Slashdot Mirror
Editorial: On the SpikeTV Video Game Awards
That said, I think that an awards show is a good idea for the industry. At the very least, having an awards show with some gravitas would be a great way to put a public stamp of approval on the hard work that development houses put into their games. Games and movies can both take years to make, with certain games having development cycles longer than the lifespan of the average household pet. That kind of commitment by the artists, developers, designers, and producers should be rewarded in some way. If a game is good, I'm sure the big fat checks they get are plenty of reward. There's still something at work in an awards show, though. I bet if you asked a big name actor who's has been in a financially successful film and also won an award which he remembered more you're going to get "the awards ceremony" as an answer every time.
If an awards show in general is a good idea, I believe the debacle that SpikeTV broadcast last night was actually counter-productive for the gaming industry. As far as I could tell, the show had little to do with games, and everything to do with advertising. "Most Addictive Game Fueled by Mountain Dew"? Come on! If the Oscars had categories like "Best Comedy driven by Ford" or "Best Female in a Leading Role with makeup by Revlon" would you take them seriously? The night was a never-ending cascade of scantily clad women, rap, "extreme" stuff, rap, people who had nothing to do with games, and rap.
It's very interesting to me that, at least in my time zone, just after the awards show ended an episode of X-Play that I really wanted to see came on. Aside from the fact that the X-Play folks are (refreshingly) actual gamers, this particular episode had a piece with Morgan Webb covering the Child's Play charity auction from last week. Seeing Gabe and Tycho in tuxedos was excellent in and of itself. Above and beyond that, the disparity between the crass tenor of the awards show and the tone of the charity auction was striking. From what little I saw of the auction, it didn't seem somber at all. Jokes were cracked and everyone seemed to be having a good time. The difference is that the audience and organizers were there to celebrate games and children in a respectful manner.
And that, for me, is the biggest complaint I have about the awards last night. The show showed absolutely no respect to the games themselves. From the Video Game Ombudsman's commentary: "A selection of graphics adjectives used on the show - "slammin'," "great," "amazing," "hot visually," "so sick." That kind of shallow analysis is why games aren't art in the minds of a lot of people. Katamari Damacy is a very worthwhile game, but graphics and the "slammin-ness" of the game have nothing to do with that. Katamari is a good game because of a great (and simple) design, a development team that purposely looked for a unique style of gameplay, and a quirky and original soundtrack. I want an awards show that actually says things like that.
It could be great, too! The Oscars have a board that votes on the movies, and the Academy members are made of folks from the movie industry. I say the same style would be a useful format for games with some slight changes. The Oscars send around DVDs of all the nominee films to the Academy. Forcing a large group of people to play the number of games that would be required would be just cruel. That would mean hundreds of hours of gameplay just to be qualified to vote. It would be a much better idea to split up the field into bodies of relevant people. Have thirty or so folks involved in the RTS genre, say, from developers to producers to fan site owners review a set of five or six games and then vote accordingly. Have a Media Choice Award where game review organs like Gamespot, Game Informer, and X-Play, who have presumably played most of the field, can have their say. Have voting for the Game of the Year award be an industry-wide event, with everyone from an EA developer to a Sony Online Customer Service Rep to an IGDA member having a chance to say their piece. Voting via website is fine if you're taking a Slashdot poll -- making a representative, evaluative statement about a field of entertainment for an entire year should be slightly more involved.
I have enough problems in my day without having to explain to my family why a show honoring the entertainment I love is populated mostly by underdressed women in angel costumes. Once a year, wouldn't it be nice to put the scruffy, anti-social gamer stereotype behind us? To sit down and watch some very intelligent people in tuxedos and gowns get their due for providing us so much entertainment? Seriously, wouldn't it be great to see John Carmack present an award? Or get to listen to a Wil Wright acceptance speech? A gaming awards show taken seriously would be a sight to see. Even if that never happens, please -- enough with the Spike-style awards shows.
Who is this guy, Jon Katz under a false name?
Man is a slave because freedom is difficult, whereas slavery is easy.
i would have never guess another channel would do something like this other than G4 "lack of" TECHTV.
Force of Will = Glue 'nuff said.
Anyone got a .torrent for the xplay episode with the charity auction?
In Soviet russia, only old Koreans profit from pictures of Natalie Portman stored on Beowulf Clusters.
So wait, how many awards did River Raid win?
Can we get this "Editorial" prefix attached to all of Michael's stories since he always inserts his opinion into every article summary? I have nothing wrong with opinions, it is just I would appreciate some journalistic integrity here..
Boring things that 99.9% of people don't want to read?
Yeah, you've got an opinion. Guess what, you're not special.
TV and movies will always have a far, far greater audience.
Mixing Snoopdog with videogames is simply sad and a disgrace to videogames.
... hollywood thinks gamers are the frat-boy, rap loving, dew drinking jocks that play the following games: Tony Hawk, Madden, and GTA.
Of course, this is completely wrong in most ways and its not a surprise that any 'real' gamer thinks the award cermony was trash.
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
This attitude will change when the media stops portraying gamers the same way they portray internet child predators -- weird, pasty white guys with no lives who cause trouble, e.g. Columbine. Games are a scapegoat for the media, why give them any credit?
24 beers in a case, 24 hours in a day. Coincidence? I think not!
While I didn't bother wasting my time on this show, I can only wonder why the producers (and everyone else involved) did. However I have to disagree with one part of this editorial.
"And that, for me, is the biggest complaint I have about the awards last night. The show showed absolutely no respect to the games themselves."
These are video games that people play for fun. It's not a symphany orchestra, it's not a blockbuster movie. While I can see how this show may have demeaned, in many ways, the hard work of the developers, but these aren't productions worthy of prestigous critical acclaim.
Just my $0.02.
There's a Mercedes gap too. I want one and can't afford one, but it's not government's job to do anything about it.
Seriously, 'slammin article with some wicked good points.
DAMN YOU OCTODOG! DAMN YOU TO HELL!
I know it not. It does not sound like something of which my life suffers greatly for the lack.
the analogy to the Oscars, look how many absolute crap movies get nominated and win Oscars every year. The real problem is that we have turned gaming in to such a big business, which explains why so many crap games get released every Tuesday. Maybe there is a paralell between Hollywood and the games industry, but not the one you want to draw...
These are video games.... you really think that this should be as serious as the Oscars. And by the way, exactly what is wrong with scantily clad females?
...or did it seem like every other nominee was an EA game? I swear, EA had at least two games in almost every category, and the ones it was in, it tended to win.
I found it annoying, like an even worse interpretation of an awards show than MTV's typical fare.
I wouldn't give SpikeTV Video Game Awards much creedance. It's like taking Blockbuster Awards too seriously. The audience for SpikeTV is hardly academically minded, so the show caters to its audience. No surprise there. TV is a vast wasteland anyway.
Coming up next... ...an editorial on what's wrong with the MTV Classical Music Awards Show.
this review. It seemed like you thought the VGA's was something new.
I didn't get to see the aware show itself, but I was fortunate enough to see previews of it on commericals, and boy can I say I'm glad I didn't see it. From what I saw, it looked more like an ad campaign then anything else.
Beat the computer, program your life.
Name two developers that wrote/designed/coded the game you really like... can't think of any, but most people can rattle off B-actor/actress names. Our society is very much about visual appeal and instant gratification, the people behind the schenes are often forgotten and ignored.
Remember, Spike is the first network for men, NOT the first network for nerds. I feel that Spike is trying to make the awards for those average Joes who like to play GTA and such, and don't have the time for in depth analysis of certain points of games. We're only part of the market guys, we shouldn't be selfish and count out the rest of the world. What may be a train wreck for us, may be a good time for others.
Those poor bastards, they have us surrounded. Now we can fire at them in all directions!
I think the problem here was that you were hoping for an Oscars-type awards show, when the previews clearly indicated it would be more on the level of Grammies/People's Choice. I like the idea of a games award show, too, but realistically, anything the televise (especially on the so-called "television for men" channel) is going to go after the teeny-boppers and dolts. They have money, and it's easy to entertain and please them.
Live free or die
Probably the worst awards show ever. What was up with all the celebrities accepting the awards for the developers? Can't there be a decent award show without hollywood getting their dirty hands in it?
Last I checked, videogaming was a $12 billion industry. I don't think we really _need_ an award show to "help bolster the cause".
I'd prefer to get my reviews and awards from review sites and personal testimonials rather than some thug mumbling incoherent words while "fly bitches" gyrate their asses across a stage. I just play games, thanks. If I want that crap I can watch MTV.
"Apparently so, but suppose you throw a coin enough times. Suppose one day, it lands on its edge."
http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm? id=1343&wit_id=3910
2. What's the problem with rap? Video games feature prominently in the mainstream african american community, while in the white community they are still by and large considered "childish" or "geeky". Know your audience my friend, that's what it is all about. You do know that Snoop is putting out a GTA type game right?
Sheesh, geeks are so out of touch sometimes.
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=132833&cid=110 95265
Rob
Nobody would watch it. It would be the like the Techinical Oscars. Games lack the celebrities talking heads the majority of people fawn over. In essence, such a show would be handing out awards to companies, and companies as a whole aren't pretty to look at, nor would be good things to fantasize about being.
games will never be seen as equals to movies or television if they and the culture that surrounds them are represented the way they were last night.
I agree completely, I saw it on the channel bar and eagerly switched over expecting some real information, reviews, demos etc. I watched for about 5 seconds before I went back to what I was watching before. What I saw was so rediculous that I specifically avoided that channel for the rest of the night so as not to incur any more brain damage.
I am one 29 year old gamer of many in their 20s 30s and 40s who would request a bit more maturity and relevance.
Targetting specific demographics just alienates everyone else. Note to the producers: Next time try focusing on the games.
The government has a defect: it's potentially democratic. Corporations have no defect: they're pure tyrannies. -Chomsky
Noone in the world takes the "spike video game awards" seriously.
I saw no boxes on the shelves at Best Buy proudly proclaiming "Winner of 18 spike video game awards".
They have nothing to do with the industry. They're like the Blockbuster awards or the results of the Nickelodeon Kids election.
You're frankly a moron for wasting the time watching, let alone writing about it.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
I flipped by the show a couple of times and it truly looked like a big embarassment. I'd expect better from the channel that produces "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge". Actually, MXC is pretty funny. And my wife loves it, which is a complete surprise.
You just need to drop it like it's hot!
...is lined with award shows.
This is the lamest thing to make it to the main page in quite a few minutes. And that is saying something.
