A cause for applause! Welcome to the show, dearest guests. Please be seated. To close the year we thought we’d try something a little different – it’s an alternative game awards show! We polled some members of the community and collated our own thoughts on the past year ân change, and whoâda thunk it – weâve got plenty to share. So join us in this celebration of everything that is, was, and could be. Itâll be a night to remember! (Also – Sam is very aware of the irony of him claiming the audio will be better while being completely unaware that Discord is sipping from their headset mic again rather than the one they told it to. OOOoOOOPS!)
Follow us on Twitter, Bluesky and Backloggd: @GamerEraPodcast
Categories and Nominees:
- Game of the Year (2024): UFO 50, Astro Bot, Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom, Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore, Tiny Terryâs Turbo Trip, Judero, Thank Goodness Youâre Here
- Backlog Nominee (2025): Pizza Tower, Pokémon Legends Arceus, Metal Gear Solid, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Super Mario RPG (2023), Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Resident Evil
- Best in Wallet: Steam Deck OLED, Celeste, Atari 50: The Anniversary Collection, The Lego Humble Bundle
- Best in Imagination: a Wario Land sequel, a âback to basicsâ Lego game, a Tomodachi Life/Nintendogs/Seaman spiritual successor, another revival for TimeSplitters 4
- Most âInterestingâ: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, P-Racing, Pennyâs Big Breakaway, The Plucky Squire, Doctor Who: The Adventure Games, Flower, Journey
- The David Foundationâs âBest in LEGOâ: LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, LEGO Batman, LEGO Marvel Superheroes, LEGO City Undercover, LEGO 2K Drive
- Episode of the Year (2024): Casino Royale with Cheese, Toast of Hollywood, The Hunt for Content, Death by Chocolate, A Brief History of Time and Space, and others
- Game of the Era (Year One): Donut Dodo, Root Bear, Jusant, FIFA Street (2005), Ape Escape, Football Manager 2024, Downwell, Virtual Boy Wario Land
Honourable Mentions:
- Week in Gaming: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Electroplankton, Project Rub (Feel the Magic: XY/XX), Webfishing
- Game of the Year: The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Persona 3 Reload, Crow Country
- Backlog Nominee: Viewtiful Joe, Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright, The Great Ace Attorney
- Best in Wallet: Stardew Valley, Cities: Skylines, Anbernic RG35XXSP
- Best in Imagination: a Gravity Rush sequel, a Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg sequel, a new F-Zero, a new Style Savvy, a new game from the former CiNG development staff
- Most âInterestingâ: Flower, Sun & Rain (DS), Amber Isle, Yakuza: Dead Souls, Fashion Dreamer, Kevin (1997-2077)
- Game of the Era: F-Zero GX, Cavern of Dreams, Open RCT2, Dragon Quest VIII, Y School Heroes: Bustlinâ School Life
Music used:
- Gala Premiere – Laurie Johnson
- Pingolf – Gameplay [from âUFO 50â] – Eirik Suhrke
- Astro [from âAstro Botâ] – Kenneth C M Young
- Downhill [from âThank Goodness Youâre Hereâ] – James Carbutt, Joe Rodwell, Fraser Perry
- Karakara Defense [from âThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomâ] – Maasa Miyoshi, Manaka Kataoka, Masato Ohashi, Tsukasa Usui
- UFO 50 – Eirik Suhrke
- Clair de Lune [from âFlower, Sun & Rainâ] – Masafumi Takada, Claude Debussy
- Everybody Votes Channel – Toshiyuki Sudo
- Doctor Who Confidential Theme – Murray Gold
- Staff Roll [from âArzette: The Jewel of Faramoreâ] – Jake âButton Masherâ Silverman
Further reading:
- Charlie Brooker teaches Jon Snow to play video games (Channel 4 News, 2013): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FLVjfFKy58
- AI Slop Recap Site That I’m Not Crediting For Anything: https://deepcast.fm/podcast/friendly-mushroom-productions