Despite trying hard to project a “family-friendly” image, Nintendo is no less of a greedy, aggressive, predatory, and money-grubbing corporation than the worst of the worst in the games industry. The company would, were it not for a legion of well-trained apologists, rightly be held up along with the likes of Electronic Arts, Tencent, Blizzard, and Ubisoft as a shining example of a gaming mega-corporation that is, for want of a better word… evil.
Nintendo, if you weren’t aware, has recently tried to patent in-game systems, which would prevent anyone else from using those mechanics in their games – or would mean those companies would have to pay a license or fee to Nintendo. This is tied to the Palworld situation that I talked about last year, as Nintendo is embroiled in a frivolous lawsuit against Palworld’s creators, Pocketpair. But I think it says a lot about how Nintendo behaves, how far the company has fallen, and why it’s past time for the current crop of increasingly elderly executives and game directors to be retired.
Palworld is causing a lot of bed-wetting among Nintendo executives…
Here’s the bottom line when it comes to patents: if other companies had treated Nintendo the way that Nintendo treats other companies, Nintendo would’ve gone bankrupt making playing cards in 1980. That’s not an exaggeration: literally none of the games Nintendo became known for would’ve been possible if other companies had taken out patents like the ones Nintendo is trying to use in the Palworld lawsuit. And where would Nintendo be today without video games? Just another failed Japanese toy company that didn’t make the cut.
If Universal and CBS, developers of the 1980 arcade game Space Panic, had patented the idea of the 2D platformer, Nintendo’s Donkey Kong wouldn’t have been able to exist. Nintendo would never have been able to develop Super Mario Kart – or any of its other racing games – if someone like Sega had gotten a patent for the concept of a racing video game after their successful Road Race arcade game in 1976. If Sony had patented the 3D platformer after 1995’s Jumping Flash, then Nintendo couldn’t have made Super Mario 64. Should I continue, or have I made my point?
Doesn’t this look familiar…
The entire history of video games is one of piecemeal innovation. A new creation comes along, gains traction – or doesn’t in some cases, but the concept still seems appealing – and then other companies take the idea in new directions. Nintendo has never actually made anything original. What they’ve done for decades – very successfully, to their credit – is build on other people’s creativity and other people’s ideas, taking concepts that other games have tried and honing them, often to near-perfection. If other companies had locked their efforts away, as Nintendo is attempting to do to Palworld and others, not only would the entire games industry be smaller, less creative, and just worse overall, but Nintendo itself as we know it today could never have come to exist.
There are some massively-popular games which went on to quickly spawn entire genres. I’m old enough to remember when first-person shooters were literally called “Doom clones,” but id Software, in 1993, didn’t try to patent the concept. If they had, there’d never have been GoldenEye, Metroid Prime, or literally any other FPS title. Games companies don’t exactly like sharing their ideas, but it’s been accepted as part of the games industry for decades. You can’t claim ownership of a broad concept, idea, or genre.
GoldenEye wouldn’t have been made if id Software had gotten a patent for first-person shooter mechanics.
There are some things that can and should be trademarked, copyrighted, or patented. I’d never try to argue, for instance, that anyone other than Nintendo should be allowed to create a 2D platformer featuring a red-hatted, overall-wearing, turtle-stomping plumber named Mario. That concept is a specific one, and it uses original characters, designs, creations, and storylines. But the basic mechanics of how video games work should be – and historically, have always been – open to everyone. Trying to claim ownership over a sub-genre or in-game mechanic simply should not be allowed – and we need to clamp down on this kind of misbehaviour now, lest it get out of hand.
There are many other games companies who’d surely love nothing more than to get a patent for something broad and vague, stifling competition or forcing their competitors to pay them. Imagine if Bethesda managed to get a patent for something like mana points in a video game. Or if Ubisoft got a patent for concealing the player character in tall grass. What about if Atari patented flying in a spaceship? After all, they pioneered that idea in video game form with 1979’s Asteroids. Would the video games industry be better off if every company could patent everything it could claim to have invented? Or would video games as a whole be smaller, less interesting and less innovative? I think we all know the answer.
Nintendo is using the legal system to try to shut down competition.
