How would you fix the VGAs?

Alright, so the VGAs kinda sucked once again. What would you guys propose be done differently to make the show respectable and enjoyable for all types of gamers. What would be your idea of the ideal show?

My idea of a good show would be one hosted by someone like Tim Schafer (suggested by Justin McElroy). When listing nominees for GOTY, get people who have a fucking clue why those respective games are good to talk about them rather than some has been celebrity using stupid stereotypical idioms to describe every game such as, "Its got a lot of action!" or, "Boy do I love owning people", or "Yeah, it has a great story". Tell people WHY these games are good and WHY they deserve to be GOTY. Maybe pick a representative to from the judges panel to pitch why each game should be GOTY. Also, the only time a developer got a decent amount of time to speak tonight, they tea-bagged him. Way to disrespect the people you're trying to celebrate in a completely unfunny and cliche way.

Charity is great and all, but there's absolutely no need to waste time watching a Jonas brother jump around like Spiderman, Felicia Day slicing fruit, or some bimbos eating cupcakes off a conveyor belt. This is supposed to be a show about games, probably over half of the segments were either completely unrelated or loosely related to gaming. In the first 40 minutes of the show this year, they gave out ONE AWARD. Then, they proceeded to knock of about 10 awards in 30 seconds right before a commercial break. What the fuck? If the awards have no meaning, the show has no meaning.

Its neat that they spend time creating footage of some characters talking about the show but they could be better, and I'd like the see the developers of each specific character have input on these videos as to better capture the persona of each character. This show would greatly benefit from people like Tim Schafer, Justin McElroy, David Jaffe, Todd Howard, Jonathan Blow, Jeff Gerstmann, Ken Levine, etc. having their presence felt and running the show. Unfortunately, that kind of set up probably isn't possible with a show produced by Mark Burnett and aired on SPIKE. Until the show is completely produced and planned by those fully invested in the gaming industry, this show will always reflect badly for the gaming community as a whole.

@ADAMWD said:

Alright, so the VGAs kinda sucked once again.

Understatement of the year.

Edit: to actually add something to the discussion, I would say this: we've tried an "awards show" with comedy bits and musical guests and it fails miserably, year after year. How about we try an actual "serious" awards show put on by people who, I dunno, actually know something about video games?

@Grimluck343: Yeah, you're right it fucking blew ass. The only cool moments were Miyamoto (which was really amazing) and The Black Keys. So, only one thing gaming related was actually worthwhile.

The problem with all of these half-baked  "Put developers on the stage and let the speak" solutions is that you don't seem to realize that most developers are not good public speakers. It's not their job nor in their skillset. Watching a bunch of nervous developers who talk too fast and start to slur their words would probably be just as awkward to watch as the VGAs are right now.  
 
I'm not defending the VGAs and their blatant pushing for advertising dollars and excessive use of D-list movie celebrities than couldn't tell the difference between a videogame and a bucket of shit. However I do think there's a happy medium where everyone is content. 

How about they actually presented more than four awards on the broadcast?

@Enigma777 said:

The problem with all of these half-baked "Put developers on the stage and let the speak" solutions is that you don't seem to realize that most developers are not good public speakers. It's not their job nor in their skillset. Watching a bunch of nervous developers who talk too fast and start to slur their words would probably be just as awkward to watch as the VGAs are right now. I'm not defending the VGAs and their blatant pushing for advertising dollars and excessive use of D-list movie celebrities than couldn't tell the difference between a videogame and a bucket of shit. However I do think there's a happy medium where everyone is content.

This is true. Lots of game developers are awkward as hell. I think a happy medium would be to get people who actually know what they're talking about or are in the industry. I mean hell, if Geoff hosted the show himself they'd probably be better off. Get the Sess to do something, I dunno. Anyone with credibility at this point would be a welcome change.

@Milkman said:

How about they actually presented more than four awards on the broadcast?

Exactly. Every award should get the presented, no more montages. They waste so much time on garbage like talking to that youtube guy.

