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Monday, January 10, 2022

KoopaTV's GOTY 2021 Awards!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Game of THAT Year 2021... and other categories.

After a weekend has passed since we published our Game of THAT Year 2021 nominations, plus other categories, KoopaTV's staff have decided on our Game of THAT Year 2021 winners. ...And I may or may not have ignored their choices in favour of pushing my own agenda. I won't tell you those details of how this got made, but you can feel free to take your best guesses.

While 2020 sucked, 2021 wasn't much better! So let's get right into the awards and not dwell on the year as a whole, since it's better to just forget it overall. At least the following all represent highlight(s)!

Videogame-related Awards for 2021

Best New Character


The winner of KoopaTV's 2021 Best New Character award goes to Magnus McGilded, of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles. Magnus McGilded is a spectacular character that should be a role model.

Magnus McGilded Great Ace Attorney Adventures open free competition capitalist society
I can see Magnus McGilded as a PragerU speaker or something.
This is also a lesson that today's capitalists ought to consider.


Magnus McGilded is a London philanthropist who has made his fortune through honest and morally righteous means. Unfortunately, just like with today's wealthy and upstanding upper class, a lot of lower people are jealous cretins and want to besmirch Mr. McGilded's name. Those include the game's new prosecutor, Barok van Zieks, whose first introduction to the player, as Ryunosuke Naruhodo, was prosecuting Mr. McGilded for murder. Yet Mr. McGilded proved himself to be the most capable defendant in Ace Attorney history, and he actually made van Zieks out to be quite incompetent. That's an amazing feat, especially considering that Barok is actually a top-tier prosecutor when compared to other Ace Attorney prosecutors. Mr. McGilded actually did research and helpfully contributed in advancing the NOT GUILTY goal. He also didn't sabotage his own case, unlike many other defendants throughout the franchise (and in other cases in The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles).

I don't want to spoil the case or the game, but as long as you remember that Magnus McGilded did nothing wrong, you too should find him worthy of Best New Character of 2021.




Best OST


In addition to the above award, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is ALSO winning Best OST of 2021. It might have the best OST of the entire Ace Attorney franchise. Which makes it a shame that the in-game music gallery is so woefully lacking. Here's an example of a song that's not in the in-game player, the theme that plays when you're in a summation examination:



Keep listening to it. It's super catchy. Anyway, that's just one of over a hundred songs across the two games in The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles (though the second game borrows a lot of songs from the first one), and they don't miss.

Game of THAT Year 2021


As far as I'm concerned, KoopaTV's Game of THAT Year 2021 winner is far and away the only logical choice for the award. The others were only nominated to fill the list. But it could only have been The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles. It's ten cases of an overarching story and plotline. I wouldn't view it as two distinct games (The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures and The Great Ace Attorney: Resolve) but one long game where the first half sets up a lot of pay-offs for the second half. The localisation quality is masterful, and all of the challenges that went into it clearly paid off. The game's brilliant writing paces itself so it's one of the funniest games in this generation (and immensely quotable), as well as among the most emotionally impactful. It spans the writing gamut and is a winner in everything it tries. While the games and the collection aren't perfect (like the aforementioned missing in-game freely listenable songs, or the weirdly low volume in general), I have zero reservations about recommending The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles. It's by far the best game of 2021. You will (and I will, so anticipate this happening on KoopaTV) be talking about it months or years after putting it down. This game definitely made up for the first half of 2021 being pretty much barren.

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles Herlock Sholmes combative arts accomplished boxer punching animation Susato
If you disagree with me giving The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles a clean sweep through the awards,
fight me in the comments section.
(Or we could settle it in Smash, I dunno. Someone's probably made a Sholmes Mii Brawler and a Kazuma Mii Swordfighter...)


Also, as of publishing these awards, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles is 25% off.

