
If we all assume that Geoff Keighley's livestreamed The Game Awards event is the Pop Justice £20 Music Prize of video game awards ceremonies, then the DICE Awards are the Grammys. That doesn't mean that the 19th annual event held at The Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas overnight wasn't packed with curious victors, however.
Fallout 4 took home Game of the Year, beating Bloodborne and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. It conquered both titles in the role-playing category as well, while also scooping the Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction gong. Hmm? Meanwhile, Lara Croft beat Geralt of Rivia, Evie Frye, and Max Caulfield to take Outstanding Achievement in Character, while CD Projekt RED did fortunately scoop the Outstanding Achievement in Story and Outstanding Technical Achievement awards.
Star Wars Battlefront was crowned the Best Action Game, which is a shock considering Splatoon was in the same category. DICE's shooter was correctly awarded the Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design prize, too – we'd have revolted if it had missed out on that one. Helldivers won Best Handheld Game, while Rocket League cleaned up in a handful of categories.
Elsewhere, late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata received a well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award, while Hideo Kojima was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame. What do you make of Fallout 4 winning the overall Game of the Year? Was Lara Croft the best character of 2016? And was Bloodborne robbed yet again? Keep your rage under control in the comments section below.
Outstanding Achievement in Animation
- Assassin's Creed Syndicate
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Rise of the Tomb Raider
- The Order: 1886
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
- Lara Croft Go
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Rise of the Tomb Raider
- The Order: 1886
- Star Wars Battlefront
Outstanding Achievement in Character
- Assassin's Creed Syndicate — Evie Frye
- Her Story — Hannah Smith
- Life is Strange — Max
- Rise of the Tomb Raider — Lara Croft
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Geralt of Rivia
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Everybody's Gone To The Rapture
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Starcraft II: Legacy Of The Void
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
- Destiny: The Taken King
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Rise of the Tomb Raider
- Star Wars Battlefront
- The Order: 1886
Outstanding Achievement in Story
- Fallout 4
- Her Story
- Tales from the Borderlands: A Telltale Game Series
- Rise of the Tomb Raider
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Outstanding Technical Achievement
- Just Cause 3
- Rise of the Tomb Raider
- Star Wars Battlefront
- The Order: 1886
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Action Game of the Year
- Destiny: The Taken King
- Helldivers
- Just Cause 3
- Star Wars Battlefront
- Splatoon
Adventure Game of the Year
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Life is Strange
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Rise of the Tomb Raider
Family Game of the Year
- Guitar Hero Live
- Lego Dimensions
- Rock Band 4
- Super Mario Maker
- Tearaway Unfolded
Fighting Game of the Year
- Mortal Kombat X
- Dead or Alive 5 Last Round
- Rising Thunder
Racing Game of the Year
- Forza Motorsport 6
- Need for Speed
- Project Cars
Role-playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year
- Bloodborne
- Fallout 4
- Pillars of Eternity
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Undertale
Sports Game of the Year
- FIFA 2016
- Madden NFL 2016
- MLB 15 The Show
- NBA 2K16
- Rocket League
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
- Cities: Skylines
- Fallout Shelter
- Grey Goo
- Heroes of the Storm
- Kerbal Space Program
DICE Sprite Award
- Her Story
- Galak-Z
- Kerbal Space Program
- Rocket League
- Undertale
Handheld Game of the Year
- Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space
- Helldivers
- Pokemon: Super Mystery Dungeon
- Yo-Kai Watch
Mobile Game of the Year
- Dominations
- Fallout Shelter
- Lara Croft GO
- Pac-Man 256
- The Room Three
Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay
- Destiny: The Taken King
- Halo 5: Guardians
- Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
- Rocket League
- Splatoon
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
- Fallout 4
- Her Story
- Lara Croft Go
- Massive Chalice
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
- Fallout 4
- Life is Strange
- Rise of the Tomb Raider
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Undertale
Game of the Year
- Bloodborne
- Fallout 4
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Rise of the Tomb Raider
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
[source uk.ign.com]
Comments 46
Bloodborne not even nominated in art direction category. What the hell?
Isn't Ori and the Blind Forest coming to the PS4?
I know awards/nominations are totally a matter of an opinion....but a large amount of these categories look filled with unworthy nominations/winners.
Fallout 3.5 Game of the year?? Have a word with yourself.
@WanderingBullet Very, very unlikely. Was published by Microsoft.
Looking at the Nominee's I think its odd that some games didn't get a mention and even more odd was the eventual winner in some cases. Fallout 4 isn't what I consider the best in the RPG category, let alone Game of the Year. Its more like Fallout 3.5 with a bit more 'colour'.
Ori wins best Art?? Lara Croft Go nominated in that Category?? WTF!
Fallout isn't even a great RPG let alone worthy of being game of the year.
@get2sammyb Guess it was a rumor then… :/
@BAMozzy Idk, I saw the trailer for Ori and the Blind Forest back in 2014 and thought it looked really good but if I had to pick between the nominees I would've chosen The Order 1886 for art direction.
What is the DICE Sprite Award, btw?
It feels like they play it very safe with their awards, trying to please the major games/publishers/developers while ignoring what games actually "should" win.
The exclusion of Bloodborne really shows how un-credible DICE awards actually are even though I appreciate awards are subjective by nature.
Also if Fallout Shelter was the best mobile game (it was the only one I played) then gaming on mobile is in a pretty sh*t state right now. Or does this just add further to DICE's poor credibility?
Language - get2sammyb
Edit:- Apologies Sammy...
In defence of Fallout 4 I think it's a great game - one of the best of 2015. I would never, ever put it above The Witcher 3, though, as an overall game or as an RPG.
Just wondering how many freebies they get from certain publishers for making sure their game wins.
@WanderingBullet Ori is an OK looking game but its nor like we haven't seen this artstyle and visual presentation before. The Witcher 3 though is in my opinion far superior in its Artstyle. The Skellig Isles are very 'Viking' and the Novigrad looks like a place that's been built up over centuries for example. The outer edge is made up of wooden structures and the buildings all look unique - no cut and paste. The day-night cycle creates some of the most breath-taking vistas at sunrise/sunset and the lighting these create - you have a different light in the Skellig isles as if you are much further North. You have a incredible sense of place and time. I know the Order has incredible visuals too from a technical PoV but it does seem very 1 dimensional.
In some cases it seems that 'sales' dictated which games got nominated or won. Fallout 4 probably sold more than the Witcher - mainly because it has a longer console history - but its not superior.
Fallout 4 is good. But its too full of bugs, has woeful graphics and is very cumbersome. This is a complete joke.
Rocket League is the goty hands down.
Excuse me????
Witcher for game design??? Did they do ANYTHING original N that respect??
@themcnoisy My jaw really will hit the floor the day an indie game gets multiple goty awards. But you're right, it definitely deserves it more than Fallout.
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi I knew we'd bring you round in the end.
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi don't get me started on Dragon Age.
Fallouts Great, a recommended purchase. But its too flawed compared to other games last year. I've put 30 hours in and have fallen through the floor more times than a broken reactor. But your right the content is epic just like fellow contestants mgs pp, witcher, disgaea 5, Bloodborne etc etc. You love your fallout, I've always enjoyed it - just like f4, but for some reason it hasn't grabbed me like f3 or new Vegas.
Rocket League on the other hand is the best multiplayer game since Bomberman.
Fallout 4's fairly fun to play, but it's barely an RPG, has a very, very poor story, and is populated by far too much copy and paste.
I don't like the way The Witcher plays, but it's in a different league in terms of world building, performances, dialogue, quest design, etc.
@get2sammyb You're not alone. Looting in the Witcher was like pulling teeth. I lost count of the times I lit/extinguished a candle instead of looting something!
Also you had to be in perfect alignment with the looting object for the prompt to appear.
Good game overall but improving the looting would have made it much more enjoyable for me!
This is why Bloodborne or even Batman would have got my vote...
As far as western games go, it's one of the best. It's a great game, but just not my style.
@get2sammyb
That's the nicest thing you've ever said about the Witcher!
Well, it seems like they did a good job of making all of the major players happy with at least one award. Poor Halo 5 though, it's pretty much been forgotten about, at least critically.
@sub12 I'm still working my way through it by the way. In fact, if I'm not on review duty this weekend, I may continue it tonight. I've just got back to Kaer Wotsit.
I loved Fallout 4 but The Witcher 3 is easily the better game IMO.
I think it is the right choice. Fallout for me is just so much more enjoyable, and definitely more replayable. I get why the Witcher gets so much love, but what Bethesda was able to make in fallout 4 is just fantastic. Fallout was my goty.
Fallout beating The Witcher feels really suspect. Given the amount of GotY lists and polls I've seen along with people's reactions and opinions on the two games.
Can Tomb Raider win some awards for 2016 when it's finally on PS4 and everyone else gets to play it?
So Sony got like no awards. Sure, Dice. Sure.
Let's ignore Tearaway, Bloodborne, and Until Dawn. They achieved nothing compared to the games that won.
Let's watch Dice awards become even more irrelevant next year.
So Sony got like no awards. Sure, Dice. Sure.
Let's ignore Tearaway, Bloodborne, and Until Dawn. They achieved nothing compared to the games that won.
Let's watch Dice awards become even more irrelevant next year.
Fallout 4 winning goty is a joke, especially when sitting next to the Witcher 3, and Divinity Original Sin didn't even make the ballot which is a joke. Looking over these it keeps reinforcing how laughable these all are. Starwars is trash except for graphics and sound. Those handheld games are probably the biggest jokes of all, I wouldn't really even consider Helldivers a handheld game to begin with. Some fantastic games came out for the Vita and 3DS last year and to see none of them on the ballot is stunning.
Not that these awards really matter, but it's just kind of funny.
My game of the year would probably be Rainbow Six Siege.
Action Game would be Bloodborne.
RPG is the Witcher 3
JRPG is Tales of Zesteria
Family game is Splatoon
Handheld game is Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold or IA/VT Colorful.
And I'm way too lazy to go through the rest.
@GraveLordXD Well, you know what they say about opinions...
