars and Two Point Museum. So there's an extra one on this one. um Hodge, we'll start with you here. What do you think is winning this? Really quick, you could have given me 30 tries to pronounce Ivalice, and I would have never said it that way. Did I get it right, Sean? I don't even know.
00:13:14
Speaker
ah Yes, you did. Ivalice? Okay. Yes, e I would have never got it. I've heard other people say it. That's the only reason why I knew, I guess, how to say it. um I'm going to go with...
00:13:26
Speaker
I don't know this, obviously, that well. ah I feel like I've heard of the alters, I'm going to go with that one. No way that game's winning. i don't know I don't know. I don't know this dragon newer game. Sean, what do you think's winning?
00:13:42
Speaker
um I think Civ 7's going to win.
00:13:47
Speaker
I actually think that Hodge is right, and I'm also going to vote for the alters. But I think that Sean is probably right and that we're both stupid and that that's not winning because it is kind of like an, in like not an indie, but like a dark horse darling, dark horse niche darling. Yeah. Yeah.
00:14:04
Speaker
But people loved it though that played it. So I'm going to pick it. No, no. I know. I know. one person is going to vote for Jurassic Park or Jurassic World Evolution. That is Ben Hanson of Vin Max. He is a huge fan of that game.
00:14:21
Speaker
All right. The next award, here's a fun one. Best family for the best game appropriate for family play, irrespective of... I'm going to stop reading the irrespective of genre or platform. All right. Donkey Kong Bonanza, Lego Party, Lego Voyagers, Mario Kart World, Sonic Racing Cross Worlds, and Split Fiction.
00:14:42
Speaker
Sean, what say you? What is winning? Mario Kart's going to win. Mario Kart, okay. I'm going to say Donkey Kong Bonanza. I keep switching up the order. I hope that doesn't mess up your note taking.
00:14:55
Speaker
Doesn't mess up anything. All right. Yeah, I'm saying Donkey Kong Bonanza. You said Mario Kart and Hodge. What do you say?
00:15:05
Speaker
I'm going DK Bonanza. I think this game was so well regarded that it's going to be chosen. Yeah. Yeah. To me, it's weird, though. like I understand it probably will be Donkey Kong, but I don't think that should be in Family Game because, to me, Family Game should be like a nice multiplayer game you can sit down and just pick up and play.
00:15:23
Speaker
Yeah, Donkey Kong is more of like what a platformer, I guess, kind of. It's a single-player platforming game. Yeah. Yeah, that should be a different category, probably. But since it's not. It's more of genre of audience level. It's a family game in terms of its all ages. That's, I think, what it goes with.
00:15:40
Speaker
But I agree that family should be kind of like you play it as a family. Like a party game, a co-op type deal. Yeah. Yeah. All right.
Genre-Specific Predictions
00:15:49
Speaker
Best fighting game for the best game designed primarily around head to head combat. We have two XKO Capcom fighting collection to fatal fury city of the wolves, mortal combat legacy collection and virtual fighter five Revo world stage. Yeah.
00:16:08
Speaker
um sean what do you think's winning in this i honestly have no idea i was gonna win this because honestly i don't no one's really even like talked about like any of this crap right um again i used to think virtual fighter was virtual fighter until this year i'm gonna go with the um i know the mortal combat legacy collection i heard that was like really well done like there's a lot of like um They just did a really good job at preserving everything and presenting it. So I'm going to go with that, Mortal Kombat Legacy Collection.
00:16:39
Speaker
All right. ah Hodge, why don't you go next? I have literally zero rhyme or reason. I'm just calling out names. I'm going Mortal Kombat just because it's the only one I really know of. I know. god It's a beloved series. so Yeah, I'm also not a big fighting guy either. um i'm just I'll just be a little bit different. I'll say Capcom Fighting Collection too. I don't know anything about these. I didn't i guess Street Fighter VI was last year, It must have been. Yeah. Wasn't that like...
00:17:06
Speaker
Early last year? Yeah, who knows? yeah None of us are fighting game guys, huh? Virtual Fighter V is cool because it's by my one of my studios that I like, Ryuga Gotaku, you know, the Yakuza people.
00:17:18
Speaker
I didn't even know this came out yet, though. Like, did it come out and, like, I didn't even hear about it? Yeah, yeah, I'm pretty sure it did, yeah. Wow. That's telling. All right. oh best RPG. Now this is a category that your boy Midnight loves. So this is for the best game designed with rich player character customization and present progression, including massively multiplayer experience.
00:17:38
Speaker
The nominees are avowed Claire obscure expedition 33 kingdom come deliverance to monster Hunter wilds and the outer worlds to now all five of these games are great.
