awards
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There was a time when I thought I wouldn’t make it to today, writing to all of you, here at The 2021 Esquire Gaming Awards, Sponsored By Arby’s*. I was seeing green and yellow and blue spots in my eyes, sweating through each and every pore of my body, my heart fluttering under the caffeinated influence of GHOST Gamer—this was when I started juicing in the name of gaming journalism—when I thought, Will I live to write the introduction to The 2021 Esquire Gaming Awards, Sponsored By Arby’s*?

My fellow gamers: I did, in fact, not die. So now, I would like to raise a virtual glass to my fellow members of the Esquire Gamer Zone—Sarah Rense, Cameron Sherrill, and Dom Nero—who joined forces in a series of chaotic, end-of-year Zooms to decide the best, worst, and weirdest from the past year in gaming.** If you’re unfamiliar with how we do things, know that you will see traditional awards—Game of the Year and all that—alongside indispensable honors, like Best Himbo. (This year’s awardee won by a landslide.) Rest assured, everything on this list has been thoroughly vetted, debated, and agonizingly thought through in private and public fits of deep contemplation.

Since our time gaming during this fleeting existence is short, we’d like to cut to it and present: The 2021 Esquire Gaming Awards, Sponsored By Arby’s*.

* The 2021 Esquire Gaming Awards, as well as anyone a member of or associated with the Esquire Gamer Zone, is not sponsored by Arby’s. We will continue to beg Arby’s for a sponsorship—even one as insignificant as a free Jamocha shake, please, just a sip—until we receive a cease and desist letter hand-delivered by the anthropomorphized cowboy hat that lives in a cage deep within Arby’s labs.

** Avid readers of Esquire’s gaming coverage may notice that we published a list titled “The 2021 Esquire Gaming Awards” back in January, where we rounded up the best in 2020 gaming. But we ran the story in 2021, so we called it “The 2021 Esquire Gaming Awards.” Shut up.

JUMP TO:
GAME WINNERS | GAMING GEAR WINNERS | GAMING LIFESTYLE WINNERS

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game winners
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ratchet and clank
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Game of the Year
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

Big year for games. Huge year. So I suppose you want to know our Game of the Year. I’ll let you in on a little gaming journalist secret: No one wants the job in this category. That’s why I'm here, Cam, your friend, to break the news, more or less. Obligatorily, I'm obligated to tell you this year was full of games—good games, some bad games, lots of bad games, also a lot of great games, even some fantastic games. The next part is where I'm obliged to rattle things off, so here's a list of good games mixed with hot-button keywords on Google trends: Deathloop, Omicron, Halo Infinite, variant, Psychonauts 2, tech bubble, It Takes Two, Resident Evil: Village, Apple Watch sale, Monster Hunter Rise, rise in cases. Now, for what I’ve been avoiding, our Game of the Year.

After screaming, fighting, and someone nearly dying (me, just because of an asthma attack), we finally landed on none other than Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. It was easily the best time I’ve had gaming in a long time, and the first game, save for Pokémon, that encouraged me to platinum it immediately, instead of putting it aside for years. While sure, there were other games with deep meanings, intense plots, and legendary gameplay mechanics, no game felt as fun. Rift Apart harkened back to a time when gaming was just about fun. This title is incredibly polished, visually gorgeous, and it utilizes the PS5’s DualSense tech to a masterful degree. Really, it is a pleasure from the start to when you 100-percent complete it, and that's the mark of a Game of the Year. —C.S.

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Best Fighting Game
Guilty Gear Strive

I spent the bulk of 2021 trying to turn myself into a fighting game guy. Smash Bros. has always been my personal favorite, but I know that’s not really a real fighting game gamer’s fighting game. The real ones, like Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike or Marvel vs. Capcom 2, were the kinds of fighters I was hoping to get into. And right around that time, Strive came out. Lucky me! With an emphasis on hard-to-master mechanics like Dust Attacks and Bursts and something called “Roman Cancels,” Strive turned out to be the most fighting gameyist fight game of all fighting games. It deserves this award for the gorgeous, “how the hell did they even do that” animation style alone. But, really, I’m calling Strive the Best Fighting Game because, after I spent so many hours obsessing over Nagoriyuki’s Blood Gauge (NOT his Tension Meter; you have to make sure you manage both of them in different and sometimes conflicting ways), I think I’m finally allowed to call myself a fighting game guy. What other community would understand any of the words I just wrote in the sentence above? —D.N.

Best Roguelike
Literally every video game this year

Returnal. Loop Hero. Deathloop. Inscription. The Binding of Isaac: Repentance. Rogue Lords. Roguebook. Rogue. Loop. Loopy Rogue. Rogue Loopy. Roguelike Roguelike Roguelike Rougelike. Whereas in past years we’ve seen trends like the Metroidvania or Battle Royale take control of the industry (there are still zillions of Fortnite copies), 2021 took a different approach to the medium: What if every video game was a Roguelike? For the uninitiated, a Roguelike is a Groundhog Day of gaming. You live, you die, you repeat. Depending on the game, you carry some stuff over into the next run. Hades, the horny hack-and-slasher from 2020, was cherished by many as a Game of the Year darling. And we can see that its influence has not died at all. There were some huge (and unique) entries to the genre this year, like Returnal, which tried its best to cash in on the Hades formula by building an emotional story right into the neverending format. I… liked it. Deathloop, too, was a favorite, and not just because you can KICK a ton of ass (see “Best Mechanic” category below). What will be next year’s big genre? Will every game be an Animal Crossing ripoff? Maybe the Pepsiman formula will take over! —D.N.

