Steam powered VGX thread

[Eel O'Brian]

Joel McHale hosts The Soup, where he is known for being a snarky asshole who mercilessly mocks anything and anyone. I don't know what they thought they were gonna get when they hired him, but that's exactly what they got.

[Himu]

Hmmm. The more I think of it the more I think Joel treated the event the exact manner it should have been. Geoff is too self serious and Joel made a good example as to how utterly soulless the gaming press is. It made for uncomfortable moments but having someone treat the game industry like the joke it is - a billion dollar industry? - is neat. Doesn't make him less of an asshole though
 

[Great Rumbler]

The two guys from Mega64 should have hosted the VGX awards this year.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Hmmm. The more I think of it the more I think Joel treated the event the exact manner it should have been. Geoff is too self serious and Joel made a good example as to how utterly soulless the gaming press is. It made for uncomfortable moments but having someone treat the game industry like the joke it is - a billion dollar industry? - is neat. Doesn't make him less of an asshole though

This sums up how i feel.

Joel really showed a lot of whats missing in game journalism, but he lacks the refinement to be tactful and snarky.

[demi]

Showing Cranky Kong was actually good, Nintendo blowing a "huge" announcement in this turd show would have been a huge waste.

[maxy]

Joel was a bright spot to me.He did went overboard with diaper jokes at the start but he quickly changed  that.

It was pretty funny to see him poking at this generally dishonest and pompous industry.I wish there was someone from EA and Activision there.

[Himu]

Hmmm. The more I think of it the more I think Joel treated the event the exact manner it should have been. Geoff is too self serious and Joel made a good example as to how utterly soulless the gaming press is. It made for uncomfortable moments but having someone treat the game industry like the joke it is - a billion dollar industry? - is neat. Doesn't make him less of an asshole though

This sums up how i feel.

Joel really showed a lot of whats missing in game journalism, but he lacks the refinement to be tactful and snarky.

The way Matt and Trey did it was much better.

[Himu]

Joel was a bright spot to me.He did went overboard with diaper jokes at the start but he quickly changed  that.

It was pretty funny to see him poking at this generally dishonest and pompous industry.I wish there was someone from EA and Activision there.

Two words: Square Enix.

[Sho Nuff]

This is truly the awards show the industry deserves.

[thisismyusername]

Let's be honest though: Does the game industry/hobby even need awards shows?

[Himu]

I don't know. I think awards could be cool if handled right and actually gives respect to this hobby many of us have been into for decades and the creators who toil their asses off to make games we enjoy rather than be PR shill fests.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Yeah but Spike is the only network that would give something like a video game awards show the time of day.  No legitimate station would ever host something like an awards show for vidya.

[Himu]

Does it really need to be shown on tv? Is the porn awards shown on tv?


Think of it like this. Porn Awards are more classy than Video Game Awards.

[Himu]

Comedy Central could do a solid job.

[cool breeze]

the DICE awards were on IFC one year, I think.  although if the viewership wasn't enough for IFC, that explains a lot.

I have a feeling that gametrailers will either distance themselves from VGX embarrassment or awkwardly embrace the absurdity.  It's like after the Konami E3 2010 conference when they started prerecording everything 
 

[Human Snorenado]

FX could give it a shot.  Similar demographics to Spike I'm willing to bet.

Also, MTV is always looking for non-music related programming, and they have experience running meaningless awards shows.

[Himu]

I think the main problem is that I think Spike and GT have a contract so if there's going to be any fucking game awards any time it's gonna be on Spike. The thing is, GT is USUALLY the embodiment of classy at least as far as games go. The dude who provides the voice for most GT reviews manages to celebrate games without coming off as a pandering nerd. He just has a way with words and has a beautiful voice. I don't understand why GT doesn't provide that experience for their Spike awards.

[Takao]

Game Trailers is owned by Viacom. Viacom also owns Spike, MTV, Nickelodeon, and whole bunch of stuff.

Based on the fact that no one seems to complain about the presence of trailers in the VGAs, I'm going to assume a lot of gamers don't want a proper ceremony. The VGAs have always felt like another cog in the marketing machine, and given it's a for profit televised event that makes sense. If gamers really want a proper awards show instead of another venue for game announcements the BAFTAs would be a bigger deal.

[Himu]

Viacom owns MTV. Put it on MTV. Fuck Spike.

[Takao]

The ratings are too poor for them to try it on MTV:

2007 - 921,000
2008 - 680,000
2009 - 647,000
2010 - 627,000

I couldn't find any 2011 or 2012 numbers, but given this year's show was primarily online only (with a 12AM one hour edit on Spike) on a much cheaper budget I'm going to assume ratings continued to slide. For comparison, the viewership figures for the 2013 MTV Movie Awards were 3.8 million viewers.

[Rahxephon91]

The reason most hardcore gamers watch this is for exclusive content. If it wasn't there, how many people would give a shit?

0. Hell whats the reason to watch it even with the exclusive content? It's going to be up somewhere within a minute after it airs anyway. Then someone will make a video of all the awkward and funny moments. No reason to really actually watch the thing.