When something more complex than Pokemon runs the Pokemon marketing campaign:
Video games / Toys / Movies / Cartoons / Cereal/ Toilet Paper / Flamethrower
I currently have a badass MMOG FPS/RPG/RTS based on Transformers I'm trying to pitch to Hasbro, but their execs live in fortresses of solitude. The key to having a cultural phenomena isn't just sticking with one medium, but tagging the whole spectrum, and doing it well so you're not only selling a product, you're hyping your other products.
God spoke to me.
In South Korea, video games are seen as an acceptable form of activity such as going to the movies, or hanging out with friends. Because of this, video games are much more ingrained in their culture, and you will find TV channels & televised tournaments for Starcraft and etc. You will often find a large group of friends playing together in one video game. It is seen a social activity where people meet at a central location and play games. In the US, there is a stigmata attached to playing video games. It is seen as something that either juveniles do, or something that people will 'no life' do. It is not seen as a very social thing where you and five of your friends head to some place to play games. Though that is slowly changing, games are simply not deep enough rooted as a form of entertainment for this attitude to take hold.
I didn't catch the show, but from the previews leading up to, I could tell that it would be nothing near what it could be. I think the stigmata the gaming industry has will take a long time to shirk. Remember current developers are gen-Xers anyway. One of the reasons the gaming industry is so scrutinized is because of the reasons taughted in the article, the image thats portrayed of the average gamer. I don't really give a flamin fuck what game was most fueled by Mountain Dew. What the hell did they contribute anyway? Other than some cash to put on the event to get their spot. I think whomever put this event on, had the intent not to present the games and hardwork done in their proper context, but moreso to appeal to a genre of consumer.
Quite frankly any awards show bores the hell out of me, but I would like to see the industry get the credit it deserves in some form other than a fat check or higher market share.
I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
Given that this was on SpikeTV, this editorial isn't really necessary, is it? [Does anyone actually watch that channel on a regular basis?]
And that, for me, is the biggest complaint I have about the awards last night. The show showed absolutely no respect to the games themselves.
Your biggest complaint was that they were having fun, and trying to be entertaining rather than providing you some sort of affirmation for basing your whole lifestyle around playing everquest?
Most people, even those who play them a lot, don't take video games "seriously". What are people supposed to cry and shout lame political cliches like the Oscars?
This zonk guy is a total douche.
It's not just that one show. Spike TV changed format about a year ago to male-oriented programming from its roots as The Nashville Network (TNN). TNN originally showed some country music-oriented programming, but became more mainstream in its latter years as it began to compete with TBS and other national entertainment channels.
Apparently someone at Viacom (owners) got a bee in their ass that the Lifetime Oh-My-God-Judith-Light-Is-On-AGAIN Network and the Oxygen (deprivation) women's oriented networks needed some competition. I think, however, that like some women claim about us men, that the Viacom men were caught programming with the wrong head.
Spike TV is a travesty of programming for men with moronic tastes, and I mean STOOOPID. They could not take the tack that the Fine Living Channel took, or even pair up with known good magazine formats and features such as that found in "Mens Health", "Esquire", "GQ" or even "Playboy" magazines, opting instead to rot our brains with tripe that makes "Maxim" and "Stuff" magazines seem like professional and academic thesis journals.
WTF were they thinking? The only thing good on Spike are spoadic episodes of "Star Trek-TNG", but you have to dodge commercials of the recanned and redubbed Japanese game shows to watch it.
Not even Comcast fucked up this big when they acquired TechTV, ripped a few vital organs from it for G4, then killed TTV. At least you can see a little TTV in the Frankensteinian G4.
Vos teneo officium eram periculosus ut vos recipero is.
about awarding quality, it's just WWF wrapped up in something else, re-packaged for dumb teenage brats.
If I had created the world I wouldn't have messed about with butterflies and daffodils. I would have started with lasers
...without any hope ODB might bum rush the podium and take the Gamey from the Half-life 2 team while drunkenly proclaiming Wu-tang had the engine with the best dynamic lighting and physics.
If you want a game to be seen as equal to a movie, then perhaps you ought to make a movie instead...
That's MY problem with the game industry. Stop the hollywood in the game and focus ON the game damnit!
The 'editorial' assumes 2 things which are largely incorrect.
Firstly, that we actually respect the Oscars, and that they themselves aren't completely shallow renderings of that industry. Awards shows aren't respected anymore. They've become popularity contests at best, and an annual soap opera at worst.
Secondly, that Spike was actually targetting the gamer culture, which they weren't. Remember that the most played game of all time is Windows solitare. Deer hunter, myst, and roller coaster tycoon are among the top selling pc games of all time.
He was just "keeping it real" in the offtime between his AOL and T-Mobile commercials.
I accidently got into last years awards as a seat filler and was not all that impressed. The whole show was just a marketing circle jerk for some game companies and SpikeTV. Every table had a rep from the game company, a big name celeb, and a spiketv celeb. At my table Ray Liotta was extremely adgitated to be there, John Henson was nervously studdying his lines, the rep for GTA was on the phone with his family the whole time, and sadly Jenna Jameson never sat in here assigned seat next to me.
Some will always be above others. Destroy the equality today, and it will appear again tomorrow. --Ralph Waldo Emerson
These are video games that people play for fun. It's not a symphany orchestra, it's not a blockbuster movie
Why do people go to the orchestra or movies if not for fun? Video Games are a new medium in which to convey ideas and allow people to actually participate. While I feel it is too early in the medium for it to be pure art, it certainly is on par with an symphony or a movie. As video games progress, people will be able to make more choices that change the output of the game. This will allow for more social commentary as the choices made in game affect the world that surrounds you. People will be truly immersed in the art that others create and the meaning of the art will be easier to understand. Video games are art. They are others ideas expressed across a medium to the masses. While they are inherently different from a painting or a symphony they are still important parts of our time.
Do you expect to see a heavily multisyllabic, philosophical discussion over the merits of Blood Realm XVII versus Blood Realm VIII? Come on. Video game players aren't usually lumped in with the great minds of history.
Well, pal, the budget for many of the games that are produced these days approach that of a hollywood blockbuster. So why then, I ask, can't you compare the two? Gaming at this stage of the game is like the beginning of the movie industry at the start of the 20 century - it's rough around the edges and it leaves a lot to be desired. But problems aside they DID have awards for movies back then even though there were people just like YOU saying "Duh, this is not art, it's not Mozart, why do we need awards." It's simple, really - awards drive competition, and competition drives excellence. Though it's going to be commercialized to no end it's still inevitable.
With all of the money floating around to promote videogames, I can't help but figure the fix was in. There's no acadamey, we don't know who voted for these games specifically. I say it was fixed.
There's not a single Internet reviewer or published magazine who doesn't get their palms greased to give a good review now and then. EA has proven that they're willing to sell out in their games, and now they're buying awards as well.
Spike's award show was nothing more than a paid advertisement complete with titties to lure the average jock into wanting to buy stuff.. uh.. yeah.. huh...
0110100100100000011000010110110100100000011000100
Neither Symphony Orchestras nor Blockbuster Moovies have *ANY* practical value whatsoever. Same (despite the hand-eye coordination claims of any adolescentbusted for too many hours in front of the nintendo) for video games. How is a symphony orchestra in any way superior to a video game aside from being more expensive?
The only possible significant difference between a symphony orchestra/movie and video games is orchestras and movies have a longer history, and video games make more money.
In both cases, you experience the thing for a while, then when you're done, you've got nothing to show for it except the experience.
And some better hand-eye coordination for video games, of course.
paintball
Oh just kill yourself.
All awards shows are whorish and pander to the lowest common denominator. Now great video games can be trivialized like great movies, music, television, etc.
I luv "science"!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
I love the Katz haters, the young ones, the immature out there ready to beat down this editorial with the typical "They're just games! Stop taking them so seriously!"
Well, that's what people have said about many professions and artistic ventures. The fact is, many years of work and people's lives are wrapped into these games.
When you do a $40 million (yes, forty million) dollar game project, you run your dev team in the ground to ship it (see: EA Wife), you struggle with design and features and usability and publishing it on 3 different platforms...well, to sit back and trash it out with Tara Clueless Reid and basically say that all games are just rap videos with an interface...it's disheartening.
It doesn't encourage growth in the industry toward more unusual and original IP/ideas because one of the best things about the Grammys and Oscars is that it recognizes Dark Horses that usually get a huge boost in record sales or box office because they were recognized.
I see a classy, well done and thoughtful award show on video games as a good thing. Let's just face the facts: Spike TV isn't going to provide it.
What's best about this situation is that both of these shows could coexist. You can have your cake (Spike TV) and eat it too (nice, classy show attended by actual important game designers and developers).
I think it would be amazing to have a true video game award show with a host to provide funny banter but at the same time shuttup and let John Carmack accept his Landmark Award (or whatever it would be called) for his achievement in the art of programming and making game technology.
We need this type of recognition so that big games can get the recognition they deserve and little games can get their due limelight.
There is nothing wrong with doing a classless show. But there is also something to be said for having a show full of it, complete with respect, something that the Spike TV show simply refused to provide.
Probably the worst awards show ever. What was up with all the celebrities accepting the awards for the developers?
I only caught a few minutes, but it was terrible. The "highlight" for me was when Samuel L. Jackson accepted the Game of the Year award for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas but kept referring to it as "Grand Theft Auto 2."
How many other award shows have people accepting honors for things they know nothing about? It was a joke.
You know you're an irrelevant award show when ol' muskrat eyes Tara Reid is there....
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro"
Awards shows are worthless.
...what?
All of them.
Always have been, always will be.
Expecting more from a Televised awards ceremony is fairly foolish. You would be better off spending your time actually playing the games.. or, heck, even spouting worthless drivel in a thread _ABOUT_ awards shows on tv.. on slashdot.
no
Personally I found the VGAs to be nothing more than a bunch of promotions stuffed in 2 hours of time. Out of that two hours, 1 hour and 50 minutes was given to music (mostly [c]rap) and commercials. The rest of it had to do with poorly executed awards. I voted and tuned in to see Awards given to games and their creators. Not to listen to a bunch of people rape the use of English and make fools of themselves. Worst off, that stupid GTA:SA took GOTY. Oh and if Marty O'D or anyone from Bungie is reading this. C'mon man what was that, you got on and basically turned around and left. GNOP still pwnz.
Can't there be a decent award show without hollywood getting their dirty hands in it?
Nope. This went out on "Spike-TV", a targeted cable network. I don't think their veiwers (the coveted 18-32 white male demographic) want to watch some nerd accepting an award... they want to see CELEBRETIES and HOT CHICKS.