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Best Indie
Unsighted

It’s not often you find a game that you want to play three times in a row. Unsighted from the small Brazilian label Studio Pixel Punk absolutely wrecked me this year, and while we’re dubbing it the “Best Indie” on our list here, I could certainly make the case for it being 2021’s Game of the Year. The Zelda-like title is all about a robot world that’s been devastated by humanity. Your android friends are losing consciousness. It’s up to you to save them. Sound too cartoony? Don’t worry, after a few hours with this game, you’ll empathize more with a few dozen pixels than you’ve ever felt for a video game character. I can’t put words to the experience of losing a friend, so I won’t. But Studio Pixel Punk has bottled up something truly sad about the human (or robot) experience in this game, and I desperately hope it gets the recognition it deserves. —D.N.

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Best Co-Op
WarioWare: Get It Together!

Wario was a massive contender this year, from his sex appeal (Mario Golf) to his better business practices. This anti-Mario was the hero we needed. WarioWare: Get It Together! is one of the most exciting and creative games on the market, easily making it the best couch co-op games of the year. With a unique and intriguing art style and phenomenally engaging gameplay, it just boils down to being a colossal shitton of fun. This should be in every Switch owner's library, and I'm willing to die on that microgame hill. —C.S.

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Best Mobile Game
LEGO Star Wars: Castaways

Hey there, it’s me, your friend Dom at Esquire who has insisted, year after year, that LEGO keeps its bricks out of my beloved Star Wars. Why is everything becoming LEGO today? I love the kid-friendly building blocks like anyone else, but for so long I’ve struggled to wrap my head around the appeal of looking at plastic figurines on a TV screen. What’s next? Lincoln Log X-Men? Well, I hate to admit it, but of all the games I played on my iPhone (and Backbone One), LEGO Star Wars: Castaways really kept me playing for a while. I know, I can’t believe it either. Castaways has players creating their own Star Wars character, complete with a silly name generator that gives you those stupid Lucasfilm monikers like Blick Starstreaker or Zim Zimzam. It’s not like Fortnite, though; you don’t simply throw your little guy into a battlefield and mindlessly whack each other for hours on end. There’s an island to explore, missions to complete with friends (or by yourself), people to interact with, and a wholesome vibe to the world that’s oddly satisfying. You heard it here first. It’s the blueprint for the perfect Star Wars game. Fuck it, I guess I love LEGO games now. —D.N.

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Best VR Game
Resident Evil 4
on Oculus Quest

I thought I was over my fear of this game. I’ve played it about once a year since my friend got it for me in 2005. That's 16 years to get accustomed to the scares, and I was, until I put on the damn headset. It’s a completely different feeling playing this as Leon Kennedy. All scary aside, this game worked remarkably well, which I was extremely nervous about leading up to its release. Oculus Quest is consistently amping up what it can do, more than throwing hands at the highest-end VR headsets. —C.S.

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Best Sports Game
Retro Bowl

Here’s what I remember: I was bored. And a little anxious. But mostly bored. I craved an escape hatch, a teleportation device for my brain to get the hell out of Dodge for a few hours. When I’m feeling like this, I take a sports game—usually NBA 2K or Madden—for a spin. Problem is: I feel like I’ve been playing more or less the same versions of those games for over a decade. Not much ingenuity going on in the sports video game scene nowadays. After some digging around on Google Play, I found the cure: Retro Bowl. The mobile game is delightfully simple: You take control of a team and attempt to Vince Lombardi your players to greatness. The franchise mode is just enough so that you get all those trading-and-free-agent-signings dopamine hits. Plus, the games—like, the football itself—are pixelated, breezy, and fun as heck. The developer of Retro Bowl, New Star Games, is constantly updating the game, which also has an uber-engaged online community, which somehow figured out how to hold competitive Retro Bowl tournaments. EA and 2K? Take note. —B.L.

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Best Fitness Game
Supernatural VR

Have you ever wanted to go rhythm boxing? Out in front of a pyramid? With a fitness coach shouting in your face while she hovers atop a platform high above the sand? In VR?!! At last, Supernatural VR has provided us fitness junkies who love virtual reality a game where you can travel the world beating the shit out of 3D orbs. If you’re familiar with Beat Saber, you’ll understand what Supernatural is going for—the Oculus Quest (and Quest 2) game really does get you off the couch and so sweaty you might leave a puddle on your hardwood floor. This title, which is really an entire subscription-based fitness app experience, didn’t premiere in 2021. But it received a ton of new content, including the aforementioned boxing setup. I think my upstairs neighbor whom I sometimes see in his window, strapped into his Quest, throwing his fists around like a maniac, would agree: Supernatural is easily one of the best reasons to get yourself a VR headset. Even if it might get a little musty after a workout. —D.N.

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Best Remake
Mario Party Superstars

Remake? Sure, kind of. You nerds who are pissed at me already because it’s a compilation title or whatever can huff this superstar gamer trash. Where are your gaming awards? That's what I thought.

Anyway, Mario Party Superstars is the Mario Party game we’ve been waiting for: a compilation of the best minigames that don’t use motion controls, five of the classic N64 boards (which are leagues above the modern gameplay), online play, and all that old Mario Party rage injected tenfold to create an immensely dangerous space for you, your furniture, and least importantly, your friends. Fingers crossed they keep updating this title, because while it's the best Mario Party in existence, it could be even better with new content. —C.S.

