So...the VGX. How was it? If I had to bet that EA would suddenly change their policy on microtransactions being obsolete in their future projects, then they would pull a bigger miracle than the VGX could in succeeding to give a good video game awards show. Before I go further, I will let you know that I am merely going to have a snippet of ranting before I get into the meat of analyzing why the VGX was a disgraceful event in need of multiple fixes. As for my overall opinion, the VGX was awful.
I'm not going to approach this with any form of restraint to go easy on this poor excuse of an awards ceremony. If anything, I would go so far as to say that the people behind this had no clue what they were doing. Between the format of the show to the awful hosts, the VGX was just a complete failure on so many levels. There were times that I wanted to just turn off the stream and go to bed. Sleeping would be more advantageous to me than waiting to see another moment of awkward silence or hearing another misfired joke from Joel McHale.
On top of the instances of the hosts having the most pointless and off-kilter filler conversations, the audience (which is supposed to be gamers) was subjected to The Loiter Squad's own brand of stale hosting. What were the people in charge thinking of giving these guys microphones? They have the simple job of being the middle ground segment that leads from the primary hosts to reminding everyone of the upcoming lackluster concert. What do we get from these geniuses? "Potatoes!" "I love driving the cars." "You can buy a baseball bat!" Did they not have prompters or cue cards to help them?
How about the fact that this awards show wasn't even an awards show? How about the fact that every developer brought on stage was thoroughly lambasted by Joel McHale and the people in charge let that happen? How about the fact that the production value was so obviously sub-par to previous years? How about the fact that they actually brought on Youtubers like Smosh and PewDiePie to contribute to the show? That is VGX in a nutshell. For arguably, one of the best years for video games this is what we get. This is what Spike and Geoff Keighley honestly believe is acceptable for both gamers and the industry.
Okay, the rant is over. It's time to get to the nitty-gritty. The VGX was hands down the most cringe-worthy show I have ever witnessed. That's saying something compared to most reality television and given that this was online. Gamers have put up with a lot of problems that are both external and internal. In this case, the VGX was a disaster upon disasters. It was an amalgamation of awkwardness, negativity, disrespect, and unprofessionalism. Things need to change in order to get a good video game awards ceremony. There are way too many glaring issues, but I have some solutions.
Fix Number One: No More Clueless Celebrities Looking for an Easy Paycheck
One thing that is obvious that needs to change is the selection process of hosts. Up until now, we have had David Spade (2003), Snoop Dogg (2004), Samuel L. Jackson (2005 - 2007/2012), Jack Black (2008), Neil Patrick Harris (2010), Zachary Levi (2011), and finally Geoff Keighley and Joel McHale (2013) host the event. Out of everyone on this list, I think that Jack Black and Samuel L. Jackson are the closest we can get to people who actually know about the industry and gamers because they have been involved with them on many occasions. Everyone else on the list seems like a shoehorned choice. It's like the suits are around the meeting table discussing who they know could host, but without any idea as to who is relatable.
This year isn't any different. Out of all of the hosts, Geoff Keighley and Joel McHale were the absolute worst. They had no chemistry and no enthusiasm. Keighley was trying to keep the show moving, but McHale was constantly interrupting with his dumb jokes and lack of motivation that is followed up with awkward moments of silence. I keep hearing from people that Joel McHale is actually funny. I agree because I have seen him in Ted, but during VGX he was disrespectful to the game developers, had some of the worst jokes I have ever heard, and openly mocked the entire show. You don't want a host (an unmotivated one at that) who does that sort of thing. Both of them trying to host didn't work and it was embarrassing to watch. We need people like Will Wheaton, Felicia Day, Rosario Dawnson, Mila Kunis, and even Robin Williams to host because they have a background with games.
Fix Number Two: No More Control and Influence from Spike and Geoff Keighley
While I'm on the topic of getting rid of people, I'm going to say this: Geoff Keighley just give it up. You tried. It is admirable that you are attempting to make this work, but it isn't. As it stands, a lot of gamers (myself included) don't take you seriously. You hype up the VGAs (VGX) every year and every year the show is lackluster. Your media demeanor and presence just brings down the quality that much more. Break the deal with Spike, stop the gimmicks because that Twitter connection was asinine, and hand the reigns of production over to someone else who will take it seriously.
Fix Number Three: Get Serious and Motivated About It
That is ultimately what it boils down to: the show being taken seriously. The first few years of the VGAs were complete jokes and parodied everything. If movies, television, and music can get huge and bombastic ceremonies, why can't video games? More so, why can't the people in charge take this seriously? We are celebrating the best that the industry had. Yes, there can be jokes, but not to the point where it's insulting and degrading. For an awards show, I would just want it to be respectable, fun, and actually be about the best of the best in the industry. Which brings me to...
Fix Number Four: It Has to be an ACTUAL Awards Show
How many categories were there? The answer is twenty-three. How many awards were actually streamed during those three hours? The answer is seven. Action/Adventure went to Assassin's Creed IV, Best Sports Game went to NBA 2K14, Game of the Year went to Grand Theft Auto V, Character of the Year went to the Lutece Twins, Best Independent Game went to Gone Home, Best Shooter went to BioShock Infinite, and Studio of the Year went to Naughty Dog. Each award was presented haphazardly and without any real motivation. That needs to be fixed.
