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The VGAs are good for the industry

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Monday, December 12, 2011
EDITOR'S NOTEfrom Jason Lomberg

I think the VGAs are a joke...lots of spectacle, awkward silences, and the most un-hip crowd in existence. But Spike's Video Game Awards could become something respectful and simultaneously expose gaming to a more mainstream audience.

The Video Game Awards (VGAs) give lesser-known developers recognition on a larger scale. Big names like Hideo Kojima, Shigeru Miyamoto, Cliff Bleszinski, and Peter Molyneux receive their due, but the smaller guys usually languish in obscurity. 

                    

It was nice to see Rocksteady Studios co-owners Jamie Walker and Sefton Hill walk onstage at this year's VGAs and receive their award for Batman: Arkham City. High-sales figures mean a great deal less than recognition by one's peers.

Sometimes we need a little pat on the back. Let’s face it: The public doesn't always portray our industry in a positive light. And we often deserve the criticism...EA's "Your mom hates Dead Space" campaign is indefensible. But a majority of negative media coverage is baseless. And Spike TV's award show is ultimately a boon for the industry.

 

The VGAs are the MTV Movie Awards of the gaming world and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I enjoy the spectacle of the Movie Awards far more than the stuffiness of the Academy Awards.

In the past couple of years the VGAs featured premiers and exclusive trailers. They announced Skyrim at last year's VGAs, and the popular Bethesda RPG won 2011's Game of the Year award.

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
The 2011 VGAs awarded Skyrim with the Video Game of the Year award.
 

The celebrities were a huge improvement over last year. Felicia Day hosted a number of segments where she ran contests to raise money for the Child's Play charity. Child's Play deserves as much support as possible, and I implore you to donate if you can.

But I did have some problems with the show. The VGAs don’t represent gaming 100% accurately. Lately, pomp and circumstance has taken precedence over actual awards. The developers ought to be recognized, so it doesn't make sense to give out most of the prizes off camera.

The VGAs also have an image problem: Core gamers usually dismiss the show as a mainstream distraction.

We have to stop hating anything that's popular. Geoff Keighley (executive producer of the VGAs) has mentioned on numerous occasions that the show isn’t just for the hardcore. Why is that statement so damning? I play games just as much as anybody, but I don’t turn up my nose at something which appeals to as many people as possible.   

Call of Duty was the highest-trending topic with the VGA hash tag. COD achieves high sales numbers, but it's popular to hate the series. A larger crowd than core gamers loves COD, and we shouldn't divorce ourselves from that part of our community. Gaming is no long an exclusive club, and we ought to embrace a larger audience.

The VGAs have many issues, but we should work with it. We need to give constructive criticism and refrain from useless vitriol. The VGAs have the potential to expose gaming to a wider audience, and we should strive to make the show a success.

 
Tags: Dead Space, Batman: Arkham City, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
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Comments (17)
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Justin Davis
December 12, 2011

No, no, and no.  The VGA's are still much too encouraging of gaming stereotypes and marketing driven to be worth anything at all.  I didn't actually watch the show but from what I heard, most of the show was a random "celebrity" presenting a new trailer, instead of giving out awards.  The awards are so secondary that it is almost laughable.  The point of the VGA's isn't the awards; it just allows Gametrailers to nab a bunch of exclusive trailers and reveals.

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Kevin Wallace
December 12, 2011

 

The VGA's need to get off of the "Guys Network" that is Spike and move itself to ABC, NBC, or CBS (not likely).  It needs to try and place itself with the Oscars and the Grammy's in terms of presentation and not a rejected Mt Dew ad from the 90's (Such a radical set dude!) The emphasis on male gamers is also going to have to go.  And they need to use the time to justify the medium as well.  What I mean by that is behind the scenes of what it takes to make a game.  Perhaps the Game of the Year submits a 5 minute video that outlines what they did to make this game special.  The artwork, the programing, the voice acting, the play testing.  It would go a long way to show that these multi-million dollar (billion dollar) studios are putting out incredible works.  It can be a stage to show off Video Games, but it ends up like a silly advertisement for the industry. 

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Jason Lomberg
December 12, 2011

Frankly, the industry needs to grow past puberty for a big network to express interest in an award show of this caliber.

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Kevin Wallace
December 12, 2011

Very true.

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Justin Davis
December 12, 2011

While I don't disagree with your point, there already exist things like DICE and the GDC Awards that are much better suited towards acknowledging the developers in the right way.  Televising (or streaming on the Net) those might be more the right move.

