The Oscars is an award ceremony celebrating recognized films in the American film industry for their merit and artistry. But for the first time ever in both film and gaming history, a video game is eligible for the critically acclaimed Academy Award (Oscar). The game is known as Everything, a relaxing and entertaining PS4 and PC game which allows you to control anything and everything in the world, won the Jury Prize in Animation at the 2017 Vienna Shorts Festival (an international short film festival in may held in Vienna), which in turn qualified it for the Oscars.
David O’Reilly, the creator of the game took to Twitter in his excitement to announce the news to the public, “It won the Jury Prize in Animation, which makes it eligible for the Animated Short Film Oscar,” O’Reilly stated. The Vienna Shorts Festival’s website states, “The Jury Prize Animation goes to a film which, beyond being entertaining, has a strong poetic and philosophical theme. It serves a highly educational purpose, including an important political statement, that encourages to let our egos dissolve and gain a new perspective on the world.” After reading this it may sound unusual that a game like Everything could win the Jury award let alone be qualified for an Oscar, but the game Everything actually does allow the player to control everything!
From the smallest atoms to the plant life, to the wildlife, to even the vastness of space, whoever plays the game could easily control every aspect of the game and make it suit the requirements of the Jury Award and give viewers a new perspective on the world. In terms of the rules for qualifying for an Oscar, the game is allowed to qualify for the award because of a special rule, which allows short films to qualify if they have won certain awards despite not being shown in theaters.
In addition to being able to control literally everything in the world, Everything is a unique game that can play itself, a special feature in the game makes the game cycle through a series of different objects and animals on it’s own as well as create and eradicate anything it pleases within the game, the player can also set which objects and animals he/she wants the game to cycle through. Which technically qualifies the game as an animated film when that mode is turned on. Everything is available on PS4 and PC for 1or $15 and is described as an “open ended interactive experience and reality simulation game.” For gamers who enjoy simulator games such as I Am Bread, The Sims series, Spore, and others, Everything may be a game you will enjoy. Who knows, maybe Everything will be nominated for an Oscar next! Happy Gaming!
Featured Image via Pixabay
