The VGX Awards....

Post Reply New Topic

So basically like every years VGA?

Some of you guys may not know this, but I'm a sucker for award shows. Well, just the Oscars really, but that's because I have an abiding love for cinema and love to see films that were really good get the credit they deserve. Yes, it is basically Hollywood self-congratulating itself, and has so many dumb policies and biases. Still, I like it.

Which brings me to the VGA's. The VGA's are pretty infamous for being, well, s**t. Many believe it to be an award show that seems to really go for the dudebro crowd and instead of celebrating the medium, it seems to have an awkward disdain for it. Usually relying on its "World Premieres," awkward celebrity cameos, and crazy amount of product placement.

I have to be honest: I never saw the VGA's. I heard they were terrible, so I decided to just wait for the trailers to come and watch them in the morning. Now however, the VGA's had changed to the VGX. A fresh start, so I decided to see it just for s**ts and giggles.

How wrong of an idea it was.

For those that didn't see, the VGX was more than a simple renaming. They changed the entire setting, making it pretty much an extended version of Attack of the Show or X-Play and add some awards, The Dewrito Overlord Geoff Keighly, and Jeff Winger from Community into the mix. That is not as great as it sounds unfortunately.

The awards portion itself was kinda lame. Game of the Year (which was given to GTA V) was given in the middle of the show, with no real buildup or excitement. Stuff like Best Shooter and Best Character were given away after or before the show. Does that make any sense to you? It sure doesn't to me.

So it was up to the reveals to make it all work. Those are usually pretty awesome. Skyrim, Metal Gear Solid V, Last of Us, Mass Effect 3, the list goes on and on when it comes to cool games being announced. This time? Not really, all we got were mostly trailers and gameplay footage of games we already knew about, such as The Division, Witcher 3, Stick of Truth and Quantum Break. The only new things came from Telltale (they're making a Borderlands game and a Game of Thrones one) and Hello Games' No Man's Sky (which looks unbelievably awesome and was the best thing shown). That's it. No big announcements. The one thing that made people want to watch your show and you failed to deliver.

I get the feeling that many of us want to like the VGA/VGX because it probably is (well, now was, since it's barely an awards show anymore) the biggest ceremony celebrating video games that isn't a trade show like E3 or Gamescom, and it's frustrating to see it be done so poorly, in a way that doesn't celebrate, but opposes gaming culture, not to mention trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator. All of this would be fine, if this wasn't the most well known video game award show, but it is, and that's sad.

We gamers deserve an awards show that treats gamers, and most importantly, the people behind making these wonderful video games, with some dignity and respect. Luckily, I've got just the thing.

If you're a film fan like myself, you may have heard of the BAFTA's, or the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Now you may be wondering why I'm mentioning them if you don't know them, and it's because they also have a Video Game Awards portion, something they've been doing since 1998. There may be no fancy world exclusive trailers and it may be more focused on Britain, but it actually celebrates the medium in a classic fashion. THE PEOPLE WEAR TUXEDOS AND EVERYTHING! It's not by any means perfect. It seems to be lacking in certain nominees (nothing for Best Writing for instance, or Best Studio), but it's a definite step in the right direction, and I urge you to check it out (the Awards are always streamed, and you can watch the old awards on Youtube).

So yeah, the VGX were disappointing, unfunny, mean-spirited, and just kind of boring. We may have lost the pointless celebrity cameos and overabundant product placement (No Mountain Dew or Doritos in sight), but what we got was just..... lifeless. Now that it doesn't even have all that great reveals (well, besides No Man's Sky and Telltale working on Borderlands), why are we still watching? There's now less need than ever. We deserve more than this. That may sound whiny and overly-entitled, but it's the truth. With the BAFTA's around, there's no need whatsoever. And unless Spike TV and the Dewrito pope take the criticism they got on Twitter to heart (which I doubt), we'll probably see the end of the VGX by the end of 2014, and NO ONE will be sad about it.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'M GONNA MAKE MY OWN VIDEO GAME AWARDS SHOW! WITH BLACKJACK! AND HOOKERS! In fact, forget the awards show.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaCso_b_PtY[/youtube]

Here is just an nibble of the awkward cake.

Got rid of the s for you.