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Best Remaster
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury

This may break the rules a bit. But my editor doesn’t know that, while the Super Mario 3D World portion of the titular remaster sure is fun (it’s fine), what I really want to use this blurb for is to cover Bowser’s Fury. Snobby Mario-heads will say 3D World is one of the best, if not the best game in the series. But to me, 3D World is all of the glitz and kitsch of the far superior main-line 3D Mario games (64, Galaxy, Odyssey), with none of the prestige or grandeur. That’s not the case with Bowser’s Fury, an entirely new side-experience that was included in this remaster for some reason. It’s what I believe to be the first truly open-world Mario game, a fascinating and difficult experiment that puts Mario in a setting where all the levels are around him—he doesn’t have to jump through any mirrors or go down any pipes. I loved it, and I think we’ll see its influence on future Mario games. And no, I don’t mean there should be a GTA-style experience in New Donk City. —D.N.

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Best DLC
Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Happy Home Paradise

One of the best surprises of 2021 also nearly made one of last year's viral sensations a competitor for Game of the Year again. Animal Crossing: New Horizons went hard under the cover of night and released one of the largest, most comprehensive free updates and paid DLC I’ve seen in my many years of allowing game companies to suck every dime from my pocket. The Happy Home Paradise DLC coupled with a massive free update took Animal Crossing: New Horizons gave players a plethora of new villagers, new activities, new furniture, and even cooking for free, plus DLC that allowed players to build resort houses, unlock even more new items, and completely change the way home design worked with partition walls, shining, lighting, and so much more. It’s the most versatile and exciting system the series has seen. The game feels like a whole new title, which says a lot. —C.S.

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Best Multiplayer
Monster Hunter Rise

I love hunting monsters, and while Monster Hunter Ariana Grande from Fortnite isn't in this title, there's still a lot of hunting fun to be had. Monster Hunter seems to just keep getting better and more accessible, and Rise followed that pattern faithfully. It introduced a grappling mechanic, rideable dogs, new monsters, and so much more scale to make for one of the best online co-op titles I’ve ever played, let alone one of the best games in the series. Beyond a deep amount of content, there's also contestant updates, including collaborations with Street Fighter, Okami, Ghosts ‘n Goblins, and Sonic. Rise hit it big right at release and is slated for a massive, Iceborne-style update this summer. I’ve already clocked in well over 200 hours, and I couldn't be more thrilled to clock in hundreds more. —C.S.

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Best Protagonist
Airbus A320 Neo in Flight Simulator

Honk honk, here comes the Airbus, shuttling people from point A to point B in extravagance via an unhealthy amount of oil, and probably a massively inflated ticket price, and just a slew of environmental issues. But hey, what good protagonist doesn't have its flaws? Yeah, we had Rivet from Ratchet & Clank, Raz from Psychonauts 2, and Colt Vaughn from Deathloop, and we gave Best Protagonist to the Airbus. We’re unpredictable and see the beauty in everything, including these environmental menaces. You may be saying, “But Flight Simulator came out in 2020,” and I’d reply, “Not on Xbox, you goon.” So this is specifically the Airbus A320 on Xbox. If it seems like we’re jumping through a lot of hoops for a bad punchline, I'd encourage you to go read our other pieces. The best hero of the year was an airplane. If you have a problem with it, I'd like to once again ask, where are your gaming awards? —C.S.

Best Villain
Joy-Con drift

Back in the early days of the pandemic, a co-worker, Cam Sherrill—real piece of shit, this guy—sold me his Nintendo Switch. With eBay hounds buying and upselling the terminally out-of-stock console at the time, Cam said he’d rather sell to someone who, you know, wouldn’t do that. What a genuine dude. Or so I thought. Cut to me playing Super Mario Odyssey, watching the little plumber fall off nearly every ledge and crying bloody hell because the left Joy-Con kept drifting to the side. It was busted. I could’ve nominated someone like the tall lady from Resident Evil for this award, but nothing pissed me off more this year than my broken Joy-Con, a problem familiar to many Switch owners. And Cam: I’m putting in a nomination for you to be 2023’s Best Villain. —B.L.

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Best Demon
Margaret Thatcher from Thatcher’s Techbase

It’s a long-standing tradition here that we nominate the Best Demon of the Year. Demons were in shorter supply in 2021, considering Animal Crossing, and Doom I guess, came out last year. But we’re young, scrappy, and full of gumption, so we make due. A truly stellar mod for Doom 2 released this year under one of my personal favorite titles ever, Thatcher’s Techbase. At the helm of her own techbase is cyber demon queen Margaret Thatcher, complete with horns and a gun for an arm. Looks like she’ll be busting a lot more than glass ceilings. She’s doling out capital punishment all by herself. —C.S.

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Best Video Game Performance
Michael K. Williams in Battlefield 2042

Last year, we gave this award to the legendary Michael K. Williams for his turn in NBA 2K21’s MyCareer story, transforming what’s usually a campy experience into an HBO-worthy sports drama. Now, after we lost the actor due to an accidental drug overdose, we’re awarding Williams for one of the final performances of his career: as Kimble "Irish" Graves in Battlefield 2042. In the game, Williams took what’s usually the cliché of all clichés of a video game archetype—a military commander—and infused him with the humanity and beauty we came to know from both Michael K. Williams the actor, and Michael K. Williams the man. —B.L.