Pokémon is, itself, a great example of the evolution of video games. It didn’t spring into existence overnight, fully-formed and utterly unique. It built on existing battle games, turn-based games, card games, and role-playing games, which had been developed through the 1980s and early 1990s, and also drew inspiration from films, manga, and even collectables like baseball cards and capsule toys. Many role-playing games – especially JRPGs – use very similar in-game mechanics for things like combat and overworld exploration, and plenty of titles outside of the monster-battling sub-genre also use things like summonable allies, temporary companions, and friendly monsters. Why should any of that be patentable? How does Nintendo have the sheer nerve to say they invented any of it?
Because that’s what Nintendo’s patent claims: that they own, invented, and have the exclusive rights to the in-game mechanic of summoning an object or ally to engage in battle.
To be clear: this patent should never have been granted in the first place. Anyone with a cursory knowledge of video games could have easily found the flaws in this patent and thrown it out. But Nintendo having the cheek, the sheer brass neck, to ask for this patent… it’s absolutely disgusting.
Three senior Nintendo executives/producers during a recent Nintendo Direct broadcast.
Nintendo’s leadership needs a good clear-out. The people who’ve been there since the ’80s and ’90s are growing old, and in lieu of actually innovating and inventing, they’re desperately trying to use lawfare to drive away the competition. Terrified of losing their position – and perhaps recognising that the overpriced Switch 2 isn’t going to sell as well as its predecessor – they’re trying to use illegitimate and, frankly, dishonourable means of shutting down competition. When you can no longer compete on merit… trying to use legal loopholes and dodgy rulings to shut out the competition must seem tempting.
That’s what Nintendo is doing, at the end of the day. They’ve realised that Palworld is the canary in the coal mine: a shining example of a new company coming in, creating something better and more appealing, and hoovering up eager customers who’ve burned out on the stale, repetitive, and boring Pokémon series. And because the elderly senior developers and executives don’t know how to make a game like Palworld, the only thing they can think to do is try to get it shut down.
And that’s pretty fucking shameful.
Mario Kart World.
Nintendo’s recent output, in my opinion, hammers home why the senior people at the corporation feel a need to do this. Even the top-selling Nintendo games of the last generation – Super Mario Odyssey, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Tears of the Kingdom, Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – were sequels at best, derivative and repetitive at worst. The Switch 2, with its samey design, is the first Nintendo console in decades not to offer something new or innovative. And the company seems to be doubling-down on wringing as much money as possible out of its fans and players with increasingly unfriendly decisions around pricing. With limited room for growth, a lack of new ideas, and an elderly and outdated crop of senior developers and leaders, Nintendo is trying to shut down genuine competitors instead of learning, growing, and improving – the way video games companies have done for decades.
It’s embarrassing, quite frankly, that Nintendo felt the need to stoop so low, and that they have such a lack of confidence in their ability to compete fairly if the playing field were level.
But that’s Nintendo for you… and Nintendo is just awful.
All titles discussed above are the copyright of their respective developer, publisher, and/or studio. Some screenshots and promo art courtesy of IGDB. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Spoiler Warning: Beware of minor spoilers for some of the titles below.
Another year has gone by in the blink of an eye, it seems! It feels like just a couple of days ago that I was writing about my favourite entertainment experiences of 2023… and then 2024 just sprinted past. With only a few hours left to go until 2025, it seems like the perfect moment to take stock of what was a fun year, entertainment-wise.
As always, a couple of important caveats. Firstly, I’m just one person, and I don’t have every hour of the day to dedicate to entertainment. There are several big titles from 2024 that seem to have entirely passed me by for one reason or another, even though I may have originally intended to watch or play them! As a result, they can’t be entered into consideration for an award.
Who will win this year’s top awards?
Secondly, all of this is the entirely subjective opinion of one individual critic. If I give a made-up award to a title you despise or disregard one of your favourites… that’s okay. There should be enough room for respectful disagreement – and while I’ll try to make the case for why I think a title is worthy of a coveted Trekking with Dennis award, I know not everyone will agree. That’s totally okay, and there’s no need to get upset about pretend trophies and imaginary statuettes!
These awards are divided into categories and sub-categories. Where possible, I’ve selected a runner-up and a winner (second and first place, if you prefer), but for some there’s just a winner and no second place. I’ll try to explain what I liked (or didn’t like) about all of them.
With all of that out of the way, let’s hand out the End-of-Year Awards for 2024!
