5punk Awards 2016
Posted: January 24th, 2016, 11:46
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 5punk awards for 2016. This annual event celebrates that which we have enjoyed over the course of the last year, be it for its quality or for its ridiculousness. Both are good, as long as they're entertaining. There is little else in the way of rules for nominations, only that 5punkers have enjoyed the thing this year and that it could be considered representative of the genre for which it has been selected.
5punk awards are nominated and voted by our members. Over recent years there have been many accusations of corruption against entertainment industry establishments, but here at 5punk we can safely say nobody has had any desire to bribe us with material gifts or sexual favours. Should you wish to, however, please contact admin@5punk.co.uk so we can raffle it off among the admins. One day, Ken Levine's beard. One day.
Without further ado, the 5punk awards.
SINGLE PLAYER GAME OF THE YEAR
There was a good number and variety of nominations for single player games this year. 5punkers, it seems, are a little more reclusive. Whether that is because they have been of good quality, or merely because of poor personal hygiene among our forumites, is hard to say. Probably both. Either way, popular choices ranged from mid-budget, story focused, indie titles to multi-million dollar AAA franchises. Ultimately though the votes went to something between the two. The winner is something of a trailblazer. High budget and from a well established developer, it non the less attempted something brave and unusual by eschewing combat thrills for a terrifying and claustrophobic struggle for survival. This year's Single Player Game of the Year goes to:
Alien: Isolation
MULTIPLAYER GAME OF THE YEAR
A smaller showing from the nominations this year could suggest many things. Publishers are becoming less adventurous, following known formula, and our nominations duly represented twitch-shooter, MOBA, and team shooter to represent this. Perhaps the number of releases is proving more divisive, and we're finding it difficult to settle on a game which everyone likes. Either way, and despite the causes, multiplayer gaming remains the core activity here on 5punk. The nominations have all proven to be competitive without being too serious, and either free or inexpensive. Something to consider for 2016. This year's winner is the epitome of pick-up-and-play multiplayer. Its simple concept is silly and easy to understand, but difficult to master. Victories feel epic, defeats merely an amusing but minor failure, and the game is enjoyable regardless of the outcome. The 2016 award for Multiplayer Game of the Year goes to:
Rocket League
5PUNK GAME OF THE YEAR
The 5punk Game of the Year award has always been less about quality and more about amusement value. This lends itself to those games which are broken in ways that leave the game playable but ridiculous, allowing us the opportunity for silly fun. That only three games were nominated this year may suggest that the quality of releases may be improving, although it's perhaps more likely that the problems with modern products are game-breaking rather than funny. The winner was a landslide, receiving 89% of votes despite not being broken at all. It is, however, a brilliant platform for outrageous antics and good-natured conflict, which in turn leads to the witty inter-5punker dialogue you would expect from a 5punky Game of the Year. That game is:
Rocket League
MOST ANTICIPATED GAME OF THE YEAR
Building hype for games is a multi-million dollar industry in itself these days. The PR machine trickles content well in advance, and gamers are well aware of forthcoming big-budget titles. For this reason the Most Anticipated category tends to be built on those games we expect to be well made, or those which have the potential for unusual things. Neither come as a particular surprise, and it's unlikely that one of our Game of the Year titles will appear here. Unsurprising, then, that all but one of the nominations are AAA titles, and only one more isn't part of a franchise. The genres are diverse though, and show the diversity of 5punkers and their gaming habits as well as a gaming renaissance after maybe a decade of stagnant military manshoots. We have competitive shooters, single-player blockbusters, complex strategy games. The winner falls into the latter, part of a franchise that goes back to the early 90s, and was all but abandoned up until a few years ago. The Most Anticipated Game of 2016 is:
XCOM 2
TV SHOW OF THE YEAR
The TV Show of the Year category has proven to be popular and divisive this year. Streaming services are becoming popular and higher quality, and it would seem relaxing in front of a screen is at least as common as firing up a game after a stressful day. So with four of the six nominations receiving the same number of votes we have quite a tie. Superheroes have taken half of the victory in the form of Daredevil and Jessica Jones, although both are distinctly different with Daredevil taking a more traditional approach to Jessica Jones's reluctant antihero. Close-to-the-bone comedy represents the other half, with the politically incorrect dry humour of British military comedy Bluestone 42 well matched against the politically incorrect silly humour of horror-comedy Ash Vs Evil Dead. A good year for TV, whichever way you voted.
Daredevil
Bluestone 42
Jessica Jones
Ash Vs Evil Dead
MOVIE OF THE YEAR
5punkers still go to the cinema, it seems. Certainly the movies nominated for this category are more recent than the games have been for theirs. We show our true geek colours too here, with some variation on sci-fi dominating heavily. Were it not for a hugely popular late release it might have been a well contested award, and votes were spread fairly evenly among the runners up. The winner, however, stole 50% of the votes despite some reservations by many who discussed it on the boards. It was never likely to be any other way - this film is a continuation of a franchise which is older than most 5punkers and close to the heart of many. It may not have delivered the depth of story of some of the nominations, but it delivered quite the spectacle while expanding on the canon without betraying the much-loved original source. The Movie of the Year could never have been anything other than the werd-felcher baiting:
Star Wars: The horse Awakens
5punk awards are nominated and voted by our members. Over recent years there have been many accusations of corruption against entertainment industry establishments, but here at 5punk we can safely say nobody has had any desire to bribe us with material gifts or sexual favours. Should you wish to, however, please contact admin@5punk.co.uk so we can raffle it off among the admins. One day, Ken Levine's beard. One day.
