The Cringeworthy
1) Schick Hydrobot
Schick was a huge sponsor of the Game Awards this year, and if you didn’t know it at the beginning of the award ceremony, you definitely did by the end of it. Every once in awhile someone in a “Hydrobot” costume appeared on screen with Kyle Bosman and each appearance seemed more scripted and forced than the last. Kyle Bosman seemed more uncomfortable with his role after each encounter, making it that much harder to watch. Schick should have probably stuck with regular ads and commercials between segments, as the whole idea was a flop.
2) Pre-show Comedy Skit
Though the hydrobot segments were pretty bad, a comedy skit about custom gamer t-shirts, among a few other things, seen in the pre-show was awkward as hell. Although it was meant to be funny, the whole thing just came across as ridiculous and dumb. There wasn’t a single moment during this particular segment that was funny, and the whole thing was just so embarrassing that I stopped paying attention to the show until it was over.
3) The Announcement for Best Impact Game
By the title of the game That Dragon, Cancer, one would think that the game was a bit more serious, or sad than many others in the industry, right? Unfortunately, the announcers of the category of the Best Impact Game were completely unaware as they announced That Dragon, Cancer as the winner of the category in an overly cheerful manner. It might be a good idea to give the announcers a bit of an idea of the games they are announcing to avoid another moment like this in the future. This cringeworthy moment, thankfully, was quickly overshadowed by one of the best moments of the award ceremony, and definitely the best speech of the night.
This years Game Awards were better than ever, and despite the missteps, Geoff Keighley put together a fantastic show full of all kinds of exciting game reveals and announcements!