The again I'm just speculating, I fail to see the draw of awards shows in general.
On MTV whenever they show a rapper's house, almost without exception they show the PS2 or XBox connected to a big ass TV set. Rappers are really into video games. Some of the best game soundtracks include rap music. From the Wu Tang Clan's fighting game to the Def Jam Vendetta series there have been several games that centered around rappers as central characters.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
If you review SpikeTV without a single mention of MXC, that massively cuts into your credibility. I doubt you have have even watched the channel beyond the name of the shows on your guide.
I saw Video Game awards show in 2003. It was the worst thing I had ever seen, so I turned it off about 15 minutes in. Horrible music, backup dancers, and the actual awards were really just a gauge of how much the producers spent on advertising. I believe some Madden game won game of the year...
No one cares what your captcha was
Houston TX, USA
I agree with whoever called this a journal entry. Whoever greenlighted this needs to read this twice (if they don't faint from boredom). Whether or not the awards show was good or respectful to the industry didn't seem relevant to said "reviewer," this is a blatant bash on the show, hiphop culture, and what-not-have-you. Reviewer also assumes everyone has watched it -- and that we all agree with his points on how the industry should be handled, in terms of PR. I expected this review to at least tell me a little about the show; all i got was that it was "advertising" and "disrespectful." More details, please?
as a side note: would someone who watched it and has some writing experience fill us in? I personally wouldn't be interested in anything spiketv has, anything that claims to be "television for men" probably involves shows that play to every testosterone pumped stereotype known, which seems to be the case with the VG awards show. (Same goes for lifetime, fyi. No more lifetime specials, PLEASE).
I actually really liked the video game awards (countdown?) last year that MTV did with the EGM editors and Seanbaby(!). I remember them having interviews and such with real gamers and game developers/programmers. How come shows like what was on Spike (which did the same crap for a awards show last year) think that all gamers are male, rap, loving madden players. I agree that X-Play was, and usually is, a good show along with whatever Tommy and Victor are involved in on G4. (Judgement Day, Electric Playground) You could get a bunch of people who really loved games together, but I guess they figure less people would watch it.
I have enough problems in my day without having to explain to my family why a show honoring the entertainment I love is populated mostly by underdressed women in angel costumes.
So you watched the Victoria's Secret fashion show too, huh? Damn fine entertainment.
Dude, you freakin' nailed it! Slammin' review. It was so sick the way you jammed on that show. Seriously Man, your recap was off the hizzle. Dude.
Last year i watched this "awards" show and got all pumped up about it being on, finally gaming getting some recognition, but after watching it for about an hour i was so disgusted that i /had/ to turn it off for free of destroying my tv in rage. I thought after that horrible portrayal of video gaming that perhaps SpikeTV may have revised their approach this year. Up until i found out that Snoop Dogg was hosting it i had full intentions of atleast tuning in for a few minutes. But honestly, mixing rap and video gaming? Sure that works out fine for maybe the Tony hawk pro skater crowd but i've never heard a rap song to be associated with counter-strike or the dear classic of Age of Empires.
The worse part is the person who has no true knowledge of what gaming is about may have casually glanced upon that awards show and left with a completely wrong impression of what gaming is all about. This is not what gaming is about. Having not watched this year's event and only relying off what i hated about last years event, i can say that they focus entirely too much on consoles. Are they that oblivious to the perhaps millions of people who regularly engage in computer games.
There's just too many things wrong with what SpikeTV did to summarize it all in a few slashdot posts; none the less, i can say that we're probably all pissed about what was presented.
Photos.
They're a crappy channel anyway, noone should expect anything decent or respectable about them. What really irks me about SpikeTV is their "flicker-vision" for the last segment of every show they air. I noticed it when the wife started making me watch 20,000 of those damned CSIs. The last segment of every (and I do mean EVERY) show they run is blurred or flickered or something, to the point where it's distracting to try and watch it. I don't know why in the hell they do this, but people need to start screaming. Soon every stupid network will start doing crap like this to keep people from taping shows or something (remember those stupid station logos in the corner first started on one or two stations about 15 years ago, now we have to look at those damn things everywhere). Lame, greedy TV networks/media outlets need to be called on this garbage. I only wish more people in this country were capable of actually turning off the TV (or at least changing the station) instead of griping. Sigh..but it'll probably never happen.
Without going to Google I'll give you three...
That wasn't too hard. I suspect that most seasoned Nintendo game players could name the minds behind Mario, etc. etc. Top developers do get exposure in the technical media.
Some parts of society may be all about visual appeal and instant gratification. That doesn't prevent other parts of society being a more thoughtful and insightful crowd.
Cheers,
Toby Haynes
Anything I post is strictly my own thoughts and doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the opinions of IBM.
And swore never to watch that bile again. No Japanese games were commenced other than Final Fantasy as best RPG of the year. It was terrible. And almost every game that won was on the XBOX. Sick.
click me
Read all about it!
these "game gods" believe that it is their right to give awards to games that please skater punks, rap music players, and other members of society who are obviously not the biggest gamers. I would appreciate it if games actually won for things like graphics, gameplay, interface.. but no. Now it seems to win an award at this show one is required to release a game that has more than 20 endorsements, appeals to "cool high school kids" and has almost zero chance of winning vs. games that are actually innovative and push the genre further. //Rant over.
... The fact that they had a damn countdown timer for most of the day.. At least they did during Star Trek. A really freaking annoying red and blue opaque shield does not make for good Trek watching.
After an hour I switched to watching reruns of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I thought I would be seeing more people from the video game industry, yet I saw a bunch of hollywood stars that didnt know anything about games. This was the worst award show I have ever seen, bar none.
There actually is a more 'Oscar-like' videogame awards show: The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences has an awards show every year, although to my knowledge, it's never been televised. This is the type of awards show that actually does the 'art form' of gaming justice. Also, each year they induct people into the "Hall of Fame". Previous inductees include Miyamoto, Will Wright, John Carmack, etc. (and if you want to see acceptance speeches, they have some of them online)
...is to:
1: Not watch.
2: Ensure that pissed-off gamers put in their say with SpikeTV.
3: Point out how the negative aspects are doing more damage than good for the industry on the whole.
4: Offer a feasible solution that might get gamers promoting it themselves.
Hopefully something respectable that really represents the industry will take hold. One can wish.
SNACKS ARE AWESOME
Obviously, all that game playing has rotted your mind. I, for one, won't be satisfied until all shows on television, including network news, include "fly bitches" gyrating their asses across stage.
You need to get out more.
An award show for video games is most certainly a valid and interesting idea. It should be noted however, that film and TV award shows are as succesful as they are because they appeal to the widest demographic. Everyone watches TV. Everyone watches movies. Video Games inhabit a cultural 'space' much closer to books, comic-books and so forth. NOT everyone is a fan, not everyone is a consumer. Therefore, it is a dream to imagine that the audience for these award shows can be compared. Have you ever tuned in to the Booker Award show? Me neither. A large audience is the key to a higher quality award show (afterall, it's money not fandom that pushes award shows). So, until video games reach a much much wider audience, the award shows will remain the half-assed shambles they are today.
I mean do you have any idea how much work goes into some of these games? Doom 3, Half Life ring a bell? Cinematic scenes, voice overs from real actors. San Anreas has a couple of them. Some of these games take at least, if not more, of the amount of resources to make a movie.
It's not well known but there IS an Academy Awards for video games, similiar to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences - the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences at http://www.interactive.org/.
I believe it is run by the same organization as the Motion Picture Academy. Membership is only open to full-time employees of the industry with a minimum of 2 years on development teams, who have been credited on a commercially published title. Like the Academy Awards, it is the talent of the industry judging its peers.
The 2005 DICE summit and 8th annual awards ceremony (the AIAS equivalent to the Academy Awards) is in late January.
What SpikeTV ran was nothing more than sensationalism, probably based on sales figures and TV producers misperceptions of the culture of video game players, more than it was based on any actual sampling of video gaming culture.
Hunt your preferred prey at Aliens vs Predator MUD. Join the war at avpmud.com port 4000
"What? Games existed before the PS2?"
For some reason they had Samuel L. Jackson accepting the award, rather than someone who actually worked on the game. A VOICE ACTOR accepted the award for the game. That would be analogous to awarding an oscar to the assitant best boy of a movie.
Username taken, please choose another one.
Unfortunately, the SpikeTV VGA's is nothing but a marketing orgy. How much coss-media synergy do we need? Should the Chronicles of Riddick game really win an award for anything other than gross revenue?
c tees.asp
There are real bodies and organizations such as 'The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' that have also been holding an award ceremony (not televised to my knowledge) for the past 8 years. While I may not agree will all the award winners, they definitely have more of the right idea about where this should go. Their hall of fame inductees list is quite impressive: http://www.interactive.org/awards/halloffame/indu
2004 - Peter Molyneux, Lionhead Studios
2003 - Yu Suzuki, SEGA® Corporation
2002 - Will Wright, Maxis
2001 - John Carmack, id Software
2000 - Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of Final Fantasy
1999 - Sid Meier, Firaxis Games
1998 - Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo Inc
What sells a video games award show?
Answer: Absolutely nothing. The Oscars are carried by the star power of the people receiving those awards. It's not about the Movies themseleves, but the people in them.
Games, on the other hand, are faceless beasts. Giving an award to an animator is nice, but no one really CARES about that particular animator. Outside of the very highest reaches of video game fandom.. it simply means nothing.
This is why they have to trick up the show so much.. They where banking that people would be drawn to the video game piece, but realized no one would stick around to see some bearded programmer get an award for best physics..
Video games need an awards show.. just not on TV.
Turn s60 photos into awesome videos with mScrapbook for all S60 3rd edition phones!
I'd never waste one minute of my life on that worthless channel which for the most part, airs nothing worthwhile and a good pop culture symbol to the decay of western society.
And Adam Sessler may get goofy, but it's a self-referential type of goofiness that's funny. The best part of X-Play is that they spend the whole review showing extensive and varied game footage. No one else does that.
--- Ban humanity.
The most "Ludacris" thing at this award show was that Half Life 2 didnt clean up in every category that it was nominated in. Thank god it won best graphics or I would have had to shoot my TV. The other games are all great games, I am def a fan of Halo 2 and GTA: San Andreas but those dont even come close to HL2
I love Samuel L. Jackson but he obviously is not a gamer and knew nothing about the serious he participated in. He kept saying GTA 2 in his speaches. Sorry Sam but this is more like GTA 5. I understand that someone like Samuel L. Jackson has more important things to do then sit down and play video games for hours but when you represent a franchise you should at least know a little history on it.