00:17:50
Speaker
I didn't play monster Hunter, but it's probably great. Um, i'll go ahead and start this off here since you know it's rpgs my pick for what i think will win this award is kingdom come deliverance 2. sean what say you sir mr mason um yeah think i don't play rpgs you know um i know you do i what i what i would love i would love for the outer worlds to win but um it's not gonna happen um
00:18:22
Speaker
it's kind of It's coming back between Expedition 33 and Kingdom Come to Deliverance 2. I think, you know, I'm going to go with Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 because I think it's going to get shafted in another award.
00:18:36
Speaker
So they're going to say, here you go. It's going to be the the Josh Allen MVP last year. Yeah, we're going put Lamar Jackson on the All-Pro first team, but we're going give you the MVP, Josh Allen, which doesn't make any sense.
00:18:48
Speaker
Right, right. Hodge, what game do you think is going to take it? I had the exact same thought. I think Kingdom Come Deliverance is going to win this, but ah lose something else. We'll get to it later. yeah Yeah, I think we all might think that. so All right, so we all got KCD2, and in my opinion, that is the game that should win. But anyway, moving on. But we' we're missing a game that should be nominated, and that's Trails in the Sky. i don't know why it's not up here.
00:19:15
Speaker
Yeah, there's there's no Japanese games in here, huh? is there I wonder if there's a separate JRPG category. there's not. There's not, okay. Well, that's kind of rude. There should be a JRPG in here, I think. There should. There are good JRPGs.
00:19:29
Speaker
I think they could have put Trails in there instead of instead of either About or Outer Worlds. You don't need two Obsidian games, but anyway. All right, moving on to the best action adventure. The best action adventure game combining combat and traversal with puzzle solving. And we have Death Stranding 2 on the beach, Ghost of Yote, Hollow Knight Silksong, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle from last year.
00:19:53
Speaker
it was came out so late, though, so it's getting its shine here. And Split Fiction. Hodge, what's your pick, sir? um Action adventure, I'm going to go...
00:20:08
Speaker
ah Let's go Indiana Jones. I feel like it was beloved and it seems the most action adventure to me of these like they all are, you know, put like Metroidvania for Silksong. Yote is the only other one I would consider Death Stranding 2 is more of a narrative based game and then Split Fiction is more of a multiplayer game. So I don't really see any of those as action adventure, quote unquote. So I could see Indiana Jones take this one.
00:20:36
Speaker
Okay. i Sean, how about you? i think Ghost of Yote is going to win this game. I think um the Indiana Jones is going to get hurt from just coming out last year, and then when it came out on PlayStation, it was in April, and it kind of just came in late.
00:20:54
Speaker
Yeah. All right. But the Giants DLC came out this year, which kind of reinvigorated the hype for it, so who knows? um I'm not sure.
00:21:06
Speaker
I kind of want to say Hollow Knight, but I'm not going to. I'm going actually, I'm going to Death Stranding 2 on the beach. It's a little bit of kind of what I hope wins, but I'm just going to go with it. Kojima-san.
00:21:19
Speaker
We love Death Stranding 2 on this podcast. All right. Moving on to the next one. Best action game. For the best game in the action genre. Best action adventure? Like, Jesus.
00:21:31
Speaker
All right. Yeah. But these are different types of games. These are kind of shootery type games a little bit. Battlefield six. Doom the Dark Ages. 80s to Ninja Gaiden for so not all shooters and Shinobi Art of Vengeance.
00:21:46
Speaker
I'll start it off here. Say going to go ahead. You said mostly shooters. Three of the five are not shooters. Right. I already kind of corrected myself, though. Sean. Right, right.
00:22:00
Speaker
I was looking at the first two and I was like, oh, these are kind of shooters. All right. So which one do I think is going to win, though? I'm going to go ahead and give a nod to. No, I'm not going to give it. I'm going to say Ninja Gaiden for Ninja Gaiden for is my pick.
00:22:15
Speaker
Hodge, what say you? um I'm going to go... going go Shinobi Art of Vengeance.
00:22:27
Speaker
All right. yeah i don't know I'm going with the same as Hodge. Shinobi Art of Vengeance. All right. So we're all picking ninja games. No love for Hades, too, huh? Hodge. i' I just feel like it didn't really blow up the same way Hades 1 did. i feel like it kind of just came and went when it came out.
00:22:47
Speaker
All right. Like, it's a great game, but I just feel like, I don't know. It didn't really have the the hype around it this time around. Fair enough. Moving on. The best VR slash AR for the best game experience playable in virtual or augmented reality.
00:23:03
Speaker
We have Alien Rogue Incursion, Arkham Age, Ghost Town, Marvel's Deadpool VR, and The Midnight Walk. um I'll start it off here. Again, i have no idea what I'm doing with the orders. I'm literally just randomly going. I'm going to say The Midnight Walk is my pick, just because I like that artwork, and I think that game's kind of cool for looking. Sean, what do you think? Sweep, I'm going with Midnight Walk, and Hodge already put you into The Midnight Walk, so we can move on.