Cancel it entirely. There's really no point to them anyways as every web site and gaming publication set their own awards. I know they have a penal of judges but considering their picks for nominees shows that it's all just for show so GT TV can say..."LOOK WE HAVE A PENAL SO IT MUST BE THE....BLAH BLAH BLAH"

At it;s core the VGA are just GTTV over hyped and over glorified awards.

The VGAs are childish and pandering but I find the 4 hours of masturbation that is the Academy Awards just as insufferable. So I'm not sure there is anything that would make me watch them.

Unless Jack Tretton hosted it. He could class up that place.

Personally, much more games, much less everything else. I missed it this year, but I only ever watched it to see the previews and stuff. I think there was only one time I ever liked the banter.

By making you all watch the GDC awards. Please watch the GDC awards. Or even the BAFTAs.

more deadmau5? 
 
oh and more video games and less retarded hosts.

Some decent music, more awards, and maybe have some people that actually want to be there do it.

I don't video games are mature enough to have a real awards show yet. Frankly, I like what the Bombcast does every year. We get to hear them arguing their points and we're there with them when they make a decision instead of whatever backroom going ons happening at the VGAs that lead to Neil Patrick Harris winning voice actor of the year for playing one of four Spider-Men, instead of Rob Wiethoff who voiced John Marston.

The VGA's cannot be saved. As long as it is on Spike it will not be good. Their is no reason for them to make a classy show. It does not play to their strengths or their audience.

Eh i think its fine, they just need a better host, better comedy bits, better guests, hell better everything. Why don't they have the host be Geoff, Pachter, David Jaffe, Kevin Butler, or Nick Swardson. Get someone with charisma that actually cares about games. Jack Black was a fat, smelly, believable gamer and I thought he was a good host. I think the framework is fine, they just fill it with better people. Have the people who name the awards and nominees be members of the gaming press. Get people from IGN, 1up, Sarcastic Gamer, Games Radar, Giant Bomb, Kotaku, etc. go on stage and say some kind words about the nominees and winners.

Less video games. Come on people it's a bit much, don't ya think?

As much as I love video games, you can't really have a serious award show that centres entirely around video games, since, let's face the facts here: most video games are not works of art. They're not. Most video gamers are still young males, and although that is changing rapidly, as long as that remains the case, the VGAs will continue to pander towards a 12-15 year old teenage male demographic.

The VGAs are what the Oscars would be if most movies were directed by Michael Bay and were a general public popularity contest. Let's be honest here, Skyrim, as much as that game deserved to be game of the year, didn't win because a panel of professional, intelligent and educated people sat down to discuss its merits - it won because it's popular. That's not a negative for Skyrim (it's popular because it is good), but it is a negative for the VGAs, who nominate games solely due to mass audience appeal rather than any technical or artistic merit.

Also, the show is made by people who don't care or know anything about video games. It's not a celebration of the industry - it's an advertisement and marketing opportunity dressed up as an awards show.

@captain_clayman said:

No deadmau5. oh and more video games and less retarded hosts.

Fixed.

Give it a fancier name. The Video Game Awards? Come on, man. Nobody would respect the Academy Awards if they called it "The Movie Awards show."

Make it a Sunday night show, some time after football season. Give it a 2.5 hour run time. Shit would feel less rushed, more nominations and shoutouts could be given, more awards handed out, and more silly montages if you felt like it.

I'd also make the pre-show into a thing. Talk about the nominations, show some stuff from a lot of the games that were going to be mentioned in the show. Interview big name folks about things like what games they've enjoyed and what games they think/hope will win.

I was fine with Zach Levi hosting. I think the biggest problem was the skits. Norm's fruit ninja as performed by Felicia Day leaned pretty heavily on the "dumb" side. The cupcake eating thing was utter nonsense. A lot of it reflected poorly on video games as a whole. I'd slash the idea of deifying any company, and instead just give Blizzard some kind of "thank you award." I like that it's the video game equivalent of a lifetime achievement award, but game god or whatever sounds crass.