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Best Fortnite Appearance
Ariana Grande

Fortnite has become a mess of a fever dream, and I absolutely love it. Master Chief, Naruto, Kylo Ren... The Rock is even in it as a character called The Foundation. But perhaps most confusing is Ariana Grande, who plays Ariana Grande. And Ms. Grande is not only in the game once, but twice, because there's Rift Concert Ariana and Monster Hunter Ariana, who has lore as a space alien hunter and defender of humanity. She can now hang out with The Rock but not The Rock. It’s a headache, like I said. But I love that they gave the pop star a full backstory. Ariana’s making the gaming rounds too, able to take on big bad Sephiroth alongside Katy Perry in Final Fantasy Brave Exvius. I need a vat of ibuprofen. —C.S.

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Best Guest Star
Giancarlo Esposito in Far Cry 6

I loved the couple of minutes during which Giancarlo showed up in Far Cry 6. His performance was enthralling, for the 15 minutes of screentime he had, showing why he's one of the best. Only problem was I couldn't quite put my finger on who was the main villain of this game, or why they spoiled his tiny guest appearance, akin to Conan O'Brien in Death Stranding, with a full marketing scheme. To each their own. Maybe Giancarlo will come back in the next one. —C.S.

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Best Himbo
Ethan from Resident Evil Village

“Dammit, Ethan!” “FUCKING DUCK, Ethan!” “Ethan?! JESUS!” How many times did you scream at your television while playing Resident Evil Village? I can’t even begin to predict why Capcom chose to make the protagonist of its tentpole horror franchise’s latest, greatest outing a complete and utter dumbass. But, boy, did I enjoy it. From downplaying the existence of man-eating psycho witches to constantly, constantly, getting his dumb dumb fingers chopped off, Ethan Winters is our Himbo of the Year. Love him, hate him, you’ve got to admit: He’s as dumb as they come. May he (spoiler) rest in peace. —D.N.

Best Bowser
Criminal Bowser

We live in a simulation in which Bowser, the name of the villain from the Super Mario Bros., is also the last name of the CEO of Nintendo, the company that makes the game. Yes, Doug Bowser took over Nintendo in 2019 (which somehow feels like at least a decade ago). But that’s not even how deep the simulation goes. In November 2021, a man named Gary Bowser pleaded guilty to hacking charges. His cyber crime involved the selling of “circumvention devices” (in this case, emulators, roms, mod chips, etc.) that opened up the Switch and other Nintendo machines to play emulator games and do things they’re not supposed to do. This has resulted in upwards of $14 million in restitution (Nintendo is really dropping the hammer—you know, the one from Donkey Kong). Was Gary Bowser inspired by the real Bowser to defile Nintendo’s Mushroom Kingdom? Or was it about Doug Bowser? Did it have something to do with the two of them sharing the same villainous name? These questions could probably be answered within three minutes on Google, but I’m not going to make that search. This bit is too good, and I care about our relationship too much to ruin it. —D.N.

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Best In-Game Mechanic
The kick in Deathloop

New consoles mean new mechanics. And from rifting and hidden loadscreens in Ratchet & Clank to psychic abilities in Psychonauts 2, teleporting in Deathloop, and sliding in Fortnite, there were a lot of kickass mechanics this year. But none put the kick in the aforementioned ass as much as the literal kick in Deathloop. This kick is simple but mighty. And in a game where you gain near god-like abilities to take on enemies, it's so satisfying to send those bozos flying with a back-to-basics kick. Deathloop makes the kick feel damn good, too. It's not just a basic melee, it really packs a punch. But it's a kick, not a punch. —C.S.

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Best Soundtrack
Jack White's "Taking Me Back" in Call of Duty: Vanguard

Now, Jack White’s “Taking Me Back” is only one small, delectable chicken nugget in the proverbial Happy Meal that is the soundtrack of Call of Duty: Vanguard, but we’re giving it this award anyway. We play fast and loose here in the Esquire Gamer Zone. Who would’ve thought that Jack White’s first song in four years would be the Big Song billboarding the latest CODfest? Not you. Not us. “Taking Me Back” is a big ol’ rager of a rock song, the kind we can only expect from the indomitable Jack White. If we’re lucky, “Icky Thump” finds its way onto a future Call of Duty soundtrack as an anthem for all of the collective calluses gamers have accrued while playing the CODs of years past. Bad joke? Bad joke. —B.L.

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Best Glitch
Cyberpunk 2077

When an entire video game turns out to be one big glitch, we have no choice but to award it. Because, at Esquire, if anything, we love to highlight chaos. Okay, I feel a little bad reducing this entire title and all the years of dev work into a joke category, but few games tragically crashed and burned as badly as Cyberpunk 2077. Word on the street is that the CD Projekt RED game is becoming more and more playable as it gets patched, but when 2077 first hit shelves, boy, was it a mess. From naked players sitting on top of cars in T-pose to people with physical disabilities walking straight out of their wheelchairs, this hugely anticipated game was all kindsa glitchy, and not always in fun ways. Here’s to hoping CD Projekt RED gets its act together soon. —D.N.

