Psychonauts Nominated for Crappy Award Show

[Lechimp]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/06/22/news_6128013.html

Go vote for psychonauts in the best original game catagory, and vote for katamari damacy as well.

Even though it is for G4 which is watched by retards (sorry if you actually watch G4(not counting the tim schafer special))

EDIT: Apparently you need to register with the site to vote

[JoeX111]

I pre-ordered a copy of the game through EBGames, called every day to see when it came in, watched almost every promo video, bought a shirt and a poster, and got into a huge fight with the mother of my girlfriend over her pirating a copy of Psychonauts that almost ended our relationship despite my significant other being nothing more than a bystander in the whole mess, all to show my loyalty for the beloved Double Fine and its mighty stallion king.

But register on G4's website?

I dunno....

[Karimi]

It should have been nominated for best music and voice acting as well , maybe even best boss...

[Udvarnoky]

Yeah, I mean, these retarded award thingies don't mean anything to me ( ), but to imply that Psychonauts didn't have the greatest voice acting in a game ever is rather silly. Escape from Monkey Island is the only thing I think that comes close.

[manny_c44]

Uh, how about Grim Fandango buddy?

Oh man, just thinking about GF gets me excited. I could just write pages about how amazing it is in every way.

[Udvarnoky]

Grim too, of course. That goes without saying! And before I get into trouble: I'm not comparing writing or the games themselves here.

[Redwall]

Why the hell do they even have a category like "Best Boss"?

[MrHoatzin]

It angers me so much that Samuel L. Jackson was nominated for the best voice actor award. He was so fucking bland! A Samuel L. Jackson impersonator would've done better!

[ysbreker]

I bet that that nomination has everything to with that 'actors' strike in games land... *conspiracy theory smilie face*

[Lechimp]

No, I bet that the people who made the awards show are just retarded and only nominated games that are popular and had famous people in them.

[steak-flavored gum]

Yeah, I mean, these retarded award thingies don't mean anything to me ( ), but to imply that Psychonauts didn't have the greatest voice acting in a game ever is rather silly. Escape from Monkey Island is the only thing I think that comes close.

ummm no they got rid of the awesome hardass elaine and replaced it with a stupid elaine also other things

[OftenK]

It's an outrage that Psychonauts was only nominated for one of those categories. Still, I registered and voted. Go Psychonauts!

[Dingo Chavez]

Schafer requested in Action News for people to vote, so I voted... I felt dirty after.

Since we're discussing voice acting, did anyone see the vote in Gamespot? Apparently over fifty percent of its audience think that celebrity voice actors deserve more money than the developers. Oh what a world we live in.

When are people finally going to understand that big names don't make the acting better? If the actor doesn't have proper writing and direction he or she will give a shit performance. If any of them would ever hear a name of outstanding voice actors like Richard Doyle, Tony Jay, Billy West, or Richard Steven Horvitz they won't even care that the acting is going to be far better than most performances by Hollywood actors (especially the new MTV ones these days).

A couple of weeks ago I read an interview with Billy West. He mentioned that Cameron Diaz gets 20 million dollars for Shrek 3 while an actress that can give the same quality or even better gets a miniscule salary just because she's not Cameron Diaz. Now video games are doing the same, they might actually give royalties to big names just because publishers want it for advertising while developers are over worked and under payed. Just how dumb is this industry? Instead of trying to be itself its trying to be Hollywood.

Now Nintendo gets chastised by fans and the press because the new Zelda doesn't have voice acting. The poor people are going to have to read, and we all know that reading is teh kiddy.

My conclusion: publishers are nearly as dumb as the majority of gamers (not a new conclusion, mind you).

[netmonkey]

I voted. Have YOU?

[nsps]

So there are some categories for which I haven't played any of the games. Idle Thumbs should assemble a list of endorsements that I can blindly vote for rather than become an informed participator in democracy. In lieu of that, I'll just blindly vote for whatever people on this forum tell me.

[nsps]

So, does everyone have too much respect for the democratic process to tell me how to vote, or should I just ask for specific categories?

[ysbreker]

Let's go over the list shall we?

Best Traditional Sports Game

•EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 2 (Electronic Arts)

•Madden NFL 2005 (Electronic Arts)

•ESPN NFL 2K5 (SEGA)

•Winning Eleven 8 (Konami)

•Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 (Electronic Arts)

This is a though one. I guess Winning Eleven 8 since it's not from EA

Best Alternative Sports Game

•Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix (Activision)

•NBA Street V3 (Electronic Arts)

•NFL Street 2 (Electronic Arts)

•Def Jam Fight for NY (Electronic Arts)

•WWE: Day of Reckoning (THQ)

Easy: Tony Hawk Underground 2 Remix. Why? 1. not from EA 2. actually pretty good.

