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Games Entertainment

Video Game Award Show Announced 117

HorrorIsland writes "According to the Boston Globe, Video game industry gets TV award show. Of course, it sounds like the on-screen awards will focus on celebrities both real (Dennis Hopper), artifical (Laura Croft, perhaps), and in-between (Jenna Jameson)... so you can quit trying to hold in your gut, programmers!"
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Video Game Award Show Announced

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  • Lara. (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    It's "Lara", not "Laura".

    But I guess that it doesn't matter, because the games blow.
    • The original Tomb Raider was a rather enjoyable game, but I must agree that the games following that did not come close to the quality of the original, and the "modifications" to the main character model did get a bit ridiculous.
    • Re:Lara. (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      because the games blow

      Wow! Is there a secret cheat code for that?
      Is that where Jenna Jamison gets involved?

      That's it, I'm purchasing a copy today!
    • It's a damn shame the games blow. The first one had quite a bit of potential.

      Of course, I'd rather Lara blow anyway.
    • Wow, Really? Well, that's one set of cut scenes I sure won't be skipping!
  • by KrunZ ( 247479 ) on Friday December 20, 2002 @08:18AM (#4928816)
    ...and all the prize-categories will be replicated for each region.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 20, 2002 @08:20AM (#4928824)
    I suppose Donkey Kong and Ms. Pac Man were not invited, simply because they're out of favor with the "in" crowd. What a convenient way to overlook their innumerable contributions to video gaming over the years. I, frankly, am disgusted.
  • sort of Razzie Award show too? Then you can really tell who the bad developers are.
  • Categories (Score:5, Funny)

    by MosesJones ( 55544 ) on Friday December 20, 2002 @08:26AM (#4928831) Homepage

    Most expanded Female chest in an Action Game

    Largest amount of gore created from a shotgun blast

    Largest gun

    Largest impact on work productivity

    Smallest number of patches before it would work properly

    Smallest slip from proposed date to actual date

  • so what... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by eglamkowski ( 631706 ) <eglamkowski AT angelfire DOT com> on Friday December 20, 2002 @08:27AM (#4928835) Homepage Journal
    There are already a ton of awards in the game industry as it is. They're all politically hacked back-scratching non-sense (to put it kindly) and this one won't be any different. Game geeks turned CEOs can be quite petty and vicious...
    • There is one difference with this awards show. It will get more press than the others.

      And who said these awards are being rewared by game geeks to begin with?
  • No point... (Score:1, Funny)

    by DasBub ( 139460 )
    I doubt anyone would bother attending this event...

    John Romero's gonna win everything anyway.
  • by Scorchio ( 177053 ) on Friday December 20, 2002 @08:29AM (#4928839)
    As winner of the "longest amount of overtime worked on wacky feature, removed two days after completion when the designer decided he doesn't want it after all" award, I'd like to say hello to my wife, family and dog who are all but a faint memory, and would like to know if I can use the MTV showers.
  • Cashing in (Score:5, Insightful)

    by LordKronos ( 470910 ) on Friday December 20, 2002 @08:36AM (#4928853)
    Why do I get the feeling this is just a cheap attempt to cash in on the industry? Of course, what else should I expect?

    I would be curious to know if anyone has seen any more details about this even. I wonder if this whole thing is going to be arranged in collaboration with industry professional or if it is all going to be based on the opinions of a few random judges or something.
    • Re:Cashing in (Score:3, Insightful)

      by swordboy ( 472941 )
      Why do I get the feeling this is just a cheap attempt to cash in on the industry?

      Ummm... Capitalism is about cashing in.

      The video game industry has already 'cashed in', as they rake in more than the domestic box office every year. It is huge. This is the next logical step (the fingers in the pie that are the Xbox was one of the first).
      • Re:Cashing in (Score:5, Insightful)

        by LordKronos ( 470910 ) on Friday December 20, 2002 @09:15AM (#4928972)
        I really meant people *outside* the industry trying to cash in and get a little piece of the video game pie. Thats why I was asking how much collaboration there would be with industry professionals on this.

        Maybe it is elitist of me but, as an independant game developer myself, I kind of feel insulted by the prospect of someone else trying to give out awards for my industry. We already have our own awards ceremoney (as the article mentioned). Its the Game Developers Choice Awards at the Game Developers Conference each March. The thing I like about the GDCA is it is the industry giving out awards to their own people, and the winners are quite level headed. There isn't anyone showing up accepting awards drunk, or getting up there saying "I'd like to thank god, and my mom, ....[5 minutes later, stage director cues to wrap it up]...I'm not done yet...I'd also like to thank my dog, and that guy that bought me a hot dog this morning". I feel that at most of the other awards, the winners get caught up in the glammor and how "special" they are. I'm afraid an event like this wouldn't acknowledge the people who actually make these games happen, and instead we would have some big headed CEO's accepting the awards or something.
  • Cmon (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by zephc ( 225327 )
    What is with this rumor that all programmers are fat?? [eamontales.com]
  • by Anonymous Coward
    ...as with all awards ceremonies, there'll have to be a Lifetime Achievement Award, which will probably go to Mario...
  • A hope (Score:4, Interesting)