The other categories were swept under the rug in favor of more premiers and developer interviews. Now, I'm all for listening to developers, but there is a better way than doing interviews. Maybe you can have previews of upcoming games. Not trailers like the premiers, but straight up videos from the developers showcasing their new projects. That would be interesting. You can keep the premiers, but make it games we haven't seen yet. We already knew about half of those games from E3 and online coverage.
Fix Number Five: Work Those Category Nominees Better
Every year, the VGAs have had terrible organization with their nominees. This year had problems, too. Tomb Raider, BioShock Infinite, and Grand Theft Auto V were in three "Best" categories including Best Xbox and Best Playstation Game. I haven't taken the Xbox or Playstation categories seriously given that the VGAs have had multiplatform games take up half or most of the slots anyway. "Best Xbox" should go to exclusive Xbox games and "Best Playstation" should go to exclusive Playstation games. Nintendo and PC always have exclusives for their categories (even though Battlefield 4 was a nominee for PC for some reason).
The same goes for "Best Soundtrack" and "Best Song". The "Best Song" category is essentially "Best Soundtrack" light. How can GTA V get the soundtrack category, but BioShock Infinite get the song category? It doesn't make sense, especially since Ni No Kuni, BioShock Infinite, and The Last of Us had more original music than the licensed music in GTA V. Just do your research better and then we can get more choices per category that actually make sense.
Fix Number Six: No More Youtubers (Maybe)
I know Smosh and PewDiePie have their own audiences. Good for them. There's an audience for everything...unfortunately. Obviously, I don't care for either of them. Whenever I saw one of their videos, I felt like my grasp on humor was slowly slipping away and landing on the kind of internet memes that thirteen-year-olds find funny. Loud, obnoxious, and annoying is not funny to me. That being said, there are talented and intelligent Youtubers out there, but to actually feature Smosh and PewDiePie is just torture on us guys who have different tastes in humor.
If you want and are insistent to have internet personalities, more power to you. If so, then please get people who are both well known and have a passion for gaming. Basically, the same request I have for hosts. I can list TotalBiscuit, Angry Joe, HappyConsoleGamer, Dodger, Jesse Cox, Ben Yahtzee, Lisa Foiles, and AlphaOmegaSin as easy candidates because they more often than not know what they are talking about.
Fix Number Seven: Bring Back the Orchestra, Lose the "Artists"
This is more of a personal note. I am very critical when it comes to music these days. My preferred genres of music range from alternative rock to heavy metal to orchestral. That's what I listen to. The Game of the Year orchestra pit that was featured last year was nothing short of fantastic. It was brilliant and it got me to say, "I want more of that". I want more performances to original scores and soundtracks from video games because that is how big gaming has become. There are dedicated orchestra groups out there for many studios.
But the Grand Theft Auto V concert? I really wasn't amused at all. We had barely three minutes with Lorne Balfe's performance last year. The GTA V concert was twenty minutes too long and featured music that has grown as mundane as the subject material it covers. Not to say that all rap music these days sucks, but it isn't leading to any real progression or breakthrough beyond the contemporary boundaries that many artists have grown comfortable with. For me, I want the original scores being featured more as opposed to already licensed music.
It's painfully obvious that there is still a lot of work to be done here. I think there is potential in a successful and meaningful video game awards show. Do I think it will happen in the near future? If this year's VGX proves anything and no one else takes over, then my answer is no. Unless a miracle is pulled somehow and our dissenting voices are heard, then I might be more optimistic about an awards show in 2014. For now, we only have our thoughts of what could be instead of what is.
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I would love for Robin Williams to host. That would be awesome.
I agree with pretty much all of these but #1 needs to be to let Geoff go. His dead eye camera pan is just too painful to watch.
This is a good list, I just have one nitpick with the Fifth section...It's very possible for one game to get Best Song while another gets Best Soundtrack...Think about the horseback ride into Mexico in Red Dead Redemption...That is one of the best music moments in games bar none, and many games have taken to trying to recreate that feeling, of a perfect song set during the perfect moment. A game could have little to no music through the rest, but it would still deserve recognition if it could capture that. Meanwhile, a soundtrack speaks to consistency and quality of the experience, the best soundtracks seemingly disappear at times, then circle back around to the main themes, w/ slight variations as the game progresses, becoming more of a mood motivator than the punch in the chest that a great and well timed song can be. That said, you also mention that GTA 5 was mainly licensed music, and I totally get that, but in the preroll to the game, Rockstar expressed that this was the first game w/ a true score, w/ enough original music from 3 different artists to score something like 20 films? At the same time, I personally can't point to the instances where this score really seemed predominant in anyway in my GTA 5 experience, and certainly no moreso than the regular radio, so while I feel like they should be recognized for the undertaking with a nomination, The Last of Us had a score from an amazingly talented Oscar winning performer that really spoke to the core of the experience, and I guarantee that anyone who played through the game could hear it in their head right now, it can't really be divorced from the rest of the experience, and that's what makes a great score. I haven't finished Infinite yet, but the God Only Knows section spoke to that great song feeling that I got from RDR, so I would give that award to them, I would most definitely give best soundtrack/score to TLOU hands down.