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Best Anniversary Event
Pokémon 25

I freaking love Pokémon. Everyone knows this. Even you know this. So it was a real treat that Pokémon absolutely killed its 25th anniversary across the board. We got Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Pokémon Unite, a series of concerts and collectibles, clothing collaborations, and a thrilling set of trading cards with the Celebrations pack. All that, and we still have Arceus coming in January. Pokémon spread itself everywhere, from Uniqlo to massive displays at department stores, and sure, it relied heavily on flashy nostalgic marketing, but what can I say? The trick fully worked. I’m going to miss all the celebrations, that is, until the 30th anniversary in 2026. —C.S.

los angeles, california   june 30 chris pratt attends the premiere of amazon's "the tomorrow war" at banc of california stadium on june 30, 2021 in los angeles, california photo by matt winkelmeyergetty images
Matt Winkelmeyer//Getty Images

Best Gaming Controversy
Chris Pratt being cast as Mario

This category should have been dubbed “Best Italian.” But my editor here has censored me, which, technically, qualifies as Anti-Italian Discrimination. With a community as completely obsessed as the gaming crowd, there are controversies every few hours of the day on places like r/videogames and the absolute hell that is known as Gaming Twitter. But there is something so perfect, so pure, about Chris Pratt’s distinctively meat-and-potatoes, Christian American name and face next to the Nintendo Plumber, Mario. Pratt is taking on the voice of the gaming icon in the forthcoming Mario movie, and man, are people mad! I’m one of them! As an Italian with a (pencil thin, hardly visibly) mustache, I reserve the right to peacefully protest this Prattwashing! Our culture is not your cosplay! If the movie ever comes out, I will see it a few times, and then demand my money back at once!! Pratt! Will not! Replace us! —D.N.

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Best Moment in Gaming
Fortnite’s Peely appears naked in federal court

Gaming can do magnificent things. For instance, it can get some of the top litigators in the country to say things like, “Is there anything inappropriate about Peely without clothes?” or, “It’s just a banana man.” This year, a federal judge had to listen to slander on whether or not it was appropriate to show Peely from Fortnite not wearing a tux in federal court, which I genuinely cannot make any jokes about, because I'm in awe that we got this. We did this, gamers. Together, we put our monstrosities on the map so lawyers had to address whether they were dressed. Epic victory for royale games. I look forward to seeing you on the battle bus. —C.S.

RETURN TO TOP.


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Best Retro Release
Nintendo Game and Watch: The Legend of Zelda

$49.99

$49.99

$49.99

Shop at GameStop

Like the Mario Game and Watch before it, there's just something fun about these little guys. They’ve got that Nintendo collectable polish on them and always include secrets. On this one, it's a lit-up Triforce on the back, which made me feel a pathetic amount of glee. Released for Zelda's 35th, Nintendo bundled the original Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and a favorite of mine, Link's Awakening, all onto this tiny LCD screen. The games play great, and the colors pop. Plus, the thing looks cool on a bookshelf, which is exactly what you need from a celebratory collectible. —C.S.


Best Console
Analogue Pocket

$199.99

$199.99

It’s here! It’s really, really here! I spurted out and transformed into the Nintendo 64 kid when I got my Analogue Pocket, a device that I honestly thought might have been some sort of government conspiracy designed to expose and eliminate retro gaming nerds (me). Due to all kinds of back ups ‘round the world (something called “Covid” delayed a few things last year; not sure what that was all about), it seemed as though the Analogue Pocket would never be released. But, although the device is still hugely limited in quantity, some of us lucky ones received it. And, somehow, it lives up to the hype. Boasting a 1600x1400 screen resolution (that’s 10 times the resolution of the original Game Boy), and the ability to play (allegedly) every game from the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Game Gear, and even Neo Geo Pocket and Atari Lynx (the Atari what now?), we’re awarding the Pocket with Console of the Year for a couple of reasons. For one, there weren’t really any other consoles released this year, except for the OLED Switch, which was, well, just fine. But more than that, the Pocket sets a terrific precedent for the industry to come: More. Game. Preservation. Video games aren’t like movies. You can’t just load them up in any old Blu-ray player, or throw the film onto a projector. All games require specific console setups, and, as the years go by, and companies (ahem, Nintendo) quit supporting their old tech, we lose pieces of gaming history. The Pocket brings a big part of the canvas back into frame—practically the entire handheld gaming market until, I guess, the Nintendo DS/PSP era. Let’s hope some of the big companies take cues from Analogue. —D.N.


Best Gaming Projector
Optoma UHD35 True 4K UHD Projector

$1299.00

$1299.00

I don’t think gamers recognize the potential of projectors. Maybe it’s because the industry is still a bit too expensive, or the size of the screen requires a big home (who has money for that?), but gaming on a projector really is a special thing, an experience that’s worth the cash, if you’ve got it. What you want in a projector for gaming is super low latency. That means, as little time between button input to screen reaction as possible. Especially for genres like fighting games, you don’t want any lag. Optoma’s UHD35 True 4K Gaming Projector, at just about four milliseconds, is close enough to zero latency as you’ll ever need. It’s $1,300, which is a very competitive price point compared to a lot of 4K flatscreens, but unlike televisions, this projector can get big, baby. Like, 300 square feet. Big enough for you? —D.N.


Best Gaming Chair
Mavix M9

$909.99

$909.99

A $900 gaming chair? Really? Nine hundred bucks for a chair? To play games in?!! Yes, dear reader, yes. Your back—and your video games—deserve it. The Mavix M9 is just about the most comfortable thing I’ve ever sat my ass down upon. I don’t exactly know what kind of alchemy was committed to create such a stable, supportive, but impossibly soft foam, but the sorcerers at Mavix made a seat that feels sturdy as hell, even when you lay all the way back, and my neck and back have never felt so healthy. I don’t come out of long sessions at my desk thinking there’s a large man squeezing my spine; I no longer feel like my head is resting on thorns. We spend most of our lives plopped down on our chairs. It’s about time we give our butts a break! —D.N.


