It was just annouced today that The Game Awards will take place on December 3rd. I was curious to see what people thought Nintendo will do this year. As you may recall, Nintendo had a very large presence at last years show (Super Mario Maker, Codename STEAM, Koji Kondo performances, and of course, the Zelda Wii U gameplay footage). Do you guys think Nintendo will have a similarly large presence this year? They could show off new footage for Star Fox Zero, Pokken Tournament and maybe even unveil a new game (Pikmin 4?). I do recall at E3 Reggie saying that Nintendo was waiting for the "right time" to show off more Zelda Wii U footage. Are The Game Awards the "right time?" Unless Nintendo shows the footage in the Direct this year, it seems like The Game Awards will be their only opportunity to show off more Zelda footage.

Calling it. Tribute to Iwata.

That's a great prediction. Would be a great moment for something like that. A way for the whole industry, not just Nintendo, to pay tribute to him.

Yeah, if Zelda doesn't show up at VGA, then we'll definitely only see it again at E3. But I wouldn't get my hopes up too. Pls Nintendo, give me this birthday present (my bday is december 8, near the event). :P

Also Star Fox Zero, Federation Force, and a game people actually care about. It rhymes with last year's Mario Maker, S.T.E.A.M., Zelda combo.

It's something I've been mulling over for months but haven't felt confident enough to share the prediction. The radio silence from Nintendo is oppressive at this point. They never openly -- Directly -- discussed Iwata's passing, and in the spirit of the transparency he brought to the company I fully expect them to at some point. The idea of doing so in a Direct doesn't sit right with me, and I think if they planned on doing that they would have done it two months ago.

It's a heavy weight to place on Keighley, and it's a risky move to take such a serious tone during the show. But I think he would do it if Nintendo proposed something he liked. What form would it take, though? Someone speaking? A musical tribute?

It feels like a good time to show more Zelda, but I worry the deja-vu of "this game is definitely coming out in 20156" might leave a bad taste in peoples' mouths. I guess I'd rather see something else in the end.

It doesn't necessarily have to be Keighley who annouces the tribute. I remember last year Reggie did quite a bit of presenting, so he could easily be the one who presents the tribute. I could see them using Kondo for a musical tribute. It could work well. And while I agree that it would be a somber tone for an event such as The Game Awards, it's not unusual for award shows to have tributes for those who passed away during the past year.

On the other point about Zelda, I was actually thinking they could show off new footage while poking fun at themselves about the 2015 release declaration last year. It's something that could work if pulled off correctly.

I just meant that because it's Keighley's show, it's up to him to decide whether to do this and how to go about it. It would be a first for an event like this in the games industry. Bringing up other award shows raises an interesting point -- on the Oscars, for instance, they pay respects to every member of the industry who passes away during the previous year without singling anyone out in particular. This is different. It is the sort of thing that could take the place of last year's Sierra event, I suppose.

Also, last year's show was really good. I hope they keep the format and polish some of the weak aspects.

This is true. I mean sometimes they do single out people, but yeah it's mainly just listing all the people that died. Interestingly enough, another person whose death they could (should?) mention is Ralph Baer's. He actually died the day after last year's Game Awards. I know many people don't know who he was but he was considered the "Father of Video Games."

Anyway, yeah I think an Iwata tribute would be a good thing for the Game Awards, and I actually really hope they do it. Iwata was such a great man and a giant in the industry.