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James Pugh
December 12, 2011

I totally agree and I thought i made mention of those but if I didnt i apologize.

I also agree that we need to gro up

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Greg Sewart
December 13, 2011

The problem with what you're describing is that it would likely draw a very small audience. The Academy Awards can get away with a long, boring award ceremony because movies and celebrity culture is so mainstream that people will tune in.

I highly doubt video games and the personalities within the industry even come close to carrying the sort of weight with the general public that would result in viewership that would drive the amount of ad sales needed to fund such an event. It would be the equivalent of a three-hour Academy Awards ceremony where 90% of the awards given are for best foreign language films and best documentary.

I do agree that the VGAs will not change as long as they remain on Spike. The network has built an audience and will continue to cater to it. No surprise there. And honestly, there's nothing wrong with that.

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Alfredo Gil
December 12, 2011

You can make a mainstream event for video games without being an embarrassment. http://jasonschreier.com/2011/12/11/spike-vgas/

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Kevin Wallace
December 12, 2011

This.

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Sean Bassinger
December 12, 2011

There's no denying that the VGAs need improvement. The real issue is whether or not a network like Spike would actually allow any sort of "serious" enhancements to take place, seeing as they probably thrive off the bad jokes and stereotypes.

I don't believe mainstream exposure for gaming is terrible...I think it's great. But what we're seeing on Spike's show is basically the best of the worst, which also gives mainstream crowds a terrible idea of what gaming and its fans are really like.

Then again, I don't even know why I'm trying to argue change, because I know for a fact it's all about the ratings. And if a crew of individuals continue to watch this show, just to complain about how terrible it is, Spike's ratings are only going to increase.

If it never improves, I hope it (somehow) stops. There are so many more meaningful gaming events (like the GDC) to focus our time and energy on.

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Callum Rakestraw
December 12, 2011

I don't think anyone would deny that the VGAs have the potential to be something great. But come on -- teabagging award winners? Really, guys? Ugh. Disgraceful. Deplorable, even. Really hard to care about the VGAs when they pull dumb stunts like that.

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James Pugh
December 12, 2011

Most of the critism is spot on. Teabagging is dumb but we cannot ignore the more unsettling elements of our industry. We allow people to play online and be ass-hats and Chuck (Zachary Levi) took time to belittle people that do.

Felicia Day raised a lot of money for childs play which should be commmeded even further.

 

The show is big and dumb but thats a bad thing? The Academy Awards are big and dumb and no ones watches them. They even made a reference that 41% of gamers are female. Ther're trying and we should work with them instead of belittling them.

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Jonathan Oyama
December 12, 2011

I don't think it's a terrible show. I just think it has an MTV level of juvenile humor. Hopefully somebody will figure out how to make an award show that is at least a little more mature.

I don't think it will happen overnight, though. It'll take quite a while.

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Jason Lomberg
December 12, 2011

The Academy Award ratings were down from last year but still boasted nearly 40 million viewers. Any video-game award show would be lucky to achieve those numbers. The Oscars may be bloated, but there's an air of respectibility to it, while the VGAs seem like an immature boy's club. And the latter is the image projected to the world.

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Jonathan Oyama
December 13, 2011

I think another part of the problem has to do with the lack of standards in judging a game properly. The Academy Awards manage to survive because they cater to a much wider range of recipients, especially foreign films. Meanwhile, the VGAs tend to cater to a niche camp of young adult guys.

I mean, half of the problem has to do with the channel it is on. Spike isn't especially known for subtlety. If the industry really wanted to look more respectable, it would have tried to appeal to the artsy crowd on a different channel. As of right now, the award show seems to be sticking to its main audience of immature young guys.

I figure that video game award shows will evolve, but only after a long period of bickering and stagnation.

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Timothy Pecoraro
December 12, 2011

As long as the VGA's are on Spike they are going to be an insulting joke.  I think a show where it is stressed that it is about the developers giving those developers a limited time to speak once they get the awards is ridiculous.  If you want to have an award show, you are going to have to go without your nightly episodes of Manswers and CSI reruns.  But Spike isn't... So this is what we get.  It is all about acting silly, not awarding industry professionals.  Fewer celebrities and super models more industry folks.  Unless you want to call a spade a spade.  The VGAs are all about publicity!  Not about recognizing developer achievement.

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Matthew Anfuso
December 14, 2011

The problem with the VGAs is that they have about the same clout as the MTV Movie awards, none. Its just one network giving out awards because they can, and they just turn it into a spectacle. If we really want to give developers recognition, then we should televise an awards show like the AIAS awards, or the GDC awards.

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