From our other sites
The story
The selection of “Poko a Pokémon” as the Grand Prize winner of the Japan Game Awards 2026 became a hot topic on 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (Geha) board. Many posters in the thread backed the win, saying things like “way too obvious a choice” and “of course — it’s got both the sales and the acclaim,” while others pushed back with comments like “anyone who actually knows games would pick Bananza” and “nothing tops Bananza.” Some also championed Death Stranding 2, and opinions split over what criteria should decide the award and how much domestic sales should factor in.
What people said
It's got overwhelming popularity and polish.
If you actually know games, it's Bananza, but
I guess it can't be helped since it's a fan vote.
I prefer Bananza too, but this one got way more buzz, so it can't be helped.
If Bananza's protagonist were a Pokémon, it would've won the Grand Prize.
But at the end of the day it's just a gorilla.
This is exactly why Japan's in decline.
Good thing it wasn't some baby-easy game like Wolverine that you could clear with your toes.
With Sony, for some reason they start handing out "Game of the Year" hype before the game's even released.
Marvel's Wolverine
Was that a prophetic dream? lol
That's about the same score as Wolverine.
I'm sensing masterpiece vibes (sarcasm).
Mecha Chameleon won the Movement Award.
Palworld won nothing.
It's the title that triggered the end of Kojima's contract,
so no matter how you flip it, it's not a masterpiece lol
It didn't sell, after all
Oh, let me say it again
Death Stranding 2… did not sell
That's the reason.
If it had actually won the Grand Prize, that would've been the most entertaining outcome for the Geha board.
Uh, Poko a Pokémon sold just fine though…?
It was hugely popular, you know?
Nobody but the Geha board is even making noise about Palworld.
Background and Points of Debate
The Japan Game Awards are presented by CESA during the Tokyo Game Show, and because the selection process combines expert judging with fan voting, results tend to reflect domestic sales figures and buzz. “Bananza,” which came up repeatedly in the thread as a comparison, drew praise for its polish, but reportedly fell short in domestic sales volume — a gap that fueled reactions like “if it were purely about quality, a different title would’ve won.” Death Stranding 2, which was also a hot topic around the same time, had some supporters too, but it reportedly struggled with domestic sales and ultimately didn’t take home an award. Much of the disagreement in the thread stems less from the outcome itself than from differing views on the “popularity contest” nature built into the fan-voting portion of the award.
※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, aka Geha) thread “Japan Game Awards 2026 Grand Prize Goes to Poko a Pokémon!!!!!“
Leave a Reply