00:23:31
Speaker
Well, I actually was debating not picking it, but I do think it'll win. It's obviously the one I want to win. What was the other one you thought? scary I was thinking Alien Rogue Incursion, just because I feel like alien games are usually...
00:23:43
Speaker
like after that isolation game came out, I feel like people actually kind of enjoy the end game. So I don't know if this one was any good, but I still don't with the midnight walk though. What is the arc in age? And what is ghost? haven't heard those. I have no idea. you guys want to skip the best mobile game, which is the next category? I think, no, I don't want to do best mobile game. Cause I know it's going to win this. All right. right. Best mobile game for the best game playable on a mobile device. Destiny rising persona five, the phantom X sonic rumble,
00:24:14
Speaker
Uma Musume Pretty Derby and Wuthering Waves. Sean, you know what's going to win this. What's winning this? Well, first of all, I'm shocked that like, why isn't like, um like, why isn't like a random Roblox game nominated on here? Because those are wicked popular. That's what I'm shocked about. um I'm going to go with Sonic Rumble.
00:24:37
Speaker
Okay. Sonic has to win an award. We all know that. Hodge, you go ahead. i ah I'll save my pick for last. I'm going Wuthering Waves. I feel like I've heard that name before. so Yeah, that's a pretty big one.
00:24:53
Speaker
I am going to go with Uma Musume Pretty Derby. And funny enough, I actually know people in another Discord that I'm in that are addicted to this game. They're total weave nerds and they love this game. So I think this game could actually possibly win. Like there is some hype around this from what I've seen, even though it looks absolutely stupid. All right.
00:25:15
Speaker
It's like ah a horse racing game, apparently, with like anime girls. It's weird. Oh, I remember seeing a trailer for it. It probably at like last year's Game Awards or something. I remember seeing it and thinking, like what the fuck is that? It looks weird to me. All right.
00:25:28
Speaker
Here we go. Best debut indie game. For the best debut game created by an independent studio, we have Blueprints, Claire Obscure Expedition 33, which shouldn't be here.
00:25:40
Speaker
uh despilot i guess and dispatch all right uh sean what do you think uh expedition 33 i think is gonna win this one okay all right i'm gonna say you're wrong and i'm gonna say blueprints wins because i don't think expedition 33 is really an indie game and i think the voters will penalize it for as such even though it's in the category that's just my i say blueprints hodge I don't know why it wouldn't be indie game. It's going to win, but it's definitely an indie game. Well, it had publisher. It also had Xbox money, too. Like, I don't know. And I just feel like it's going to win a ton of other awards. It didn't get produced by Xbox.
00:26:20
Speaker
Right, but they had a publisher, and they got a a Game Pass bag. And also, kind of like we talked about earlier, I feel like Expedition's going to win a ton of other awards, so they might give something else here. Can I just say Blueprints got a PlayStation bag, because they were in the PS Plus when it launched. Just put that out there. Actually, you know what? It's fair. I'm not going to go. It was in Game Pass, too, actually.
00:26:38
Speaker
so So, yeah. I just feel like it so feels a little more indie, and Claire's going win other stuff, but... on On second thought, I'm not going Expedition 33. I'm going Dispatch.
00:26:49
Speaker
Okay. I feel like people are loving that game. Yeah, people in our Discord, like ah Meatball, right? Meatball loves it. Shout out, Meatball. Yeah. All right, boys. Let's move on. Best independent... How is this different from any game? How is this different? The other one is debut. Oh, yeah. That one was debut. Yes. Oh, okay. Gotcha. All right. Best independent game. I'm not going the description this time. We have Absalom, Ball X Pit, Blueprints, Clear Obscure, Exponition 33, Hades 2, and Hollow Knight Silksong.
00:27:21
Speaker
Hodge, what's your pick? Ball X Pit. People are obsessed with it. It's like the next Vampire Survivors where it's just an addicting game. True that. I'm going to say Hollow Knight Silksong is my pick.
00:27:34
Speaker
I am also going with Silksong. I think it's going to get this award because we've been waiting for it for so long. Everyone was like, oh my gosh, I can't wait. I can't wait. And it was freaking awesome. If Bollocks Pit weren't in this, I would have gone with Silksong. But I feel like Bollocks Pit is just so addicting that everyone's playing it. so All
Community and Ongoing Game Predictions
00:27:53
Speaker
right. let Next category, best community support, recognizing a game for outstanding community support, blah, blah, blah.
00:28:00
Speaker
Baldur's Gate 3, Final Fantasy XIV, Fortnite, Helldivers 2, and No Man's Sky. ah Sean, what say you? I'm going to say I think Final Fantasy XIV is going win, and that's only because i don't think many people even like who vote on this really even keep up with this kind of stuff. So I think Final Fantasy XIV will win based on just reputation alone.