@TentPole said:

The VGA's cannot be saved. As long as it is on Spike it will not be good. Their is no reason for them to make a classy show. It does not play to their strengths or their audience.

Yah I don't know what your people are expecting from the VGA's..... It's a video game award show on Spike TV...... its biggest achievement include bringing you bangers such as Manswers and Blue Mountain State

Spike isn't even gonna show UFC next year, they moved on to Fox and its affiliates.

Second its a fucking award show, what is the best award show on TV that you watch? Oscars, Grammy, Golden Globe, MTV Music Award, AVN? award show are inherently terrible on any channel (either too boring or overwhelming cheesy) and most of them are on legit channels... VGA is an award show on SPIKE!!!!!

I wouldn't fix the VGAs. I'd get rid of them. They're a joke and the very first step to doing it right is to avoid using them as a payola-for-promotion gimmick like every other televised award show and not hosting them on a network that caters to highschool boys still pining for their first beer and getting off on fart noises. We have the internet. We don't need it to be televised. Get rid of the super-star hosts and replace them with someone like Adam Sessler or other valuable people from some aspect of the industry each year. Treat it more like an award show and less like you're catering to the America's Funniest Home Videos crowd.

I would make it more like the video game BAFTAs, since the developers and awards are at the forefront and when compared to the VGAs, its extremely respectful to video games and developers

There's also SO MANY problems with the nominees. Dragon Age 2 gets nominated for best RPG, when it was pretty much universally one of this year's disappointments, even for people who actually liked it (like me), Arkham City wins best 360 game, LA Noire gets nominated for best graphics, etc... It's like someone's choosing this shit randomly.

Meh, fuck that, it's the VGAs, everyone knew it would be dumb.

@TentPole said:

The VGA's cannot be saved. As long as it is on Spike it will not be good. Their is no reason for them to make a classy show. It does not play to their strengths or their audience.

Exactly. If they give out awards named like "GAME GOD", it's clear frat boys are the target.

Alex pointed out a simple flaw that runs through the whole show. At the VGAs each celebrity comes out and says something along the lines of "yo I like games, do you like games?" At the Oscars, Grammys, British Comedy Awards or even the fucking AVN Awards no one does that. You don't see Billy Crystal come on stage and say "I like films guys" that's because it is kinda accepted that if you are watching those awards shows you might just like the thing they are about.Award shows are supposed to awards the best that year produced and also celebrate that art form. The VGAs don't do that. They exist so GameTrailers can grab a bunch of "EXCLUSIVE" announcements.

So what would I do?

Firstly, montages. I'm not talking about throwing ten awards out at once. At the start of the show they should of kicked off with the host (yes you can still have some second tier celebrity) saying something along the lines of "Man video games are awesome and this is just a few of them" Cut to montage of games set to a song like FloRida's Good Feeling. You can have your GOTY nominees stand out by giving them more time but also you are celebrating that fucking awesome stuff came out. You then fill out the night with Trailer or Crappy Joke section followed by the Platform (Downloadable, 360, PC ect) and the big four (Game/Studio/Character of the year and Hall of Fame).

What you don't do is have a guy dress as an army man teabag a guy from Infinity Ward. You don't have are segments where Felicia Day has to play stupid games under the guise that it is for Childs Play. You don't fuck up a simple health potion joke by having the wrong colour potion.

@Enigma777 said:

The problem with all of these half-baked "Put developers on the stage and let the speak" solutions is that you don't seem to realize that most developers are not good public speakers. It's not their job nor in their skillset. Watching a bunch of nervous developers who talk too fast and start to slur their words would probably be just as awkward to watch as the VGAs are right now. I'm not defending the VGAs and their blatant pushing for advertising dollars and excessive use of D-list movie celebrities than couldn't tell the difference between a videogame and a bucket of shit. However I do think there's a happy medium where everyone is content.