...there was an "awards" show on? Really? I guess my rabbit ears didn't pick it up.
-- Liberalism is a mental disorder.
It seemed to be one huge advertisement for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Even the stupid flash layout had a "South Central" / Ghetto / Tagger motif going on.
I can't even imagine what the actual show was like, but I do know that Snoop Dogg and a game awards show shouldn't mix.
Aside from the overhype for GTA, I have other issues with the awards a mile long. It is clear that they don't have any real gamers there deciding what award categories should exist, or which games should actually be nominated. (Mortal Kombat Whatever is the best fighting game? Have you people even played Guilty Gear?)
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
I didn't think that the advertisements could roll in any more than they did last year, but amazingly as the poster pointed out, the awards incorporated the advertisements. Boo to Spike and Boo to all you suckers for not being early adopters last year and being forced to learn this year.
You're out of touch here. As a whole, games are not just for fun, and never have been, ever, in the history of the world.
First, pantomime combat replaces actual combat, which does several things:
1. It lets us act out history and culture. Examples:
A. pantomime combat is used in most religions, including Christian (ex: Jesus is tempted by Satan where the combat is intellectual, Jesus rises from the dead is God vs. nature, Jesus on a cross celebrates brutality and indicates that proper response to such is part of the religion's teachings)
B. Historical and fantasy reenactment groups let people participate in history and culture. The SCA and other, more fantasy-oriented groups let people watch and participate in 'new history' as well as old, identifying their culture. And other groups consistently reenact specific battles, particularly those of major American wars.
2. It allows us to hone our instincts and skills without as much risk.
Examples:
A. Counter-Strike will train your hand-eye coordination.
B. 'Fake' hunting games have been used forever to train children, and all major sports strive for safety while encouraging participants to improve themselves.
C. Old-style manual dexterity toys (ball and cup attached by string, jump rope, rail walking) do encourage real manual dexterity in children, and provide a training ground that otherwise would not exist.
D. DDR gets slacker high school kids to work out.
E. It's widely known, but it does bear mentioning that one of the biggest pushes for early video game technology, especially graphics, came from the US military.
F. Tetris
Second, intellectual puzzles prepare us for greater real puzzles. This means:
1. Children can be brought up to speed on the challenges that have been faced and conquered before. We turn those into puzzles, riddles, and video games.
Examples:
A. Crosswords
B. Logic puzzles (both fully abstract, like those in The Looking Glass and lateral-thinking puzzles, and concrete, like Mensa math and word challenges)
C. Minesweeper
D. Legos
E. SimCity
2. People of all ages can play games to keep their intellect sharp. All of the above examples apply, but the following are famous for this:
A. Chess
B. Go
C. Fencing
D. Martial Arts
E. Programming
F. Flight simulators
G. Tetris (yes, it belongs here, too)
Third, in addition to video games reinforcing our culture, the idea of video games themselves is now a part of our culture. We (and our children, forever) will identify with video games. We dress up as their characters, we learn morals and jokes from them, and we are affected as a society by their art more than we know.
These things together mean that honoring specific video games is appropriate, specifically those that reached us, affected us, and stayed with us. And that's all I've got to say about that.
Playing pornographics games during the day is evil! Play at night!
I'm a bit surprised to see all of you bitching over this piece. Honestly - and I'm not even a gamer!
/. crowd are) it's perfectly normal to want to pay tribute to the (great) ones that make the games happen.
// President of whop ass can corp.
From what I read in the article I find the authors criticism justified. IF - and this is a big if - you're going to do an awards show you shouldn't kick yourself in the head that hard to begin with. I mean, having celebrities accept the awards? Someone pleas pass the bucket - I feel a hurl coming on...
And what is with your "get a life - it's only a game" complaints? If you're into games (wich unfortunatly a lot of the
I'm a bit of a code geek myself and I wouldn't mind seeing the people who wrote that awezome gaming engine for $FOO and have them comment on it. And this, nitwits, should NOT be to make the companies that already made the (big) buck from the game - it's for the freakn' coders and artists that made it happen (well.. the cash from the employer helpt here... but..).
It just sadens me to read this bullshit bitchin about people who cares about games. Go hug your blockbusters, old computer collection, stamps or what ever - most of us have some sort of socially challenged hoby. Stop or I'll come bitch up your tree some day.
Since many gamers are playing games instead of watching TV perhaps this would have worked better if they had just made a game for people to play. Think about it. You could direct the entire evening from the award categories to the "fly bitches" to the acceptance speeches. Your score would be determined by how many viewers you grab and the number of FCC violations filed.
END OF LINE
That said, I think that an awards show is a good idea for the industry. At the very least, having an awards show with some gravitas would be a great way to put a public stamp of approval on the hard work that development houses put into their games.
Awards shows only give awards to people/things that belong to whatever group gives the awards. Movie and music awards "work" because there is a vast cartel for each of those industries which clearly define who the 'in' crowd is. More importantly it defines who the 'in' crowd *isn't*. Sure many great games take millions of dollars and huge teams of talented people to create. At the same time there are equally great games that take only a few talented people to create and distribute. Encouraging games to go down the path of movies and music is to continue down a path that denys recognition and compensation to independant developers, makes marketing costs the largest barrier to entry into the gaming market for new companies, and maintains the distribution cartel's ability to dip into your wallet and spend your hard earned money on more advertising.
We have review sites and independant awards already. Why do we need to be spoon fed this trash by the middlemen we all hate to give money to?
Songs are a little tricky, because they aren't very long. It is tougher to pack a message in there. But as far as movies go...
Fahrenheit 9/11. Regardless of what your opinion of it is, it got people across the nation talking and thinking about the issues at hand. To paraphrase a comedian "You didn't hear people arguing about whether the guys in the movie 'White Chicks' really could have been mistaken for women."
Bowling for Columbine. This movie hit me. I haven't looked at the popular media the same way since. On the way home from the theater, as my wife and I were talking about how the media uses scare tactics, we heard a radio commercial for the local news: "Could the milk you buy and give to your kids cause serious health problems? Tune it to Fox News at 9:00 to find out."
Schlinder's List. It may not have changed the world, but it was quite a powerful film.
There are other movies out there that have very interesting perspectives and kind of slip beyond pure entertainment. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a good one. Anything that is visually interesting can be more than just mindless entertainment. Spirited Away, The Cell (save the bad acting), The City of Lost Children. Some re-tell classic tales, like O Brother Where Art Thou? I am sure I am forgetting some big ones, but you get the idea. Movies CAN be more than just mindless entertainment, and honestly who cares if they get an award for it? Do you think it will matter if Quake or Half-Life get a lifetime achievement award?
I didn't see the awards show, but I would guess that it was pretty representative of the game industry. That is, after all, what award shows represent - the industry. Even the MTV Movie Awards, which was interesting the first few times it aired (with their innovative categories like Best Kiss and Best Fight Scene) has become tired and stale. It is quite representative of the MTV industry (if you will).
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
True followers/participators of anything artistic look/strive for progressiveness in their medium. People here on /. are more likely to be appreciators of the art of videogames, so of course a big media award show would be offensive to you. I'm a appreciator (to understate) of music, and I find music award shows and the crap they honor extremely offensive. Anyone who loves movies probably disagrees with the Academy 90% of the time. Don't expect the TV to honor high art. Most people in this country are stupid, in every sense of the word, eating up what's fed to them by the advertisers that all media outlets consist of. I'm just kinda surprised people expected more.
A B A C A B B
The idea that the Oscars aren't a marketting orgy and somehow represents an introspective look at an industry at itself is silly. The Oscars have always been a self-congratulatory social event. Given that the only "independent" films you see are distributed by Miramax (Disney) and Fox Searchlight illustrate that this is a glorified advertisement for studios.
The fact that you don't see the Mountain Dew Action Movie award is simply because the studios have the money to fund their own marketting fest, whereas the gaming publishers don't. As the software publishing continues to consolidate you this might change (EA, Sony and Nintendo may hook up to do something that seems more legitimate). Even so, don't hold your breath waiting for your favorite non-console game by a small distributor to get any recognition.
I think there are a few games which can be compared to movies. Namely, Bomberman 64, Ledgend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time(beautiful), and Eternal Darkness.
END
Have you ever noticed how few posts games.slashdot articles get? I think the incline of media attention on games over the last several years has convinced people that there are more "video game geeks" out there. No. GTA sold many many copies not because it was an excellent game that had a resounding impact on the industry, but because it happened to appeal to a wide audience and was released for a console that built up it's userbase by providing non-gamer friendly titles. These type or awards shows would not be airing if there were not an audience for them. Included in the audience are the millions upon millions of people that bought GTA and Madden for the PS2, but don't have Ico and Katamari Damacy. This awards show is not for us, and it does not represent us.
I'm surprised at the number of people that are slamming the author here. I don't see what the problem would be with a video game awards show. I probably wouldn't watch it, just as I don't watch any movie awards show, but I think it would be a good thing. Typically the only name that most people know behind a game, is the company that sells it - EA, Square, Blizzard, etc. That's like only knowing Miramax, Paramount, or Universal. Everyone's heard of John Williams, but how many people know that Matt Uelmen did the music for Diablo and Diablo II, or that Hironobu Sakaguchi wrote and produced all of the Final Fantasy series? I think some kind of awards ceremony would give recognition to the individuals working on a game, instead of the company that sells it getting all of the credit.
Both Webb and Sessler are very knowledgeable in games. Since when have there been different levels of gamers. Can you really claim yourself to know everything there is to know about video games? Either you play video games or you don't. It's an absolute to be a gamer. I'm not sure where you think you get your information on Morgan. But I can guarentee that you don't have a clue what you are talking about. The only thing you've said that I can agree with is that she is attractive and she does have a fanbase. If she didn't have a fanbase then I'm sure we'd hear many more complaints about getting her replaced but for the time being with the show being moved to G4 she is actually keeping the show together by helping keep Adam on. Give her some credit, you don't like it then don't watch..
Must we kill EVERY Rapper in this world in order to have a sane awards show of any kind AGAIN??
The reason the show was a joke is simple: Lack of unions in the gaming industry. Say anything bad about unions you want, but organized labor unions do at least one thing well: Organized awards shows. The Association of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which issues the Oscars, is nothing much more than a glorified "union of unions", with each sub-union defining the rules for what gets nominated. You don't have to be a member to be nominated, but only members get to vote - and only for awards in their industry. Therefore, you get a "respectable" results, and usually a classier show (well, usually).