00:28:25
Speaker
Yeah, not a bad pick. Fortnite's nominated. What am i talking about? Do you want to change? i like Yeah, I'll let you change. Fortnite. Okay, Fortnite. All right. I'm actually leaning Fortnite 2, but just to be a little bit different, I'm going to say Helldivers 2 because they came out with an Xbox version. you know They're doing stuff. They're supporting the game. I'm going to say Helldivers 2.
00:28:45
Speaker
Hodge? I was going to go with Helldivers 2, but honestly, even though I think the support is there, and you know they're constantly releasing Battle Pass things. They just released one this week, I think. But I feel like the hype has died around that game, so I just don't think anyone cares enough to vote for it. So I was just going to go with No Man's Sky since it's always there, and people are always like, look how they're improving it Go, man, Sky. Okay. I do think, honestly, it's probably going Fortnite, but I'm going to say Helldivers.
00:29:12
Speaker
so Because Fortnite is constantly... I always see new characters and bullshit launching for Fortnite. Didn't we just see... What was the one you tagged Sean in or somebody? Yeah, it's Danny Phantom. Danny Phantom. Danny Phantom. Maybe I'll join in. Maybe I'll join in for Danny Phantom. There you go. you can drop you can Where are we dropping bro with Hodge?
00:29:30
Speaker
Yeah. You should. right. Going ghost! right. The next is best ongoing game awarded to a game for outstanding development of ongoing content that evolves the player experience over time. And we have Final Fantasy 14, Fortnite, Helldivers 2, Marvel Rivals, and No Man's Sky. this similar last one, but we have Marvel Rivals in here. I'll go ahead and start this one off again. Again, I don't remember anything about what I'm picking. For this one, I will go ahead and say the best ongoing is Fortnite.
00:30:03
Speaker
Hodge. I was going go with Fortnite for this one, too. I think their ongoingness is more well-regarded than the support part. Same. I'm going with Fortnite. We got our Danny Phantom now. We had just had the Simpsons in there. One of my students was like, wow, we just need to get Quahog in there so we can run around Quahog. Oh, my God.
00:30:25
Speaker
Yeah, they had to a little bit earlier. They had the Green Power Ranger when I was actually dabbling with it. Yeah. Yeah. All right Games for impact
Games with Social Impact
00:30:33
Speaker
for a thought-provoking game with a pro-social message or meaning.
00:30:37
Speaker
The nominees are Consume Me... Despelote, I struggle with that name, Lost Records, Bloom and Rage, South of Midnight, and Wanderstop.
00:30:49
Speaker
Sean, first of all, do you know what the heck Despelote means? Is that a word? I don't know. ah I'm pretty sure it's a Spanish word. Might be a Spanish thing. I think it's Despelote. It probably is. I apologize to the Spanish-speaking listeners out here. I'm an idiot. Sean, what do you think's winning?
00:31:05
Speaker
um I think Wanderstop's going to win. I've heard a lot of good things about that game. A lot of positive praise from many people, especially the people who usually vote for this kind of stuff. So I'm going go with Wanderstop.
00:31:18
Speaker
I'm going to go with South of Midnight. don't think it's going to win. Yeah, South of Midnight's more of a I want it to win game than I think it will. I'm going to go Despolate, actually, because I remember hearing about this one before it came out.
00:31:34
Speaker
The art looks kind of cool. It's interesting, right? now You got like this, I don't know this like the eighty s city vibe and then like these weird drawn people. And it's like first person, I think. So you like walk around the world and there's all the cartoon. Yeah, it's it's it's a weird one, but it's cool. All right.
00:31:51
Speaker
Moving on.
Technical and Performance Awards
00:31:52
Speaker
Innovation and Accessibility. I'm not going read the description. I think we know what that is. Assassin's Creed Shadows, Atomfall, Doom the Dark Ages, EA Sports FC 26, and South of Midnight.
00:32:05
Speaker
Sean Mason, what's winning this award? All right. For Innovation in nx and Inaccibility. Accessibility. yeah Accessibility. Sorry.
00:32:18
Speaker
I'm going to go with... um
00:32:22
Speaker
Honestly, i don't I don't even know. like what like How do these games even... I don't know. you know like Lots of accessibility options to cater to people. I know. I'm just going to go with Doom the Dark Ages. Why not?
00:32:36
Speaker
That's a good pick. Because I'm also going to say Doom the Dark Ages. They had a ton of options. like You could completely change the combat and speed and everything. Hodge, your pick? AC Shadows. I don't know.