Best Documentary
🏆Winner🏆 Michael Palin in Nigeria
I was a huge fan of Michael Palin’s travel documentaries when he worked for the BBC. Around the World in Eighty Days, Pole to Pole, Sahara, and my top pick – Himalaya – are among my favourite TV programmes… ever. Full-stop. So it’s a little embarrassing to admit that I thought the ex-Monty Python star had hung up his boots years ago. I was wrong, and Palin has continued to produce travelogues for Channel 5, visiting North Korea, Iraq, and in 2024, Nigeria.
Nigeria is one of the world’s fastest-growing countries, and as its influence in Africa and beyond continues to grow, it’s natural to take an interest! I knew very little about Nigeria beyond the basics before Michael Palin took me on a whirlwind tour of the country, and as usual, his documentary was informative, creative, humorous, and exceptionally well-presented. Despite being 81 years old, Palin hasn’t lost a step and remains a wonderful and often funny guide to different parts of the world.
Best Web Series
🥈Runner-Up🥈 Oceanliner Designs
Oceanliner Designs is a brilliant and informative YouTube series all about ships and shipping. The RMS Titanic often features on the channel, but so do other, lesser-known ships and shipwrecks. As a fan of history, machinery, and ships, Oceanliner Designs is right up my alley! But even if you only have a passing interest in all things nautical, I still think the channel is worth checking out.
Mike, the presenter, has a gentle way of speaking, and scripts his videos incredibly well. Following the narrative of a doomed ship from the moment it left port – or even earlier, sometimes – is riveting and often harrowing stuff, but the tone of the videos keeps things grounded. I’ve learned a lot about ships and shipwrecks thanks to this channel – and I even discovered the wonderful Project 401 interactive Titanic experience via Oceanliner Designs.
🏆Winner🏆 Adventures in Aardia (Roll for Sandwich)
This is the first time I’ve picked a TikTok series for my Best Web Series award, which I think also reflects the growth of that platform over the past few years… as well as how much more time I’ve been spending with it! Roll for Sandwich is a whimsical yet simple concept: each component of a sandwich is determined by a roll of the dice in a Dungeons and Dragons-inspired way. It’s a really creative idea, and one that’s been so much fun that it’s spawned its own little sub-genre of foodie shows on TikTok: I’ve seen people making their own versions for barbeque food, hot chocolate, and even breakfast cereal.
Across 2024, I don’t think I’ve missed an episode of Roll for Sandwich. The short episodes are a ton of fun, even when the dice lead to some truly unfortunate or unpleasant combinations of ingredients! The addition of cantrips and spells for things like toasting the bread or swapping out an ingredient has been fun, too, and continues the Dungeons and Dragons theme. An all-around brilliant idea – and one that I’m so pleased has taken off!
Funniest Election Result
🏆Winner🏆 Liz Truss loses her seat
Depending on your political persuasion, you might not think it’s been a great year for election results. And I get that – believe me! But one result in particular was thoroughly deserved as well as being incredibly funny and cathartic. Disastrous former Prime Minister Liz Truss lost her seat in Parliament in the early hours of the 5th of July… and it was a truly delicious thing to watch.
Usually I don’t take much delight in the misery of a real human being… but after the damage Truss’ brief premiership inflicted on the UK and our economy, seeing her kicked out by her own party and her own constituents was schadenfreude of the best possible kind. I don’t agree with the talking heads and political journalists who say that this was a “Portillo moment,” either. Michael Portillo lost his seat in 1997 because he was a Conservative; Liz Truss lost her seat because she was Liz Truss. And I am so very glad that I stayed up all night watching the results – it was worth it for this moment alone.
Best Christmas Film
🏆Winner🏆 That Christmas
It’s been a few years since a brand-new Christmas film won me over – but That Christmas really was fantastic. Writer Richard Curtis weaved together a set of connected stories in a way that reminded me of his earlier film, Love Actually, and there was Christmas magic galore in the small English town of Wellington-on-Sea.
The holidays are coming to an end now, but if you missed That Christmas in 2024, make sure it’s on your watch list for next year! I really don’t think you’ll regret it. Oh, and is that the first time you’ve seen someone mention Christmas 2025?