    by katalyst ( 618126 ) on Friday December 20, 2002 @08:45AM (#4928887) Homepage
    This is great !!! Now, it may not be the market ALONE which judges the game... (as the same goes for movies). Actuall SKILL will now be appreciated. The possible areas for awards are amazing: -best action/adventure/blah blah -best gfx -best sfx -best soundtrack -best voice over -best gameplay -best MOD -best charecter male -best charecter female -best weapon (?) -best story line -best cutscenes/direction woha... i'm drooling here.
    Incedently, Lara Croft was the only woman who made it in the top 50 personalities.. listed by the Time Magazine a few yrs back.. (2000 I think).
  • I could see the designers and programmers involved with 'Duke Nukem Forever' getting a life time achievement award.

    (providing it ever does get released ;)
    • Great Minds think alike! [slashdot.org].

      Of course the possibility of Duke Nukem Forever ever actually being released is pretty much nil. Indeed in a few years the possibility of it actually being released will go *Below* zero and soon we will have the memory of Duke Nukem Forever actually be erased from our minds and the collective consciousness of the geek community. Or something. I'm delirious time for bed.
  • Who will decide... (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Who will decide who gets the prizes?
    The current awards that are given within the IGDA (International Game Developers Association) aren't public prices. They are selected by a jury form within the industry, making those prices more important for your reputation amongst other developers.
    Such TV shows only seem to be for commercial endings and only big titles will win I suspect. Settled big name publishers and developers will benefit from such an event.
  • by Fulkkari ( 603331 ) on Friday December 20, 2002 @08:49AM (#4928900)
    Do you really think this will be interesting? Why would anyone want to see never-before seen person like a producer of a game grab an award? Why you actually look at awards on the tv, is not because not the awards itself. It's because of the celebrities.
    • Not that most people know the names and faces of movie producers, editors or effects people. It's really just the actors and directors that get the limelight.
      But when it comes to game designers, who can tell? Maybe thanks to this, next thing you know, John Carmack or Romero will be as well-known as Steven Spielberg. This might also make voice acting for games a more interesting area for professional actors to explore.
      The downside might be a return to FMV as "celebrities" try to get their faces in the game (shudder).
  • Of course, it sounds like the on-screen awards will focus on celebrities both real (Dennis Hopper), artifical (Laura Croft, perhaps), and in-between (Jenna Jameson)...

    Jenna Jameson does exist. There are real women out there, they are not all fantasies, fellas.

    Yes, I know it was a joke, mine post is also a joke, relax....

  • And the nominees are: 1) Duke Nukem Forever (and ever) 2) Team Fortress 2 (Brotherhood of Vaporware) 3) Prey (that we never release this) 4) The big hairy mole on Doom guy's ass 5) et al
    • You know, maybe we don't want them to release "the big hairy mole on Doom guy's ass". Personally, I think my life would be a bit better knowing that a game called "the big hairy mole on Doom guy's ass" never made it out of the design stage. It would encourage me that there is some hope left.
  • Been done before. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Ryokurin ( 74729 ) on Friday December 20, 2002 @09:08AM (#4928951) Homepage
    I remember in the early 90s a so called "Video Game Awards Show" called something on the lines of 'Cybermania' that was shown on TBS one year. It was around 1993 or 1994. Im willing to bet that the TNN version would be pretty much the same thing, and probably will only come around once too.
    • I certainly hope it'll improve somewhat on that one's track record. They gave token awards to Doom and the SimCity CD-Rom game, but other than that, it was pretty much an ass-kissing to an FMV title by the name of Voyeur [mobygames.com]. Eventually it was swallowed up by IDSA and integrated into E3's awards, a much better fate to be sure.
  • What... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Wtcher ( 312395 )
    No "Best Story" award?

    *glitters*
  • As long as the award show commitee can promise me that we won't have Halle Berry crying on the stage I will not interfer.
  • ...like the animated characters on Monsters for the Emmys was it? I think they should have Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid in here somewhere, but who knows what they'll do.

    Cool idea, I wonder other than Gamespy.com and GameSpot.com how are people voting on these?

  • by Washizu ( 220337 ) <bengarvey@nosPAM.comcast.net> on Friday December 20, 2002 @09:28AM (#4929040) Homepage
    When I hear the Oscar nominees I typically try to see the movies I haven't heard much about. If I have heard of it already, chances are I've already made my mind up about it by seeing it or watching the trailers. Unlike a book, you can usually judge a movie by it's trailer.