Best Gaming Chaise
Hendrick’s Gin Gaming Chaise

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Hear ye, hear ye, fellow gamers. We’ve been living in destitution for too long, the grease from childhoods spent downing Ruffles still oozing from our skin, our backs hunched over from the cheapest of Target dorm room chairs, the voices of our mothers telling us to pipe down ringing in our ears. As big boys and girls, we deserve luxury. And as far as we can tell, the folks over at Hendrick’s Gin are the only ones who understand us. They’ve made—nay, crafted—a gaming chaise. Aside from the sheer sophisticated beauty of this expensive piece of $3,988 furniture, it includes secret compartments, retractable arms, and an analog horn. For what, you ask? Use your imagination, for god’s sake. You’ve been waiting for this forever. Pour yourself a drink, damnit. —B.L.


Best Gaming TV
Hisense U7G 4K ULED Android Smart TV

$599.99

$599.99

One massive point of contention between console and PC gamers is input lag and refresh rate. Monitors have always been inherently better, but who doesn't love gaming on a couch, or chaise lounge, I guess? Well, don't worry gamers, daddy Hisense has come to the rescue, creating a TV for gamers, maybe by gamers (there was probably a gamer on the engineering team). The U7G boasts shockingly low input lag, 120Hz refresh rate, and all the trimmings of a modern 4K TV like Dolby Vision and HDR 10. It's a phenomenal screen for gamers and non-gamers alike, but you gamers are going to crank 90s and nose scope so much more cleanly than you did before. —C.S.


Best Gaming Laptop
Razer Blade 15

From $1,699.99

From $1,699.99

From $1,699.99

I have a confession. I hate gamer design. The weird space-age Stark tech angular look is bad and annoying and sucks. I love a little RGB splash, but the chaos of the usual design drives me nuts. That’s why I’ve always liked Razer, with its hint of RGB, just a little emblem, on top of a simple design. The Razer Blade 15 is thin, slick, and powerful. It goes beyond a competent gaming PC, and it's one you won't be embarrassed to whip out at work or school. Every part of this laptop feels ergonomic, and most importantly, it games extremely well. —C.S.


Most Innovative Gaming Peripheral
Backbone One

$99.99

$99.99

Let’s face it. Mobile phones are the future of gaming. How much longer can the industry expect gamers to purchase expensive, noisy, hard-to-manufacture boxes the size of a mini-fridge every five or six years? With services like Xbox Game Pass and Apple Arcade, the need for consoles is diminishing by the day. In 2021 we took our first big step (jump? straddle?) over that hurdle with the Backbone One. It’s like a premium controller, but, it’s your phone. And if you already have Game Pass, Amazon Luna, Google Stadia, and all the other trendy game streamers set up on your iPhone, you basically have a console in the palm of your hand. The future! —D.N.


Best Gaming Headset
Sony Pulse 3D

$99.00

$99.00

Headsets and online chats are the bane of my damn existence. Some of my friends are too quiet, some are too loud, and some have busted mics that, no kidding, move their voices higher and higher until they sound like one of those chipmunks. Sony released its new Pulse headset featuring 3D audio, wireless connectivity, and so much more this year, and it is one of the best headsets you can get on the market. But what makes it really worthwhile is its deep integration with the PS5. It's so easy to use, and it allows enormous control over game balancing and chat volume. I never get yelled at anymore for my own mic quality. —C.S.


Best Gaming Glasses
Spy Crossway Gaming Glasses

I don’t know why we don’t talk more about computer glasses for gaming. It seems like the blue blockers trend is really taking off in the business world, since, you know, we all sit and stare at our screens all day at work. But why not gaming? Same screens! Same chair! Even when you’re on your couch, all the light ramming into your face can’t be good for your eyes. Spy Optic’s Crossway Blue Light “Happy Gaming” Glasses answer that call, with lenses that even deliver “sharper contrast and details and enhanced mood and focus.” I’m not an eye doctor, but they really do make my screens feel a bit less punchy on the ol’ peepers. And now that I said “ol’ peepers,” I think I should walk away from the computer for a little while… —D.N.


Best Graphics Card
None

No, not because no good graphics cards were released this year. There were plenty. But chances are you don't know that because you couldn't get one without paying four times the sticker price. Me neither, kid. Better luck next year. —C.S.


Best Throwback
ColorWare Retro DualSense

$169.00

$169.00

I will not let go of my youth, and you can't make me. The newest tech and games feel so much better when I’m playing from my native and nostalgic PS1 controller. At least from a color standpoint. A bucket of paint is all it’s ever really taken to pull one over on me, anyway. I have a few controllers from Colorware, and they all work great and keep their paint sometimes better than the original. It’s new, but old, and really damn cool. —C.S.


Best Console Stand
NexiGo S20 Charging Dock for Oculus Quest 2

$79.99

$79.99

The Quest 2 deserves nothing more than to be put on a pedestal, and that is exactly what Nexigo made: a charging pedestal to keep your VR headset powered up and safe. Headsets are notoriously uncomfortable and hard to store, so why not give them one designated spot? There's even some nice orange and blue LED lighting to not only signify charging but to add to the whole gamer experience. —C.S.


Best TV Stand for Gaming
Ntense Glitch 60

$177.99

$177.99

Gamers have officially taken over; we have our own furniture beyond chairs and desks. We finally have a series of gaming TV stands. Ntense sells a whole line of gaming TV stands with features ranging from RGB lighting, controller hooks, and headset racks to all the cord management you could ever ask for—so your gaming space is as primed as possible. It’s not an epic gamer win to have your cords all over the place and shit thrown all over the ground, or maybe it is, but let's change the narrative. —C.S.


