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For the First Time, a Video Game Trailer Is Eligible To Be Nominated For an Academy Award (eurogamer.net)

For the first time in 90-year Oscar history, a video game is eligible for an Academy Award, specifically the recently-released game Everything. From a report: The 11-minute trailer for philosophical pontificating simulator Everything is eligible for an Academy Award -- a first for a video game promotion, boasted game developer David OReilly. The marketing material in question is included under the Academy's category "[best] animated short film," which it became eligible for after winning the Jury Prize for animation at the VIS Vienna Shorts film festival. Everything's lengthy trailer focuses on the correlation between the universe's smallest, biggest, and most remote entities, all while being narrated by the late British philosopher Alan Watts.

39 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. Misleading headline: It is not nominated. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    The video has not been nominated for an Oscar.
    However, it *is* eligible to be nominated, which is a first for a video game trailer.

  2. Re:Misleading headline: It is not nominated. by chuckugly · · Score: 1

    Simple English is hard.

  3. It has undead, always popular by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    Oh, whew! For a second I feard it was something with a giant green Orc raging around about honor.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  4. Questionable Philosopher by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Calling Watts a philosopher is questionable at best. He read and wrote spiritualism, mysticism, and how profound an experience it was to get high.

    Nothing he wrote was on any serious philosophy topic nor was what he did write meaningful to religious studies. He was largely popular for being eccentric, pro-psychedelics, and one of the first educated British men to write about eastern mysticism.

    Rather clever though for ensuring his daughters own most of his copyrights. They will likely stand for over 150 years if the law does not extend copyright futher. In the running for the longest held in history.

    1. Re:Questionable Philosopher by Rockoon · · Score: 1

      What the heck are you talking about?

      This stuff isnt Alan Watts philosophy, its just Buddhism. Since you clearly do not know, Alan Watts was the guy who brought Buddhism to the West.

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
    2. Re:Questionable Philosopher by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Right. That is the point. He was not a philosopher.

      He did not write philosophy. He did not teach philosophy. He did not lecture on philosophy.

      Yet the summary calls him a philosopher.

    3. Re:Questionable Philosopher by Rockoon · · Score: 1

      He was a philosopher, he just didnt invent the philosophy in question.

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
    4. Re:Questionable Philosopher by Rockoon · · Score: 1

      Since Alan Watts joined the pre-existing London Buddhist Lodge

      ...where immediately upon "joining" he became the organizations secretary.... at age 16.

      Are you sure you want to have this debate?

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
  5. I like it by bugs2squash · · Score: 1

    the narrator reminds me of Oliver Postgate.

    --
    Nullius in verba
  6. Re:Eeehhh! by pr0t0 · · Score: 1

    That is a seriously trippy video. What was in that doughnut I ate this morning?

    --
    I'm sorry, but your opinion seems to be wrong.
  7. Re:Misleading headline: It is not nominated. by Nidi62 · · Score: 2

    The video has not been nominated for an Oscar. However, it *is* eligible to be nominated, which is a first for a video game trailer.

    So it joins a very short and distinguished list such a the classic film Home for Purim and it's lead actor Victor Allen Miller who said "It's such an honor to be almost nominated".

    --
    The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
  8. take heed by rkordmaa · · Score: 2

    If ever you need to say whole lot about not much of anything, this is a prime example of how to do it.

  9. Re:Trailer Doesn't Mean Shit by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 2

    From what I see, if you loved Amiga graphics demos, you'll love this. Here's a 20-minute play video:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz0ncBjk2V4

    Reminds me of a monkey and football, but then again, I've only been consuming video games for 34 years.

  10. Shadow of the Colossus by Khyber · · Score: 1

    That was some serious artistic work in a game. The game alone could've made a pretty awesome essentially 'silent' film.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    1. Re:Shadow of the Colossus by FFOMelchior · · Score: 1

      My first choice as well, with Journey as a close second.

  11. Re:Eeehhh! by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 2

    >> Why are the animals somersaulting all the time?

    Because they want you to buy a VRML demo for $60. ("OK, so we imported a bunch of 3d models. Now you can move them around. Next month maybe we'll animate them or add some logic to make them interact, but in the meantime [SHINY].")

  12. I propose a different name by freeze128 · · Score: 4, Funny

    How about: Tumble-bears

  13. Re:Eeehhh! by Rockoon · · Score: 2

    There is no way that they will animate them given the sheer quantity of them. I'm thinking thousands, if not tens of thousands, of models.

    I say this as someone who owns the "game." For those looking for an actual game, look elsewhere.

    Basically this "game" is a novel way of listening to Alan Watts.

    --
    "His name was James Damore."
  14. Re:Trailer Doesn't Mean Shit by Rockoon · · Score: 1

    ...that WAS gameplay!

    I own the "game." The game in its entirely is switching between models and zooming "in" or "out" to a new level while listening to Alan Watts and "finding" more Alan Watts clips to listen to while roaming around.

    --
    "His name was James Damore."
  15. Re:Trailer Doesn't Mean Shit by My+Name+Is+Neo · · Score: 2

    All of what you see and hear in the trailer is actual gameplay. The game is a giant sandbox that lets you switch between creatures and objects at massively different scales, from fundamental particles to large constructs of the universe... all while reading tidbits of existential text, markov chains, and finding clips of Alan Watts recordings to listen to. Every object you "become" also gets added to a library where you can read more information about it.

    It's certainly not going to appeal to everyone, but it's fun for what it is trying to do and show you. And it's not, as one comment said a "VRML demo for $60", it's a simple $15 sandbox that tries to make you think.

    --
    Snarf This.
  16. unfortunate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It's unfortunate that some people who rarely see video game trailers may now think this is one of the best video game trailers (and perhaps even games) out there.
    Overly wordy, slow, pretentious bullshit.