    Many times the Best Picture nominees are a lot better than the winner. Just look at 1997's group that lost to Titanic:

    As Good As It Gets
    The Full Monty
    Good Will Hunting
    L.A. Confidential

    Personally I don't think video games need an award show. There is so much gaming press on the Internet that good games rarely fall through the cracks.
    • Many times the Best Picture nominees are a lot better than the winner.

      Here, try this sentence on instead:

      "Many times I feel the Best Picture nominees are a lot better than the winner."

      There ya go.
      • Unless someone tells you something is a fact and can provide evidence, or it is common knowledge, you should assume whatever the person is saying is opinion(especially with such an opinionated crowd as slashdot). Therefore, the 'I feel' would be superfluous.

        Back ontopic, Titanic was full of dog shit and cat hair and should have never even been nominated.
        • Unless someone tells you something is a fact and can provide evidence

          That's just it, he presented it as fact, and tried to provide evidence (the other movies). Like looking at the list of movies just proves it. I liked all the movies up for the award that year, ESPECIALLY Titanic.

          Those of us not cold and cynical liked it a lot. Witness the huge box office.
          • Oh bullshit. Yes, the movie list is a fact. You can look it up anywhere and it's the same. However, you can look anywhere and you will get different answers for which movie was best. That is an opinion. No one answer is correct and you are an inconsiderate dumbshit if you keep thinking one is.

            Box office sales should not mean anything for award shows. Just because a lot of people saw it does not mean it is a good movie and deserves an award(or several). Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers.
            • No one answer is correct and you are an inconsiderate dumbshit if you keep thinking one is.

              Hey dumbass, I'm not the person originally posting how the other movies "were better" than Titanic.

              Box office sales should not mean anything for award shows.

              Never did I give the large box office as a reason for Titanic to win. I listed the large box office as proof that there were many people that enjoyed the movie.

              Just because a lot of people saw it does not mean it is a good movie

              In your opinion a movie may or may not be good. The box office proves whether a movie was popular, and whether or not it had staying power. If it had staying power, like Titanic, then it definitely meant a lot of people liked the movie enough to recommend it to friends and see it multiple times.

              Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers.

              As a loyal slashdot reader, I'm well aware.

              • No one answer is correct and you are an inconsiderate dumbshit if you keep thinking one is.

                Hey dumbass, I'm not the person originally posting how the other movies "were better" than Titanic.


                I thought you were dumb and then you went and kept talking and proved it. Those two statements have nothing to do with each other. One could say that one movie is better than the others without saying or even thinking that it is the only answer.

                Well your other points really did not contribute any to the discussion so I will not even reply to them.
    • Personally I don't think video games need an award show. There is so much gaming press on the Internet that good games rarely fall through the cracks.

      So you say. And perhaps it's true, but what do the programmers think? The people who give up their lives to make entertainment for billions of sometimes ungreatful children who probably don't understand what it takes to make a video game. I don't know about you, but I like to know I have done a good job. You know, done something that people can appreciate? Maybe an award isn't going to make everyones day, but to some people it really counts for a lot. Now wether or not a TV Game awards is a good idea remains to be seen. Who knows what they will come up with now. Im sure money will have a big part in this, but I highly doubt it will take over the whole thing. I would say have a little faith in humanity, but I would only be lying to myself wouldn't I. =]
  • by will_die ( 586523 ) on Friday December 20, 2002 @09:46AM (#4929156) Homepage
    So a TV channel looking for rating has decided they will create thier own awards show.
    You already have some of this with channels dedicated to a specific topic, but do we really want this with a general anything goes network?
  • That girl has gone down more than the slashdot server!

    Ba dum pish!

  • Just kidding. :-)

  • by Alric ( 58756 ) <slashdot@tenhund[ ]d.org ['fel' in gap]> on Friday December 20, 2002 @10:32AM (#4929371) Homepage Journal
    There is a significant part of my mind that wishes I were 13 again, with nothing to do on a saturday except play video games all day.

    Is it an inherent quality of getting older to feel that all of the coolest shit is marketed at people younger than you?

    I would now like to pause my life for several years to read good books, watch good movies, and play all of the RPG's I haven't even heard of.

    ARrrrrrr.
    • Is it an inherent quality of getting older to feel that all of the coolest shit is marketed at people younger than you?

      Nonsense!

      What about things of real quality? I mean, yeah - Kurby 40,000 probably rocks... But.

      The vast majority of non/. reading children (you know who you are) would never get a Kurosawa film. Well, maybe the 7 samurai. But only after that badassed guy lops the loud guy in half -- _SNIP_

      Your tastes are supposed to ripen, I think...