KoopaTV-related awards for 2021

Best KoopaTV Guest Article Contributor/Best Guest Commentary or Best Guest Art Article


KoopaTV has awarded the Best Guest Commentary, and thus Best KoopaTV Guest Article Contributor, of 2021 to Sky and her Super Kirby Clash Online Etiquette Guide. I'm very proud that KoopaTV has the honours of even hosting this guide, which not only is packed with very useful information for the people who are still playing or are about to play Super Kirby Clash (and since it's a free-to-play game, it's always getting newbies), but it's also a brisk, witty read that even if you aren't planning to ever play Super Kirby Clash, you'll like reading this guide. Good job, Sky!

Best KoopaTV Review


The award for Best KoopaTV Review of 2021 goes to Habit-Forming Game Comparison: Ring Fit Adventure vs. Pokémon Smile. This review has a very novel gimmick to it: I'm not reviewing Ring Fit Adventure and Pokémon Smile directly as games (or as interactive applications, if you're cautious of calling Pokémon Smile a game), but as habit-forming mechanisms for exercise and brushing teeth. I used a framework by an author in the field to make the review, and really went through the two applications simultaneously, comparing and contrasting their approaches. It turns out I can and sometimes do write thoughtful and practical articles.

Best KoopaTV Reaction Log


This was a close category, but the winner of KoopaTV's Best Reaction Log of 2021 is KoopaTV's Live Reactions to Tokyo 2021's Olympic Opening Ceremony. Incidentally, it was between this and the Closing Ceremony, but the Opening Ceremony was full of hope and videogame music, while the Closing Ceremony was, you know, we talked a little bit about how Koopa Kingdom lost. That's not fun. But the Opening Ceremony was great, and we were very snarky about all the countries’ representatives coming out and being introduced, including some mask-shaming. Oh, and... we have some funny (and ignorant, which adds to the charm) takes on traditional Japanese culture, plus always-appreciated NBC bashing.

Best KoopaTV Artistic Corner Contribution


The Artistic Corner is always a tough category to give an award for. How do we grade people's most creative works? ...I don't have a real answer to that question, so we're arbitrarily awarding the 2021 Best KoopaTV Artistic Corner Contribution to Latios and Latias aren't INCLUSIVE enough. Meet Latixs. I've wanted to make that for a long time, so a good thing in 2021 is that I finally did so. Latinx is a stupid term. Why not parody it by taking the Pokémon Latios and Latias—two specifically gendered Pokémon—and forming Latixs? And from the Internet searching I did, no one else out there did this before. KoopaTV is the first and only.

Also, this might not be readily apparent from the artwork, but I did put a lot of effort into that Southern Island picture in making the Latixs sprites. (Not to mention the Pokémon metagame commentary and the lore.) Though not as much effort as some of the other Artistic Corner nominees. I love them all and there are great, funny, well-executed ideas. Very tough choice. But let's hope that the Latixs article either kills off the Latinx term... or people take it seriously and start demanding Latixs to be real.

Best KoopaTV Enlightenment Movement Article


There were a lot of Enlightenment Movement articles in the first half of 2021, and then they kind of dropped off. My apologies for that. There was a big project I wanted to publish in the last three months of that year, but I didn't get to it because, quite frankly, it's cognitively difficult. That's not to say my idea doesn't make sense or it's not destined to work out, but it's a very difficult problem. ...If it's ever published, you might see why.

But as for what DID get published, the Best KoopaTV Enlightenment Movement Article of 2021 is NEVER AGAIN: Mario's Koopa Genocide in Super Mario Bros. 35's "1st World Count Challenge". Unfortunately, there was another genocide that happened right after (so much for never again) that was also a nominee, but we voted for the 1st World Count Challenge due to actually quantifying a death toll. And it was a staggering amount of almost 380 million primarily Goombas and Koopas murdered in just a week. That's extraordinary large-scale genocide that the perpetrators haven't really been held accountable for. Taking away access to some murder environments on March 31st, 2021 isn't true justice.

Also, I'm really proud of the graphic at the end of that article.

Best KoopaTV Fitness Log


This is... going to be a controversial decision, but since I wrote earlier in the Reaction Log category that I don't want to give awards to failure-oriented logs, KoopaTV's Best Fitness Log of 2021 goes to Ring Fit Adventure Fitness Log Week 37: The Abs Song. Mainly because I go above and beyond and sing the Abs Song that every NPC is obsessed with in that world, and as far as I can tell, I'm the only one on the Internet to do so. ...The log narrative isn't too shabby either, since there's a bit non-song stuff going on!