Best Racing Game

•Gran Turismo 4 (Sony Computer Entertainment America)

•Burnout 3: Takedown (Electronic Arts)

•RalliSport Challenge 2 (Microsoft)

•Wipeout Pure (Sony Computer Entertainment America)

•Ridge Racer (Namco)

No idea really, I guess Burnout 3?

Best Action Game

•God of War (Sony Computer Entertainment America)

•Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)

•Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar Games)

•Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Konami)

•Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (Ubisoft)

GTA:SA ofcourse

Best Shooter

•Half-Life 2 (Valve/VU Games)

•Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft)

•Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 (Ubisoft)

•The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (VU Games)

•Metroid Prime 2 Echoes (Nintendo)

HL2 I suppose

Best RPG

•Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo)

•Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (LucasArts)

•Jade Empire (BioWare/Microsoft)

•Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (Atlus)

•Tales of Symphonia (Namco)

This one is rather tricky, I only played kotor 2 and that one definately doesn't deserve any award. So I'd go for paper mario.

EB Gamers Choice

•Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft)

•God of War (Sony Computer Entertainment America)

•Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)

•World of Warcraft (Blizzard)

•Half-Life 2 (Valve/VU Games)

EB games? I guess it'll be WoW

Best Cinematic

•Oddworld Stranger's Wrath (Oddworld Inhabitants/Electronic Arts)

•Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Konami)

•God of War (Sony Computer Entertainment America)

•World of Warcraft (Blizzard)

•Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)

¬ ¬ It'll be WoW

Best Graphics

•DOOM 3 (id Software/Activision)

•Half-Life 2 (Valve/VU Games)

•God of War (Sony Computer Entertainment America)

•Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)

•Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (Ubisoft)

HL2

Best Handheld Game

•The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (Nintendo)

•Lumines (Ubisoft)

•Wipeout Pure (Sony Computer Entertainment America)

•Wario Ware Touched! (Nintendo)

•Astro Boy: Omega Factor (SEGA)

Wario Ware touched! ofcourse. Handsdown the most fun game on any handheld last year

Best Innovation

•Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (Nintendo)

•Feel the Magic: XY/XX (SEGA)

•Katamari Damacy (Namco)

•Full Spectrum Warrior (THQ)

•Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy (Midway)

Katamari Damacy obviously

Best Multiplayer Game

•Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft)

•World of Warcraft (Blizzard)

•City of Heroes (NCsoft)

•Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (Ubisoft)

•The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (Nintendo)

World of Warcraft I guess

Best Adaptation

•Spider-Man 2 (Activision)

•X-Men Legends (Activision)

•The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth (Electronic Arts)

•The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (VU Games)

•LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game (GIANT)

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is the best movie to game I've played last year.

Best Licensed Soundtrack

•Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar Games)

•Def Jam Fight for NY (Electronic Arts)

•Lumines (Ubisoft)

•Wipeout Pure (Sony Computer Entertainment America)

•Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (Activision)

GTA:sa ofcourse

Best Original Soundtrack

•Katamari Damacy (Namco)

•Fable (Microsoft)

•World of Warcraft (Blizzard)

•Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft)

•God of War (Sony Computer Entertainment America)

Katamari Damacy aparently

Best Voice Performance – Female

•God of War – Linda Hunt (Sony Computer Entertainment America)

•Half-Life 2 – Merle Dandridge (Valve/VU Games)

•Def Jam Fight for NY -- Carmen Electra (Electronic Arts)

•EverQuest 2 – Heather Graham (Sony Online Entertainment)

•Need for Speed Underground 2 – Brooke Burke (Electronic Arts)

errr. Half-life 2?

Best Voice Performance – Male

•Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – Samuel L. Jackson (Rockstar Games)

•Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – Young Maylay (Rockstar Games)

•Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay – Vin Diesel (VU Games)

•Halo 2 – David Cross (Bungie/Microsoft)

•Def Jam Fight for NY – Snoop Dogg (Electronic Arts)

Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay! Vin diesel at his broody-est \o/

Best Original Game

•Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy (Midway)

•Full Spectrum Warrior (THQ)

•God of War (Sony Computer Entertainment America)

•Katamari Damacy (Namco)

•Psychonauts (Majesco)

Psychonauts! and a very close second Katamari Damacy

Best Sound Design

•Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft)

•DOOM 3 (id Software/Activision)

•Half-Life 2 (Valve/VU Games)

•Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)

•God of War (Sony Computer Entertainment America)

Doom 3.

Favorite Character

•Katamari – King of the Cosmos (Namco)

•God of War – Kratos (Sony Computer Entertainment America)

•Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – CJ (Rockstar Games)

•Oddworld Stranger's Wrath – Stranger (Electronic Arts)

•Half-Life 2 – Alyx Vance (Valve/VU Games)

Katamari – King of the Cosmos. wheee!