00:32:48
Speaker
All right. Shout out to ah Champ. this Oh, wait. Hang on. Hang Hodge, you picked what? Sorry. AC Shadows. AC Shadows. Midnight, you picked what? You and I both had Doom, the Dark Ages. Okay. That's what I thought. Okay.
00:33:03
Speaker
Best performance awarded to an individual for voice over acting motion and or performance capture. And we have Ben Starr from Claire Obscure, Charlie Cox from Claire Obscure, Erica Ishii from Ghost of Yote, Jennifer English from Claire Obscure, Kunatsu Kato from Silent Hill F, and Troy Baker for Indiana Jones. And Hodge, what's your pick?
00:33:31
Speaker
This is a really tough one. Um... I'm going to go, I'm just going go Troy Baker as Indy. I don't know. It's tough because I just think his performance as Indy was so good that I could see him doing it. Really good, really good. I will say, this is a from the heart pick. This is really who I want to win. I'm going to say Jennifer English for Claire Obscure Expedition 33 because I love Jennifer English. She's the voice of Shadowheart.
00:34:03
Speaker
And also Mayo. I love her. All right. What say you, Sean? So I think Jennifer English is going to win. But um honestly, i you know I think Jennifer English is going win. But I think who should win? I think Charlie Cox should win. But there's a ton of backlash surrounding the fact that he did it in one take. And he like has no idea idea. He doesn't know like anything about video games. And people are giving him a ton of crap. They're like, I did it in one take. I just went in there, did my lines, and left.
00:34:33
Speaker
And you you saying that has his his yeah people are saying his motion actor should win and stuff like that. I mean, even he shouted out saying like all the all that comes from him, not Charlie Cox. So, yeah. yeah Okay. So you're picking Jennifer English as well? Yeah. yeah i yeah i just say I just say that I love Jennifer English, and I want her to be in every single game. Thank you. I can also see... um I could also see Ben Starr winning just because I feel like he's like beloved in the gaming sphere now. so he's He's great too. yeah I think they all, I mean, of all these people up here, I mean, i didn't play Indiana Jones, obviously, but um like all the Claire Expedition people are awesome like who are nominated up here.
00:35:14
Speaker
Yeah. and And the girl from Yote did a good job. I think her voice acting was strong. um Don't necessarily agree with her politics, but anyway, she did a good job. I think all anyone could win in that category.
00:35:25
Speaker
Moving on. Sorry, were you saying something, Hodge? was just saying, yeah, I agree. The only one I don't really see winning is the Silent Hill girl just because, I don't know, it just seems like an out there pick, but yeah i don't know know. I didn't play that game, though. She might have had a great performance.
00:35:40
Speaker
She was good, didn't she? right. Best audio design, recognizing the best in-game audio and sound designs. And we have Battlefield 6, Claire Obscure, Death Stranding 2, Ghost of Yotei, and Silent Hill F. Hodge, what do you think?
00:36:01
Speaker
I'm going to battlefield six, just because I really do think it has the best audio design of all these games. i I don't know if it'll win the popular vote because of that, but I feel like it is a very realistic, like look, you know pun intended, Battlefield sound where there's always the sounds are very well done directionally. You can hear gunfire in the distance and stuff like that. like It's a very well done game. So I could i could see it winning. but who
00:36:32
Speaker
Sean, what could you see winning? I'm going to go with Claire Obscura Expedition 33 and that is because I don't think people understand what this category is asking. It's not asking about soundtrack. It's asking about in-game audio. So that's why I'm going to go that.
00:36:45
Speaker
make it Right, right, right. I'm going to go ahead and say Ghost of Yote because it had amazing audio design and amazing sound in general. All right. Moving on. The best score in music. Here's the other thing you were talking about, Sean. For outstanding music, inclusive of scope, original song, blah, blah. We have Christopher Larkin for Hollow Knight Silksong, Darren Korb for Hades 2, Lorian Testard for Claire Obscure Expedition 33, Toma Otawa for Ghost of Yotei, and Woodkid and Ludwig Forsell for Death Stranding 2.
00:37:25
Speaker
I'll go ahead and start this category off, and I'm going to say Claire Obscure Expedition 33 is going to win this because what an an insane score for this game. Sean? I'm going with the same thing, and particularly what I said last time for the the previous award. They're going to win one of them, so why not just pick them for both, and maybe they'll hit 50%? There you go.
00:37:46
Speaker
Pro betting tips there. Hodge? I'm going with Claire Obscure as well. It's an iconic already soundtrack, so I could definitely, I think it'll, especially with it being a first time ah composer, the fact that's like a fact that's blowing people's minds. So it's, I think it's, I think it has it. I think the only two games that have a chance here are are Yote and Expedition, but Expedition it will win this. And that's why I think Yote will win the other one, but we'll see. We'll see who's right.