Without further ado, the 5punk awards.
SINGLE PLAYER GAME OF THE YEAR
There was a good number and variety of nominations for single player games this year. 5punkers, it seems, are a little more reclusive. Whether that is because they have been of good quality, or merely because of poor personal hygiene among our forumites, is hard to say. Probably both. Either way, popular choices ranged from mid-budget, story focused, indie titles to multi-million dollar AAA franchises. Ultimately though the votes went to something between the two. The winner is something of a trailblazer. High budget and from a well established developer, it non the less attempted something brave and unusual by eschewing combat thrills for a terrifying and claustrophobic struggle for survival. This year's Single Player Game of the Year goes to:
Alien: Isolation
MULTIPLAYER GAME OF THE YEAR
A smaller showing from the nominations this year could suggest many things. Publishers are becoming less adventurous, following known formula, and our nominations duly represented twitch-shooter, MOBA, and team shooter to represent this. Perhaps the number of releases is proving more divisive, and we're finding it difficult to settle on a game which everyone likes. Either way, and despite the causes, multiplayer gaming remains the core activity here on 5punk. The nominations have all proven to be competitive without being too serious, and either free or inexpensive. Something to consider for 2016. This year's winner is the epitome of pick-up-and-play multiplayer. Its simple concept is silly and easy to understand, but difficult to master. Victories feel epic, defeats merely an amusing but minor failure, and the game is enjoyable regardless of the outcome. The 2016 award for Multiplayer Game of the Year goes to:
Rocket League
5PUNK GAME OF THE YEAR
The 5punk Game of the Year award has always been less about quality and more about amusement value. This lends itself to those games which are broken in ways that leave the game playable but ridiculous, allowing us the opportunity for silly fun. That only three games were nominated this year may suggest that the quality of releases may be improving, although it's perhaps more likely that the problems with modern products are game-breaking rather than funny. The winner was a landslide, receiving 89% of votes despite not being broken at all. It is, however, a brilliant platform for outrageous antics and good-natured conflict, which in turn leads to the witty inter-5punker dialogue you would expect from a 5punky Game of the Year. That game is:
Rocket League
MOST ANTICIPATED GAME OF THE YEAR
Building hype for games is a multi-million dollar industry in itself these days. The PR machine trickles content well in advance, and gamers are well aware of forthcoming big-budget titles. For this reason the Most Anticipated category tends to be built on those games we expect to be well made, or those which have the potential for unusual things. Neither come as a particular surprise, and it's unlikely that one of our Game of the Year titles will appear here. Unsurprising, then, that all but one of the nominations are AAA titles, and only one more isn't part of a franchise. The genres are diverse though, and show the diversity of 5punkers and their gaming habits as well as a gaming renaissance after maybe a decade of stagnant military manshoots. We have competitive shooters, single-player blockbusters, complex strategy games. The winner falls into the latter, part of a franchise that goes back to the early 90s, and was all but abandoned up until a few years ago. The Most Anticipated Game of 2016 is:
XCOM 2
TV SHOW OF THE YEAR
The TV Show of the Year category has proven to be popular and divisive this year. Streaming services are becoming popular and higher quality, and it would seem relaxing in front of a screen is at least as common as firing up a game after a stressful day. So with four of the six nominations receiving the same number of votes we have quite a tie. Superheroes have taken half of the victory in the form of Daredevil and Jessica Jones, although both are distinctly different with Daredevil taking a more traditional approach to Jessica Jones's reluctant antihero. Close-to-the-bone comedy represents the other half, with the politically incorrect dry humour of British military comedy Bluestone 42 well matched against the politically incorrect silly humour of horror-comedy Ash Vs Evil Dead. A good year for TV, whichever way you voted.
Daredevil
Bluestone 42
Jessica Jones
Ash Vs Evil Dead
MOVIE OF THE YEAR
5punkers still go to the cinema, it seems. Certainly the movies nominated for this category are more recent than the games have been for theirs. We show our true geek colours too here, with some variation on sci-fi dominating heavily. Were it not for a hugely popular late release it might have been a well contested award, and votes were spread fairly evenly among the runners up. The winner, however, stole 50% of the votes despite some reservations by many who discussed it on the boards. It was never likely to be any other way - this film is a continuation of a franchise which is older than most 5punkers and close to the heart of many. It may not have delivered the depth of story of some of the nominations, but it delivered quite the spectacle while expanding on the canon without betraying the much-loved original source. The Movie of the Year could never have been anything other than the werd-felcher baiting:
Star Wars: The horse Awakens