Best Boss

•God of War – Hydra (Sony Computer Entertainment America)

•Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater – The End (Konami)

•Resident Evil 4 – Del Lago (Capcom)

•Halo 2 – Scarab Battle (Bungie/Microsoft)

•DOOM 3 – Cyber Demon (id Software/Activision)

I think I'll have to go with Doom 3 here.

Game of the Year

•Half-Life 2 (Valve/VU Games)

•Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft)

•World of Warcraft (Blizzard)

•God of War (Sony Computer Entertainment America)

•Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)

•Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar Games)

Uhm GTA:sa I think? Or maybe Halflife 2?

Well there you go. My recommendations.

[Lechimp]

A couple of thoughts about his voting choices...

I think that Burnout 3 was the best racing game for the year, but if you really wanted to go with a non-ea vote, I guess you could pick Wipeout Pure.

For best rpg I would pick Jade Empire.

For best handheld game, I would pick Lumines. As much as I love WarioWare games, Lumines was really really cool and one of those games IdleThumbs would really like if they would actually review it.

And I think Half-life 2 should be game of the year.

And I voted (which meant registering for the site...ugh)

[twmac]

Anything by SEGA, especially XX/XY.

[ysbreker]

mind you, from that list I only played KOTOR2, HL2, GTA:SA, Riddick, Psychonauts, Road to hill 30, warioware and Tony Hawk underground 2.

[edit]

Oh and Doom3, ofcourse

[baconian]

I voted for these (actually I voted a couple times in slightly different ways):

-Tiger woods is sorta fun when you're stoned on a sunny day.

-Def Jam is the one with henry rollins in it I think. Pretty funny.

-Paper Mario is one of the best RPGs ever as it takes the piss out of itself and all the silly-ass final fantasy-type stuff that people seem to like for some reason.

-Resident Evil 4 is the most cinematic game ever (I.E. enjoyable for a viewer that isn't playing)

and Psychonauts of course. If you don't vote for Psychonauts you will die alone.

which will of course happen regardless, but it's as good a carrot as any.

[nsps]

Of course, I won't die alone because I only registered so I could vote for Psychonauts (even though I haven't finished it yet since I had to install my copy on my friend's computer and can only play it intermittently). Thanks for the various suggestions, especially on the racing and sports games, none of which I'd played.

Also, I haven't played Metal Gear Solid, but thought the boss stood out in the pictures because he looked like an old guy with a bird instead of the giant monster of all the other games. And now I can't remember which boss I voted for. Thoughts?

[Duncan]

I seriously hate the 'Best Voice Performance' category. Because it's not that, it's 'Best Voice Performance by a Celebrity'. I know it's G4, but as an overview of the past year's highlights in voice acting, this is a fucking joke. (Carmen Electra? What?) Nominating celebrities doesn't even make a ton of sense, anyway, because celebrities don't get hired to be a voice actor, they get hired to sound like themselves.

It angers me so much how the Game Industry and things like G4 are obsessed with Celebrities in Games, like that's the only thing that can give video games any sense of legitimacy. And especially with the recent SAG/AFTRA thing, it ultimately works against them, because despite having no fucking clue how the game industry works, the various actor's guilds can see how much publishers and developers rely upon having stars on board. And they can really easily exploit that.

So, yeah, it really pisses me off to see games slowly morph into Hollywood's Little Brother, through crap like the Spike TV Video Game Whatever Awards and 'Best Voice Performance - Male: Def Jam Fight for NY – Snoop Dogg (Electronic Arts)'. It's just so retarded. Thanks a lot, you guys.

[nsps]

I seriously hate the 'Best Voice Performance' category. Because it's not that, it's 'Best Voice Performance by a Celebrity'. I know it's G4, but as an overview of the past year's highlights in voice acting, this is a fucking joke. (Carmen Electra? What?) Nominating celebrities doesn't even make a ton of sense, anyway, because celebrities don't get hired to be a voice actor, they get hired to sound like themselves.

I suspect that the only reason these stars were nominated over talented people like the cast of Psychonauts is that they want celebrities to show up to the ceremony.

It's kind of sad when you think about how talented voice actors are being pushed aside for name stars (who often give good performances) in most mainstream animation. Now the same thing is happening in games. Do people really buy games based on the cast instead of quality of the performances (and of course, gameplay, without which the performances would sustain nothing)?

[Redwall]

Well, the fact of the matter is that very few games have good voice actors, and for most games they don't contribute in any way to the enjoyment of the game. So, big name actors make the game cooler. Or something.

That being said, sometimes bad voice actors fit a game perfectly, like in Far Cry.