Famitsu, Japan’s largest and most influential gaming magazine, held its annual awards show last night, with Nintendo earning the most recognition and special honors going to industry vets like Super Smash Bros. Director, Mashiro Sakurai.
Say what you will about games magazines, they’re still a pretty big industry in Japan. To prove that fact, Famitsu still hosts a big awards show each year honoring the biggest games of the previous year, as well as the folks responsible for making them. This year’s show clocked in at about an hour and a half, with an equal amount of time scheduled afterward for additional commentary. The folks over at Silicon Era have the full show posted for your enjoyment if, you know, you speak Japanese.
The big award of the night, Game of the Year, was actually split between Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Monster Hunter: World. Even if you don’t agree with this decision, it serves as a pretty cool way to compare and contrast various gaming cultures. The rest of the world was smitten with God of War last year, but Japan was all about hunting monsters and punching Mario in the face.
Speaking of Smash, Director Masahiro Sakurai came away with the evening’s MVP Award, so hopefully that means the poor guy can finally take a bit of a breather. Working on Smash games (as well as dealing with the community) has been notoriously rough on his health.
If you’re curious about the remaining awards, you can find them listed below.
Table of Contents
Game of the Year
Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Nintendo)
Excellence Prize
Octopath Traveler (Square Enix)
God of War (Sony)
Judgment (SEGA)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Nintendo)
Detroit: Become Human (Sony)
Dragon Quest Builders 2 (Square Enix)
Fate/Grand Order (FGO Project)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu / Eevee (The Pokemon Company / Nintendo)
Marvel’s Spider-Man (Sony)
Monster Hunter: World (Capcom)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Games)
Rookie Award
Octopath Traveler (Square Enix)
Detroit: Become Human (Sony)
Favorite App Award
LINE: Disney Tsum Tsum (LINE)
Special Award
Astro Bot: Rescue Mission (Sony)
Best Character Award
Kirby (Kirby series)
Best Game Music Award
Octopath Traveler (Square Enix)
Best Game Maker Award
Capcom
MVP Award
Masahiro Sakurai