Best KoopaTV General Article


When I said the Best Fitness Log decision would be controversial, maybe that's a bit too short-sighted. THIS category is the actual controversial one, in terms of maybe it'll cause a global geopolitical incident. But the Best KoopaTV General Article of 2021 goes to Never Forget: Muslims around Earth actually rioted and killed over "Innocence of Muslims", because that's a topic that needs to be talked about more and KoopaTV is one of the few outlets out there that is brave enough to do so. There's a real problem out there, and the incident the article goes into detail about isn't some Middle Ages example but it just happened nine years ago. It's absurd to think about if you live in, say, the United States, but that's the reality of Earth outside of your country... and certain constituencies want to make the United States like the rest of the world where people riot and murder over a laughably stupid short YouTube video.

Again, that's not something people in polite company say out loud, but it's an example of how KoopaTV is willing to tell the truth, even when it's very unpopular to do so.

Best KoopaTV Gaming Commentary Article


By far the most populated article classification for KoopaTV articles in any given year is the Gaming Commentary category. It's the bread-and-butter category. You come to KoopaTV, a gaming website, to read about our takes on videogames and its industry. So this was tough, and you're free to disagree with me on this and I'll absolutely respect your thought. But the award goes to The Evolution of the Fire Emblem Soldier. I think Captain Stitch's comment in the article describes why it's a good article. We go in-depth on somewhat (or very) niche topics while having fun with it, and we can expand our life lessons to be greater than the subject if we so choose. As for the Fire Emblem Soldier class, the article details how it's gone from a weak joke class to a class that is on par with everyone else, and the canonical implications that might have.

Here's a bonus point that I omitted from the article when I skipped from Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem to the Game Boy Advance Fire Emblem titles: Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 also had Soldiers. I didn't mention them because, well, they suck as much if not more than the GBA Soldiers, but no one talks about them because Thracia 776 is a very niche Fire Emblem title, and actually playing the maps isn't the meta for it.


Soldier class Munster Fire Emblem Thracia 776 Short Lance
The stats are terrible, but the article was going from terrible stats to terrible stats, so I didn't see the need to throw more terrible stats.
But if you read the article, you'll find out when the stats stop getting bad for Soldiers!

Best KoopaTV Article Series


Ah, finally, an easy category. The Best KoopaTV Article Series of 2021, and no one disagrees on this, is “Exposing the Nintendo Switch Pro FAKE NEWS.” What did that entail? The most significant work was our Comprehensive List of Media Outlets that Spread Nintendo Switch "Pro" at E3 2021 FAKE NEWS. That list went into great detail with a very long list (and I'm sure it's not truly complete) of media outlets that claimed that Nintendo would show off a Nintendo Switch Pro console at around E3 2021, according to a bunch of so-called “leakers” and “verified industry insiders” and whatever. That didn't happen, and the collective mainstream and gaming media establishments (and attention-wanting niche players) wanted you to not associate a false story they hyped up with that outlet's credibility.

No. KoopaTV wants to hold these FAKE NEWS outlets accountable. So we listed them and went into why they were on the list. It turns out a lot of “journalists” don't know basic tenets of journalism and don't bother to verify the information they are publishing. But it gets worse from there.


The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles Van Zieks rumour published by gutter press
What happens when almost the entire gaming media is the gutter press?
Where do you get information? ...We can't really answer that.


While the vast majority of outlets were content with just pretending they never peddled fake information to their readers (including avoiding an apology or mea culpa), and some justified their stories by pointing out to the announced-the-month-after-E3-2021 Nintendo Switch (OLED model) as proof they were right (KoopaTV rejects this argument, since most of the claims made about the theoretical Nintendo Switch Pro do not match the Nintendo Switch (OLED model)) a few outlets continued to serve up FAKE NEWS. The big villain of 2021 was FAKE NEWS Bloomberg. They published a hit piece against the Nintendo Switch (OLED model) to try to convince customers they're being screwed by Nintendo if they buy it. Unfortunately, some other media outlets—who refuse to learn their lesson—regurgitated FAKE NEWS Bloomberg's hit piece.

