Well, we now know we're not getting Fallout 4, but there's plenty more to get excited about at this year's Spike TV awards show - now snappily rebranded VGX.
So far we've been told to expect news on Titanfall, The Witcher 3, Quantum Break, The Division and Broken Age, along with an appearance from Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime, and a live performance of music from Grand Theft Auto 5. (Presumably not just Rihanna and Britney on repeat, which was my soundtrack to Rockstar's open-world opus.)
Tom Bramwell will be your host on this end as we all watch along to the live stream below, so get some coffee ready and prepare yourself for three hours (yes) of announcements, awards and hopefully not many skits. It all starts at 11pm GMT, which is 3pm PT or 6pm ET if you drive your Dodge Chevy GT Viper on the wrong side of the road.
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Our live coverage of this event has finished.
Evening all! VGX kicks off in five hours' time, so our proper updates will start shortly before then. Let's have your predictions/hopes/dreams/ideas for drinking games in the meantime.
– Tom Bramwell
Oops! Leaked details of some of this evening's announcements have made it out after the stream reportedly started broadcasting rehearsals. I say reportedly because I was busy having my tea at the time. Anyway, if you want to preserve the mystery, don't read this thread on NeoGAF.
– Tom Bramwell
Right then, time to settle down and prepare ourselves for three hours (over three hours if you count the "pre-play show", which begins in 10 minutes) of awards, announcements and trailers.
– Tom Bramwell
According to the VGX website, the pre-play show will include an exclusive look at Eidos Montreal's Thief, which I went to see earlier this year. At the time the team were very open about its troubled development. Then their studio head quit. Yikes. Will be nice to get an update.
– Tom Bramwell
After the pre-play, "hour one" includes a few unveilings, a Tomb Raider update, a bit of Reggie, a bit of Quantum Break, and even a couple of awards.
– Tom Bramwell
Hour two will be South Park, Destiny, Broken Age and a bunch of other stuff. Hour three brings us Dying Light, more Thief, some more announcements and that GTA5 music performance.
– Tom Bramwell
The live stream is currently showing the VGX logo in the middle of a Sauron-like eye that keeps looking around the screen. I'm going to try staring it down.
– Tom Bramwell
OK LET'S DO THIS.
– Tom Bramwell
This is the pre-play show bit. They're at the Eidos Montreal office talking to Stephane Roy about developing the game. I interviewed him there - I can confirm he is a nice man and very passionate.
– Tom Bramwell
So far they're going over the stuff we already know about Thief. The way they keep Garrett's hands in shot to add to the sense of tactility, the play on light and shadow, etc.
– Tom Bramwell
They're talking about how shadows work in Thief. "If you're in the shadow, the player should feel powerful." They're demoing the light gem - the icon on-screen that shows you how covered you are.
– Tom Bramwell
Stephane Roy's talking up the different play styles. Lure people into the shadows and club them with your blackjack, take them out with arrows from afar, or just ghost your way through the whole game.
– Tom Bramwell
There was a bit about the Focus ability there too, which heightens the player's senses. (And in the game etc.)
– Tom Bramwell
Steven Gallagher from Eidos Montreal is now talking about the story in Thief. He looks extremely bored though and I found this so distracting I didn't really take in what he said.
– Tom Bramwell
I remember there's a baron though and oppression and that sort of thing. You're thrown into this setting, steal stuff and get up to high jinks.
– Tom Bramwell
Back with Stephane Roy, talking about a mission where you have to steal a blueprint from an architect's mission, which will give you access to another part of the city.
– Tom Bramwell
Ah yes, I remember - the three phases of Thief. Infiltration, theft and escape. They were very big on this when I was over there. The video showed how you could escape by firing a rope arrow up through a skylight.
– Tom Bramwell
The game will also be heavily customisable in terms of its difficulty settings, so if you want to be severely punished for the slightest indiscretion, Eidos Montreal has you covered, you miserable sod.
– Tom Bramwell
Ooh, here's a bit about the in-game shop. You can buy stuff in it with the gold you pick up while stealing things am I really typing this out I'll stop.
– Tom Bramwell
Stephane's been talking about the City hub, where Garrett can explore and retreat to his safehouse. Now Steven Gallagher's talking about some of the people you meet in the game, including the mysterious Queen of Beggars and the Thieftaker General. Sounds like you'll pick up the scent of people and loot by listening out for info in the pub and so on.
– Tom Bramwell
Stephane has some exclusive info on the companion app for Thief. The app will show your personal stats and info you've collected in-game once you're playing it, providing news, trailers and so on in the months beforehand. The game's out Feb 25th North America, Feb 28th worldwide.
– Tom Bramwell
There's also going to be some pre-order bonus content, including a mission called the Bank Heist.
– Tom Bramwell
Right, pre-play over. Here's the VGX show itself.
– Tom Bramwell
"Binge till you bleed" apparently.
– Tom Bramwell
Here's Joel McHale (Jeff Winger from Community, so I'll give him an easy ride) and Geoff Keighley (hmm, no idea) to introduce it all.
– Tom Bramwell
Great banter already. Joel just pointed out Geoff is wearing loads of clothes. Joel will not stop looking directly into the camera.
– Tom Bramwell
Joel appears to have been given the lion's share of the script. Geoff is nodding along.
– Tom Bramwell
"If you don't see a game at VGX, it's because, like the female orgasm, it doesn't exist." Actually, I might not give Joel an easy ride after all...
– Tom Bramwell
Right, first world premiere.
– Tom Bramwell
Telltale Games.
– Tom Bramwell
And Gearbox Software, apparently.
– Tom Bramwell
This is giving me a Borderlands 2 kinda vibe.
– Tom Bramwell
Tales from the Borderlands: A Telltale Games episodic series. Coming 2014.
– Tom Bramwell
That was that then.
– Tom Bramwell
Oh man, here's Joel and Geoff interviewing Randy Pitchford from Gearbox and Kevin Bruner from Telltale. Joel has already insulted the set and done a set-up that demonstrates there's no live audience.
– Tom Bramwell
Apparently Pitchford and Bruner met at the VGAs last year. Pitchford says that Pandora is a rich place and when Telltale said they wanted to do something with it, Gearbox was only too happy to let them have "the keys to the kingdom".
– Tom Bramwell
There will be lots of familiar characters from the Borderlands world, says Bruner.
– Tom Bramwell
Keighley asks if you'll be able to shoot people and Bruner says yes, but not in the same way as Borderlands. "Will it be available on Atari?" asks Joel McHale, who looks positively angry at this point.
– Tom Bramwell
Pitchford says that the story in Borderlands is pretty much bobbins (I'm paraphrasing) but Telltale has storytelling pedigree that suggests they will fill it out nicely.
– Tom Bramwell
Joel McHale does another joke. Pitchford responds politely. Keighley asks how the collaboration works. Pitchford says they give Telltale stuff, Telltale does stuff, then they meet up and go over it.
– Tom Bramwell
Pitchford is getting pissed off with Joel McHale. "You have no idea what we're talking about."
– Tom Bramwell
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
– Tom Bramwell
Another monologue from McHale. Blah blah adult diaper cheetos etc. (Not Doritos?) Here's a Smosh skit.
– Tom Bramwell
OK, that's over now.
– Tom Bramwell
Right, here's a trailer for something to do with Tomb Raider.
– Tom Bramwell
Shots of Lara walking around jungles and caves, being shot at, ziplining, etc.
– Tom Bramwell
"REBUILT. REMADE. REBORN. FOR THE NEXT GENERATION."
– Tom Bramwell
"LARA CROFT WILL STUN YOU."
– Tom Bramwell
Right, so this is something called Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition.
– Tom Bramwell
So they're bringing it out on next-gen. Scot Amos and Camilla Luddington, who plays Lara Croft, are on the couch with Joel and Geoff to talk about it. Apparently the big thing next-gen brings us is upgraded hair.
– Tom Bramwell
And yes, Joel McHale did say "Laura Croft", which is a shame. Don't worry, though, you'll soon be able to replace that memory with another one of his adult diaper jokes.
– Tom Bramwell
OK, it's coming in January on next-gen, I think Keighley just said.
– Tom Bramwell
Amos says it'll be 1080p and "everything will look better".
– Tom Bramwell
Now we're getting questions from Twitter. Will the next-gen version have a 3D option like the PC version? No, says Amos, not for the, er, Definitive Edition.
– Tom Bramwell
Sorry for the delay in messages - I couldn't find the right words to capture the awkwardness of Joel McHale talking to Camilla Luddington.
– Tom Bramwell
Now they're showing a little video where Lara thanks everyone for nominating her for Character of the Year.
– Tom Bramwell
But... for some reason we're doing Best Action-Adventure Game first. Nominees are Grand Theft Auto 5...
– Tom Bramwell
As well as Tomb Raider, Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag and The Last of Us.
– Tom Bramwell
And the winner is Assassin's Creed 4.
– Tom Bramwell
Geoff Keighley sends us over to Edward Kenway and his crew for the acceptance.
– Tom Bramwell
They've made a jokey little cut-scene where they all talk about the fact they've won the award. I will take that over any more Joel McHale.
– Tom Bramwell
Right, here's Reggie Fils-Aime!
– Tom Bramwell
They're going to do a little demo of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze by Retro Studio.
– Tom Bramwell
But first they're going to stand awkwardly in this weird loft space doing banter.
– Tom Bramwell
Ah here we go. Donkey and Cranky Kong are on screen bouncing around. It's a beautiful-looking game if you ask me. Some nice parallax scrolling, iOS 7 fans.
– Tom Bramwell
Cranky can use his cane like a pogo stick to bounce around spike traps, whereas other characters would take damage. At the moment Cranky and Donkey are ascending platforms. Apparently this is co-op.
– Tom Bramwell
dogmanstaruk: This guy sounds nervous
I'd be nervous too if I was standing that close to Joel McHale's sense of humour.
– Tom Bramwell
OK, so for co-op Cranky can leap on Donkey back. You unlock that ability when you fill up a special meter.
– Tom Bramwell
DKC: Tropical Freeze is out in the US on Feb 21st, says Reggie. "We've got this coming, we've got Kart coming, we've got Smash coming - it's going to be a really good year for us."
– Tom Bramwell
Reggie dodges a question about Metroid.
– Tom Bramwell
Here's another level. Lots of creepers and vines. "It's meant to feel as though the environment is alive and it's trying to get you," says the developer demoing the game. We get to see Cranky kill an angry plant with his cane - some enemies will only fall to him.
– Tom Bramwell
There are different planes at work, I think - the barrels fire the characters into and out of the screen a little, which is a nice little effect.
– Tom Bramwell
Joel McHale asks Reggie what he thinks of PS4 and Xbox One. He says they had a fantastic launch and new systems are good for the industry.
– Tom Bramwell
"For us, what we look to do is bring great new games, innovative gameplay... As long as we do that, we're going to drive our hardware business."
– Tom Bramwell
Reggie says Super Mario 3D World is selling well in the US and talks up the press coverage of Wii U that says it's the best next-gen system to buy this Christmas.
– Tom Bramwell
Now we're seeing a bunch of Reggie meme images. What does Reggie think of these? "It's fantastic." Fantastic.
– Tom Bramwell
Joel McHale seems to have wandered off.
– Tom Bramwell
Ah, he's back at the sofa reading out tweets.
– Tom Bramwell
I'm warming to Joel McHale. The gif joke wasn't that bad.
– Tom Bramwell
Oh, another award. Best Sports Game.
– Tom Bramwell
Nominees: the sports games.
– Tom Bramwell
MrWonderstuff: Gif joke was old and crap Tom.
SO'S YOUR MUM
– Tom Bramwell
Winner: NBA 2K14.
– Tom Bramwell
Apparently Matt Stone and Trey Parker will be here soon to present Game of the Year. In the meantime, here's a look at Quantum Break gameplay on Xbox One.
– Tom Bramwell
Sam Lame from Remedy's talking us through it. We're seeing some of the bits we saw at the Xbox One reveal, like the tanker crashing into the bridge.
– Tom Bramwell
Apparently a science experiment at a university goes wrong and manifests as time anomalies where time freezes and skips backwards and forwards. "The end of time is coming."
– Tom Bramwell
The main characters gain the ability to manipulate time after being exposed to this botched experiment.
– Tom Bramwell
Looks like a cover shooter with weird time effects creating unpredictable and dynamic elements in the environment.
– Tom Bramwell
It'll be the "ultimate Remedy experience", combining the best of Max Payne and Alan Wake, says Lake.
– Tom Bramwell
Geoff and Joel are back on the sofa with a couple of guys from Remedy.
– Tom Bramwell
How is this going to feel next-gen? Oskari Hakkinen mentions the stutters - "where time stutters and fails and violently skips backwards and forwards".
– Tom Bramwell
They can rewind and fast-forward every object in the environment, which Hakkinen reckons is pretty damn next-gen thank you very much.
– Tom Bramwell
Does the game link to Alan Wake at all? Hakkinen suggests there will be little nods, as there were from Alan Wake back to Max Payne.
– Tom Bramwell
"We have a launch date in mind but we're not communicating it right now."
– Tom Bramwell
Twitter question - will the game be more Heavy Rain style than standard gameplay? Hakkinen says it will be much more of an action game. They want to push in-game storytelling, but they want to do it in an action game with big effects and spectacle.
– Tom Bramwell
Another from Twitter - how does the TV show tie in? It does it at "junction moments" where you can play as the main bad guy, says Hakkinen. The bad guy can see glimpses of the future - different time lines - and you choose the way forward.
– Tom Bramwell
Apparently Remedy is working on another project as well.
– Tom Bramwell
It's a smaller one, says Johannes Paloheimo, the other Remedy guy on the couch. It's a tablet game called Agents of Storm (I think). He's zooming around an island of some sort.
– Tom Bramwell
Your mission is to build your base, build up a fleet and then go to war.
– Tom Bramwell
There's a sort of overworld map where you can choose destinations (by the look of it) and now we're seeing Johannes dragging and dropping his fleet into attack patterns, coming up against fortified islands.
– Tom Bramwell
Here's another nomination for Character of the Year, which you can vote for on the VGX website. It's the Lutece Twins!
– Tom Bramwell
A shoo-in, surely.
– Tom Bramwell
Are there seriously no ad breaks in this three-hour advert? I really need the loo.
– Tom Bramwell
53 minutes gone and we're into hour two, apparently! I like the sound of that. I can be asleep by 2.40 at this rate.
– Tom Bramwell
1.40! I can't even count!
– Tom Bramwell
Right, here's South Park: The Stick of Truth.
– Tom Bramwell
I've been looking forward to this game. Obsidian making an ARPG that looks and feels and sounds exactly like an episode of South Park could be fun.
– Tom Bramwell
And, er, the video shows Cartman tutoring the player in how to use a fart attack by wiggling the analogue sticks.
– Tom Bramwell
Also got a quick montage of snaps from the game. Now we're on to Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
– Tom Bramwell
"Welcome to the future of award shows," says Stone or Parker (I don't know which is which), gesturing to the empty loft. "Movies are done. Video games are the future."
– Tom Bramwell
They're introducing the nominees for Game of the Year. They are Tomb Raider, BioShock Infinite, Super Mario 3D World, The Last of Us and Grand Theft Auto 5.
– Tom Bramwell
I've played all of those and the correct answer is "Super Mario 3D World".
– Tom Bramwell
WRONG
– Tom Bramwell
The winner is Grand Theft Auto 5.
– Tom Bramwell
Here are some people from Rockstar, who have just said thank you while looking a bit awkward. The crew all clap.
– Tom Bramwell
As someone in the comments said, this really needed at least some semblance of a studio audience.
– Tom Bramwell
Naiee and Nyaa from Brothers are the next nominees for Character of the Year.
– Tom Bramwell
Aha, here's a Mega64 skit. I'm going to the loo.
– Tom Bramwell
Did I miss anything?
– Tom Bramwell
Here comes some never-before-seen footage of Destiny.
I still don't really understand what Destiny is. This trailer is pretty but it isn't helping.
– Tom Bramwell
Does look very nice though. Lots of cool RPG and shooter elements, good music. Fancy.
– Tom Bramwell
Now we're getting a five-minute film about the Donkey Kong rivalry between Hank Chien and Vincent Lemay.
– Tom Bramwell
Hank Chien is a plastic surgeon. He's the Donkey Kong world champion.
– Tom Bramwell
Vincent Lemay is a bodybuilder and third-best in the world at Donkey Kong.
– Tom Bramwell
They are at a Donkey Kong competition. They both want to win. They want to beat each other.
– Tom Bramwell
Hank won. Vincent came 10th.
– Tom Bramwell
Back in the loft.
– Tom Bramwell
Tim Schafer's joined Geoff and Joel to talk Broken Age.
– Tom Bramwell
We're getting a demo. Man, they really have made a classic adventure game! Picking phrases from lists, walking between clickable objects... It's all there.
– Tom Bramwell
The art style reminds me of Terry Gilliam stuff.
– Tom Bramwell
We saw a bit of Jack Black's character there. And now here's a trailer introducing one of the game's other actors... Elijah Wood!
– Tom Bramwell
Apparently Wood met Tim on Twitter after he saw that they were making a classic adventure game. Which is cool! That's how I met Katy Perry.
– Tom Bramwell
Wood plays Shay, who lives on a spaceship lifeboat.
– Tom Bramwell
Apparently Shay is being shielded from what's going on outside the ship by the safety-conscious computer. Shay plans to mutiny.
– Tom Bramwell
Now we're back with Schafer, McHale and Keighley.
– Tom Bramwell
Twitter questions! What are your words of encouragement for a fledgling indie developer? Schafer says that you should just put your work out there and see if people like it.
– Tom Bramwell
Next: what was the inspiration for Broken Age? Schafer says he had two story ideas floating around his head and realised they would gel together.
– Tom Bramwell
Seeing some gameplay now. Shay is on his spaceship, being woken up, washed and dressed, as we've just seen in the trailer, and wants to break free.
– Tom Bramwell
Schafer says you can switch between the two different characters any time. There are parallels between them both - both young kids wanting to take control of their lives, although in very different settings.
– Tom Bramwell
Right, another award.
– Tom Bramwell
Sorry, I meant award skit.
– Tom Bramwell
Did they just call the dog in Call of Duty Colin?
– Tom Bramwell
If so: my heroes.
– Tom Bramwell
Back with Geoff and Joel. We're halfway through, says Joel, so does that mean Geoff's going to take off a layer? Geoff looks kind of frustrated.
– Tom Bramwell
Here's a trailer for The Division.
– Tom Bramwell
Apparently the engine's called Snowdrop. "Never before has a video game reached this level of detail."
– Tom Bramwell
We get a decaying New York with a day/night cycle, volumetric lighting, dynamic global illumination etc etc.
– Tom Bramwell
You can shoot holes in billboards and light shafts go through the holes. Shooting up a car blows little holes in the windscreen and chassis that look very realistic.
– Tom Bramwell
Which will be handy when you're running past them being killed by a 13-year-old American kid with a lower ping.
– Tom Bramwell
The tech does look very nice though.
– Tom Bramwell
Right, onto the next thing. Nominees for Best Independent Game.
– Tom Bramwell
Nominees: Kentucky Route Zero; Gone Home; Papers, Please (forcing me to use semi-colons thanks to its f***ing comma); Stanley Parable.
– Tom Bramwell
Winner: Gone Home.
– Tom Bramwell
"We now take you to the only place in the world where indie games could possibly be produced: Portland, Oregon."
– Tom Bramwell
Eurogamer's US news editor Jeffrey Matulef lives in Portland, Oregon. Let's see if they find him.
– Tom Bramwell
Apparently not. But they did find the Fullbright Company, who say thanks for playing Gone Home.
– Tom Bramwell
Because VGX is trending worldwide - or "solar system wide" as Joel McHale puts it - we get another game announcement.
– Tom Bramwell
If this is Half-Life 3 then I'll forgive everything up to now.
– Tom Bramwell
Ah, sounds like Game of Thrones.
– Tom Bramwell
Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series.
– Tom Bramwell
2014.
– Tom Bramwell
Cool! And here's Dan Connors and Kevin Bruner from Telltale.
– Tom Bramwell
It's based on the TV show rather than the books, although there's a tight relationship between author George R.R. Martin and the show, so it's all good I guess.
– Tom Bramwell
Sounds like they haven't worked everything out yet, but they plan to be respectful etc etc.
– Tom Bramwell
I would love it if someone came at it from another angle for once. "We're going to change all the characters' names, give them magic powers, all sorts of s***. You won't believe how much we're going to ruin this."
– Tom Bramwell
ol\'dirty\'bus\'stop: Sounds like they haven't worked anything out Tom.
Zing.
– Tom Bramwell
vert1go: I might take bets on what comes first, Half Life 3 and Winds of Winter.
That's a tough one.
– Tom Bramwell
Wow, Joel McHale seems practically interested in this one.
– Tom Bramwell
Let's have another Character of the Year nominee, then. It's Trevor Phillips from GTA5.
– Tom Bramwell
Next up: Hello Games!
– Tom Bramwell
"A tiny, London-based studio," says Keighley, who we can forgive for not realising Guildford isn't really in London.
– Tom Bramwell
I've heard good things about this demo, by the way.
– Tom Bramwell
What follows is in-game and procedurally generated, we're told.
– Tom Bramwell
Starting at the bottom of the ocean,w atching fish swim through flapping reeds. The Erudo Ocean apparently.
– Tom Bramwell
Up onto land, where weird red grass lines the beach and space ships zoom overhead. It's all first-person.
– Tom Bramwell
Now we're in a ship, taking off and flying over an island into the sky. Flashes of stuff in space.
– Tom Bramwell
Flying up into space, out through the atmosphere...
– Tom Bramwell
Back on the ground, a huge crashed space ship. Back in space, blasting holes in an asteroid. On land, giant worms moving through a desert.
– Tom Bramwell
Lovely music too. It's called No Man's Sky.
– Tom Bramwell
And here's Sean Murray from Hello Games, who once brought a PC to Brighton on the train to show me Joe Danger.
– Tom Bramwell
It's a science-fiction game, but not post-apocalypse - it's the kind of books he grew up reading.
– Tom Bramwell
He thinks of the covers of those books with their desolate landscapes and spaceship crashes.
– Tom Bramwell
"It's a huge game. I can't really do that justice. We wanted to make a game about exploration and we wanted to make something that was real."
– Tom Bramwell
You can stand on a planet, see a mountain three miles away, go there and explore it.
– Tom Bramwell
Everything in the trailer was a real place you can go to. There's some sort of online element too.
– Tom Bramwell
Apparently when you see stars in the sky, you can go to those stars and visit the planets that circle them.
– Tom Bramwell
There's combat on land and in space.
– Tom Bramwell
The planets have an ecology and an ecosystem "and you're not necessarily top of that chain".
– Tom Bramwell
"You're all playing in the same universe and there's persistence."
– Tom Bramwell
As good as this sounds, Joel McHale is capturing my concern about it... which is how the hell are four guys in Guildford going to build this?
– Tom Bramwell
Well, we'll see! That was hugely impressive though. Judging by the comments, Hello Games is winning VGX.
– Tom Bramwell
Now we're outside at the Rockstar stage. God I wish we weren't.
– Tom Bramwell
Right, back with Geoff Keighley. Geoff emailed me the link to this stream embed, you know. That was a weird email to get. I was all like, "IT'S A TRAP!"
– Tom Bramwell
No reason.
– Tom Bramwell
Right what the hell is happening now.
– Tom Bramwell
This is a trailer for Teen Wolf on MTV. This is not relevant to my interests.
– Tom Bramwell
HOUR THREE
– Tom Bramwell
Still to come: Titanfall, some other stuff.
– Tom Bramwell
[STARS]TyranT: This Joel guy is a complete tool isn't he.
Community, which is where I know him from, is *so good*. It's the best thing I've seen on TV for years. Do not be put off by the fact Joel McHale is being weird tonight.
– Tom Bramwell
Here's a demo of Dying Light from Techland.
– Tom Bramwell
We're seeing this on PS4 in 1080p.
– Tom Bramwell
Looks like a more detailed version of Dead Island. Jumping around sun-bleached streets hacking up zombies.
– Tom Bramwell
You can cut off zombie limbs and they'll still come for you.
– Tom Bramwell
Dead Island Riptide had a good chest kick. Dying Light has a nice jumping kick move.
– Tom Bramwell
Looks like you can parkour off a zombie's head to reach greater heights.
– Tom Bramwell
So when you break a zombie's bones with a blow from your weapon, the game shows you an x-ray view of the bone breaking.
– Tom Bramwell
That is certainly an advance in the field of violence against zombies.
– Tom Bramwell
"At night time it gets even more visceral, right?" "Yes."
– Tom Bramwell
Well, the world looks nice, lovely draw distance and tech.
– Tom Bramwell
Next up: YouTube's PewDiePie playing Dying Light.
– Tom Bramwell
And for some reason Windows just disabled Aero on my PC. Perhaps Aero could not take it any more.
– Tom Bramwell
Kostabi: Who the fuck is this high pitched idiot?
I believe he is the most popular game broadcaster in the history of YouTube.
– Tom Bramwell
Joel McHale takes time off from bullying Geoff Keighley about his clothing to introduce a story trailer for Thief.
– Tom Bramwell
As we saw in the "pre-play" - how long ago that now seems - Thief's story is about Garrett cutting a path between the oppressors and the oppressed in The City.
– Tom Bramwell
Back to Geoff Keighley at the couch.
– Tom Bramwell
He didn't really say anything. Nor did Joel McHale on the balcony. But now we're outside with the GTA5 stage.
– Tom Bramwell
I can't even be bothered.
– Tom Bramwell
Back to Joel - something I never imagined craving.
– Tom Bramwell
Best Shooter award.
– Tom Bramwell
Nominees: the shooters.
– Tom Bramwell
Oh alright then: Battlefield 4, BioShock Infinite, Metro: Last Light, Colin of Duty: Ghosts.
– Tom Bramwell
Sorry, I meant Colin of Duty.
– Tom Bramwell
Winner: BioShock Infinite.
– Tom Bramwell
For the acceptance video, they have invited everyone at Irrational into a room one by one and pretended they have to do the speech, then filmed their shocked reaction. It's quite sweet!
– Tom Bramwell
Geoff Keighley's right arm is twitching. Maybe he's cold? Someone tell Joel.
– Tom Bramwell
The Lutece twins have won the Character of the Year award, apparently.
– Tom Bramwell
Time for a Witcher 3 trailer.
– Tom Bramwell
Geralt on a horse yo.
– Tom Bramwell
Looks very swish. Nice shots of Geralt hacking people up. Lovely aerial shots of sprawling towns. Oh it's over.
– Tom Bramwell
Final award of the year is Studio of the Year.
– Tom Bramwell
The correct answer is Mossmouth, because Spelunky PC, but I'll forgive the following incorrectness.
– Tom Bramwell
Nominees include Rockstar North (nope, me either)...
– Tom Bramwell
The Fullbright Company.
– Tom Bramwell
Irrational Games, which I guessed a split second beforehand but you'll never believe me.
– Tom Bramwell
Naughty Dog.
– Tom Bramwell
And the winner is bound to be Rockstar North.
– Tom Bramwell
Oh wow, it's Naughty Dog.
– Tom Bramwell
Good choice!
– Tom Bramwell
And their acceptance video is a lovely shot of the whole studio cheering and clapping. Well played.
– Tom Bramwell
Here we go, then. It's time for Titanfall. Vince Zampella and Abbey Heppe from Respawn are here to show it off.
– Tom Bramwell
Vince's shirt is amazing. Joel has just noticed this as well. It has glossy wings.
– Tom Bramwell
We're going to see footage of a new titan, which is a robot in old money.
– Tom Bramwell
It's called the Ogre. It has big weapons and a face a bit like a frog.
– Tom Bramwell
Vince, Abbey and the guys are back on the couch talking about Titanfall. Here we learn that the Ogre has a finishing move where he pulls off someone's arm.
– Tom Bramwell
Your choice of mech will come down to your choice of play style, says Vince. Just to be clear: your choices will be based on your preferences.
– Tom Bramwell
Titanfall is due out in mid March, of course. Just over a month before my wedding anniversary, to be more specific.
– Tom Bramwell
Vince - why am I calling him Vince? Zampo says that the game is now "content locked", so the team is "working real hard to bring it home".
– Tom Bramwell
Sorry, it's Abbie Heppe, not Abbey.