[Himu]

Then again, remember just a few months ago what happened at the VMAs. Awards shows are basically big ad machines so I don't have a problem with the ads, so much as how they go about it. at least make it worth watching, ya know? Then again, Grammys and other award shows are bad year after year. Maybe Awards Shows are just an outdated format of marketing and come off as cheesy vapid shit in 2013?

I mean...

The reason most hardcore gamers watch this is for exclusive content. If it wasn't there, how many people would give a shit?

Why would there be no exclusive content? The exclusive content is the equivalent of your fave doing a set at a music awards. No one would watch  the Academy Awards if the stars weren't there and there was no pageantry. Every award show on tv has exclusive scoops, announcements, reasons to watch. It's just that they have different kinds.

[Smooth Groove]

Fuck McHale.  If you gonna take the money, don't act like the job is beneath you. 

[Smooth Groove]

Wrath, check out AVN.  Best entertainment awards show by far. 

[Sho Nuff]

Navgtr needs to save gaming journalism

[Shaka Khan]

Haha, came here to post that.

[demi]

LMAO no way. Photoshop?

[demi]

Then who cares

[CajoleJuice]

what the fuck is wrong with nerds

[Shaka Khan]

We're horny and lonely.

[Raban]

NSFW

http://i.imgur.com/NKqo7H3h.jpg

[Human Snorenado]

We're horny and lonely.

Too true

[Stoney Mason]

Maybe Awards Shows are just an outdated format of marketing and come off as cheesy vapid shit in 2013?

And there is the winner.


I never understand the yearly hand wringing that goes on with pundits and GAF where they want the awards to be this elegant and dignified affair when so little of gaming reflect an elegant and dignified affair.

Either you can make a "classy" show that the mainstream won't watch at all because they will find it boring and target the small hardcore audience that is interested in this stuff.

Or you can make a trashy typical TV award show. The mainstream will barely watch that also but it completely annoys the hardcore audience.

This year seemed like an effort to try to split the difference between the two. And of course neither the mainstream nor the hardcore will be happy with that as you aren't really satisfying either group.

[Himu]

Pretty obvious the thing was an executive marketing scheme. The entire thing was a cynical piece of shit. However, you provided no source.

[demi]

The quote was actually from Reddit

[thisismyusername]

Let's give credit where it's due. Before Youtube started to allow Video game videos to proliferate, Gametrailers wasn't terrible and was actually quite good to find trailers that publishers uploaded somewhere-else to see.

But since they tried to redesign the site and stuff? It's just as bad as Youtube in getting videos.  I haven't been there since 2008 or so because of it.

I wonder how much of it is Geoff and the other is Viacom. I truly wonder how much Geoff has influence in the entire thing/wanting an awards show/GT over just doing his own thing in the industry.

[Himu]

Why doesn't Viacom just make a fucking Game trailers channel, monetize, and upload fucking everything they put on GT also on YT?

[hampster]

Let's give credit where it's due. Before Youtube started to allow Video game videos to proliferate, Gametrailers wasn't terrible and was actually quite good to find trailers that publishers uploaded somewhere-else to see.

But since they tried to redesign the site and stuff? It's just as bad as Youtube in getting videos.  I haven't been there since 2008 or so because of it.

Yeah. I was on GT daily back in 2005-2006. I can't remember the last time I was there though. In fact I can't remember the last time I watched a game related video that wasn't on youtube (not counting twitch streams). I watch giantbomb's stuff, but only through youtube

[fistfulofmetal]

Pop Fiction is a pretty great series on GT.

Hey Ash as well

Bonus Round isn't bad.

Pach Attack is a thing that I sometimes watch.

[Himu]

Because nobody would watch that shit.

Pretty incorrect. GT reviews are still lauded and they also still make great tributes to classic series. Their Final Fantasy series made me wet.

[Brehvolution]

These guys work quick.
(Image removed from quote.)

This is hilarious. 2nd best thing to come out of vgx.

[thisismyusername]

Because nobody would watch that shit.

Ding-ding. TechTV and G4 died because...? Nobody was really watching that "nerdy" programming.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I miss Cinematech and This Week in Tech.

[close]

[Himu]

Because nobody would watch that shit.

Ding-ding. TechTV and G4 died because...? Nobody was really watching that "nerdy" programming.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I miss Cinematech and This Week in Tech.

[close]

But it makes more sense to just join with YouTube than fight it. You cant beat YouTube. And practically every relevant gaming show short of giant bomb is on YouTube.

[Stoney Mason]

Joel humiliated Geoff

Decent analysis.


I don't know why the VGA awards are a live thing also. There is nothing exciting about a "live" video game award show. This isn't a sporting event or a musical performance event. It should be a pre-packaged taped thing, where it can be edited and remove all of the awkward live shit. Make it slick and do more produced documentary style segments like the doctor/weightlifter dude bit.

[Himu]

Yeah I really liked the Donkey Kong thing

[demi]

Yea - the Kong thing was definite interesting. I liked it.

[Takao]

Game Trailers does have a Youtube channel, but as one would expect a lot of their content is timed exclusive to the actual website. It's annoying because the GT player turns into dog shit the moment your internet speed drops.

Here's the Donkey Kong thing, which I enjoyed too: