Hello everyone and welcome to the What's the
Buttons Pody Cup. No, don't restart it, carry
on. You start it till you're finished. Welcome
to the What's the Buttons Podcast. Someone's
got giggles. That's not funny. It's just shit.
No, it is shit. We've always been shit and we'll
carry on being shit. Have we proclaimed to be
anything but? No, no we haven't. Exactly. Oh,
we haven't. Yeah, you know. You know how it is.
It's fucking freezing. It is freezing. It's really
cold. I was looking at radiators today. What,
you want to get new ones? Just radiators in general.
You know what I was doing? I was on the little
leaf blower today. So I just spun it around and
just had my hands held over the fucking exhaust.
So warm. So warm and tasty. Did I tell you how
I chipped my tooth? No. That was... You know
sometimes you just do really, really dumb stuff.
Like you do it maybe once a year. Why the fuck
did I do that? We was a couple of months ago,
probably about six months ago, we were chipping.
And I was just standing on the chute, moving
the chute around. And I just thought, this is
really vibratey. I'm just going to put my tooth
on it. Ah, you silly cunt. And I just rested
my tooth on it. And as soon as my tooth touched
it. I just felt dust in my mouth. I was like...
And then, yeah, chipped my tooth. It was good,
that. Good fun. What, whilst it was on and someone
was chipping? Yeah. Fuck me. Crazy, isn't it?
Just why? Why did your brain tell you to do that?
What's scary, without going into detail, and
we won't, but the positions that we now find
ourselves in... Think of all the dumb shit. You
have to make mistakes to get better and improve.
Just in charge of people's lives and stuff like
that. There you are sucking on a wood chipper.
It's so dumb. It's dumb. We have the Game of
the Year nominations. We also had the Golden
Joystick Awards, which is like the fake Game
of the Year awards. Yep. That everyone calls
them. Claire Obscure won everything at the Golden
Joystick Awards. So we get the comprehensive
list up of all of the winners. Golden Joystick
Awards. More importantly, have you seen that
Eminem's in Hitman now? Yeah, I see that. That's
cool. I did see a quick thing of that and he
can contract someone to kill him. Yeah, and you
can put his head in mum's spaghetti. there's
a plate of spaghetti I quite like that it's just
one of them exclusive contracts they've done
it loads of people haven't they Sean Bean and
that just a weird world of media we're living
in isn't it it's very very weird Eminem's actually
voice acting it as well yeah he's in a hitman
game it's weird Sean Bean was in it I love Sean
Bean I'm telling you what, I'm sick of fucking
Shadowheart being in every single game now. Well,
that's what happens, bro. I know, but it's like
Troy Baker. It's like, I'm so sick of hearing
you. I love Shadowheart. I love her voice. I
think her name is Jennifer English. She's got
one of the best voices in gaming, but she is
Shadowheart. So when she was Mael, or whatever
her name was, I was like, she was just Shadowheart,
though. She was great. I love Mael. She was fantastic.
But then I just saw another game, massive RPG
fucking action. Guess who it is again? Well,
yes, the flavour, they break out. Oh, no, no,
no, no, no. Too much, too much. No, I know, I
know. She's flooding the market and it's... Happened
with Astarion as well. It diminishes her. I think
it diminishes her. But then maybe that's because
I love her so much in Shadowheart. I'm feeling...
You could probably go past a point where you
go, right, well, yeah, I'm diluting myself. That's
the word I was looking for. Maybe. But I don't
know how much work she's done, but fuck it. Someone's
paying you money, money. It's the same as Ben
Starr, the voice of Clive from Final Fantasy.
He was just everywhere all of a sudden. He was
in fucking Expedition as well. Just like, mate,
stop it. But then Troy Baker has had everything
forever. Troy Baker's in a lot. Yeah, and that's
what I mean. It pisses me off. It's always him.
He's in a lot. He's a great voice actor, but
at the same point, he tends to just do the same
voice. Yeah, yeah. I don't know, man. I'm just
grumpy. I'm tired. Yeah, that's fine. Best audio
design, Ghost of Yotai. Best early access game,
Repo. What? Repo? Repo. Do you not know what
Repo is? I don't think so. R -E -P -O? Yeah.
Online game? Yeah. Repo's like a... Tic Tacs?
Co -op, yeah. Tic Tac. Horror. uh fucking survival
horror yeah what's the what's the the voice five
night freddies no the voice thing where it's
proximity chat and it's a very good proximity
chat and there's like people following you around
and blah blah blah it looks very fun um there's
a lot of of of sections here but i'm gonna skip
a lot of them because we don't care about like
best game expansion best game trailer Well, I'd
hear that. GTA 6, by the way. I'd hear best game
expansions. Okay. Best game adaptation. Arcane
Season 2. Expansions, you said. Best game expansion.
That's what I want. Liars of P. Overture. Overture.
Best game trailer. GTA 6 Trailer 2. Best indie
game. Blueprints. Yeah. Best indie game self
-published. Hollow Knight Silksong. Oh, yeah.
Best lead performer. Jennifer English. The goat,
though. Don't let me say that. I'm not diminishing
her. She's fantastic. Best multiplayer game,
Peak. Best remake slash remaster, Elder Scrolls
IV, Oblivion. Best multiplayer game, Peak. Yeah.
Best multiplayer game. Yeah. This is maybe why
people don't acknowledge them as the real game
of the year. Cooperative crime in video games.
It looks very fun. Yeah, but I've never even
fucking heard of it, bro. Well, if you've not
heard of it, then it must not be fucking... Well,
you know what I mean. But, you know, you're coming
out against Call of Duties and Black Ops, Battlefields
and fucking Apex and massive juggernauts to a
co -op rock climbing game. It's a bit out there,
isn't it? Yeah, I guess. Yeah, best remake slash
remaster, Elder Scrolls 4. Best Soundtracks,
Claire Obscure, Expedition 33. Best Storytelling,
Claire Obscure, Expedition 33. Best Visual Design,
Claire Obscure, Expedition 33. Best Supporting
Performer, Ben Starr. I'm not joking, are you?
I love him as well, by the way. Console Game
of the Year, Ghost of Yotai. Critics' Choice,
Donkey Kong Bonanza. Dean. Let me know what goes
through your eyes. I was playing it the other
day. Oh, you were playing it. Good. I want to
know what it's like. Stop harassing us then and
fucking tell us what it's like. I mean, Mark's
platinumed it, so I could always just ask him.
Nah. Donkey Kong Bonanza is one of the nominations
for the real Game of the Year awards. It's quite
cool. Most Wanted Game, GTA 6. Obviously. PC
Game of the Year, Silksong. Interesting. Still
playing mobile, Pokemon Go. Still playing PC
and console, Minecraft. These are weird categories.
Streamer's Choice, Peak. Studio of the Year,
Sandfall Interactive. And then Ultimate Game
of the Year, Claire Obscure Expedition 33. Sandfall.
How do I know that name? Sandfall Interactive.
What did they make? They made a big game. They
made Claire Obscure. That's why. You want to
know the games that were in best multiplayer
game? Go on. That peak one. So you had Peak,
which was the winner, Battlefield 6, Elden Ring
Night Rain, Split Fiction, Mario Kart World,
and Rematch. Wow, they've done very well. Split
Fiction would have been very, very high up there.
What was in the expansions category? I love a
game expansion. My proper expansion, not fucking
DLC. Let's have a look. Best indie game. Best
expansions ever are the Witcher 3s. They're like
whole fucking games. Best game expansion. So
you had Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, The
Order of Giants. What a fucking... It's too long.
That needs some abbreviations thrown in there
because that's too long of a... Oh my god, have
you played the new expansion? Indiana Jones and
the Great Circle, The Order of Giants. It's too
much. Lies of P. No Man's Sky Voyagers. Nice.
It's on there. Atom Fall Story Expansion Pack,
The Red Strain. Nice. Assassin's Creed Shadows,
Claws of Awaji. Still Wakes the Deep, Siren's
Rest. Those are your expansions. Fair enough.
Quite a cool list. Is there any other ones? Would
you like Best Lead Performer? I'm going to guess
Troy Baker. The people that were in this were
Jennifer English, Troy Baker. In Indiana Jones.
Tom McKay, Alex Jordan, Erica Ishii. Tom McKay,
my boy. Adrian Ray. Do you know who Tom McKay
is? No, because I don't play Kingdom Come Deliverance
2. Well, he's the main guy. He's Henry. Henry!
Yeah, I mean, there's some cool ones. There's
cool... Death Stranding 2, completely forgot
about. Console Game of the Year, Donkey Kong
Bonanza, Monster Hunter Wilds, Ghost of Yotai,
Death Stranding 2, Sonic Racing, Mario Kart World.
Yeah. Fair enough. Best gaming hardware is on
there as well. Steam Deck. AMD Ryzen 9. Beat
Nintendo Switch 2. And the Nintendo Switch 2
Pro Controller. What the fuck? These are some
weird categories. Let's get the actual Game of
the Year awards. Game of the Year 2025. A couple
of weeks, isn't it? December the 8th. Yeah, we
love it. We fucking love it. Oh, shit, yeah,
we can already vote, can't we? Oh, my God. We
can fucking vote. I completely forgot that we
can log in and vote. Fuck's sake. Everybody wants
me to do it. Yeah. Thoughts of the game of the
year? You know my game of the year. Do you think
it's going to win it? No. What do you think is
going to win it? Claire Obscure. But I want Kingdom
Come to win. Desperately. What's impressive is
that there's two indie games in the game of the
year. What? As in too many games to pick from?
