Japan Game Awards 2018 Details
It’s always good to be recognized for your hard work and accomplishments ain’t it? With all the advancements in gaming technology, user experience, graphics, player experience, etc, rewarding development teams via an award show is only natural, right? And that’s just what Japan did. On Thursday, September 20, 2018, the Japan Game Award gave out various awards to everything from video games, to consoles.
Games up for awards were published in 2017, so hold your fingertips there “God of War should have won game of the year! REEEEEEEE!” And given the fact that Monster Hunter is so popular in Japan, that it has resulted in shortages in the past, it should be no surprise to anyone that Monster Hunter World took home the coveted game of the year award went to “Monster Hunter Worlds.” Now I know, I know. I can hear the “Breath of the Wild should have won! REEEEE!” from a mile away. And granted I’m more of a Zelda fan than Monster Hunter, but that doesn’t mean it as well as other great games still weren’t recognized for their excellence. Multiple games took home the Excellence Award.
Titles Include:
- Call Of Duty WWII
- Dragon Quest XI Echoes of Elusive Age
- Fate/GrandOrder
- Monster Hunter World (It got that too ya’ll)
- PUBG (player unknown battlegrounds)
- Pokemon Sun&Moon Ultra
- Splatoon2
- Super Mario Odyssey
- UnderTale
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Breath of the Wild received Japan Global product award, COD for the Foreign global product, and Dragon Quest for best sales. Again, I can hear the debates from a mile away. Granted there is a game one this list that’s making my head tilt a little. But that’s the beauty of gaming. Different player experiences result in different opinions.
The Nintendo Switch development team took a piece of the pie home via the Minister of Economy’s Trade and Industry award. The Switch’s ability to switch freely from home console to portable was the reasoning behind award the genius’s behind this device. “Freedom to have fun. Wherever. Whenever.” It was also noted that for a console with such a radical idea, the execution is refined, polished, and unique; and opens the gaming world to a new form of play further making critical advancements for the gaming and technology industry. With that being said, it’s so surprising that consumers across the globe showed great support for the system and they sold pretty quick (speaking from personal experience trying to get one on launch, to no avail).
And last but certainly not least is the Game Design award which went to a game that I never heard of until Thursday. Which naturally must check it out. The puzzle game Gorogoa took home this prestigious award for its beautiful artwork, mysterious story that is presented and progressed without using any text. That description alone would get many gamers intrigued.
It’s always refreshing to see gaming in the spotlight for positive reasons. Sometimes it’s interesting to think about how far gaming has come. A long way from memory cards, blowing dirt out of Nintendo cartridges, and disk scratch remover. The evolution of player experience, graphics, hardware etc is something truly impressive. So we here a Kzoku congratulate all the winners of the 2018 Japan Game Awards.