00:38:15
Speaker
Moving on, best art direction for outstanding creative and technical achievement in artistic design and animation. We have Claire Obscure, Expedition 33, Death Stranding 2, Ghost of Yote, Hades 2, Hollow Knight Silksong.
00:38:30
Speaker
Sean, you can start us off here. What do you think? I'm gonna go with Hades 2 and I think it's because it's gonna, people are gonna like, oh, it needs to get an award. This is the only category I can fit it in. So i'm gonna go with Hades 2. I don't think it should win, but i'm gonna go Hades 2. All right, what do you think, Hodge?
00:38:44
Speaker
I'm going to Yote. It's just such a beautifully made game that I can see it winning. I'm also going to go Yote. I think this is this is a Yote category here. all right.
Narrative and Direction Awards
00:38:56
Speaker
Moving on. Best narrative. we're almost We're almost at the end here. We're getting to the real big ones now. Best narrative for outstanding storytelling and narrative development in a game. The nominees are Claire Obscure, Expedition 33, Death Standing 2, On the Beach, if I can speak, Ghost of Yote, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, and Silent Hill F. Hodge, why don't you start us off here? What do you think? What's best narrative winner? This is so tough, but I'm just going to go with...
00:39:25
Speaker
I'm going to Kingdom Come just because I feel like everyone talks about like how great that story is. Obviously, Claire Obscure is a huge one, but I don't know. I just i could see Kingdom Come stealing this one.
00:39:37
Speaker
What do you think, Sean? to go with Claire Obscure Expedition 33. i think that many people adore this narrative, this story, and yeah. Yeah.
00:39:49
Speaker
I'm going to also say Claire Obscure here. Although I think it should be Kingdom Come. But anyway, moving on. Best Game Direction. Awarded for Outstanding Creative Vision and Innovation in Game Direction and Design.
00:40:04
Speaker
Claire Obscure Expedition 33. Death Standing 2. Ghost of Yotei, Hades 2, and Split Fiction. um Let me go ahead and start this off. Best Game Direction. going to say Death Stranding 2 on the beach for this one. It's a well-directed game. Kojima does his thing.
00:40:21
Speaker
Sean, what do you think? um For Best Game Direction, hmm. um I'm actually going to go with Split Fiction here. I think Split Fiction, again, it's going to need an award.
00:40:35
Speaker
Someone's going to want it, and I'm going to go with Best Game Direction. I think they're going to dig this whole two-player aspect again. I think that's a great pick by you. You you might get that one. Hodge, what do you think?
00:40:48
Speaker
I'm going to go... This is like a five-sided toying cost. cotton coin toss none of us could talk today i love it me no speak good word um of i'm just gonna go clear obscure for this one because i think out how it's directed and designed is stunning and i think people are thinking the same so gonna do that you're stunning perfect all right
00:41:19
Speaker
And finally, boys, the the the Alpha Omega Award, Game of the Year, recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields. And the nominees are Claire Obscure Expedition 33, Death Stranding 2 on the Beach, Donkey Kong Bonanza, Hades 2, Hollow Knight Silksong, and Kingdom Come Deliverance 2.
00:41:47
Speaker
Sean Mason, you have the honors. What is winning game of the year, you think? Of these games that are nominated right here, I think Claire Obscura is going to win. I really do.
00:42:00
Speaker
Good pick. Good pick. Hodge. What's your pick? Claire Obscure. i think it it it's a sweep yeah I think it grabbed the audience and never let go. so I'm also going to say Claire Obscure because I think you know people will vote for this. This is what's going to win. This isn't my game of the year. You want my game of the year? Check out the copies. Of these five games, though, sure if I had to pick one of these five games, I'd go with Silksone.
00:42:28
Speaker
Silk Song? Oh, yeah, six games, yeah. I'll save it for the copies, man. Well, no, because that's not going to be a spoiler. That's not my game of the year. Oh, okay. But it's what you of these six you would like to roast. Of these six, yes. All right. I'm not going to reveal mine.
00:42:42
Speaker
Sean's game year is Kingdom Hearts again. Kingdom Hearts! Of course it is.
Random Speculations and Predictions
00:42:47
Speaker
All right, boys. And now we are going to get into the random prediction stuff. We're going to do the order. It's going to be Hodge, Sean, Midnight, I guess. And we're just going to keep that order. We're going to three predictions each, one at a time, alternating.
00:43:02
Speaker
And these are worth two points we agreed on. So, Hodge, what's your first prediction? My first prediction, it's a big one. I think Xbox is going to unveil new hardware.
00:43:13
Speaker
they They have been talking about their next gen all year, so I could see them teasing it. I don't know if it'll release next year, but I could see them letting everyone know what they're doing because they've been in such a hole recently that I think, I don't know if it'll be like on Xbox, but I think they'll be kind of showing their future of showing new hardware of some sort.