@themcnoisy funny, because I have hundreds of hours in it and only ever had it crash one time, and no floor falling bugs or anything like that. Guess I'm just lucky, but I haven't encountered ANY bugs in fallout.
@SonyInfinity you have encountered bugs. Its impossible not to.
This is the last time I comment on F4 as its a great game - but enemies stick on scenery, npcs get stuck in walking routines, you can move into inescapable areas of the maps and have to reload, the loading is a total joke, the levelling has been nerfed, the menu organisation is poor for weapons, you constantly get lost in buildings, you have to collect EVERYTHING - and this is the worst problem. In previous fallouts junk was junk. Your inventory although still clunky was fairly manageable, its now ridiculous - I am constantly encumbered like wtf!!!
The story is rubbish, the various factions don't have the impact of previous games, why does everyone obey you?.
How is this Game of the year? The positives like the sprawling world, witty dialogue, cool scenario, amount of items and gameplay abilities have all been seen in 3 and NV - the graphics are pants so we may as well be playing them. I could understand on release you could be blinded to the shoddy quality control - but 3 months later?
Oh well, loads of people love this so maybe I've missed something.
Fallout 4 is a great game but no where near goty that has to go to the witcher!
Rise of the Tomb Raider was the best AAA game I played from last year, and most nominees are AAA.
I would have preferred to see RotTR win GotY, and Splatoon really should have won SOMETHING.
Wow, is Fallout 4 going to be the Skyrim of the Fallout series? One of those games where everyone on gaming websites constantly spout hatred about yet everyone else seems to love? Seems like it.
All I'll say is while I enjoyed the Witcher 3, Fallout 4 has pulled me away from it and I probably won't return until I finish my journey in the Commonwealth. Alas, now SFV has pulled me away from Fallout 4 so maybe I'm just fickle.
@Teepo Great point. I absolutely loved Skyrim. Yet so many people on the internet hate on it. The witcher 3 seems to be very popular online but I just couldn't get into it.
@themcnoisy I'm being completely honest here, I put about 80 hours into Fallout and only saw a couple of framerate drops. No bugs.
I think you may have just been unlucky there.
Anyway, Undertale should have won everything.
Fallout 4 was fun but the complete lack of choices in the storyline or in the approach to individual quests was a major letdown to me. I invested heavily in the speech skill because it was so much fun in FO3 but here it did nothing else but increase the amount of caps you get for a quest...
I loved Fallout 4 and I'm very much looking forward to the dlc content and for me is a flip of a coin between this and The Witcher for goty. Don't get me wrong Fallout's main story is pretty poor and it makes little difference which faction you choose. However out of the many hours I've spent with the game, most of the time I was doing my own thing and having my own adventures, whether it be building settlements or discovering a ship on top of a building and to me this is what an rpg is all about. I also really enjoyed The Witcher and it has one of the best stories of any game I've played with fantastic voice acting really bringing the characters to life, yet this is truly Geralts story and not yours. Basically I enjoy both games but for very different reasons which sums up rpg's perfectly and I suspect I'll still be playing Fallout long after I've finished with The Witcher
Er, millions of gamers spent or are spending hundreds of hours with Fallout 4. There must be a reason... The Withcer 3 was way more buggy than F4 for a very long time... but Bugthesda is such a cool word, let's write it everywhere! F4 is no RPG because lack of choices than gamers complain because "I can't do all the missions of all the factions if I choose one!" F4 is no RPG because of Perks' cartoons, but just try to convert all the character's statistics in charts or trees...
I've put a lot more hours in bloodbourne and witcher 3 and never got bored. The first 15 hours of fallout 4 were great but I got to the point where I just wanted to critical path the main story.
The whole game is a series of checklists and it does nothing to cover that up in its design. That to me is why the Witcher 3 and bloodbourne are better games I never noticed the checklists in those games because I felt like I was invested in those worlds.
We shouldn't forget that Fallout 4, The Withcer 3 and Bloodborne are deeply influenced by their settings. 50s Sci Fi, Fantasy and Horror Gothic can attract someone and push away others independently from the gameplay.
Fun fact: The Grammys were inaugurated in the 50's to divert attention from Rock 'n Roll, & put the spotlight back on more "traditional" pop music.
@themcnoisy Good thing about opinions and all. And honestly, no, I don't recall any of the bugs you describe. I am also not actively looking for them to have reasons to not like a game and I didn't start the game with a preconceived notion that all Bethesda games are buggy, therefore tainting my view of this specific game. It's a great game and for me personally is MUCH MORE enjoyable than Witcher. The amount of varied character builds alone warrant many play throughs.
It's strange that there's no "Best Shooter" nor "Best Horror" categories. What also pisses me off is that Bloodborne didn't got any awards, neither Until Dawn, Splatoon and Undertale. And seriously? Star Wars Battlefront best action game?? That's BS!
And Fallout 4 feels more like an Action Open World FPS than a RPG.
Fallout 4 is a good game with decent shooting mechanics, but its RPG elements are really dissapointing compared to everything else released last year.
@Dodoo Thats why I wait a few weeks cause they fixed that in the 2nd update....
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