No. Indie games. Two indie games. In the game
of the year? Yeah. Silksong and Hades 2. Yeah.
KCD. Sign me in. I'm voting for it right now.
Shall we do that then? We could do that. I honestly
can't remember what I'd sign in under. All right,
there you go. King of Consumers 2. Vote selected.
Share your vote. I will share that. Hold on.
Let me pause this quick. I'll sign in and then
I'll come back and then we can go through what
we voted. Okay, we're back and I'm in. I'm in
under what's the buttons. So that's good. So
let's have a look. How many in? Yes, we're in.
How many categories have you gone through so
far? I've only done Game of the Year. Game of
the Year. What did you pick? Well, I'm going
to pick Claire Obscure. Kingdom Come Deliverance
2. So we've got Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Claire
Obscure, Death Stranding 2, Donkey Kong Bonanza,
Hades 2, and then Hollow Knight Silksong. I'm
obviously going to go for Expedition 33. Now,
you said that there's two games in the indie
games in the game of the year. There's actually
three. What, KCD? Well, Claire Obscure is also
indie. Yeah, I suppose, yeah. So there's four.
Does Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 count as indie?
Well, the first game that they made was a Kickstarter.
I mean, obviously they made the money from the
first game to make the second, but it still kind
of feels like it. It's War Horse Studios. No.
Not considered an indie game. It's a AAA game,
despite being developed by War Horse Studios.
You fucking glory hunter. Bastards. Well, I'm
on the next section. Best Game Direction. Yeah,
I'm on this one. So we have Claire Obscure, Death
Stranding, Ghost of Yotai, Hades and Split Fiction.
Award for Outstanding Creative Vision and Innovation
in Game Direction and Design. Well, with that
in mind, I'm going Death Stranding 2. I am torn
between Split Fiction and Claire Obscure. For
outstanding creative vision and innovation in
game direction and design. They were both so
good at that. I'm going to give it a split fiction.
Because I thought that split fiction was fucking
great. Best narrative. For outstanding storytelling
and narrative development in a game. Claire Obscure,
Death Stranding 2, Ghost of Yotai, KCD 2 or Silent
Hill F. I'm going Kingdom Come Deliverance 2
because it's got an amazing story. Claire Obscure.
That's what I'm going to go with. Best art direction.
For outstanding creative and or technical achievement
in artistic design and animation. I'm going Claire
Obscure on that straight away. Best art direction.
I'm going Silk Song. I hope everyone agrees.
Well, they've got two options because we ain't
picked the same fucking thing. Best score on
music. For outstanding music, inclusive of score,
original song. Sorry, that was my bit. Yep, and
or licensed soundtrack. I'm obviously going clear
of score. It's got one of the best soundtracks
I've ever heard in a video game ever. It's not
on here. It is. Oh yeah, it is. The actual song's
here. Clear up score. Steph hates it. I love
it. Best audio design. Recognising the best in
-game audio and sound design. You know what?
I'm going Battlefield 6. I'm going Death Stranding.
Only because the sounds of the guns and the movement
in Battlefield 6 are fucking... Yeah, nice. We're
going Death Stranding 2 because I like the sound
of the crunchy snow. Crunchy snow. Best performance.
Oh, fucking hell. Some familiar faces. Going
for my girl. Awarded to an individual for voiceover
acting, motion and or performance capture. We've
got Ben Starr, Charlie Cox, Erika Ishii. I hope
I'm saying that right. Jennifer English, Konatsu
Keito and Troy Baker. Jennifer English. I'm going
to go Jennifer English as well. I'm going to
have to. Innovation in accessibility. Recognising
software and or hardware that is pushing the
medium forward by adding features, technology
and content to help games be played and enjoyed
by an even wider audience. I'm going to go with
Atom 4 because I saw an article on them not that
long ago about how good their accessibility options
are. But I can't remember what they are. So I'm
just going to pick that one. Well, I'm going
to pick... South of Midnight. I forgot about
that game. I'm going to pick FIFA because it's
the only one that I've played. I don't feel I
deserve it, but I'll get it. Games for Impact.
For a thought -provoking game with a pro -social
meaning or message. I haven't played any of these.
Well, yeah, this is uncomfortable, isn't it?
I don't know any of these. I'm going to go for
the one that looks like it was made on a budget
and they've done well, so I'm going Consume Me.
I'm going to go for the football one, Desperati.
Yeah, I'm going for that one too. It's got football
in it. Yeah, I'll do that one. Good luck. Best
ongoing. Awarded to a game for outstanding development
of ongoing content that evolves the player experience
over time. It's fucking No Man's Sky. Always
No Man's Sky. Any category that's got No Man's
Sky in it is getting picked. It has to. Has to.
Because they've been giving free updates for
like 48 years. Fucking has to. Helldivers 2,
very, very, very good. Final Fantasy, fuck right
off. Oh, look at this one. Oh, I do wonder. Best
community support. Recognising a game for outstanding
community support. What are they doing there?
Transparency and responsiveness, inclusive of
social media activity and game updates slash
patches. Well, you know I've already voted, so.
Yeah, I'm going to assume you voted Baldur's
Gate 3. You'd be correct. Yeah, I'm going No
Man's Sky. No Man's Sky, Fortnite, Final Fantasy,
Helldivers 2, Baldur's Gate 3. I'm fucking putting
it on No Man's Sky. This is the hardest category
so far. Best independent game. For outstanding
creative and technical achievement in a game
made outside the traditional publisher system.
So best indie, basically. Claire Obscure for
me. Has to be. See, this is a game I need to
talk about. Absalom. Because I've been playing
that. Go on then. Well, no, what am I going to
talk about now? Well, it would fit in very well
with you talking about it. We're going to have
to pause for a bit. Yeah, that's fine. I've been
playing that. And? It's good. So what are you
going to vote? Well, I don't know. I'm getting
up Steam now. What have you been playing on Steam
Deck? Yeah, it's the only thing I've been doing
this week, really. I haven't even played that
much Steam Deck. I've just been playing like
half hour or something. And where's this come
from? Go on, tell me about the game itself. Obviously,
we're a gaming podcast. That's obviously what
we're going to do. What's a silly question from
me? Ah, the game itself is like a... Well, it's
a roguelike, and you know I love roguelikes.
Yes. So it's like that, but it's like... It's
got a bit of Hades in it. It's got a bit of fucking...
It's got a bit of everything in it. It's just
great. It's a side -scrolling beat -em -up, like
Streets of Rage. Do you know what I mean? Yeah,
yeah, yeah. Play them games? No, but I understand.
I would have played them games, but yeah. It's
like that, but it's a roguelike. I haven't unlocked
him yet, but I want him. He's the one I'm after,
the frog wizard guy. Someone that definitely
looks like a drow, but she's not a drow, but
she fucking looks like a drow. and yeah it's
just a fucking side scrolling but it's so much
more to it than that i can't do it the justice
it deserves it's got fucking multiple paths you
can take secrets and then when you die and come
back you follow the same path but you can choose
a different way to go but sometimes new things
happen and new things appear and oh what a fucking
great game and it's gonna have so much more content
coming i just wish it was dungeons and dragons
man and they need to make like they need to partner
with dnd and be like yeah this is like a fucking
dnd 17 pounds on Steamy Wee Me. It's so good.
But then so is Ball X Pit. That is a fucking
amazing game. Fight as the outcast heroes of
Talam... Talam? Yeah. In a fierce battle to retake
magic from the Sun King Azra's grasp in Absalom.
An original roguelite beat -em -up by Dotemu.
Very positive, but not that many reviews for
Steam. I want to, here we go, just a little one.
I want, this person has 27 hours on record. I
want to start by saying that this is the best
game of the year for me so far. It has everything
I love, namely awesome story, awesome music,
fantastic roguelike mode. with tons of experimentation
and the ability to become either an IMBA or a
lousy bum, but you always find something new
and unexpected combinations. 10 out of 10. Gorgeous
visuals, a vibrant and rich world, and lots of
interesting mini -quests, interesting achievements,
and yet the game doesn't last too long. too long
I want to spend exactly as much time as necessary
to complete it and feel satisfied thank you so
much for this masterpiece games like this bring
back my love for games in general and of course
I'm looking forward to the sequel with new heroes
rituals levels and bosses and expansions but
you don't need to worry about playtime with roguelites
because this is as many times you want to get
a new fucking completion time of Binding of Isaac
40 minutes but you know you play it fucking a
billion times I've got 50 hours on Binding of
Isaac and that's just on Steam God knows how
many I've had on PlayStation over the years so
that's fantastic and then you've got Ball X Pit
which I've discussed it in for an item on another
episode How much I love Ball X Pick. Yeah, yeah.
When I said all these weird games I was playing.
Yeah, when you were playing like six indie games
in one hit. You're a freak. And I was like, I
know. Yeah. So that's fantastic. And then we've
got Hades 2, which is really, really fucking
good. And then you've got Silksong, which is
fucking awesome. And then you've got Expedition
33 and Blueprints, which I know is amazing, but
it's not my cup of tea because it's just a puzzle
game and I get bored of just puzzles. I need
something to... in my brain a very pretty looking
puzzle game i will give you that but the reason
and i'm gonna go through it absalom is gonna
get my vote and i'll tell you for why go on tell
us ball x pit is fantastic but it's made by devolver
digital who are They're indie, but they're big
indie. They're not little. They're big, big indie.
They made fucking Enter the Gungeon and things
like that. You can't go with him. He's fucking
big indie. He's big indie. Blueprints I've never
played. Claire Obscure's going to win fucking
enough as it is. It doesn't need indie. That's
taking it away. Interestingly, Megabonk was in
this. Remember I was playing Megabonk? Megabonk.
And they pulled out. Yeah, because... I can't
remember why the geyser pulled out. Because he
was going under a different developer name, so
it's not his debut indie. He's a debut indie,
isn't he? He might be not this category he pulled
out of. Debut indie. He's not debut. And he's
got a lot of praise for that. Mountains and mountains
of praise. What a fucking guy. I'm more under
the assumption that he's done that because he
knew he was going to get caught. When you win
an award and you've got to say, hold on, he made
fucking Kirby's Dreamland. Do you know what I
mean? Or whatever he's made, I don't know. Neil
Druckmann. Yeah, you'll see them in there. Troy
Baker's up there too. No, fair play. Is that
Jennifer English up there? Fair play, fair play.
Hades 2 is fantastic and Silksong are also fantastic
and they should win it in their own right. But
the reason I'm not giving it to them is because
Silksong is a sequel and Hades is a sequel, so
they've already done it. And they've already
had their flowers for their games. So, by that
merit, Absalom has got the tick. I'm going Claire
Obscure because I'm glory hunting it. Claire
Obscure. Oh, there you go. The next fucking category
is literally what we discussed. Best debut indie
game. And whatever dispatch is, I like the look
of it. That's what Connor's been playing, that.
Of course he fucking has. It's a, did you ever
play The Wolf Among Us? Nah. Did you ever play
The Walking Dead Telltale series? Yes. It's that,
but with superheroes and episodes. Right, I see.
I see. And apparently it's very, very fucking
good, but it's not, it doesn't look like my cup
of tea. Yeah, but that's coming from Connor.
But then you would have thought, it's all good
that it's pulled out, but should they not have
replaced it with another one? So wait, so he's,
so he's pulled out, explain it again a bit better
for me. Sorry. You basically explained it like
shit, mate. No, no, no, I mean, I don't, I don't,
so he, he, so Mega Bonk was up for, Best debut
indie game. Best debut indie game, which is a
category we're talking about now. However, he's
pulled out of that because... Because it is not
his debut indie game. He's already made an indie
game. Yeah. But he is, with this game, Megabonk,
he has got a different alias as his developer
name. So it's the same person but he's using
a different name. Why did he change his developer
name then? I don't know, just to be like, I don't
know. Just to change it up a little bit. Rebranding.
I don't know the reason. Oh, fair enough. But
yeah, I'll be with you on that because you cunt
don't want to get caught. Yeah, you're going
to get caught. If you win it and you stand up
there with your chocolates and your award and
you go, oh, it's so amazing. You think everyone's
going to find out. That's exactly what I think.
And he's gone, I best pull out of this. He's
like, oh, vote for these amazing games. But also,
why did the people who put him in the category
not work out that he'd already done an indie
before? Because he's changed his name. I suppose
you don't know, do you? He's just a nobody. He's
like a one -man game, isn't he? One -man made
game called fucking whatever he's called himself.
Yeah, yeah. Barry Cupboard Man. And then it's
like, oh, great. Well done, son. And it's like,
oh, not really. Yeah, it's Neil Druckmann. Oh,
my God. Barry Cupboard Man's pulled out. Yeah.
It turns out it's the same guy that made Last
of Us. This is uncomfortable because... The best
debut game created by a new independent studio.
And I've only played one of them. Blueprints,
Claire Obscure, Despilote. And Dispatch. I mean,
I'm going to go Claire Obscure because I played
Claire Obscure and I absolutely love it. Yes,
but it's just going to win everything. It doesn't
matter, though. It doesn't matter. If West Ham
were like Arsenal, you wouldn't be sitting there,
would you? But they're winning everything. I
don't want to be like them cunts. Fucking cunts.