Best Animated Film
🏆Winner🏆 Spellbound
At the start of 2024, I really thought that Disney’s Wish would swoop in and take this award. And while I didn’t hate or even particularly dislike Wish, I didn’t feel it was anywhere near as good as Spellbound – from Netflix and Skydance Animation. The film was creative, funny, and clever, and had an interesting premise that I’m sure will have kept younger viewers hooked. Add in a couple of solid songs and you’ve got a film that can absolutely go toe-to-toe with Disney.
Rachel Zegler excels in Spellbound’s lead role, and the film is really sweet and touching in places, as well as having a creative main story. Some great animation work brings all of the characters to life, making Spellbound a must-watch for kids and adults alike.
Worst Film
🏆“Winner”🏆 Rebel Moon (Parts One and Two)
Zack Snyder, you’ve done it again! For the second time, a film directed by Zack Snyder takes this award. After the boring slog that was his cut of Justice League a few years ago, Snyder’s Rebel Moon takes the “award” for worst film of 2024. Rebel Moon – which was released in two parts and was supposed to be the beginning of a Star Wars-inspired sci-fi universe – was derivative, poorly-written, bland, and ultimately forgettable.
I actually had to go back to Rebel Moon just to remind myself of some of the names of characters and factions – even though I’d only seen it a few months ago. Nothing about Rebel Moon feels memorable, interesting, or worth revisiting, and while I commend Zack Snyder, Netflix, and the other studios and investors that bankrolled the project for stepping out of the shadow of existing sci-fi franchises to try and create something new… this wasn’t the way to do it.
Best Film
🥈Runner-Up🥈 Twisters
I wasn’t at all convinced that the 1996 classic disaster film Twister needed a semi-sequel. And to be fair, Twisters is less a sequel and more a cynical attempt to cash in on a familiar name! But you know what? I enjoy a good disaster film, and taken on its own merit, there’s nothing wrong with Twisters at all. It kept me entertained for a couple of hours while I munched on some popcorn – and that’s basically all I needed it to do.
Twisters is never gonna be anyone’s idea of high art, but that’s okay. Sometimes we all need to switch off for a couple of hours and watch some action, some adventure, and some unfolding disasters!
🏆Winner🏆 Civil War
I thought Civil War was a very creative film. Going into it, based on the trailers, I was expecting a deeply political film… but it really wasn’t. Instead, it was more of a thoughtful examination of how people might react under challenging circumstances; a road trip movie with individual characters at its heart. The titular civil war was really the background for this story to play out in front of.
There were some well-composed scenes and sequences, creative use of sound and silence, and some pretty brutal depictions of conflict and death. With the story being told from the perspective of unarmed journalists, there was tension and a sense of danger all the way through – and some of the deaths were truly harrowing to watch. All in all, a very clever and thought-provoking picture that I’m happy to say was my favourite of 2024.
TV Series: Honourable Mention
🏆Winner🏆 Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5
In 2025, I simply must get caught up with Lower Decks. But I couldn’t let the show’s final season pass unnoticed in my year-end awards; it’s been a great run, and I’m sad to see Lower Decks being wound down. The show’s light-heartedness, episodic nature, and fun characters have been fine additions to the Star Trek franchise, and I hope its cancellation won’t be Star Trek’s last adventure in the animated realm.
After I kind of burned out on Star Trek back in 2023, I’m still slowly working my way back. I watched Discovery’s fifth and final season this year, and I’ve been working through the episodes of Strange New Worlds that I missed, too. I’ll get around to Lower Decks sooner or later – but until then, I wanted to acknowledge the show and what it’s done for Star Trek.
Most Disappointing TV Series
🏆“Winner”🏆 Star Trek: Discovery Season 5
From one Star Trek project to another… and while I don’t like to pick on the Star Trek franchise too much, I’m afraid I have to say that Discovery’s fifth season was the most disappointing thing I watched in 2024. If you read my review earlier in the year you’ll know why, but the long and short of it is that the season was incredibly repetitive. Its main plot was another re-use of “the whole galaxy is in danger and only Michael Burnham, the Chosen One, can save it!!!” And major side-stories involved Burnham’s rocky relationship with Book, a pair of villains with a connection to a main character, and so on.
After four seasons that had used and re-used those same story outlines, I felt hopeful that Season 5 might try something different. Trailers and marketing material hinted at a kind of adventure quest, which could’ve seen Burnham and the crew setting off on a very different kind of mission. But unfortunately Discovery’s writers and producers lacked the boldness and/or the skill to do something genuinely different with the show and its characters. With that being the case, I stand by what I said in my review: it was the right time for Discovery to end.
