Global video game icon Cliff Blesinzki, the former creative lead at Epic Games, wasn’t at the Spike Video Game Awards on Saturday night to talk about Epic’s forthcoming “Gears of War: Judgment.”
Neither was former Epic President Capps, who has appeared on stage at Apple events to tout products from the Cary-based video game technology and game company.
They are gone in a series of management changes at Epic.
However, Epic did drew some media attention at the awards show in Los Angeles when it unveiled a new video trailer for Judgment, the latest installment in the billion-dollar game franchise.
The Examiner.com described the trailer as a “deeper look” into Judgment, which is being developed in large part by Epic’s People Can Fly subsidiary in Europe.
“The trailer intertwines snippets of the original reveal trailer with brand new footage that showcases the destruction of Halvo Bay,” the Examiner reported. “The prequel seems to have a heavy focus on the downfall of the Coalition of Ordered Governments as the Locust make off with experimental technology that could turn the tide of the new war. Enemy types practically remain the same, save for a new big, bad Locust that looks to be a massive Corpse and a spiked creature that rushes towards its target.”
Zombies Win
Meanwhile, in the awards portion of the show, ”The Walking Dead: The Game” took top honors.
Telltale Games’ interactive episodic series based on the zombie comic book franchise was selected as game of the year at Friday’s extravaganza, which honors outstanding achievements in the video game industry over the past year.
“Look, ‘Walking Dead’ fans, this is obviously for you,” beamed “Walking Dead” creator Robert Kirkman. “Thank you so much. You guys watch the TV show. You read the comics. You play the video games. You make all this possible.”
“The Walking Dead” also won the best downloadable and adapted game prizes, as well as best performance by a human female for Melissa Hutchison as young survivor Clementine and studio of the year for Telltale Games.
“The Avengers” star and shooter fan Samuel L. Jackson served as host of the much-censored 10th annual ceremony at Sony Pictures Studios, marking his fourth time hosting the show.
“You know me,” warned Jackson at the start of the ceremony. “Whoever’s in charge of the bleep button, keep your finger ready ’cause this is gonna be one heck of a show, (expletive).”
Gearbox Software’s cartoony shoot-’em-up sequel “Borderlands 2” swept the VGAs with the most awards, picking up trophies for best shooter, multiplayer, performance by a human male for Dameon Clarke as villain Handsome Jack and character of the year for chatty robot Claptrap.
Other Winners
Other titles winning multiple trophies included 343 Industries’ sci-fi shooter “Halo 4” as best Xbox 360 game and graphics; Queasy Games’ musical platformer “Sound Shapes” as best handheld game and song for “Cities” by Beck; and thatgamecompany’s artsy downloadable adventure “Journey” as best independent, PlayStation 3 game and original score.
“We made ‘Journey’ for you, to show that games can be something different — independent, experimental, moving, emotional, modern, inclusive, different,” said “Journey” executive producer Robin Hunicke. “That’s why we made it.”
Arkane Studios’ stealthy first-person game “Dishonored” was picked as best action-adventure game. BioWare’s sci-fi saga “Mass Effect 3” won as best role-playing game. Valve Software’s “Half-Life 2” was chosen as the best game of the decade.
The two-hour ceremony, which featured performances from Linkin Park and Tenacious D, put more emphasis on hyping upcoming games than handing out trophies though.
The show featured new footage from such upcoming titles as “The Last Us,” ”South Park: The Stick of Truth,” ”Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2″ and “BioShock Infinite.” It also served to unveil never-before-seen games like “Dark Souls II” and “The Phantom Pain,” which is apparently connected to the “Metal Gear Solid” franchise.
For the first time, the VGAs were streamed on Xbox Live, the online service for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console. During the ceremony, online viewers could vote on show components like what songs and clips would be played during the VGAs.
The winners of most of the show’s categories were chosen by an advisory council, while viewer votes selected character of the year and most anticipated game, which went to “Grand Theft Auto V.”
[EPIC ARCHIVE: Check out a decade of Epic stories as reported in WRAL Tech Wire.]