I hate them. Fuck Arsenal fans, man. Fuck Arsenal
club. You know, Tao's a big Arsenal fan. I know.
I had a row with him about it. Fucking cock.
Doing all fucking Declan Rice. He wouldn't be
fucking winning nothing without Declan Rice.
So he's like Stephen Gerrard. He's like, Stephen
Gerrard is fucking hell. He's nowhere near as
good as Stephen Gerrard. I was like, yes, he
is. He was probably fucking five when Stephen
Gerrard was playing. What are you on about? Probably,
yeah. You've been there two weeks. That was yesterday,
that was. Best mobile game. Best mobile game
we got. Destiny Rising, Persona 5, Sonic Rumble,
Umamu... What? Umamu... Sumi. Umamusumi. Umamusumi
and then Wuthering Waves. Well, I'm going to
go... I'm going to go Destiny Rising. Yeah, me
too. Only because I've watched Roman and Mark
play it to fucking death. They're not playing
it anymore. So the gacha aspect obviously got
what it wanted out of them. It got Roman's like
200 and something quid that he spent on it. Fucking
madness. Who was it who fucking pumped all that
money into Diablo? Roman. It was Roman that did
that? Yeah. I'm telling you, he's ADHD to fuck.
Thousands on Pokemon, thousands on fucking mobile
games. It's just madness. Best VR slash AR, we
don't care about that at all. But I'll give it
to The Midnight Walk just because it looks cool.
I'll give it to Alien because I love Alien. Yeah.
Marvel, Deadpool, VR, and then Ghost Town and
Arkham Ranger. Fuck off. Best action game. Ooh.
For the best game in the action genre, focus
primarily on combat. Ooh. Battlefield 6, Doom,
The Dark Ages, Hades 2, Ninja Gaiden 4, Shinobi
Art of Vengeance. I'm not going to give it a
Battlefield 6 or Doom. I'm not going to give
it a Battlefield 6 purely because I don't want
to. I'm going to give it a Battlefield 6. It's
fucking great though, isn't it? I'm not going
to give it a Hades 2. No. I don't feel like that's
an action game. I'm thinking of it from a combat
style. I suppose action. It's action, man. Yeah,
I read it as combat. Yeah, Battlefield 6 then.
Best action adventure. You can blow the face
off of walls, man. Exactly. Oh, Death Stranding
2. Hold on. For the best action slash adventure
game, combine in combat with traversal and puzzle
solving. Death Stranding 2. Ghost of Yotai. Hollow
Knight. Silk Song. Indiana Jones and the Great
Circle. Split Fiction. I'm going Split Fiction,
bro. I've got... This is tough, actually. I can't
tell you how much of a good game that was. Combine
in combat with traversal and puzzle solving.
That's either Death Stranding or Silk Song, man.
Or Split Fiction. I've never played it. It's
good. No, mate, I don't know what to do here.
It's good, good, good, good, good. I'm going
split fiction, man. Fuck. I'm going to give it
to Hollow Knight. Sorry, Hideo Kojima. Oh, here
we go. Oh, look at us. We knew this would be
a girl. Best RPG. For the best game design with
rich player character customization and progression,
includingly. Including massively multiplayer
experiences. You got Avowed, Claire Obscure,
KCD2, Monster Hunter Wilds and The Outer Worlds
2. It's the bit in the category where it says
including massively multiplayer experiences because
Claire Obscure Expedition 33 doesn't have that.
Neither does KCD. So that's quite difficult because
those are the two that are going to get picked.
Does any of them have that? No. Well, there you
go then. I don't think they do. I think they're
just saying basically it's included. Monster
Hunter Wilds does. It's included in MMORPG. Oh,
yeah, there you go then. See, where it says game
design with rich player character customization
and progression, The Outer Worlds 2, rich character.
I mean, yes and no, but when it's standing up
against something like KCD 2 Claire Obscure.
I mean, Avowed's just a flop anyway. Monster
Hunter Wild is Monster Hunter Wild. So it's between...
I know you're going to pick KCD too. I already
picked it five minutes ago. And I'm going to
pick Claire Obscure. What's the next one? Best
Fighting. For the best game design primarily
around head -to -head combat. 2X KO. Capcom Fighting
Collection 2. Fatal Fury City of the Wolves.
Mortal Kombat Legacy Collection. Virtua Fighter
5 Revo World Stage. Well, Mortal Kombat wins
because it's Mortal Kombat. I don't play fighting
games. Best Family. For the best game appropriate
for family play, irrespective of genre or platform.
Why would that come into play? Why does it have
to say irrespective of genre or platform? Why
is that on this section and not on the other?
