Despite its problems, watching the Oscars and its celebration of talent is a breath of fresh air after The Game Awards

We all know the Oscars aren't perfect. I have plenty of criticisms about them, as do many others, all of which are very deserved. But when you look at something like The Game Awards, you can't help but think "man, is this what an awards show can look like?" And the Oscars truly isn't even the best awards show around!

Even this year, it started to play out the Godzilla Minus One team as they made a passionate speech – in English I might add – despite it clearly being difficult, and as they honoured a deceased crewmate. Yet even with that, The Game Awards and its tyrannical ruler Geoff Keighley can't make you help but feel a bit embarrassed about the state of our industry.

For one, while the Oscars do have ad breaks, they're just that - breaks. Brief bits of time to get the next portion of the show ready, that aren't the main focus. Anyone that's watched The Game Awards knows that: 1.) the ads are really the main thing, and 2.) they're only really there to promote the ads.

I love a good reveal as much as anyone; I still think about that double reveal of Banjo-Kazooie and Smash Bros followed-up by announcing the sequel to Breath of the Wild. They're exciting, and even occasionally communal, but a show that's meant to be about honouring craft consistently fails to do that because the awards themselves take a backseat.

It is ludicrous that, year after year, Keighley will stand there, rattling off awards, not even handing a statue off to winners, all so we can get to the next announcement or advertisement that pays for the show to exist. Sometimes they're not even "small" awards, as if that would even be a justification in the first place. Worse still, 2023's Game Awards is now infamous for how quickly it played off every single one of its winners, all to avoid a repeat of the voice of Kratos Christopher Judge's lengthy speech from 2022 - heaven forbid we have someone taking the time to respect the work of their peers!

Then there's the myriad ways that The Game Awards tries to legitimise itself by bringing in celebrity guests like Anthony Mackie, Simu Liu, whatever Gonzo is, and Timothee Chalamet. I truly can't fathom why Chalamet presented the biggest award of the night, game of the year, other than the fact that Keighley gets to say "wasn't it cool that Timothee Chalamet was at The Game Awards?" No, Geoff, it wasn't cool. It just makes us all look a bit desperate.

But at last night's Oscars, some real talent was recognised and (mostly) had the time to say what they wanted to say. Da'Vine Joy Randolph, first winner of the night, gave a beautiful speech and kicked off the ceremony excellently. Anatomy of a Fall, a film that spends plenty of its time in French, winning best original screenplay is something to celebrate, too. And then – of course – there's Ryan Gosling's performance of I'm Just Ken, easily one of the best of the night (though admittedly The Game Award's Herald of Darkness Alan Wake 2 segment was just as good.)

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That's just it though, isn't it? Everyone loved the cast of Alan Wake 2 up on the stage singing and dancing because it's a great number for starters, but also because it felt like a real celebration of one of the best moments in a game from 2023. Sam Lake just looked so damn happy to be there, you just can't help but feel second-hand joy.

I just want to see more of that at The Game Awards. I know that the actual place to recognise the incredible workers of the games industry are in places like the DICE Awards, but The Game Awards could at least still be the slightly zany cousin that brings out an equivalent to nude John Cena.

The thing is, I know The Game Awards will never be that with Keighley at the helm. We're too far gone, now. So I don't expect it to be a real Oscars-alike, even if I want it to be. Again, it's really not like I think the Oscars are the be-all/end-all of awards shows – it just didn't make me sigh nearly as heavily as anything I ever see at The Game Awards. And yes, I would still call it a breath of fresh air.