The best games that dominated our conversations, social media, and shitposts throughout the year
The nominees for the GM GOTY Award 2021 for Best Meme Generator are the following:
- Far Cry 6
- Guilty Gear Strive
- Halo Infinite
- Psychonauts 2
- Resident Evil Village
Deliberations Summary
Unofficially named the Yakuza Award for Best Meme Generator (thanks to last year’s awards deliberations), the Best Meme Generator is all about celebrating the games that had spawned the dankest of memes and how much it has been widespread throughout the year.
It could be because of so many clips that appear in our YouTube recommendations, it could be because they actively appear on our social media timeline. It could be because of the content from the game itself being clipped. And it could be the derivative works that appear made by fans of various quality.
The memes.
The less-serious category of the GOTY Awards is full of examples of how gaming communities can shitpost, and how it can spread to other related communities.
Far Cry 6 deserves a shout due to how Ubisoft utilises the star power of Giancarlo Esposito to market the game. The ads are fine, but Mr. Esposito’s performance in delivering a menacing figure struck a chord strong enough to spawn memes. So strong that somehow his past role of being the chicken store owner got a suspicious twist.
The best part? The memes didn’t even come from Far Cry 6 itself, but rather they came from an ad.
Guilty Gear Strive has always had wild animations, but Jack-O’s interesting crouching animation has caught the attention of fellow 2D/3D anime girls, and the rapidly-growing Vtuber community. Too many head-down, booty-up fanart has been bestowed upon the world.
Halo Infinite being a meme is an interesting journey. Craig, the sad-looking, low-texture Brute the subject of many memes of, was the butt of the joke at expense of developers 343 Industries. What started as a mockery of what is possibly another meh Halo entry turned into a happy ending. The game came out really good, and the devs play along by embracing Craig- now ranked as high as Daniel Craig when you search for the name on Google.
Psychonauts 2 is weird. And it definitely had some weird easter eggs, including one in particular that involves a pregnancy ward. While it isn’t as viral as most on the list here, some clips from this Double Fine platformer highlights some really good comedy. Ask anyone who played Psychonauts 2 about pancakes.
But if 2021 is to be described as a video game meme, you just cannot answer it other than one clear winner. The one minor villain that has awakened many folks’ lustre for tall vampire ladies. Or maybe just tall ladies. The impact is too strong. Even now we can still see it whenever we mention Capcom’s latest survival horror game. Lady Dimetriscu.
Deliberation length (after edits): 22 minutes
Best Meme Generator Winner
Congratulations to Resident Evil Village for winning the 2021 GM GOTY Award for Best Meme Generator!
Stay tuned tomorrow when we reveal the winner for Best Game We Didn’t Play.
For the full list and full recording of the deliberations (as part of dia.log – The Gamer Matters Podcast), check the main page for the Gamer Malaya And Gamer Matters Game Of The Year Awards 2021 here.