Best SSD
WD_BLACK SN850 NVMe SSD from Western Digital

Get this: Upgrade your PS5 storage or PC storage or laptop storage and shut up. This SSD works fast, is extremely easy to install, and already has Heatsync. Did I try a few SSDs this year? Yes I did. Was this the most competent? Yes. Do I feel comfortable writing paragraphs on paragraphs about a solid state drive? No, nor should anyone ask me to. So, this one’s great, it works, it's easy, go away. —C.S.


Best Gaming Keyboard
Logitech G915 TKL

$179.99

$179.99

Few things are more therapeutic than the perfect keyboard. The clicky keys, a tasteful backlight, brushed steel—all of this in a very fast Bluetooth tenkeyless frame. Logitech is lightyears ahead on lagless wireless connectivity, which is a must for gaming. —C.S.


Best Gaming Mouse
Logitech G Pro X Superlight

$129.99

$129.99

I clapped so many noobs with this mouse, 360 nose scope, pwned so many scrubs. Get good losers, my mouse is epic. In actuality I just put the infinite money glitch into the Sims and trapped them in their really nice infinity pool, which none of them thanked me for, by the way. Nevertheless, this mouse is impossibly light. It’s like when you pick up a bird, or your friend picks up a bird—where the hell is all the weight? How's this a living thing with gummy stuff on the inside? Well, this mouse is not alive, although if it was it’d make a phenomenal friend. It has near lagless wireless communication and looks great with that TKL keyboard from earlier. Maybe next year Logitech will make the same mouse, but also alive and a good friend, because that's the only way this thing could be better. —C.S.

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gaming lifestyle
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Best Gaming Podcast
Into the Aether

Into the Aether, hosted by Stephen Hilger and Brendon Bigley, is the best video game podcast of 2021. And it’s also the only video game podcast that has allowed me to come on and yell about Wii Sports Resort. Those two facts are by no means connected! Really, though, ITA has had a big 2021. Look no further than its Twitter page in the past few weeks, where troves of listeners have posted Spotify 2021 wrap-ups proudly revealing Aether as their #1 podcast of the year. Stephen and Brendon, the self-described (not) low-key game historians, spent a big chunk of the year digging through the Game Boy Advance’s library, gathering enough cartridges to fill, I imagine, a bathtub. And the result, other than an expectedly charming mega-episode about 32-bit Nintendo history, was everyone I know buying themselves a modded Game Boy Advance (you should stop by RetroDodo.com for throwback handheld recommendations, by the way). It’s this commitment to game preservation and the friendlier side of gaming discourse that made ITA a main part of my 2021 listening line-up. —D.N.


Best Gaming Subscription
Xbox Game Pass

Xbox Game Pass isn’t just a great subscription service. It’s a portal to what I think gaming will look like for the foreseeable future—at least, until the simulation caves in on itself. We’re already mostly finished with physical copies of games, which is fine by me, because the fan in my PS5 is loud as hell, and I’m ready to upload myself to the cloud as soon as they let me know that all eight generations of Pokémon are up there (and the shinies, too, okay? If my soul is going to be digitized there better be a Shiny Charizard in it for me). Anywhom. Game Pass has been delivering hit after hit—from Forza 5 to Halo Infinite—on day one, straight to Game Pass holders, totally for free, as long as you're paying $15 a month. You can stream a lot of titles straight to your console, or even play them right on your phone (with peripherals like the Backbone One, also included on this list). Game Pass is so good that PlayStation has already taken note. Word on the street is that Sony’s PlayStation Plus is reportedly morphing into a Game Pass-style service itself. Believe me, friends, the future is streaming! —D.N.


arbys vodka
Courtesy

Best Gamer Feast
Arby’s Vodka

While Arby’s still hasn’t sponsored me, something that does keep me up every night, we in the gamersphere do not give up. Like Arby's commitment to fantastic service and piping hot beef, I am committed to my dream to become Cam Arby's Sherrill, a shill without the paycheck. So, Arby's released french fry vodka. While last year I gave Arby’s a well-deserved award for its commitment to gaming art and kids meal toys highlighting indie games, this year I give it an award for getting me so drunk that Cyberpunk became pseudo-playable—all in one package that tastes like its signature curly fries or new crinkle fries (and yes, they are great). The vodka should be bad, it's not, maybe not great for shots, but great in a Bloody Mary. Arby’s, I love you, gamers love you, you own my body and spirit, eat at Arby’s. —C.S.


Best Gaming Supplement
Starbucks Grande Pumpkin Spice Cold Brew with a shot of espresso

For better or worse, my propensity for downing extreme amounts of caffeine while gaming and/or going about my bland existence just to make things a little more exciting has been publicly documented. For those of you—mainly, my co-workers—who were concerned that I abused a product named GHOST Gamer to the point of experiencing heart palpitations and light sensitivity, eventually writing a story about it all that I now realize reads like a narrative manic episode—you may be relieved to know that I’ve looked in the mirror and scaled back. Slightly. Nowadays, when I get it in my head to stick out a tepid finger and touch the sun, I go to Starbucks. My favorite drink is a Grande Pumpkin Spice Cold Brew with a shot of espresso. Having people other than myself make Brady’s Special Juice makes me feel like I’m being at least somewhat responsible with my caffeine consumption. Someday, I may even gather the courage to dump my remaining scoops of GHOST Gamer down the drain. But not yet. —B.L.