Best TV Series
🥈Runner-Up🥈 The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2
The Rings of Power is – a little too slowly for some folks, perhaps – setting the stage for an engaging fantasy series. I thought that Season 2 was basically more of the same, so fans of Season 1 will have been pleased… but there was perhaps less on offer for people who didn’t feel Season 1 lived up to their expectations. I particularly enjoyed the arcs of Adar and Celebrimbor this time around, but the show’s connected storylines all had fun and interesting moments.
Durin and the dwarves continue to be a ton of fun – though I admit, I missed the bromance between Durin and Elrond this season. It can be hard to properly judge the middle seasons of a fully-serialised TV show; how we feel about what happened this time may ultimately change depending on how storylines and characters land in the future. But for now, suffice to say that The Rings of Power – with its big budget, intertwined storylines, and high fantasy setting – was one of the highlights of the year.
🏆Winner🏆 3 Body Problem Season 1
Netflix’s adaptation of a Chinese novel series, helmed by David Benioff and DB Weiss, is my pick for the best TV show of the year. 3 Body Problem was fantastic; grown-up science-fiction of the very best kind. There’s so much going on here, with a story about unseen aliens, humanity’s first contact with extraterrestrials, a cultish plot to cover it all up, and finally a warlike response from humanity to the threat posed by the San-Ti.
I was on the edge of my seat – not just because of the show itself, but because it seemed for a while as if Netflix wasn’t going to greenlight a continuation. We have belatedly learned that two more seasons are coming – and I genuinely cannot wait! There were moments of mystery, history, action, and adventure – so if you somehow missed 3 Body Problem, go back and check it out. I really don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Video Game: Honourable Mention
🏆Winner🏆 EA Sports PGA Tour
PGA Tour wasn’t released this year (it came out in 2023) but it’s my most-played game of the year by quite a long way. I would be remiss to let the year end without acknowledging that, because I’ve really had a lot of relaxing fun playing this unexpectedly enjoyable title. PGA Tour took me back to playing the likes of Actua Golf 2 in the late 1990s, bringing back nostalgic memories while also serving up a detailed and graphically impressive golf experience.
I don’t give a shit about golf in real life – and if you asked me who the current world champion is or even what the difference is between a wood and an iron, I wouldn’t know. There’s a lot of your typical EA monetisation nonsense in PGA Tour – and that’s offputting, especially as I only want to play in single-player mode. But despite all of that, I had a lot of fun on the golf course in 2024.
Worst Visual Downgrade
🏆“Winner”🏆 South Park: Snow Day
The creators of South Park had already perfected the video game formula: The Stick of Truth and its sequel, The Fractured But Whole, were fantastic. Those two games genuinely felt like playing through an extended episode of the TV show – and the visual style was just perfect. Both games nailed the look, sound, and feel of South Park.
So why – why?! – was this absolute abomination created? There was a way to make a multiplayer South Park game using the same engine or at least the same visual style as the previous titles, but this boring battle royale/multiplayer game looks at least two generations out of date and just… shit. If The Stick of Truth had never existed, I still don’t think Snow Day would’ve been anyone’s pick for game of the year. But having seen what a proper South Park game could look like… the disappointment was off the charts.
The “Much-Needed Kick Up The Backside” Award
🏆Winner🏆 Palworld
After years of ripping off its players, stagnating, and failing to improve in any meaningful way, the Pokémon series encountered something brand-new in 2024: a genuine, bona-fide competitor. And Palworld has clearly shaken the cowardly executives at Nintendo to their core, as the little bed-wetters have resorted to trying to sue the game and its developer out of existence. That is shameful.
Palworld took the Pokémon formula and, by all accounts, improved on it in many different ways, creating a game that even die-hard Poké-fans admit is just plain fun. After years of having the monster-battling sub-genre to itself, Nintendo has stagnated and now doesn’t know how to respond. Palworld was the kick up the backside that Pokémon needed – and a solid game in its own right.
Most Overpriced Port
🏆“Winner”🏆 Red Dead Redemption PC Version
Rockstar… does your shameless greed know no bounds? A basic port of a fourteen-year-old game with no graphical upgrades or gameplay improvements should not be on sale for £40. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that Red Dead Redemption is finally and belatedly available for PC players, and I’d love to give it a try one day. But £40 is way too high a price for a bog-standard port. There are brand-new games on the market for less than that; this version of Red Dead Redemption isn’t worth it.