Fortunately, Nintendo themselves directly refuted FAKE NEWS Bloomberg's hit piece, and I pointed out in that hyperlink that it's quite rare for Nintendo to contradict media reports like that. But FAKE NEWS Bloomberg apparently enjoys being humiliated, because they quickly published another hit piece designed to confuse customers and financial markets by writing about a Nintendo Switch 4K development kit allegedly sent out to some software developers. Both Nintendo and the software developer named in their FAKE NEWS article contradicted FAKE NEWS Bloomberg in statements.


The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles Ryutaro journalist not a trustworthy witness
I hope media outlets and normal people have learned at least one thing in 2021:
Please don't ever cite FAKE NEWS Bloomberg as a source for information.
Even its CEO left to make a new company (competitor) altogether.


KoopaTV did the work that no one else did in documenting the anti-Nintendo lies and FAKE NEWS put out by “journalists” and media outlets in 2021. I hope we don't have to repeat ourselves in 2022. I'm actually upset that this is the clear winner for the Best KoopaTV Article Series, because KoopaTV is supposed to be a gaming commentary website. What does it say about us that our best collective work in the year wasn't about games, but about critiquing other media outlets? Are we really a good game site ourselves? Am I better at critiquing the media than videogames? Should I change hobbies...?

Best KoopaTV Article


Out of all of the articles that won an award here, only one can be crowned the Best KoopaTV Article of 2021, overall. Once again, the ultimate winner is from the Enlightenment Movement category, meaning NEVER AGAIN: Mario's Koopa Genocide in Super Mario Bros. 35's "1st World Count Challenge". Its anti-genocide message is powerful when you sit down and really think about all of the devastation that happened in 2021 because of Mario. All senseless violence. It might be the best example we've published about just how cruel, depraved, and evil Mario really is. I haven't seen anyone dispute the facts we've presented. They speak for themselves.


These awards will conclude with the best and worst comments of the year, with some additional commentary from me:

Best KoopaTV Comment


“I agree with you that the 2005 energy legislation that George Bush signed, was "dumb."
Personally, I have no problems with the time shifting. I don't buy into the argument about having to reset our clocks. In today's society, it's automatically done on your devices for you.. So, unless you are setting your clocks at home manually. I know the issue is more complicated than that. But, the retail industry has had plenty to do with these DST extensions. First one started in 1987. Second extension started in 2007. The second one pushed me over the edge.Why? Well, you can see the consequences of that today. Morning sunrises are delayed too late into the morning, such as in March and early November. The candy lobby won by extending DST past Halloween. In southern climates, the golf industry won by starting DST in early to mid March...way earlier than our European counterparts.
There are four Federal bills being pushed onto the American people. There are also 19 States that will go to year round DST, if the Federal bill is rammed through. The option to stop clock changes, at the State level, and remain on Standard Time year round...is a hard sell. People want their long summer days. But, it is not needed nor welcome in the October-March period.
We tried this in 1974 and a portion of 1975. It was a failure and we reverted back to the six month observance of Standard Time. Now, we sit at only four months of Standard Time. Perhaps our society will have to learn the "hard way." Experience a full autumn and winter on DST. Wake up and commute in the dark. All for that extra hour in the evening, in the cold and inclement weather...especially in the northern States.
My suggestion? As a compromise, change the dates closer to the equinoxes. Standard Time kicks in first weekend of October. Daylight time returns last weekend of April, past Easter. I believe that would allow for a gentler adjustment. Standard Time is a healthier choice, but the forces that are in retail...golfing, barbecue,shopping, hospitality..all of it, will have to allow for a reduced DST season. Either that, or have time zone boundaries redrawn, so that the western edges of time zones don't end up with sunrises approaching 9 or 9:30am during December and January. That's my take on this.” — Unknown

It's a shame that this individual left an anonymous comment and never came back, but maybe they didn't need to come back, because they left a fairly comprehensive reply in one shot. (Unlike the worst commenter below.) They went through the whole Daylight Saving issue and then a level or two deeper, including society and powerful lobbyist groups. I wish this person came back and let me know their thoughts on a lot of other topics as well. They have clearly thought it through.

