Of the Spike Video Game Awards it was recently said,
"Instead we have explosions rocking the tricked out stage to screaming guitars. The crowd oohs and aahs on cue. This is how the populace sees gaming. It's for men and scantily clad women, and not much else. For teenagers."Mike Hanus...
This was an awesome statement when I read it. I was immediately struck like some kind of shot. The Christmas season has created in me, not a need for gaming but one of reading. I've managed to read so much about games over the past few hours that it probably rivals all that I've read in the past month. Going from one saved article to another I've enveloped so many analyses of Demon Souls and how sexism is handled in gaming that I was beginning to believe we had turned a corner in or intellectual cesspool(If your interested follow my twitter and click on the links, a few are posted at the top of this blog page). But then Mike Hanus had to send all of that straight to hell.
I hope you read the linked article from my little quote. But even if you don't, if watched the VGAs you will get the gist from the quote above; all be it a little out of context. As bad as the VGAs are they have basically the pulse of gaming culture as a whole pretty well nailed. And that is, as it has all ways been; truly the worst part of them. As one commenter on Gametrailers.com which was one of the sponsoring sites for the VGAs so eloquently put it,
"...Its only the Spike Video Game Awards it's not going to affect game sales...."
Which is probably why publishers and PR as a whole don't give much of a crap what happens on them. The developers are trotted out like lambs to slaughter and hope that they aren't portrayed in too embarrassing way. After all, to make video games is a kin to sending people to the moon in complexity and its not a like the average actor who trots up to collect their Academy Award has too much in common with someone who has a Masters Degree in multiple disciplines of Computer Science or Graphic Design. Certainly guys like Cliff Bleszinski or David Jaffe might act like rock stars but they have more in common with your average Harvard Professor than David Lee Roth.
Of course every year some boring, annoying, usually crazy fanboyish or elitist journalist complains about this sort of thing. Because of course, who would want to speak against this institution of the video game industry; except someone crazy. In fact, this year the fans were allowed to vote on the awards to, "shut them up." Well, that is an interesting strategy. I wonder if the Academy would let the American people vote on the Movie of the Year award if we complained enough. Alas, I doubt it.
The problem I have with the Spike Video Game Awards is the same problem Mike Hanus has with them. They keep talking to the people who would probably just download the trailers from Gametrailers.com and look at a list of winning games online; rather than needing to see 3 second clips for each game and a musical performance probably aimed at folks who aren't watching the awards anyway. If the Video Game Awards were more like the Academy Awards and had more of a review of the year structure and allowed everyone equal time to thank who they needed to thank and perhaps have some behind the scenes clips from game makers about historic titles. Like God of War or Super Mario Bros. You know something you couldn't see anywhere else. This kind of thing isn't out of place on the Academy Awards and they last hours. This rushed little affair could hardly make 2 hours with generous helpings of commercials. I'm sorry but I think Spike could have postponed the CSI reruns for a few hours to give this show a little more time.
Finally however, I'm only making suggestions here; because if you aren't going to do the awards properly it would probably be best for the industry that we don't broadcast this garbage until maybe everyone involves grows up enough to have a mature awards show rather than the analog for the Kids Choice Awards. The video game industry has grown up significantly this year. In fact, video game journalism has even grown up significantly this year. But in the public's view, the people who don't write, play, or make games; we are still the 8-17 year old man children who have never grown up and are obsessed with violence and sex. While I know things change slowly in the public's mind; things like the Spike Video Game Awards aren't doing us any favors....
-DevilsAlias(Timothy Pecoraro)
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