– Tom Bramwell
And it's Zampo, not Vince Zampella.
– Tom Bramwell
Twitter questions! Will we see any Kinect integration? "We will not."
– Tom Bramwell
"Didn't fit the game."
– Tom Bramwell
Well done to everyone who has lasted this long. I've got a surprise for you, actually.
– Tom Bramwell
Forget VGX for a minute.
– Tom Bramwell
I've still got a few Hearthstone keys, which you can redeem on Battle.net. You just need to log in and then go to the redeem key page. So here you go:
9061043876038818589343753
6624686229480305097509802
5159439039087762918116806
4087967223734211533602173
3714448577428942614255957
2830771245005464383285244
1593664278641774840886575
0082227926490037474526436
9820598586060662778627081
8963204622316606816146508
– Tom Bramwell
Let me know if you get in.
– Tom Bramwell
Back in VGX land, it's the music of Grand Theft Auto 5.
– Tom Bramwell
Used_Fuzzbox: No luck Tom, but ta for the offer!
Check your DMs.
– Tom Bramwell
There was a vague promise of more Titanfall after this I think, but to me it seems like the GTA5 soundtrack is playing us out.
– Tom Bramwell
So with that in mind, thanks to everyone who stuck with this whole thing.
– Tom Bramwell
ckyman2: any Heroes of Storm beta keys Tom?
Not yet, but I will continue to ask Blizzard periodically.
– Tom Bramwell
I don't know about you guys, but for me No Man's Sky was the highlight. Wildly ambitious to the point that even Joel McHale noticed it sounded impossible.
– Tom Bramwell
The rest was a predictable conveyor belt of semi-interesting. You never know with this stuff - the over-produced trailers can go both ways - but the context didn't help: VGX was much too try-hard and lacking in self-awareness, stumbling into embarrassed awkwardness whenever anything (usually Joel McHale) threatened to pierce the veneer.
– Tom Bramwell
On the plus side, I'm actually kind of enjoying this weirdo GTA concert.
– Tom Bramwell
Fingerprints / Insolentius - check DMs.
– Tom Bramwell
zoidberg: I think Tom is watching a different concert.
I would be wining if I said I hadn't had a couple of glasses of lie.
– Tom Bramwell
Monkey_Chops: For anyone who enjoyed the No Man's Sky trailer music, it's from "Debutante" by 65daysofstatic.
Cool, nice one.
– Tom Bramwell
The concert thing is over.
– Tom Bramwell
Looks like we're closing in on the end of VGX. Geoff Keighley says the show was designed as a celebration of the games industry, but he will be listening to feedback so they can tweak the show for next year.
– Tom Bramwell
Joel McHale says he thinks Titanfall looks most impressive on the basis Vince Zampella is standing nearby wearing a shirt that it looks like he "stole from the Kardashians" and might hit him if he doesn't submit to its quality.
– Tom Bramwell
Here's a bit more Titanfall so nobody has to hit Joel.
– Tom Bramwell
I neglected to mention this about the last trailer because I didn't care, but they're going with this "Hammond Robotics" promotional video theme where the titans are made by this company and it's in the game and I guess that means it's the opposite of meta.
– Tom Bramwell
"As you can see, the Strider outperforms all other titans in speed, acceleration and agility."
– Tom Bramwell
I miss MechAssault.
– Tom Bramwell
There was no reason for it not to have a space between Mech and Assault, but it did.
– Tom Bramwell
MORE GTA5 CONCERT
– Tom Bramwell
Right, I'm getting a beer out of the fridge. BRB.
– Tom Bramwell
Olmo: Jeff Winger was amazing, but the show lacked Troy Barnes.
Oh Christmas Troy, oh Christmas Troy...
– Tom Bramwell
IOnlyUseSkill: Community is awesome. Do it. Season 5 starts in January!!
I can confirm that there will be some No Man's Sky stuff on Eurogamer soon.
– Tom Bramwell
IT'S ACTUALLY OVER THEY ARE PLAYING THE CREDITS
– Tom Bramwell
And we're done. Thanks to everyone who stuck with us for the whole of VGX. I am going to bed now. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and, if you're new to video games or the internet, don't judge us too harshly on the basis of the last three hours.