‘Wolfenstein: The New Order’ wins ‘Game of the Year’ at New York Videogame Awards

The New York Videogame Critics Circle held the New York Videogame Awards last night at Villain in Williamsburg. We found out about it too late to get in, at IndieCade East, but it was also broadcast on Twitch, which means we were able to write this post.
Brooklynite founders Patrick Moberg and Paul Murphy got a nod in the “Best Mobile Game” category for “Two Dots” (the favorite game of local tech reporter, Manoush Zomorodi, according to asides on her podcast, New Tech City).
UsTwoGames‘ “Monument Valley” got a nomination in the mobile category as well. It’s a London game, but we saw one of its creators at a Digital DUMBO event here.
One of the highlights of the night was the “Andrew Yoon Award for Video Game Legends.” Yoon had been a game journalist who recently shifted to making games. He successfully ran a Kickstarter for “Divorce! The Game”, a humorous card game about dividing assets. He died last month in an accident in Texas.
The first award went to Ralph Baer, who the event organizers called the true father of video games. The inventor spoke through a short documentary made about him, from his home, when he was 90. Baer invented the Magnavox Odyssey, the first home video game console.

(The presentation did not address why its television commercial feels more like an ad for a horror movie then a home entertainment system, however.)
In the video, Baer speaks movingly to the power of creativity to keep him going. He’s still tinkering in his basement, making new things. “I still get a charge out of making something work,” Baer said. He’s outlived all of his friends and his wife. He says people ask him why he doesn’t retire. “Would you ask a guy who’s been painting all of his life why doesn’t he stop painting?” Baer asked. “Retire to what?” Baer died at 92 in December.
Here are the night’s winners:

• Central Park Children’s Zoo Award for Best Kids Game: Mario Kart 8, by Nintendo.
• Battery Park Award for Best Handheld Game: Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, by Blizzard.
• A-Train Award for Best Mobile Game: Threes, by Sirvo
• Statue of Liberty Award for Best World: Far Cry 4, by Ubisoft.
• Off Broadway Award for Best Indie Game: Shovel Knight, by Yacht Club.
• Freedom Tower Award for Best Remake: Grand Theft Auto V, by Rockstar.
• Herman Melville Award for Best Writing: South Park: The Stick of Truth, by Ubisoft.
• Ebbets Field Award for Best E-Sports Experience: Super Smash Bros. Melee, by Nintendo.
• Tin Pan Alley Award for Best Music in a Game: Transistor, by SuperGiant
• Great White Way Award for Best Acting in a Game: Trey Parker in South Park: The Stick of Truth, by Ubisoft.
• Big Apple Award for Best Game: Wolfenstein: The New Order, by Bethesda Softworks.

Thanks New York!! #NYVGA pic.twitter.com/GxhRJHjEGu

— Asher Vollmer / AsherVo@mastodon.social (@AsherVo) February 17, 2015

https://twitter.com/KGreekness/status/567483226772340737
Watch the proceedings on Twitch:
http://www.twitch.tv/swflibs/TwitchPlayer.swf
Watch live video from NYVGCC on Twitch