I don't know. Donkey Kong Bonanza. Lego Party.
Lego Voyages. Mario Kart World. Sonic Racing
Crossworld. Split Fiction. I'm going Split Fiction
all fucking day, bro. I'm going Split Fiction
just for you. I mean, Lego Voyages looks cool
as well. I like that. I've never heard of that,
though. Best sim slash strategy. Best game focused
on real -time or turn -based simulation or strategy
gameplay, irrespective of platform. Now, every
category is going to... Final Fantasy Tactics,
the... I... Ivalice Chronicles. Jurassic World
Evolution 3. Sid Meier's Civilization... I don't
know what V -I -I is. Seven. Seven. Tempest Rising.
The Altars. Two Point Museum. I don't know any
of them. I'm going to go Jurassic World for my
son because he loves dinosaurs. I'm going to
go Tempest Rising because it's got guns in it.
We've got best sports slash racing. For the best
traditional and non -traditional sports and racing
game irrespective of platform. It doesn't say
that this time, does it? No. No. EA Sports FC
26. F1 25. Mario Kart World. Rematch. Sonic Racing
Crossworld. Now, I reckon you're going to go
rematch. You'd be correct. I'll go rematch as
well, purely because of what you've spoken about.
Fantastic little game. Oh, this is one. Best
multiplayer. For outstanding online multiplayer
gameplay and design, including co -op and massively
multiplayer experiences, irrespective of game
genre or platform. It's back. Ark Raiders. Battlefield
6. Elden Ring Night Rain. Peak. Split Fiction.
That is a good old fucking plethora of games
there. I'm torn between Battlefield 6 and Ark
Raiders. Not Split Fiction? Nah. Yeah, because
I suppose... I really want to play Night Rain.
I've had a real itch for it lately. Yeah. They're
releasing a new fucking boss and all sorts of
stuff. I know, but where you got Where Winds
Meet and that's free. Yeah. Yeah. Which is also
multiplayer. Shit. Split Fiction, yeah. It's
a tough one. Split Fiction's tough because I
played it with Steph and I just had so much fun.
So much fun. But Battlefield 6 was Battlefield
6 and Ark Raiders, the clips I've seen of Ark
Raiders, some of that shit. I saw a geezer. dropped
down like a vent shaft thing with a rope that
you can traverse down because he was trying to
get away from someone and a geezer ran and jumped
down it and because it was so tall the animation
of him like skydiving kicked in and he pulled
out his gun and killed the geezer before he hit
the ground and then grabbed onto the rope wow
and then traversed down and then looted him That
was madness. It's one of them. I told you, man.
That game is going to be huge. And it is. So
much as if we know what we're talking about.
It's massive. Well, you do. I believe I sat there
and said it would be dead in a week. Yeah, I
don't think it will. I think it will unless they
change, unless they put more enemies in. Because
I just said to Scott, I can't just deal with
robots all the time. Yeah, they've got to mess
around a little bit. I'm going to go Battlefield
6. I'll tell you why. Because I haven't played
Art Raiders enough. I only played the little
beta. And it's great. But I haven't bought it
yet, and Battlefield 6 has taken a lot of my
time when I have played it, and I loved it every
second almost. I'm going to go Split Fiction,
purely because I know Battlefield 6 or Ark Raiders
is going to win it, but Split Fiction is... Yeah,
it's a good one. Best Adaptation. Recognising
outstanding creative work that faithfully and
authentically adapts a video game to another
entertainment medium. Oh, Splinter Cell Death
Watch. I forgot that that's out. That looks cool
as fuck. I need to watch that. Minecraft movie.
Devil May Cry. The Last of Us Season 2. Until
Dawn. I'm going to have to go with The Last of
Us Season 2. I'm going to have to go with the
Minecraft movie because my kids love it. And
I've enjoyed watching it even though I don't
think it's particularly good. Most anticipated...
What's the point of this? Game. What is the point
of this title? I don't know. No one's going to
win this apart from obvious. Recognising an unannounced
game that has demonstrably illustrated potential
to push the gaming medium forward. 007 First
Light. GTA 6. Marvel's Wolverine. Resident Evil
Requiem. The Witcher 5. The Witcher 4. Witcher
vote. I voted The Witcher. I'm going to go Grand
Theft Auto 6. Because I'm a slag. Might as well
because no one else is going to. We don't reckon
that's winning it, no. Here we go. Best content
creator of the year. For a streamer or content
creator who has made an important and positive
impact on the community in 2025. K -Drell. Kaisernat.
Moist Critical. Sakura Miko. The Burnt Peanut.
He is hilarious. I'm going for the Burnt Peanut.