00:43:36
Speaker
Wait, you think you think Mr. Keeley is going to allow that at his award show? Mr. I Hate Xbox? Mr. Keeley? Well, they unveiled the series at the Game Awards. I know, it was a joke. Yeah, I know. And that was six years ago, so... So does it does this count if it's like a hey, we're creating our own PC? Does that count?
00:43:55
Speaker
I mean, yeah, Xbox is there. I'm not going to do where I'm not. Yeah, I'm just doing hardware because I don't know if they'll even have a, you know, ah I think I think their next system is going to be closer to a Steam machine than a PlayStation. So I I don't know. I don't think it'll be like a handheld, but I think they will show off something new of some sort.
00:44:15
Speaker
Any Xbox branded hardware. Yeah. OK, so so they reveal a new controller. How much gets two points? No, no it it has to be something you actually play. games on, not something that, yeah, not like an accessibility. Not an accessory, like yeah an actual like system type deal of some sort, PC or system type deal.
00:44:34
Speaker
um Sean, what's your first prediction? All right. My first prediction is that Xbox announces they are out of the hardware. No, I'm kidding. I'm really going against what Hodge does. Xbox is shutting down on stage. Xbox is shutting down. And they're not even going to go third party. They're just going to delete everything. They're just going to control alt delete all their files. It's done. My first prediction is that we get another Grand Theft Auto trailer.
00:45:03
Speaker
We're going to get another Grand Theft Auto trailer. It will be the the third official trailer. And I think it will have some another Tom Petty song in the background.
00:45:14
Speaker
Okay. All right. Do I want to go with the super low-hanging fruit here? No, I'll be a bit more creative. Oh, wait. can i Can I add one thing? Yeah. Can I add one thing? This doesn't count. towards So if they have the trailer, I get the points. But I think it's going to have actual gameplay in it, too.
00:45:31
Speaker
Oh, sweet. Okay. Yeah. If it's there at all, you get the point. Like these, we're going be generous with these. Cause these are like random out there predictions. It's, you know, and it's not that important. It's just two points. Who cares? um All right. My prediction, I'm not going to go with the super low hanging fruit one yet.
00:45:45
Speaker
I'm going to say Forza horizon six is going to get shown in some way, some kind of trailer of some kind. I'm looking forward to that game a little bit. i have a question for you.
00:45:56
Speaker
Yeah. Is it going to be announced to be coming to PlayStation day one? Yes. courts It will. It will. Yeah.
00:46:07
Speaker
it It'll be a horse. Not for the not, not, not points dependent, but yeah, I think there'll be a PlayStation logo in it at the end. Yeah. PlayStation five or whatever. you Why wouldn't they bring it day one? no i was i did so well yeah yeah i was curious Yeah. I mean, five was like one of the top sellers of the year on PlayStation. So I think it will.
00:46:26
Speaker
um All right, Hodge. Second prediction. Yeah, I don't think I don't think there's any more exclusivity on Xbox. It's their multi platform from day one. I think from here on out, it's just Game Pass is going to be the seller for going to Xbox. I think I think there will still be some niche games that are kind of exclusive, but not for the horizon now.
00:46:46
Speaker
But yeah, go ahead. Sorry. I think they're done, but um I'm going to. but but i think Naughty Dog is going to show more intergalactic. OK.
00:46:58
Speaker
let go against all That would go against all the reports out there right now, which I love. I don't care. yeah i actually didn't look up any rumors or reports because that would I don't want to spoil the show for myself. And that'd be cheating too. so i didn't yeah well I mean, it's it's arabs going off what they've said on various podcasts.
00:47:16
Speaker
Well, i know they did I know the whole thing with Colin happened where he said that it was like almost out and all that. Like they completely misquoted him and misrepresented what he said and But i don't I don't remember hearing anything else about it because I don't i don't really follow gaming news anymore. I don't i just want to play games. don't really care. Play the games. Sean, prediction two?
00:47:40
Speaker
um My second prediction is that we are going get an official prediction. uncharted not maybe an official next uncharted project that that long-awaited cassie drake game i think we're gonna get an official official announcement for that again sony announcing games when they're not actually releasing any they have so many announced games with no release dates i i think it will be the next uncharted project because there is a rumor that naughty dog is also working on a second game other than intergalactic and i think it'll be some uncharted project i don't know if it's gonna be called uncharted 5 but it would just be the the reveal of an uncharted project
00:48:19
Speaker
Okay. And I get points if it's if it's the second Uncharted movie. No. All right. Not the movie. But yeah, any any game related Uncharted? Okay. yeah I think we all agree that PlayStation will be there in some manner.
Anticipated Game Announcements
00:48:34
Speaker
And that's why my next prediction is that Marvel's Wolverine will be shown off in some fashion. Some kind of trailer or something. any any Wolverine. ah even ah Even if the even if ah there's Wolverine himself comes on the... No, I'm just kidding.
