The Game Awards 2018: 7 Ups & 6 Downs

1. The Weird Anti-Vaping Propaganda

The Game Awards 2018 Vaping
The Game Awards

Scattered among the various commercials throughout the show were a seriess of anti-vaping "propaganda" infomercials which informed the viewer that those who vaped were four times more likely to take up smoking.

Roping well-meaning Twitch streamers into the mix alongside some embarrassingly pandering 8-bit-style visuals, it felt like an anti-smoking lobby somewhere paid top dollar to cram their agenda into the show.

Regardless of your own feelings on the matter, it felt incredibly insidious and weird for such commentary to appear in a video game awards show, of all things. Is this really the place for a series of condescending PSAs?

So, The Game Awards 2018 clearly had its issues, then, but it also showed sure signs of improvement over previous years. Here's everything Geoff Keighley and co. got right this time...

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Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.