For a company that started out by making PC games, Rockstar has a weirdly antagonistic relationship with PC gaming nowadays. We already know that Grand Theft Auto VI isn’t going to get a simultaneous PC release – because Rockstar, despite the billions of dollars coming in from Grand Theft Auto V’s online mode, has cheaped out on development. Red Dead Redemption II was also late with its PC release. But I really can’t understand this move – pricing Red Dead Redemption at, say, £15-20 would’ve been fair and would’ve generated some positive buzz around the port. Every review I’ve seen of the port has talked about its price in a negative light, and there was just no need for it. It’s greed, plain and simple.
Best Strategy Game
🥈Runner-Up🥈 War Hospital
A big caveat here: War Hospital launched back in January with some noticeable bugs and issues. However, there have been updates since then that have improved the experience, and it’s now in a state where I feel it’s earned its award. War Hospital has a unique premise – running a hospital during the First World War, managing resources, and caring for patients. Think Theme Hospital, but grittier and more depressing!
I felt that War Hospital had a genuinely creative idea at its heart, and that’s what drew me to the title. The gameplay was solid, making good on the original premise. I’d love to see the game expanded upon somehow – or perhaps a sequel created that allows for a bit more freedom, as I found War Hospital to be a little more linear than I’d expected. Regardless, it was an interesting experience – and something a little different in the strategy/tycoon genre.
🏆Winner🏆 Manor Lords
Manor Lords reminds me of one of my favourite city-builders: Banished. But the game goes far beyond what Banished had to offer, with more buildings, unit types, professions, and a much more in-depth and complex management system. It’s a game that I want to spend more time with in 2025, as I feel I’ve only just scratched the surface.
Being able to walk around the town I’d built in third-person was really a lot of fun. It added so much to the experience to be able to jump in and roam the streets (alright, mud tracks), meeting the villagers who call the place home. There’s more to come from Manor Lords, as the game is still technically in “early access,” so watch this space. I expect to see improvements and new features in 2025 and beyond.
Best Cozy Game
🏆Winner🏆 Tiny Glade
I thought I was mastering Tiny Glade – a cute little “diorama-builder.” But that was before I hopped online and saw the incredible creations that other players have made! They put my poxy little huts and towers to shame! But that’s okay… I had a blast playing Tiny Glade this year and putting my artistic hat on.
Tiny Glade is all about crafting a scene. Using some pretty simple tools, it’s easy to add everything from trees to ponds, but buildings are the real stars of the show. I love the idea of creating a cozy cottage in the middle of a forest – or an intimidating tower overlooking a bridge. There’s a lot of fun to be had here, but it’s the kind of gentle fun that doesn’t require a lot of fast button-mashing!
Game of the Year
🥈Runner-Up🥈 The Plucky Squire
The Plucky Squire wasn’t on my radar at all in 2024, but it came out of nowhere to genuinely impress me. Developers All Possible Futures crammed so many different and creative gameplay ideas into this one single title that it’s hard to know where to begin! There’s also a cute story at the game’s core, pushing you forward.
The transition from 2D to 3D gameplay works so well in The Plucky Squire, and feels a cut above the way it worked in Super Mario Odyssey. The game is fundamentally a platformer, but it has so much else going on across a relatively short eight- or nine-hour runtime. If you missed The Plucky Squire – as I very nearly did – please give it a look. I really don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
🏆Winner🏆 Little Kitty, Big City
Little Kitty, Big City is absolutely adorable. An adventure game in which you get to play as a cute black cat feels like something tailor-made for me, and I was really excited to jump in. What I found was nothing short of beautiful – a game with a fantastically old-school art style, but one that genuinely made me feel like I was a cat. The scale of the world, the verticality of some of the buildings, and the jumping and pouncing animations… it was all pitch-perfect.
There are even hats to collect to dress up your adorable kitty cat – and plenty of other animals and critters to meet on your journey back home. This really was an incredibly sweet and cute game, the most enjoyable I’ve played all year. So, little kitty, come and collect your well-deserved award! Or, y’know… push it off the counter onto the floor.
So That’s It For 2024!