The same is essentially true for music (The Grammys), television (the Emmys), and even stage (the Tonys).
There is no "Video Game Association of America" unifying the industry. That fiasco on SpikeTV was not an awards show, it was a shameless attempt to cash in on the fact that games are popular.
I caught exactly 30 seconds of this "Awards Show" before changing the channel. The only thing I saw was the game "Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater" being nominated for "Game of the Year". Is it just me, or has that game only been released for about two weeks. Also, the year's not yet over.
So, if they'll nominate brand new titles (i.e., one's that haven't been evaluated over time to see if they hold that special something) for "Game of the Year" and they'll do this before the end of the year, it leaves one conclusion.
The "Awards Show" was nothing more than a hackneyed marketing shceme to showcase this season's holiday lineup. Nothing more, nothing less.
I always get the shakes before a drop.
What show are you watching? All I hear and see is "ROFL Adam is a perverted loser!" type comments and "sketches" ever since they added Morgan and renamed the show.
If they just removed the "Adam is a big dumb male" crap I would actually watch and enjoy it again.
The review and the award show.
Pimping shitting products and slam jammin' all those phat gangster games and stuff.
What a fuckin waste of air time!
I'll post my full review of this review late! (;-
Ah... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!
"... and the award for best supporting character goes to.... Whatever the fuck you named the little Yoshi dude in 'Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door!' Congratulations, whatever the fuck your name is!"
Buy the President
he didn't do the 2003's because Jenna Jameson was there, and this time she wasn't. He's mad as hell, and is not going to take it anymore!
While I agree with what you had said, I ask you this ... what did you expect from SpikeTV? Have you ever watched the channel? Now look at the channels that the Academy Awards are on. ... MEN, while other channels target a much wider audience.
SpikeTV targets one type of crowd
And I missed it! Does anyone know when they're re-airing it?! Thanks!
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
The voting was rigged anyways...you could vote multiple times.
CKSCIII
would could take more than 2 hours of an award ceremony??
ONLY 2 hours my ass!! jesus.. i was done after the first hour..
- Hi I'm Linus Torvalds and I pronounce Linux, Lih-nix..
I think what he meant to say was "Attractive women don't like me so I'm going to try to mask my insecurity about them by assuming they're all idiots and have no knowledge of the things I like, because if they did, they'd have sex with me."
Go over to spiketv.com and tell them how much you hate them for patronizing you.
That's what I did.
Maybe with enough criticism they will try a little harder next year. (dubious, but worth a shot)
What the hell were you expecting from a network called "Spike" that features crappy shows like "Stripperella" and "Most extreme elimination challenge?" You have not right being dissapointed by anything you see on a crap network like that, although I'm dissapointed that people stupid enough to watch that crap are still allowed to use the internet.
It doesn't surprise me that the gaming awards are immediately as tired and ridculous as MTV's music video awards have become. There was a time when music videos were awarded for the art form that they can be. Gone are the days when a Neil Young music video can win video of the year, without ever once being broadcast on MTV! MTV banned the video yet it remarkable won best video that year. That was back when the award for the best video went to the "best video" instead of the "most requested on TRL" video. These types of awards shows are not to be taken seriously.
"Seriously, wouldn't it be great to see John Carmack present an award? Or get to listen to a Wil (sic) Wright acceptance speech?"
Why? What purpose would this serve? What cause would this further? Serious criticism of games is being held back by over-protective critics unable to treat the form as anything other than a monolithic entity, whose representation in the media is somehow expected to reflect their taste.
The 'Spike' awards weren't aimed at people who take games seriously. Broadcast television is very rarely a suitable platform for serious high-minded discussion. Zonk's commentary is really barking up entirely the wrong tree.
Maybe the interactive entertainment BAFTAs would be less offensive to his sensibilities?
Preferences > Homepage > Customize stories on homepage > Authors > Zonk > Uncheck
Let's be honest here. This "Awards Show" was all about the reunion of Motley Crue man! I wished I could have fast forwarded through the awards show and just watched the concert footage! Come on people, it was just a thinly veiled attempt to put Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, Pharrell, Method Man, Redman, Busta Rhymes, Sum 41, and the debut of the reunited Crue onstage and write it off as a business expense!
I will admit the award selection was completely and totally whacked, but that's not the point of the spectacle. It was a concert, nothing more, nothing less.
"No beer until you finish your tequila!" -Leela's Dad
As the owner of one of those gamer sites, and a company that manages LAN party events, I agree completely.
I realize that there are those out there who are just wanting to have a good time. I can be one of them. But I also am a businessman who is working in a business that is growing and will eventually be considered "respectable". But the likes of the Spike awards show will not hasten that respectability.
Additionally, since we run LAN parties we see a LOT of those gamers that this show is supposed to represent. they are not rappers, they are ordinary people who really look up to the programmers and other visionaries who create the entertainment they are partaking in. Why cheapen that with people who have nothing to do with the industry, and women who wouldn't dare come into a major event dressed like that without a security force of some size around them.
I think it's about time that the people who write teh games, and the people who play the games should have a say in what is award worthy, and what is not. Let the industry itself decide what's worth the awards. Use the industry movers and shakers as the people who are presenting. Use the groups that had music IN the games as the musical interludes. Heck, do like the Oscars, and have the songs that are up for awards be the ones that are played.
Don't insult the average gamer with drivel that they can't relate to.
That's just the rantings of an experienced gamer, but still...
Here I come to save the da... *thud*
I gotta get me a shorter cape.
Hell yeah, bring back Andy Griffith! Otis is my God and role model.
Keep Austin Weird!
I think an entertaining awards show for Gaming would be classy, like the Academy Awards. Here is a list of the main categories (which could be broken into more):
Technical Achievement
- Game Design
- Tools
- Rendering
Art Direction
- Art Design
- Execution
Storyline
- Original
- Adapted
Sound
- Score
- Sound Effects
I'd definately watch it, especially if instead of canned videos they showed some behind the scenes stuff while announcing the nominees.
I have three acronyms for you: DS9, TNG, and CSI. Need I say more? If so, I could add MXC too.
Unfortunately for the "mature and serious gamers" out there, the share of the market caters to t33nz. And what better way to impress teens than with sw33t ub3rchicks and rap?
rOxOr!
You want content? Quit watching TV!
Hehe.
The show was maybe the last bar shielding us from an indisputable schism in video games. Capital-N Nerds stopped owning gaming a long time ago; don't waste time looking for solidarity among those who will call themselves gamers, don't bother trying to drive out the invading mongoloid hordes. Homer reading groups don't apologize for romance novel slag. Art house film followers don't sweat Bruckheimer summer blockbusters. Granted, whatever occurred on SpikeTV may be the greatest public face gaming will have for a while. And it's really pitiful, but, so what? I guess we just have to hold our niche. Awe no -- more pangs of grief over Gamefan.
Allow me to respond with Vampire Raiders: Ninja Queen!!! OK, your point is taken, some video games are just as bad as some movies. I highly recommend watching the referenced movie, however. It is sort of like a painting done by a mentally retarded elephant. You should see it just to see what a mentally retarded elephant can paint.
...at first, i was very impressed by all the big names... snoop dogg, samuel jackson, madden, green day, etc... and seeing tiger woods dressed like a pimp was most excellent!
.as long as you show up!
but then you start to notice that everyone that received an award was also announcing some other award... i started to imagine the following dialog:
SpikeTV: ring, ring...
Samuel Jackson: Hello?
SpikeTV: This is Spike TV with the video games award... you've won best male actor.
Jackson: Really? Great.
SpikeTV: The award ceremony is Tuesday.
Jackson: Sorry, I'm busy.
SpikeTV: If you're not there to accept the award we'll have to give it to someone else.
Jackson: Oh. Okay, no problem.
SpikeTV: But we really would like you to be there... what if we paid you $1000?
Jackson: No thanks.. I make more than that for doing a voice over.
SpikeTV: Whats's your going rate then?
Jackson: $20K per evening.
SpikeTV: Would you be a presenter for that price?
Jackson: Yep.
SpikeTV: Ok, our EA representative says money is no object.
Jackson: Thanks.. but I don't want to dress up.. wearing my sweats wont be a problem, will it?
SpikeTV: No, whatever..
And this conversation was repeated by every major celebrity there except Green Day... and they probably feel screwed over today.
The other thing is you didn't see many geeks or programmers.. but that's probably good if you want to get some ratings.
Rap is talentless idiocy. I don't care which culture likes it, it does not make it good music. It is repetative, it is devoid of any lyrical merit. Most of it endorces the very things that keeps their culture down, guns, drugs, whores, demeaning women. Any type of thing that makes being a violent "thug" seem like a preferable course of action, is completely devoid of merit, unless it has a strong sense of irony. Lets face it, any moron can string together a mindless repetative bass line, then badly rhyme about shootin' yo crack hos to it. Rap is the only music more mindless than techno. Especially now.
And how many black people have been to africa or are from there? I HATE that PCism, let whoever call themselves whatever they want, as long as it is accurate. I am not a Western Europo American. I'm just a white guy, or to be technical a caucasian. But I don't care if people call me a white guy.
Now flame me and mod me down, please.
A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
This mystical video games awards show, you know the one where the awards that are given are serious and respected by everyone in the industry? It already exists. It is called the GDC awards. Highlights of the last few years include Rookie of the Year to Retro for MP, and Lifetime Achievement awards for Gumpei Yokoi and Yuji Naka of Nintendo and Sonic Team respectively. It is a very ritzy, black tie affair, and even emotional (Yokoi's award was accepted posthumously following his tragic death). All the industry greats are involved, and the awards actually mean something, since they are awarded by your peers. The only thing missing is televising the event! Can any networks out there step up to the plate and feed the serious gamers something other than commercials?
But we do respect the Palme d'Or
... motley crue. forgetting the words to dr. feelgood. seriously. wtf.
Snoop Dog hosting a show. Really, what did you expect?
Wow. You mean it took you guys a 2nd year to realize that SpikeTV's VG awards are crap?
Last year, I just remember thinking that NO ONE could do a worse award show then G4. I mean, they invited a cosplay act from an anime con to perform for god's sake! But, as geeky and childish as that show was, at least they did have the right idea on addressing games as art.
Spike TV's show is better compared to the MTV movie awards. In that it's an award show, voted on and pandered to the lowest common denominator. That, and I'm sure advertiser dollars played a big part in who won as well.