00:48:48
Speaker
The Wolverine game will be shown. Hodge, what's your final prediction?
00:48:56
Speaker
I was really close to instead of Intergalactic doing that, they're going show God of War because I heard about that. But I'm going to do, I'm going to just do it layup. There's going to be a Fortnite trailer for the new season, even though it's already out. They're going to have a Fortnite trailer because they do every fucking show. All right. Low hanging fruit. Okay. Sean, your final prediction.
00:49:17
Speaker
Alright, I'm going pie in the sky, going out there, going for the, um, get my Magic 8 Ball, wishing it into existence, I'm going with. We get Kingdom Hearts 4, it's been over three and a half years now since that reveal.
00:49:34
Speaker
We got a little bit, we got some screenshots back in August, it was kind of to mend fences though, because they cancelled the, um, um dark road game which was supposed to be like the the mobile game that everyone was really anticipating they just randomly canceled it one day at the middle in the middle of the night they randomly canceled it in the middle of the night so now i'm going with kingdom hearts 4 we're gonna get another trailer and i think i think we might get a 2026 release just released it will say 2026 i'm just gonna say that Okay, right. Well, I hope it's there for you, Sean.
00:50:05
Speaker
I'm also going to do low-hanging fruit like lake Hodge did, and I'm going to say Kojima will be there to show something. yeah kojima so Kojima something. He's going to show something. You know what I'm shocked about? None of us picked, ah we'll get the reveal of the Final Fantasy Part 3, Final Fantasy 7 Part 3 name. Usually, that's ah I'm hearing and that a lot of people think that's going to happen.
00:50:27
Speaker
The name would just be revealed. All right. So now that we're done with the official scoring, if you guys have any like honorable things that you think might happen. Now I had, there will be two hours of ads or more between the pre-show and main show, but that's not an official one because I didn't choose it. Did you guys have any you wanted to shout out that you think?
00:50:45
Speaker
i mean, the Final Fantasy one, I think. I think that's i think it's probably going to happen. I heard, I did see rumblings of the new God of War or whatever Sony Santa Monica is working on, but yeah, I don't know.
00:50:57
Speaker
Yeah, well, Sony will be there for something, no doubt. That's why I said Wolverine and you guys said PSV to two. What do we really want to see? I really want to see Persona 6, but Atlas doesn't usually care that much about the game awards. So then they would have did that at TGA's, I think, or at a Tokyo game show, I would think.
00:51:16
Speaker
I want to see Kingdom Hearts 4. Yeah, me too. I want to see Persona 6. Sega Dreamcast revived where they re-revive the Dreamcast and you can use your old Dreamcast console and they're just to release new games on the Dreamcast.
00:51:33
Speaker
That's what I think. soon We'll get a trade for some PlayStation game coming to PC. Sega and Microsoft announce a cooperative console called the Dreambox X cast.
00:51:48
Speaker
Dreambox X cast. And it's a combination Xbox Dreamcast to compete. Yeah. yeah And it's going to launch with Sonic Adventure three. Yeah. That's the launch title and Internet Explorer.
00:52:01
Speaker
Oh, Sean. We just lost Sean. Right. Oh, right. He's back, boys. You can't get rid of Sean that easy. All right, guys. and No, but it doesn't matter. The episode's over. It's fine. Yeah. all right all right, guys, let's go around and do our final thoughts here. Sean Mason, Mr. Black Screen. Final thoughts. We can hear you.
00:52:18
Speaker
I don't think that we're Sean is recording any longer because I'm getting errors. So I'll just recap what he said. He said that he he hopes it's great. He hopes that we get Kingdom Hearts 4, blah, blah, blah. Right.
00:52:29
Speaker
um All right. Hodge, final thoughts. I am... ah This was a lot of fun. I'm excited. I always love watching the TGAs. I will be watching it on Discord with our friends because it'll be a lot of fun to stream it and chat together about it. But I'm also very excited for next week's episode because that will be a Christmas slash TGA recap. So and that's that's where we'll so i'll we'll have the scores and i can... Let everyone know who won. i also have a game planned because I couldn't really think of what I want to do for Christmas. So I thought of a game. So we're going to do that instead. It's going to be a lot of fun. And obviously, like I said, recap the TGAs. It's going to be a blasty blast.
00:53:08
Speaker
All right. Sean's going again. i don't have any final thoughts here. Just thank you guys for watching. um All right. And we're going to go and get on out of here. This has been Games Over Plastic DLC episode. I don't know what number, but the ah Game Awards predictions. And we're going to go and get out of here. Goodbye.
00:53:26
Speaker
Bye. And Sean's quip earlier was, I was born in the darkness.