Game We Miss the Most
Scene It?

scene it
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In this wide, wide world of remakes and remasters, I’ve inexplicably found myself thinking of one game from the olden days, back when I washed my clothes by hand and was at constant risk of dying from dysentery or typhoid fever: Scene It? If I may remind you of a time as distant as the early ’00s, Scene It? was a point-and-click DVD game where you’d watch a clip from a favorite movie and answer a couple trivia questions about it. Simple as that. Scene It? was the great uniter of the suburban household, a single disc becoming a portal to reliving endless Disney animated flicks, sports movies, your favorite cartoons—there was even a Twilight edition. Mattel, if you decide to revive Scene It?, we’ll host the game night. Maybe we’ll even air-fry some Totino’s pizza rolls. —B.L.


Best Streamer
Ludwig

This was a colossal year for streamers. Collabs were everywhere, and the content creativity was through the roof. In fact, some of the highest-budget and most ambitious content ever came out in 2021. But one streamer had a lightning-in-a-bottle sort of year, and that was friend of the internet and Twitch sweetheart gone rogue Ludwig. Ludwig streamed for a month straight, reprised a stellar Twitch game show with MoistCr1TiKaL called Hivemind, started his own game show called Mogul Money, and consistently collaborated to roll out hilarious and high-energy content across the board. Then, to top it off, he took off to YouTube a few weeks ago (then got suspended two days in for playing “Baby Shark”). Needless to say, it was an exciting year for Ludwig that raised the bar for all streamers. —C.S.


Best Content Creator
Did You Know Gaming?

Nearing it’s 10-year anniversary, having originally launched in May 2012, Did You Know Gaming? has been a staple of the online gaming community with its extremely well-written and well-produced fact videos about gaming topics both popular and niche. No joke, it’s where I get half of my random gaming knowledge from. The videos feature narrators from all sectors of gaming, with a spotlight on content creators, and are relaxed, informational, and incredibly dorky. The level of commitment this group has for the love of gaming is admirable, and their research skills are second to none. —C.S.


Best Collectible
Mega Man X 30th Anniversary Classic Cartridge from iam8bit

$100.00

$100.00

Listen guys, it's a re-released Super Nintendo cartridge, for one of the best Mega Man games ever made, painstakingly recreated with the box and other retro surprises. There’s even a glow-in-the-dark version, something every good collectable needs. iam8bit teamed up with Capcom and Jirard Khalil, better known as the Completionist, for this epic ode to the past that masterfully walks the line between nostalgia and polish. —C.S.


Best Toy
LEGO Super Mario 64

lego
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Nintendo x LEGO is the best thing to happen to me. I haven't gotten married, nor do I have kids, but I still don't think those experiences could beat it. Last year LEGO released the LEGO NES, which was amazing, but this year it outdid itself with an ode to Mario 64: a massive question block cube with landscapes of Peaches’ castle, Bob-omb Battlefield, and more. It’s just a whole lot of fun, which is what LEGO and Nintendo are all about. —C.S.


los angeles, california   june 30 chris pratt attends the premiere of amazon's "the tomorrow war" at banc of california stadium on june 30, 2021 in los angeles, california photo by rich furywireimage
Rich Fury//Getty Images

Best Movie Star
Chris Pratt

When I gave an unhealthy 435 words to the global event that was The Casting of the Not-Italian Chris Pratt as Mario in the upcoming animated Mario film, I wrote about a little kid named Billy. Billy eats his own boogers when mom is drinking red wine and crying to Aunt Martha about how Billy eats his own boogers when he thinks she isn’t looking. Billy also loves Mario more than any other video game character, because he thinks mustaches are funny. Billy, who Super Mario Bros. will be made for—as in, eight-year-old children—does not know who Chris Pratt is. He doesn’t care who voices Mario, as long as he sounds like Mario. You, a grown adult, shouldn’t either. I understand that my co-worker Dom has written an impassioned plea against this gruff male of partially Norwegian descent voicing a fictional Italian in overalls. As the antidote to his rage, I would like to prescribe approximately 100 listens of Mario’s cover of “Country Roads.”B.L.


Best Dave & Busters
The D&B in Oakville, Ontario

Ah, yes, yes, of course! The Dave & Buster’s in Oakville, Ontario. One of two Dave and Busterses that have been planted, watered, and grown on the strange and foreign planet we call Canada. It’s the one right next to a rather holy triumvirate of Italian dining options: Scaddabush Italian Kitchen & Bar, East Side Mario’s, and Boston Pizza, what will you choose? The Dave & Buster’s of which Maria B. once wrote, “That's right this place has a bar so if the gaming is going a little [too] hard or you need a lil something to keep up with the kiddos this is the spot,” yet Karen Y. alleged served a chicken sandwich that “was mediocre at best.” With all due respect, Karen, the chicken sandwich is 👌🏻🧐😎🎶. You want to know why? Because it’s a Dave & Buster’s, and its chicken sandwich is delicious, and somehow, miraculously, by the strength of both Dave and Buster, entirely the same in every single one of its 146 locations. But it’s especially delectable in Oakville, Ontario on a Friday night, when you decide to—fuck it!—have dinner at the Dave & Buster’s in Oakville, Ontario, because it’s too cold outside, you’ve had one too many Big D Teas, and you want nothing more than one more bright, shining, damn near heroic shot at Skee Ball. —B.L.

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