We see developers give interviews all the time and speak at E3, and while that is different from speaking on TV at an awards show, for the most part it would be fine as long as they chose the right people to speak.

@ADAMWD said:

Alright, so the VGAs kinda sucked once again. What would you guys propose be done differently to make the show respectable and enjoyable for all types of gamers. What would be your idea of the ideal show?

Wait...so people still actually watch that farcical steaming pile of shit? You know how to make it better? FUCKING CANCEL IT.

You're welcome.

A video game award show in any form is pointless and is never going to feel credible, that's just how it is.

Like any TV and movie award show.

Two things...

1. Make it watchable from mainland Europe without us having to through several hoops to trick it.

2. Make pretty much... everything, better.

Give the people that should be the focus of the show the chance to have their moment. Sure, some game designers are awkward and lacking when it comes to public speaking, but pretty much every developer has a set of people that they send to conferences to give their demos and presentations that actually do quite well and are rather personable. Figure out that we don't care about random celebrities being there. We aren't watching so we can see generic rapper x give some meaningless endorsement or give the show "star power." Figure out how to put on a show that has dignity so we can continue to move toward dispelling the stigma that is attached the video games and those who play and create them. This show was certainly a step backward in that regard.

Get rid of all the god damn trailers and try to make it a little more respectable.

It's on Spike TV, it will never be what you guys want.

Never have another VGA. Sorted.

I would have it run by the industry. Hosted by peers instead of celebrities. I would take out the flash and try to have more substance. Have it be more of a serious affair. I think it'd be cool to have it hosted by the Doctors at Bioware, or David Jaffe, or the Houser Brothers.

I think it's beyond the point of being fixed, I just wish people would stop falling for the same "exclusive trailers" bullshit every year, hey guys did you know that there's this magical thing called the motherfucking internet, and that it makes it so you don't have to watch this thing at all and boost Spike Tv's ratings.

Kill it with fire the VGAs can't be saved.

Remake it and honor the fucking games and their makers let them talk. Film makers aren't public speakers and they get through it just find. Cut the stupid MTV level shit and have actual Game industry types do the job.

Get rid of it completely.

I'd focus more on handing out awards and less on embarrassing dumb stuff.

Also Alex should host. And if not him maybe someone a little closer to the industry, that would work good on stage.

Get I don't know... Derrick from Mega64, or one of the Rooster Teeth guys. OR Geoff Keighley, Adam Sessler, Jeff Gerstman, Ryan Davis, or Mike and Jerry from Penny Arcade. Anyone a little more relevant.

Award shows are all the same. Even the Oscars are just an industry-controlled advertisement. They're utterly meaningless. I say ignore the VGAs. Find an outlet you like (there are plenty of great one), and read their Best of 2011. No gurning imbeciles dancing about in condescending, childish skits, an opinion that's earned your respect and more time to use your television for playing games.

@Nottle said:

Get I don't know... Derrick from Mega64, or one of the Rooster Teeth guys. OR Geoff Keighley, Adam Sessler, Jeff Gerstman, Ryan Davis, or Mike and Jerry from Penny Arcade. Anyone a little more relevant.

Yes. If they want funny or dumb shit then get someone who is relevent like rooster teeth or the penny arcade dudes. They can have celebrities but just make them the celebrities of the video game world.

I know the VGAs suck, but this year was a little step in the right direction. I mean, remember the last few years, it was goddamn awful and if they changed it to a music awards or anything the day before, it wouldn't make a difference. This year, I kinda liked the host, and they actually had CliffyB and Hideo Kojima introducing trailers of their games instead of a dumb bitch who can't even hold a controller. Miyamoto receiving the award and all developers giving him a standing ovation was the 1st real gamer moment I've ever seen in the VGAs.

As to get things really better, here's the main one: never, ever bring Felicia Day back. And choose the celebrities better. LL Cool J presenting the BioWare games was so funny in a really bad way. And stop giving just 1 award per segment and then shoving 10 winners down our throats just before the commercial break.