I was thinking about how Slashdot would respond to the video game awards last night, and this is exactly what I expected. The one thing that this award show had that every other award show has...is that it was really bad. The scripting was awful and the acting was worse. I do like the fact that games are getting more exposure and becoming more main stream. It's nice to see really good looking women saying that they like to kill zombies...because it is fun, and others shouldn't look down on it as a form of entertainment. So do I want to be lumped in with a bunch of pasty nerds or a bunch of hardcore rappers and VS models. Neither, because I don't fall in to either of the groups. It seems, though, that mainstream gamers don't like what I like. I don't see how, if you objectively sit down and play both halo 2 and half life 2, you could say halo 2 is better. It just isn't. If it is just "the people" voting, then I can understand how they picked it...because a lot of people are console gamers and never really played hl2...you aren't going to vote for something you don't play. It would be nice if an intelligent panel of people selected who won....people who have actually played all of the games and played them through to the end. (ok, so both ending were a little bit of a disappointment, but I would say more so of halo2 because it just leaves you on a cliff hanger).
I have to admit...some of it was funny. The hot chick reading cheat codes cracked me up. And having Christopher Watkins (sp?) say "Welcome to your Everquest" almost killed me....if they could cut out all the idiot stars and inject more humor like that in there, the show would be great. You could do so much fun stuff with the video game characters and parody. I still say, as bad as some of the stuff was last night, that it was a good thing to show how far gaming has come. I don't remember commercial for Final Fantasy when I was a kid, now they are on every major network.
I wish the review talked a little more on what games actually won. (GTA:SA won game of the year, halo2 won best fps, etc) That to me shows a certain bias...maybe that was really the worst part, is that it was clear the more pouplar 'main stream' game won in every category, not the best game. Does that make sense? It was like the game that more people played won, rather than the one that was technically better. It would be like giving the award to best movie to the one that had the best box office turn out.
Support a great indie game: http://www.abaddon360.com
After seeing the joke of a show they had last year, did anyone honestly expect this year to be any better? I mean, come on. The highlight of last year's show was some headbanger dudes in wheelchairs. I was ROTFLMAO. Then I changed the channel. Then I watched the repeat a few days later just to laugh at the headbanger dudes in wheelchairs again. After my sides hurt, I gave up.
More specifically, SpikeTV targets 20-30 something men who still think fart jokes and girls with big hooters are still entertaining.
A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over. -Benjamin Franklin
Since when did the slack-jawed glassy-eyed primetime TV watching population intersect the gamers demographic? The reason we don't have an Oscars night to ourself is we don't need one. We've got the internet.
That may sound very sour grapes, but bear in mind many of the people who enjoyed this show probably can't pronounce - let alone have heard of Katamari Damashii. And think that Final Fantasy is probably pr0n. We're trying to appeal to the idiot box population here - not exactly likely to value fine hand-to-eye and intelligent control. Also game creation has a long history with the internet.
We award valuable contributors the best way we can - Gabe Newell, Nobuo Uematsu, id, Gabe&Tycho... by playing their games, forming cultures, sharing experiences and worshipping them where the people that really matter to us can see it.
D
You should write Spike a letter and demand two hours of your life back. The way I see it, it's about as logical as expecting them to have an artistic and unbiased view on anything. What is cool for them(Spike) is what gets them paid. What's cool for kids is what Spike sells them.
The dollars equal the content.
that Halo 2 won best FPS over Far Cry, UT2004, HL2, and Doom3. When I watch Spike it feels like they are trying too hard to spread themselves too thin to cover every male interest group from 18-20something and then they come up accomplishing nothing...
That begs the question of what constitutes a great story. If a "great story" is a story packed with action, I suppose a game and a book or movie are equivalent. The game probably holds the edge, because of its intrinsic interactivity.
But isn't there a difference between a video game, which generally provides at best a very shallow view of the human condition, and a great work of literature? To Kill a Mockingbird may not have made any impact on you, but it made a deep and lasting impact on me. The book dealt with human weaknesses like fear, prejudice, and malice. It made me think about what it would be like to be on the receiving end of hatred. It opened my eyes.
The Oscars are voted on, as are the Pulitzer prizes. But less generally-popular movies and books do win these prizes, because the people who are doing the judging are looking for works of art that do not simply serve as entertainment, but also fulfill some other artistic function. We may not agree with who won a given award, but with awards for art there are always metrics beyond simple popularity. Awards for artistic works are designed to highlight work that elevates the culture.
Do most video games elevate the culture? Perhaps the video game community needs to ask itself whether it truly is an art form, as many delude themselves into believing, or whether most games are simply immersive entertainment that at best contains no message and at worst conveys the message that maximizing your kill count is equivalent to heroism.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
suck all creativity and innovation out of this world.
They are geared for brain-dead button punching to create an army of RSI victims for the special interest Big Thumb industry.
There is no chance in hell that the _average_ console gamer has the intellectual capacity and attention span to play something like Homeworld or any Total War game.
This wouldn't concern me if it wasn't for the fact that PC studios are dying. If studios write for consoles first and PCs second, they will stop writing for PCs altogether. Check GameSpot's sales rank for systems overall. PCs don't crack the top 10.
It's sad.
Laws are for people with no friends.
That their target market is us.
Got news for you, but I'm willing to bet their in depth market research showed them who the biggest demographic for them is, and they are pandering to them. Thats fine if you think they are inferior to you (well, no its not, but thats your call not mine), but to fault SpikeTV for not providing you with the show you want is like getting mad at MTV for pushing what is hot and current. They're not in it for your dollars, and they never were. They are in it for the dollars of their most profitable market, which in this case apparently likes the things they offered.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
and it ain't us
It's the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame.
From Wikipedia:
Since 1998, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) has annually inducted into its Hall of Fame video game developers that have made revolutionary and innovative achievements in the video and computer game industry.
Inductees
2004 : Peter Molyneux of Lionhead Studios
2003 : Yu Suzuki of SEGA
2002 : Will Wright of Maxis
2001 : John Carmack of id Software
2000 : Hironobu Sakaguchi of Squaresoft (Square Enix as of 2003)
1999 : Sid Meier of Firaxis Games
1998 : Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo
Anyone who doesn't think that video games deserve respect hasn't played enough games from these guys.
My Blog Sucks.
If you don't think videogames are capable of powerful storytelling, you really haven't played this game. I don't think I've seen any movies that can match it either, although there are certainly quite a few books that I can't say the same for.
I watched for about 15 minutes. It was all I could take. As an avid PC gamer, and NOT a console gamer, I felt that I was completely left out. The only celebs I saw were of the supermodel/athlete/rapstar/musician variety. SnoopDog's performance sucked my dog's ass, but then again I've never understood his appeal in the first place.
I was hoping for something a little less hip-hop and something a little more technical. I didn't hear engine design talked about. I didn't see any actually game developers/producers there. I didn't see any awards for art design, RTS titles, simulators, MMORPGs or anything like that. How about best RPG-fantasy, or best RPG-modern day? How about best multiplayer? How about best FPS sequel or bonus pack? I didn't see any more evaluation of the games other than "what's really popular right now?". Where were the experts. Where was the "legacy award for the designer of "Joust", or the misty retrospective of vector graphics games. Maybe I got fed up too soon and it was there all the time if I had only stuck with it, but it just stank so bad that I had to turn away.
I think some others who have posted to this topic recognized something that I also saw: that gamers have become stereotypes -- zit-faced, controller-strangling, button-mashing, screaming red-eyed freaks. The odd part is that I noticed in a few of the audience shots that there were a few portly bespectacled guys in button-down shirts who were kind of trying to figure out whether to headbang or toe-tap while waving hands in the air for SnoopDog's "Hey! Ho! Hey! Ho!". I felt a little better, but it passed very quickly and I was nauseous again.
It was such a waste.
.. pa-ra-bo-la, pa-ra-bo-la, 2 pi R, 2 pi R, where's your latus rectum, where's your latus rectum, 2 pi R
I did the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences awards show a few years ago -- I was inducted into the hall of fame one year, then the next year I inducted Will Wright.
I hated it, but it is a big industry, and there is a broad range of people involved. Honestly, I'm almost certainly in the minority. One developer that I was talking to backstage was very bullish about how important it was to legitimize the industry with events like this, but I just don't have any empathy for what I perceive as "Hollywood envy".
Some award show issues are just a result of stupidity -- I felt so bad watching Hironobu Sakaguchi of Squaresoft, a non-native english speaker, being forced to read a long speech written by some PR type about me. I threw out what they gave me to say about Will, and wrote something more to the point myself.
I do feel that there is a rather fundamental mismatch with big awards shows for game development, because game development isn't a performing art. You expect actors and musicians to show well, because that is what they do. Why aren't awards for authors the same glamorous events that the movie / TV / music ones are? Game developers are much closer to authors than actors.
John Carmack
I mean, I realize G-Phoria doesn't have anything like the production values of SpikeTV's show, but at least it's done by people who truly care and no something about video games (people like the cast of X-Play).
'first time I ever saw "male enhancement" ads other than SPAM was on Spike'
:-/
That'd be right - defend our gender, then go and imply that men are just dicks after all
I knew that awards show was going to suck the first time I saw an ad for it. Spike is only good for two things: Star Trek and CSI.
Man, award shows IN GENERAL almost always suck.
It's an awards show on TV, not a GameCon somewhere. If the show was the game developers and designer it would be a bore to the masses that watch TV. The audence would be too small to attract advertisers. Having a show full of hot babes and bad music is a draw to the typical gamer. The typical gamer for the most part is not a computer geek who tweaks their OS and writes code. They are the young kids with too much energy, hormones, and rage.
Were just now getting the generation that grew up playing lots of video games. They are now making money and the game and audio/visual industry wants the money they are going to spend for ultimate game systems and rooms for the total game experience. As I said before they aren't computer geeks who respect what went into the games. They want plasma TV and surround sound systems that will scare the neighbors three blocks away. So TV offers up an award show so the companies who want to sell them the product for a ultimate gamers life can be seen.
So as an official old fart I think the show needed more babe, send Motley Crue to the retirement home, and Snoop Dogg is cool.
Are you kidding me? You tuned into SpikeTV and expected anything less then what you saw? You've got to be kidding me. It's like Maxim's review of videogames on TV. Are you going to take Maxim's reviews of videogames seriously?
I really don't know why you're appalled, you should have expected that. Damn.
Video games, while outselling movies (in dollars), don't have "video game stars" that can attract a large audience to a televised awards show. I guess the geniuses at SpikeTV saw a huge video game industry (around $20 billion), a relatively narrow demographic (young males), but no "video game stars" to sell the telecast. The result: babes and loud music.