Worst KoopaTV Comment


“i hate you now so muck nerd von tell me your name now or i will ban you much” — ludwing von koopa

This is just one of MANY gibberish comments this guy posted in that article, under many different names. I actually blocked out that whole incident from my memory, but I had to return to it for the awards. This guy is a total nutjob. He's stupid, he's crazy, he's erratic, and he makes no sense at all. (Not to mention the irony of him using my name—not that he spelled it correctly—and then demanding I tell him... my name. Meanwhile, who the hell is this guy?) But, yeah, he wants to ban me from my own website, I guess. And he also made some death threats towards me. I'm not really sure why he acted this way to begin with. Maybe you can go through the whole comment chain and figure that out for me. Regardless, this is not how anyone should behave in a comments section.


Winners Reference List of 2021

Best New Character
Magnus McGilded from The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
Best OST
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
Game of THAT Year
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
Best KoopaTV Guest Article Contributor/Best Guest Commentary or Best Guest Art Article
Super Kirby Clash Online Etiquette Guide by Sky
Best KoopaTV Review
Habit-Forming Game Comparison: Ring Fit Adventure vs. Pokémon Smile
Best KoopaTV Reaction Log
KoopaTV's Live Reactions to Tokyo 2021's Olympic Opening Ceremony
Best KoopaTV Artistic Corner Contribution
Latios and Latias aren't INCLUSIVE enough. Meet Latixs
Best KoopaTV Enlightenment Movement Article
NEVER AGAIN: Mario's Koopa Genocide in Super Mario Bros. 35's "1st World Count Challenge"
Best KoopaTV Fitness Log
Ring Fit Adventure Fitness Log Week 37: The Abs Song
Best KoopaTV General Article
Never Forget: Muslims around Earth actually rioted and killed over "Innocence of Muslims"
Best KoopaTV Gaming Commentary Article
The Evolution of the Fire Emblem Soldier
Best KoopaTV Article Series
Exposing the Nintendo Switch Pro FAKE NEWS
Best KoopaTV Article
NEVER AGAIN: Mario's Koopa Genocide in Super Mario Bros. 35's "1st World Count Challenge"



This article represents the best of gaming (well, one game) and KoopaTV (the best gaming story) in 2021. If you want to share KoopaTV to people and let them know what it's about in a hall of fame setting, this article ought to be a great way to do that. ...This and the nominations article, because a lot of fantastic content was not chosen because there can only be one winner. Let KoopaTV know in the comments section if you disagree with the choices. (Some of you clearly will.)


Here were the awards from GOTY 2020, which was a bad year for civilisation.
And here are the nominations for 2022!
And then here are the awards in 2022.

10 comments :

  1. "I can see Magnus McGilded as a PragerU speaker or something."

    Does this make Ashley Graydon a speaker for Gravel Institute?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, Ashley Graydon is a government employee, so he probably appreciates Gravel's message.

      Delete
  2. There should be more game categories. GAA would still win them, though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you have more to suggest, let us know.

      Kamek once proposed a best hair award, but he didn't develop the idea in time for what exactly that's supposed to mean, so it didn't happen.

      Delete
    2. Best Hair, yes, that's a good one.
      Best Fashion Sense
      Best Use of Themes (narrative themes, not musical themes, as that's already covered)
      Best Pet/Animal/Mascot
      Best Voice

      Delete
    3. In other words, you want "Best Character" to be dramatically expanded...

      Delete
    4. See it's easy to give everything to TGAAC this year, but I dunno wot I'd do with these in 2020. <.<
      Like, years where we don't actually play games. >.>

      So Best Hair etc. only for new characters? Or new games? Like, if I appear in a new Mario game released in 2022, could I win Best Hair?

      Delete
    5. Absolutely, as long as the hair appeared in a 2022 game, it would qualify whether the character was new or not.

      Delete
    6. Hm... I'll consider it. Maybe. ...I got, like, 11 months to stall on this. >:(

      Delete

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