We’ve handed out this year’s imaginary statuettes! Photo Credit: Getty/BBC News
Did any of your favourites win a Trekking with Dennis award? Or did I surprise you with my choices this year? In any case, I hope it’s been a bit of fun to stroll through 2024 with me, picking out some of my favourites – and a couple of less-favourite entertainment experiences, too!
There’s more to come in 2025, and the website isn’t going anywhere. In the next few days, I’ll take a look ahead to some of the films, TV shows, and video games that I’m most looking forward to in the new year – and I hope you’ll join me for that. But before that, we’ve got New Year’s Eve to prepare for!
The fireworks display in London on Millennium Eve.
Whatever your plans are for tonight, I hope you have a wonderful time ringing in the new year. 2025 will be the beginning of the second half of the 2020s, if you can believe that! The halfway point of the decade seems to have come around very quickly – and 2024 also seems to have raced past.
Here’s hoping that 2025 will be a safe, healthy, and enjoyable year for us all! I hope you have fun tonight – and I hope my silly little End-of-Year Awards were interesting and/or entertaining, too.
See you next year!
All titles listed above are the copyright of their respective studio, publisher, broadcaster, distributor, etc. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
I have very little interest in the new survival/monster game Palworld. I’ve never engaged with titles like Monster Hunter or Pokémon, so the game just wasn’t on my radar. But an issue has come up for Palworld that I think is an important one not only for the games industry, but for entertainment and media as a whole, and I felt compelled to add my two cents to the conversation.
If you haven’t heard, Palworld has been accused of “ripping off” or plagiarising the long-running Pokémon series. The game uses some familiar designs for its monsters, and although I haven’t bought it or played it for myself, I understand that some elements of its gameplay are similar, too, with players being able to “catch” monsters and use them in battles.
Sheep-like critters with machine guns in a promo screenshot for Palworld.
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company, who jointly own and develop the Pokémon series, have even commented on this, with the latter releasing a statement saying that they “intend to investigate” Palworld and “take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights.” I’ve linked to The Pokémon Company’s full statement at the end of this piece so you can read it in full if you’re interested.
Whether you like Palworld or not, the issue this raises is a genuinely interesting one – and it’s one that the games industry hasn’t really wrangled with for a long time, at least not in public. The basic question is this: can any company claim ownership of, and potentially patent, trademark, or copyright, an entire genre, style of game, or gameplay mechanic?
Do Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have a monopoly on designs and gameplay elements?
The answer should be obvious: no, of course not, don’t be stupid. The Pokémon Company and Nintendo can’t own the concept of a game with battling monsters any more than Rockstar could own the open-world sandbox crime genre, or PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds could own battle royale. The developers of PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds tried in vain to claim ownership of the battle royale genre, even going so far as to try to sue Epic Games, creators of Fortnite, over the perceived “copying.” That lawsuit went nowhere – and rightly so.
I’m old enough to remember when first-person shooters were literally called “Doom clones.” Doom popularised the first-person shooter in the early 1990s, and on the back of its success, dozens of other FPS titles were developed. But Doom’s creators didn’t lawyer up and try to prevent anyone else from making a first-person shooter at the time, nor did Rockstar go after the likes of the Saints Row series in the mid-2000s.
Doom (1993) popularised – but did not invent – the first-person shooter.
Going all the way back to the earliest video games, new titles have come along that used similar styles, designs, and gameplay elements. Some of these games have gone on to innovate, pioneering entire sub-genres and gameplay mechanics, and if they’d been shut down or prevented from existing by excessive copyright lawsuits or patents, gaming today would be in a much worse place. The history of gaming is one of piecemeal innovation, and of companies jumping on popular genres, innovating, and pushing boundaries.
There were first-person titles literally decades before Doom, with 1980’s Battlezone in particular being a noteworthy progenitor. And there were crime games and open-world titles years before Grand Theft Auto III came along. So in neither case can the developer claim to have wholly independently “invented” something, even if their title was the one that popularised it. That was the fundamental flaw in the PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds lawsuit.
PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds didn’t win its lawsuit against Epic Games.
Stepping away from gaming, we can look to cinema and even literature for other examples. No one would try to make the claim that only Tolkien should be allowed to write fantasy, or that fictional races like elves and orcs are somehow copyrightable. Nor would anyone be able to argue that the owners of 1927’s Metropolis should be able to trademark the entire sci-fi genre. That isn’t how art and media work or have ever worked.