Even the Oscars Scientific and Technical Awards ceremony is held at a seperate venue on a different date than the main awards ceremony. Only brief highlights of the Sci & Tech Awards are shown during the Oscars telecast. And guess what: they use babes (J Garn, Ch Ther, R Zell, S Hay, A Heche) to keep viewers from changing the channel.
TO START
PRESS ANY KEY
Where's the 'ANY' key? I see Esk, Kitarl, and Pig-Up...
The serious award for games is the GDC Award. It's given each year at the Game Developers' Conference, and the decision is made by people actually within the industry - respectful recognition from one professional to another. They give awards for all aspects of game development, as well as things like innovation. They also recognize independent games.
Here's a http://www.igda.org/awards/link
I yearn for you tragically. A. T. Tappman, Chaplain, U.S. Army.
I don't even see why we bother trying to raise games to the level of movies and stuff already... We've already surpassed it. Video games make more money than movies ever have, and yet we still try to emulate it.
/End really long rant that no one probably read or cared about or liked.
Why? We have our Ico's and Rez's... We do have crap like Raise Your Voice in the form of Barbies Fashions Designer, but who buys that or even takes it seriously? We've surpassed movies in terms of both money generated and overall quality.
Lets not let our all-holy genre` fall victim to the endless parade of sequels and cash-cows and big series that has befallen movies and seems to be befalling games... Name one game that sold well this year that wasn't a sequel? Ask some of your mainstream gaming friends what they've been playing, and what they think is the best game of the year, or perhaps even best game ever? The likely answers are Madden, Halo, Or GTA, and i'll admit they're good, and fun, but there are better games, and we know that, but THEY sure as hell don't.
We must stand up and fight for the honor of video games! Come comrades! Who is with me?
Bah, you don't have to actually start a revolution, but putting a little more thought into what games you buy and play would be cool. And murdering people who play Halo would be cool to. Just kidding.
I hate Halo and GTA. Sue me.
Well, hardcore gamer "nerds" may be a small part of the entire gamer's market. But I think that a "Video Game Awards" type of show would disproportionately appeal to the nerdy gamers. I just don't see the guys who get together with their friends for a game of Madden or Halo devoting a night to a video game awards ceremony.
Also, if Average Joe doesn't have time for an "in depth analysis" of some games, then why is he watching a 2hr show about them?
But on the flip side, I differ that with the original poster's irritation about "girls in bikinis" - like they're somehow violating the spirit of a video game awards show. Most video games - especially the ones specifically designed for hardcore gamers - cater to their audience by displaying lots of busty semi-clad females (think Final Fantasy games, Everquest).
I don't appreciate the psychic damage these shows are causing by bombarding kids with overly suggestive sexual imagery, but they're just using the same tricks video game developers are. It sounds like they're representing the industry pretty damn well to me.
This means you are limiting the number of real women, who are still quite attractive, which you consider dateable.
What is that woman thing? A new kind of ubercrazy robot?
Your head a splode
I regret to inform you that the rod up your ass has a rod up its ass.
You want to know who isn't running Firefox 2.x? They spell it "definately" and "rediculous".
How can spike TV afford to run an awards show without having to resort to big corporate sponsors. I see it as two options mountain dew wants to advertise and I want to see games get awards. I have no problem with mountain dew doing what they want to do so long as I get to do what I want to do otherwise the awards show would not be possible. Video games are not movies yet it will take time and spike TV is an excellent network trying to take a set in the right direction. Good job to spike tv to bring games to the next level
G4TechTV jumped the shark. They fucking suck now. You should quit watching them. Sure, Morgan's tits are nice, but it's not enough to drive a whole network.
"The night was a never-ending cascade of scantily clad women, rap, "extreme" stuff, rap, people who had nothing to do with games, and rap."
Has anyone played Final Fantasy X-2 ?
But their origional content, and their ads (first time I ever saw "male enhancement" ads other than SPAM was on Spike) are just demeaning to any guy with a brain.
I'll give you the ads, but ease up on their original content. Remember, Spike TV is the network that gave us The Joe Schmo Show, the first reality show that has ever been any good. An original concept, plenty of comedy, bizarre situations that bring out the best in the (real) contestants, and even some boobage for us men who actually do enjoy thinking about sex.
Visual IRC: Fast. Powerful. Free.
Waait a second. You mean the whole point of the oscars isnt to look at hot women in 2 million dollar dresses? I think someone mentioned something about "movies" at the oscars, but that is just propaganda.
I was a game reviewer for a few respected game sites for a few years. I freelanced and got paid pretty well for playing games and reviewing them.
I hadn't kept up with the industry much, with life getting in the way, but recently have come into a lot of free time (and am thankfully NOT unemployed). As such, I started reading the mags again.
Have you seen a current issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly? It's written for sixth-graders! They don't want to use the word "fuck" in an article, so they say "f***" instead. And these "bleeps" are all over the magazine. In the October issue, they even appeared on the cover. I guess there's a lot of difference between "fuck" and "f***" that I don't see. And EGM is apparently the #1 gaming mag.
The nominees last night for "Pontiac GTO Best Racing Game" were NFS Underground 2, Burnout 3, and Nascar 2005. Aside from a plug for the Pontiac GTO, notice anything unusual about those three nominees? Oh yeah, they're all published by EA. And NFS Underground 2 has only been out for 2 weeks!! What was the nomination cut off, yesterday? As an aside, Roy Jones Jr. announced the winner of the category as "Pontiac GTO Best Racing Game," reading the cover of the DVD case he was given instead of opening it, which gave me a great laugh.
The gamimg industry is still an immature baby. It wants to be breast fed while its bigger brother the movie industry is drinking Bourbon. The fact is that the marketers of the gaming industry were also heavily involved in last night's abortion of an awards ceremony, and the nominees for almost every category proved it.
Until the industry organizes itself, something it has NEVER been able to do (even the IDSA awards druing E3 2000 had nominaees published from 1998-2000 couldn't even DEFINE THE CRITERIA for a cutoff date). Wonder why Leonardo DiCaprio's "The Aviator" is coming out on Christmas day? Because the distributor wants it to be nominated for an Oscar. Unlike the gaming industry, the movie industry has its collective shit together.
The fact is, anybody can run an awards show. It might represent the industry badly, but there really isn't a heck of a lot the industry can do about it. Personally, I wish people would stop acting like the Spike TV awards have any kind of legitimacy.
The fact is, we already have an Academy. They're the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (http://www.interactive.org/), and they give out the Interactive Achievement Awards, every year.
However, the best known of the game development awards shows is hosted by the IGDA. This is the Game Developer's Choice Awards (http://www.igda.org/awards/). This show made an appearance on MTV one year (correct me if I'm wrong), and earned a good bit of attention from G4 last year, and hopefully will receive more coverage in the future.
Finally, for the indies, there's the Independent Games Festival (http://www.igf.com/), though the awards part of the festival has generally been tacked onto the Game Developer's Choice Awards event, in the last couple of years.
The annual Game Developers Conference hosts an award ceremony to pick the best games in various catagories including "Game of the Year". The appealing this about these awards is they are picked BY game developers. It is my opinion that peer review is best, and that there must be no higher honor for a game developer then to have your work aknowledged by other developers.
--- "End Of Line" - MCP
It is funny peopel keeping talking about John Caramack everytime that they want to prove "art" worthy games are.. While attending the the 2004 game developers conference I heard John give a Q&A session and he was asked if he considering games art.. He replied that no he did NOT consider games art, because they are created purely to be fun and entertaining. ALSO there is an intelligent award show. It's called the "Developers Choice Awards" and does focus ONLY on the games and is attended by the top developers. They have insightful categories.. Like "Best Character Development", "Best Plot", "Best Independent Game", etc, etc..
dont get my wrong on my commet but what you saw on that sad attempt at a game award is what most gamers today likes. orignal games simply dont excest anymore unless you count xboxes fable everything else is simple remake after remake and the only reasion fable was orignal couse it was made buy the same folks who made black and white. truly orignal games dont excest anymore couse there to big of a risk for game companys and if the game flops they go broke. so they stick to what sells i mean rocstar is a good friggin example who needs 3 gta games for the same friggen console not to metion all 3 are almost excaly the same gameplay and gfx wise. but it works i mean gta sa is a huge seller couse your common gamer will buy anything that has the gta logo on it lol.
i dunno, have you actually played any MMORPG lately? the stereotype is pretty accurate, and never do you see a 'gamer' speak up against his peers (it almost always is a guy by the way) and tell them to stop saying things like 'b@##$' and 'f@#'
"when we saw the first commercials for the playstation - glitzy, mtv styl affairs that spoke to the sort of people we weren't - we began to worry" http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2001-06 -06&res=l
"why does my EB look like Greek Row?"
http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-11 -08&res=l
To the only significant comment in this article not by Stratjakt
Thank you
Erect Horsecock
Keep hope alive.
"7 Days" was the only reason I ever watched it.
The awards show was quite amusing to me. The second something becomes "trendy" it becomes eaten by companies that slap their brand on it hoping to ride the wave of fame that they themselves did not create. Hopefully, games are a merging of engineering and art created by people who want to share amazing things. There is a difference in knowing the name of something and knowing something. It doesn't seem like Hollywood's depth reaches much beyond the name.
"Attractive" means "people are attracted" - that, and nothing more. It does not mean skinny, fat, dark-haired, blonde, freckled, pale, suntanned, rich or poor, virtuous or skanky. Attractive is for you whatever appeals to you. It is not a universal metric. There is no scale of 1 to 10.
A strain of paranoid prevention can be worse than the disease, whate'er the intention.
Sid Meier, Firaxis
Jeff Briggs, Firaxis
Brian Reynolds, Big Huge Games
Chris Sawyer, Microprose (Atari?)
Chris Taylor, Gas Powered Games
Will Wright, Maxis (EA)
Johan Andersson[0], Paradox Entertainment
Bruce Shelley, Ensemble Studious
John Carmack, iD Software
I could probably think of a few more if I tried. Peter Molyneux. Romero. Eh.
[0] Had to cheat and Google for Johan's last name.:)
Is this a sigs-optional kind of place? 'Cause I am totally down with that if you know what I mean.
Oh muy - an acceptance speech by Will Wright? I think I just had a minor orgasm reading that. The dude was my idol way back when in the SimCity days...
what you're calling for already exists, it's called the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) and there is also the Game's Developer Choice Awards (GDC). Both of these bodies already do the kind of things that you are asking for and they are well respected in the industry. Just because you are not televised doesn't mean you don't matter.
If you're a game publisher your PR marketing staff may want the SpikeTV award, but your developers and game creators want the AIAS award (in the UK the BAFTAs).