  17. We seen this with movie trailers... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    A video game trailer will feature the best parts of the game while the rest of the game will suck. Developers should spend more time focus on improving the game instead of trying to get an Academy award.

    1. Re:We seen this with movie trailers... by Rockoon · · Score: 1

      In Spore they dropped their original intent, which was that a creatures capability was conditional on its design, that their capabilities emerged from the simulated physics. That would have been a fun game to play for hundreds, maybe even thousands of hours.

      What we actually got was a bullshit opposite of that, of course.

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
  18. Spore 2? by s.petry · · Score: 2

    From what I could tell, it's a fancy graphics version of Spore where you can play at any stage.

    A few noteworthy bits from the dialogue to be disturbed by: 1. Humans grow with a view of "me" in the world but should grow out of that into a new view. Leading into 2. Humans have no more significance than anything else, including atoms, cells, etc...

    I'm probably a bit overly sensitive, but this self depreciation has been played pretty hard by social engineers over the last couple decades.

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    1. Re:Spore 2? by penandpaper · · Score: 2

      Leading into 2. Humans have no more significance than anything else, including atoms, cells, etc...

      I'm probably a bit overly sensitive, but this self depreciation has been played pretty hard by social engineers over the last couple decades.

      This. It's like a flowery version of nihilism. If humans are not any more significant or important than anything else why would a human idea of morality be important or significant for humans?

    2. Re:Spore 2? by meta-monkey · · Score: 1

      everything else around us feels the same way.

      Pretty sure rocks don't feel shit.

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
    3. Re:Spore 2? by penandpaper · · Score: 1

      So if you decide to behave against others, they have every right to eliminate you as a threat to their universe.

      Yes, the rules of nature or effectively nihilism.

      Right now, thats what we do in wasting time with conflicts

      Yes. Yes. Are you a Big Endian or Little Endian. If you have a solution to end conflict beyond flowery words that historically have deprived the rights of the individual, lets hear it.

      He posits that we instead look at the bigger picture and realize we should enjoy our universe and work together to make it better.

      Yes, and I will act in my self interest to better 'my universe'. I can act in a way that limits my behavior to be considerate of the environment but if we are all connected, as it were, then the environment is a vessel for my self interest, isn't it? Nothing I or any human can do will make a difference in this world so why limit inhibit your behavior for a ethereal sense of self and reality?

    4. Re:Spore 2? by penandpaper · · Score: 1

      I don't know. In elementary school some kid threw a rock at my head. I am sure that rock was in pain since I remember it was bleeding.

  19. WTF? by thegarbz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So the only requirement for a game trailer to be in the running for an academy award is that he was tripping on acid when he came up with the idea for his game. I'm going to put that trailer firmly in the "WTF did I just watch" pile.

    1. Re:WTF? by Toad-san · · Score: 1

      Agreed. That might be one of the worst "animated" videos I've ever seen! It might be "eligible", but so then might be something created with help of an online animation ap by a bunch of third graders.

  20. Seems fairly original by burtosis · · Score: 1

    Not sure I approve of the clickbait title, but from my limited gaming experiences the overall game seems to be fairly original. Gotta give them some points for trying something new.

    1. Re:Seems fairly original by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 1

      Not sure I approve of the clickbait title, but from my limited gaming experiences the overall game seems to be fairly original. Gotta give them some points for trying something new.

      It seems more like a simulation than a game. Games have objectives. What objective is there in "Everything" other than to zoom in & out on stuff? Do you get achievements for "100 bear summersaults" or "bump into 100 ladybugs"? Does it ever finish? How do you win?

      --
      Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
  21. Re:This game is garbage by Rockoon · · Score: 1

    I think its getting attention because Alan Watts has also been getting attention (at least based on the recommendations youtube gives to me.)

    I have the "game." The one thing it isnt is an actual game. Get your Alan Watts somewhere else (for instance, youtube as mentioned)

    --
    "His name was James Damore."
  22. Re:Misleading headline: It is not nominated. by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 2
    It's not the best opening sentence either.

    For the first time in 90-year Oscar history, a video game is eligible for an Academy Award

    How many video games were there 90 years ago? How many video game trailers were there 90 years ago? 25 years ago? It's not like the Oscars have been holding down the video game trailers for almost a century.

  23. Doesn't deserve it by kuzb · · Score: 3, Funny

    If you want to see a trailer that does deserve nomination, you should look at the trailer for Crawl. Excellent voice acting and writing, and it describes the game really well.

    --
    BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
  24. How About Dead Island? by organgtool · · Score: 1

    I haven't had a chance to watch this trailer yet but I thought Dead Island had one of the best trailers I had ever seen at that point in time. I've never had a chance to play the game, but the trailer was very emotionally evocative.

  25. This is a joke, right?? by tomservo84 · · Score: 1

    "Tumbling" bears (bearly...pardon the pun...one model in 4 positions isn't exactly tumbling) while listening to someone drone on is not only a "game", but something that COULD potentially be nominated for an academy award?? Wow. Manos-The Hands of Fate would be a better contender.

    --
    Agile Spaceport - You will never find a more wretched hive of scrum and villainy. We must be cautious.
  26. Re:Eeehhh! by meta-monkey · · Score: 1

    My guess is because since they're simulating "everything" you can't do it at a very high fidelity. So you're going to have every type of woodland creature and insect and lizard. You can't afford to animate them all, but they need to move. They can either move in a shitty way, or in an "artistic" way. So they flip end over end so they can pretend it's an artistic choice instead of a design (or work effort) limitation.

    --
    We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
  27. eligible by Rekso · · Score: 1

    so what criteria can make video game trailer become eligible?