Have you seen him? Yeah, I've seen him. He is
fucking hilarious. He's great. I love him. I'm
surprised Asmongold's not on here. He's not controversial.
No, he's fucking whinges all the time. I am going
to go for Moist Critical, and I'll tell you for
why. Go on. Give me your reasons. He... I love
him, by the way. He's fantastic. The other day,
a couple of weeks ago... He's also built like
a motherfucker. Is he? He is pretty... He's very
small. He's a slim guy, but he's... No, I mean
he's like four foot four. He's tiny. No, he ain't.
Mate, he's tiny. No, he ain't. Mate, Google a
picture of him with someone. It actually comes
up most critical height. Oh, yeah. No, he's tiny.
How tall is he? Five foot six. Yeah. Well, that's
about my height. He's actually the same height
as you. Well, they just look bigger on TV, don't
they? He's the same height as you. I'm not fucking
five foot six. I'm not far off it, but I'm not
five foot six. Give him beans. Okay. Right. About
a month ago, he turned off all monetization.
Oh, well, bless the fucking millionaire that
turned off getting even more money. All right,
well, when have you ever heard of someone in
his position, or any rich man, go, do you know
what? I've got enough. Yeah. God bless him. Did
he also turn off all of his sponsors? that pay
him to stream. Yes, he's turned off everything.
No donations, no monetization on any of his channels,
no monetization on Twitch. Thank God the millionaire
turned off donations. Okay, so when you've got
enough money, you're going to say, no, I'll do
this for free now. No. Exactly. What a guy. Well,
no. What do you mean, what a guy? He's still
carrying on doing what he's doing for free. He's
got fuck all else to do. He's a millionaire.
What else are you going to do? Terrible, terrible
attitude. If you and me were millionaires, chances
are we'd still do the pod. We probably wouldn't
work anymore, but we'd probably still do the
pod. If I was a millionaire, you would never
see me again, Ruv. We'd have to Zoom it then.
I'd still crack on with this. I'd be getting
sponsors. I just think it's a very... People
that donate to streamers are weird. Yeah, I know.
And he knows this is what he's saying. Spend
the money on your own family. I don't need it.
I've got more than enough money. You fucking
grebe. You weird freaks. He's getting it for
that, man. Best esports game. For the game that
has delivered the best overall esports experience
to players. Inclusive. Of tournaments, community
support and content updates, irrespective of
genre or platform. Counter -Strike 2. Dota 2.
League of Legends. Mobile Legends. Bang Bang.
Valorant. I'm going with the Bang Bang one. I'm
going with Bang Bang because what a funny little
name. Fuck all the others. Best eSports... I
love this category. I love this so much. Don't
call it that. Best eSports athlete. Don't call
them athletes. It's like when darts players call
themselves athletes. No, you're just an alcoholic
throwing shit at a wall. The esports athlete
just to be the most outstanding for performance
and conduct in 2025, irrespective of game. Not
platform, this one, just game. Brock, Brock Somerhalder.
Oh, God, he's in your nightmares. He's coming
for your nightmares. Chovy Jong Jihoon. Forsaken
Jason Sosanto. Kakaru Watanabe. Why is that funny?
It's just funny. Menard Sol Leonardo. Ziwu Matteo
Herbal. How about... I don't fucking know anything.
I'm going to go for Kakaru Watanabe. I like the
name. I'm going to go for Menard because he looks
like a corgizo and he's wearing a Red Bull hat.
Best esports team. Oh, fuck me. Jesus Christ.
recognising their specific esports team, not
the full organisation, judged the most outstanding
for performance and conduct in 2025. Gen G. NRG.
Team Falcons. Team Liquid PH. Team Vitality.
I'm going Team Liquid PH because they play Mobile
Legends Bang Bang. Yeah, I'm going to go with
that one as well. I am going to go with that
one. Oh, what's this? Three rounds for each other's
players' voice. What's this? Players' choice.
Round one. 30 nominees. What? Oh, it's not open
yet. Well, we've done the voting. We do that
every year. It's a bit of a ritual, isn't it?
It's quite cute. We do do that. It's quite cute.
And every single year we always laugh at the
esports athletes. Get rid of the athlete bit.
You're not an athlete. I'm sorry. It's absolutely
ridiculous. I'm not taking away what you're doing
and I'm not saying that I'd be better at it than
those people who are doing it because I'm not.
I'm not taking anything away. I'm just saying.
Very talented. You can't call yourself an athlete
like that. No. That's not in the same... That's
like us calling ourselves journalists. Yeah.
We're just not. We're two twats in a room chatting
shit. Yeah. I won't dispute that. Yeah. See ya.
I wrote. I wrote.