It sounds like he wants to make things boring. The Oscars put me to sleep.
Granted, the VGAs sucked, but they were so bad that it made certain parts midly amusing. This year's show was better than last's, meaning as time goes on they could actually improve.
One of the first and most obvious steps into the right direction is for them to focus more on the games instead of the "music" performances that have little to do with anything.
I mean they could've at least invited some cover bands to play like The Black Mages, NESkimos, The Advantage or even that orchestra that did the Smashing Live CD.
To me that seems like a much better way to kick off a show about video games.
A Machinima award would be great too, and maybe a tournament between unlikely presenters or nominees.
Just by focusing more on the gaming aspect of the show and possibly getting better awards / presenters (get Flex off my TV) would make it much more enjoyable.
For Whom The Bell Tolls? Damn straight.
Please forgive my lack of subtlety, spelling/grammar, and tact. It's 3AM for me, then again this is /.
As you pointed out I do beleive that the 46-23-36 image does make girls think they have to be busty to be attractive. Look at the breast implant rates in this country. Further you need to keep in mind our greatest export, culture. How does this change ideals in other countries? Facial hair isn't beautiful now, damn I was growing fine peach fuzz... etc.
However there is a flipside to this coin that hasn't been mentioned. What about the girls who are thusly stacked? They start getting oggled at inappropriate ages (9-10), not just by peers but also grown men (admit it, you've caught yourself). Many of these girls grow up thinking they have to live up to these sex symbols/goddesses and get confused along the way.
Being called a whore for not dating/making out/etc. with someone isn't fair but I recall it happening. If they did do it, then they will be called a whore as well. What about the busty is dumb stereotype, I call it the Pamela Anderson Architype (maybe not fair, but sounds better than Anna Nicole Smith), but it has been around much longer.
A stereotype is harmful, no matter what. I have heard people say there are positive stereotypes, but I ask how is confining someone's personality to a set of generalities ever fair? Big dicks, good with money, math whizzes, etc... what if you don't live up to it? Do you want to battle expectations you have never fostered your whole life?
just my .02
My inner self is ineffable, so don't eff with me.
I agree completely. The Game industry could use some recognition of the kind that the Academy Awards bestow upon Hollywood, certainly, but at least let it be with some class and integrity. Its no wonder that you had situations like Ron Perlman accepting an award on behalf of Bungie. I doubt they(Bungie) wanted to be associated with an affair of that kind. (Not to say Ron Perlman particularly would either.) The problem here is the presenter. Spike TV is the equivalent of Stuff Magazine for television. While a vast majority of males enjoy a saturation of T&A to varying degrees, Rap is certainly not a universal taste even among young males, and neither are extreme sports. The industry is struggling with throwing off precisely this male-centric image. Further travesties like this are the last thing we need. The industry has finally become a dominating force in mainstream culture, and while many will debate whether this is a good or bad thing, it has happened nonetheless. I sincerely hope that an organization like IGDA will make an attempt at a proper televised awards ceremony at some point. Even publicly televising the GDC awards ceremony would be a start.
My calendar says it'd December 16. Isn't that a bit late for "before the Holiday season"?
Think about it Hanukkah has already started, Ramadan is over and Christmas is close enough that all but the procrastinators have purchased their presents already.
So what Holiday are they marketing for? Just the Christmas procrastinators?
If this was a marketing for a Holiday they should have ran it in early to mid-November.
You can lose something that is loose, so tighten the loose item so you don't lose it.
As much as I agree with the article/point of view, I think the scary truth is that gaming has indeed gone ghetto.
I agree fully with this article. I watched the abomination that was the SPIKETV Video Game awards. I hated the fact that every friggen presenter for games looked a bad infomercial. One case was the two football players with the PSP. "Hey man what do you got there?" "It is a sony PSP." "How did you get one, they didn't ship to Japan until Monday?" I mean it was all monotone BS. Oh and Just because Snoop did a peace on Players for G4 DOESN'T MAKE HIME A GAMER!!! Personally it was a joke mocking all of us true gamers who wish to have an award show that is worth watching, much like the Oscars or the Emmys or the Grammy's. What kind of trophy is the Graphix Monkey. I couldn't watch it anymore I was ashamed that my love was being portrayed in this way. W/E maybe someday they will learn. I think the only group that got it right was G4 with Gephoria. Let's Leave it with them.
The thing about video games is that they have two main parallels with other forms of entertainment and, at the moment, they're not up to par with either. In particular games are like movies - a tale complete with characters, setting and story - and also like sports.
The sports aspect of gaming is gaining ground, although it hasn't really reached mainstream yet (outside of Korea, that is). Games offer competition - the a battle of skills, wits and reflexes to see who's the best which is pretty much exactly the appeal of sports. Competing - especially as part of a team - is fun. Supporting and following exceptional players or teams is fun. Watching skilled players do their thing is widely regarded as entertaining. Anyway, this area of gaming is gaining ground - there are professional leagues, many games have well-run competitive ladders and organised teams, and shoutcasting is relatively common. It's getting there, but not quite there yet.
The storytelling aspect of gaming is where it all falls apart horribly. While film is a medium for expression, the medium serving the purpose of conveying a tale, this is not the case with games. For better or worse, the storyline serves the medium rather than the other way around. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but when the storyline is always secondary it will suffer as a consequence. Usually, however, the situation isn't even as favourable as that - typically, a game's storyline is nothing more than an afterthought (if it has a story at all!). The vast majority of games that do feature some semblance of storyline do not succeed (or even attempt) to truly thrust the player into the role of the character, and the storyline is irrelevant and easily ignored.
There's another factor at play here, actually. There's still plenty of room for innovation in the gameplay itself, even for games that aren't storyline oriented. Unfortunately this is the area that's suffering the worst because it's far more dangerous to try to create something that deviates from the currently defined genres than it is to assemble something that's already well understood and proven by positive sales figures. It's not just a question of greed, either. I'm not talking about companies that churn out simple rehashes. Take Blizzard, for example. They're experts in the field of refining and polishing existing game concepts to produce successful Real Time Strategy games, but nothing in the gameplay is ever new. For a game company to create something that has not been done before is an incredible risk. If it's tried and true it is certain to sell. If it's experimental then - good game or not - it is a huge risk.
History has shown that it's not a risk that often pays off. Dune 2 wasn't the father of the Real Time Strategy genre but its firstborn; the honour goes to a game called Herzog Zwei that few people have heard of and fewer played. The rise of stealth-based games probably owe their existence to Looking Glass Studios' Theif series - completely different to anything anyone had played before (but actually good) as well as featuring a rich setting and plot - but despite a small, loyal following the company they went bankrupt. Theif 3 was only possible after the effects of the first two games eventually precipitated a recognisable genre and viable market. Sacrifice came onto the scene with a completely new take on strategy, an engaging storyline which the player's actions actually shape, graphics that were ahead of their time and still quite pretty by today's standards, and even humour. It was receieved with critical acclaim, then nobody bought it.
History has also shown that it's not the quality of the game that counts but rather how well it is marketed. And I mean "marketed", not "marketable". The Half-Life mod scene is an excellent case study, as there is a myriad of mods of varying quality and inventiveness yet this isn't what dictates which mods rise to the top and which languish in obscutity. Take Counterstrike, for example. Counterstrike's immense p
Well said. I'm not sure if this has been pointed out yet or not, but all award shows exist to be advertisement. They exist to create a buzz about whatever it is they're awarding. I don't think the academy awards are around to elevate the level of film discourse in the country, I think they're around so people can see the stars come out, know what to see and feel good about it, and think they're on top of this (self established) major cultural event. Taken as marketing, though, I think there's a lot of value in looking at the VGAs. I have to say, if I strung all the game ad's I've seen together, it would pretty much turn out like that show. So if we take the VGAs as a reflection of how the industry presents itself, than yes, it's pretty immature and repulsive. I don't really blame the VGA's for dumbing things down. It'd be great if it was a highbrow show, but I see a few problems with that. First, the people who really should be presenting and receiving the awards aren't really that famous or attractive, on the whole. People watch most award shows because there's a boat load of celebrities there, doing their celebrity thing. Second, I think any game award show would have a hard market to please. Most gamers agree on the nominees and the winners of the last VGA's, but seem divided over the presentation. Why do we take the academy awards so seriously? Because the show takes itself seriously. And what's its demographic? I would say middle aged people whose programing generally doesn't include half naked women and rock guitar riffs cutting in every 10 seconds. And the winners? Adult dramas. But look at the teen choice awards, or the MTV awards. Totally different presentation, different demographic and different winners. But I think the people who watch those shows are generally pretty happy with them. So in the mind of the network, who's playing these games, 13 year olds, or 30 year olds. (Obviously, a network as hyper-misogynistic as Spike is going to aim low.) Maybe the easy answer here is that, from the get go, we need more than one type of show. Third, I think the games themselves should be held partly accountable for the overall level of maturity of the show. While brilliant formally, the scatologically obsessed content of San Andreas couldn't play well at at buttoned up affair. On gaming's ever advancing march toward an art form, the VGA's are sure to be an interesting and illuminating artifact.
Right, like male models are all 100 lbs overweight and have acne. Women are such hypocrites on this - they bitch and moan at men for being atracted to thin, busty women, but would pass over your Average Overweight Joe for Brad Pitt in fight club in a nanosecond. Women, just as men, are very movitated by looks - its just that men aren't completely two-faced about it.
First off, as it's already been said, this show was on SpikeTV, a station notorious for calling itself "TV for Men" (i.e. Playboy Channel #999) so gansta rap, tastelessness and bunny suits are the norm. The ONLY good program i ever saw on SpikeTV was Xtreme Challenge which was not created by American men (go figure). Second, it's an awards show. The games which trully deserve to be "honored" won't be. It's common knowledge that award shows are based on sales and popularity and NOT actual artistic value, creation time, effort or talent. Look, if Eminem can be awarded the same trophy owned by Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmerman the shows are obviously biased. Granted, i don't HATE 8 Mile but i can guarantee there were atleast ten more deserving films released that year. Lastly, as much as i hate to admit it, the majority of "gamers" today are young boys (15-24) who have grown up in the modern society of "gansta wannabes" and "hos". The rest of us must wallow through the shelves of crap released to the MASS market and feed on what little bit of good gaming is still out there. And yes there IS still a plethora of GOOD gaming left in the world. And there is still a market for the gamer who doesn'r care if it's "trendy" or "bitchin". If you want a game that wins awards then you aren't playing for the right reasons. They're supposed to entertain you. Look for that, and you'll never be disappointed again.
~da