Look at a film like Galaxy Quest, or a TV series like The Orville. Both lean heavily on the Star Trek franchise for inspiration (and parody), but Paramount wouldn’t have a leg to stand on if it tried to take their creators to court. And once again, that’s because Paramount doesn’t own the sci-fi genre, or even the “explorers on a faster-than-light spaceship seeking out new life” sub-genre of sci-fi. Anyone is allowed to tell their own stories – as long as they don’t use trademarked names or characters for profit.
The Orville pays homage to the Star Trek series in more ways than one.
If Palworld had its own Pikachu or Charizard, maybe Nintendo and The Pokémon Company would have an argument here. But from what I’ve seen, the game’s monsters all have unique names, and while they may look similar to critters from the Pokémon series… so what? You can’t claim ownership of any and all yellow-haired monsters in every video game. That’s the kind of claim that would be laughed out of court.
Maybe The Pokémon Company and Nintendo have been complacent, because there hasn’t really been a serious challenger to the Pokémon series before. Monster Hunter exists in a similar space, as do games in the Digimon series, but Pokémon has been a force unto itself for a long time. Perhaps the sudden arrival of Palworld struck a nerve, or perhaps Nintendo is worried because recent Pokémon titles haven’t been well-received.
I can see why Palworld appeals to fans of the Pokémon games.
But none of that actually matters. Palworld has as much right to exist as any of the 873 Pokémon games, and if its better than anything that The Pokémon Company has done in recent years… well, they’ll have to adapt and do better. They’ll have to make better games, actually finish working on them before releasing them, and maybe even look at some of the features included in Palworld that players have enjoyed. Pokémon has arguably been pretty stagnant for a while, at least from what I can see looking in from the outside, so a kick up the backside from a genuine competitor could be just what the series needs. Complacency breeds stagnation and ultimately decline, but competition can revitalise a flagging series.
Rather than seeing Palworld as a problem to be crushed, The Pokémon Company and Nintendo should view its entry into the marketplace as a window of opportunity. After years of having the monster-battling space all to themselves, there’s now the potential to look at how other developers might handle that kind of game – and even opportunities to learn and grow. But that would take the kind of critical thinking that Nintendo doesn’t always have a knack for!
The Pokémon series has been running for decades, so a challenge and shake-up couldn’t hurt.
Either way, Palworld is here to stay. I can’t imagine that the game will be pulled from sale or forced to be shut down because of a complaint from Nintendo and The Pokémon Company, because any threat of legal action would surely be doomed to failure – as it has been every other time it’s been tried by other publishers and developers. Even if we accept that Nintendo and The Pokémon Company originated the monster-battling sub-genre (which is very much up for debate, as Pokémon itself is a variation on the role-playing game genre), they don’t get to claim ownership of it exclusively. And even if Palworld uses similar designs, visual styles, and gameplay mechanics… none of those things are copyrightable. This argument will go nowhere.
I will concede that, from what I’ve seen, parts of Palworld do look similar to the Pokémon series. And from the point of view of a fan or player, I can absolutely understand wanting to leave it a negative review pointing that out, or even to boycott it and refuse to play it because of its perceived “ripping off” of the Pokémon series. That’s absolutely fine on an individual level – and I can definitely appreciate why some Pokémon fans might see things that way. But that’s very much a personal, individual decision – and one that has no bearing on any copyright law or trademark case!
For my money, Palworld is a title I’m happy to skip. It’s not my thing – just like Pokémon isn’t. But I found this argument to be interesting – particularly when The Pokémon Company itself weighed in. I doubt we’ll hear much more about this; if The Pokémon Company has decent lawyers, they’ll tell them pretty quickly that nothing in Palworld comes close to violating copyright laws. But hey, I’ve been wrong about these things before… and in a way, I’d quite like to see this issue litigated, especially if it ends up embarrassing Nintendo and The Pokémon Company and costing them a lot of money!
You can read the full press release from The Pokémon Company by clicking or tapping here. (Warning: Leads to an external website)
Palworld is out now for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X consoles. Palworld is the copyright of Pocket Pair. All other titles discussed above are the copyright of their respective publishers, developers, and/or distributors. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Trekking with Dennis 