      • {moderator note: somewhat offtopic reply to individual, please ignore}

        I agree completely. I just sometimes miss those days when the only real concern when I woke up was "How can I defeat this Leviathan?" and then the sense of satisfaction I would get when I finally realized, "Cast Wall against it, and it won't be able to heal itself. EUREKA!" (Some people know what I'm talking about.) I have great satisfaction in most parts of my life; today I was just struck by the fact that I really could not care less about a video game awards show or a video game channel, when 12 years ago I would have been so excited about it. Now my satisfaction comes from creating artfully reusable and flexible classes and libraries.

        Geez. I guess I really am a geek. Yep.

        If your tastes don't change with time, you probably aren't learning anything new, which is a much more sad idea than a few wistful memories of carefree youth.
  • The typical game has a budget of 4-8 million US dollars, is designed by committee, and is created by 30-100 people working overtime for years. I know that fanboys think that there's a Designer With A Vision behind each game, and so on, but the reality is that marketing concerns override all else (games are marketed as toys) and there's no equivalent of the art film (meaning a movie created without bending to marketing concerns, even though it greatly lowers the odds of being successful).
    • Uh, what world are you living in? The average game has a typical budget of a few hundred thousand (at MOST), and a small handful of programmers and artists. A big project for a game dev house might run up to a million dollars (at the high end), have a dozen artists, a half dozen programmers, and a designer or two.

      The big game companies like EA and Microsoft are the exceptions in the game industry. Next time you go to your local computer game store, take a look at how many hundreds (possibly thousands if you consider consoles) of games there are. Most of them are written by third party development houses on shoestring budgets, not by mega corporations with multimillion dollar budgets.
      Yes, many of the most popular games are written by the biggies, but that's a tiny fraction of the total games out there.

      Most of the games are *published* by the big guys, but the actual coding and artwork is done externally.
  • by Anonymous Coward
    It will also mean jack shit.

    This is an awards show being produced FOR TV. Not for the developers. It's an excuse to get some lame Hollywood stars up on stage to say, "Wow, games are great, I didn't know you could do this kind of thing with computers. [Insert outdated Pac-Man joke here, pause for lau^H^H^Hcoughing.] I'd like to thank EA for letting me do the voice work for Stinkface McAss, because I've been stuck doing dinner theater in Tahoe after getting caught doing lines off so-and-so's wife's tits. Hi Mom!"

    Meanwhile, it's a given that pretty much no Japanese or European dev talent will be recognized. But for some reason I envision Microsoft already has a team working on sweeping these so-called awards with gaudy "extreme" non-games fewaturing an all-Scientologist voice cast extravaganza.

    "For a thorough Hollywood rimjob, there is no power greater than X."
  • so you can quit trying to hold in your gut, programmers!

    why is this such a stereotype with programmers?
    it's just because of this i've been trying to _get_ a gut for years, beer, cheetos the works - but nothing doing yet

    and to top it all off, i have to have /. in the morning reminding me how much of a lesser coder i am with comments like these!
    please stop this horrible stereotype, so us skinny geeks can finally stand up proud!!

  • I know who Lara Croft is, but who is "Laura Croft"? And why does she matter to video game junkies?
  • One of the primary values of the awards shows for movies and music is that, for the most part, the people who are receiving awards are attractive, or at least interesting to look at. Somehow I don't think the show's going to appeal to much of an audience when the stage is populated by people who can barely survive in sunlight :).

    Regardless, it's good to see the videogame industry being recognized for it's impact on the world in a positive way. Most of the time when it gets shown in the public light it's surrounded by phrases like, "graphic violence", and "think of the children".
  • by AgentTim3 ( 447311 ) on Friday December 20, 2002 @01:33PM (#4930633) Journal
    Dennis Hopper plays the porn director at the film studio, Jenna Jameson is Candy Suxxx.

    And don't forget Gary Busey, playing the gun-toting hard-drinking redneck Phil.

    What a great game. :)

  • You know, I'd been saying to myself: When are we going to bow down before the voice talent?

    Thank you, Hollywood - for teaching us how to love again.

    I hope Aerosmith gets that long overdue award for 'Revolution X' [seanbaby.com]. Ahh, the double-whammy of a videogame/hair-band crossover. Torgo would be proud.

  • by The Raven ( 30575 ) on Friday December 20, 2002 @02:49PM (#4931173) Homepage
    ... for an awards show that focuses on the personalities and not the people who make it happen. That would be like awards for best movie that included no director awards.

    Laura Croft is a fictional entity. It does not deserve an award. You do not give out awards to the character, you give them to the actor.
  • This is stupid. Absolutely stupid.

    I could care less how many Oscars a movie wins. I could care less how many Emmys a TV show wins.
  • I don't think many people will be tuning in.

    How many gamers do you know actually watch MTV, let alone watch television? If Viacom promotes the show on their other channels, how will they target the gamer demographic?

    The reason why folks tune in to awards shows is to see the stars. The Academy Awards are most popular because it doesn't matter that people haven't seen the movies being honored, they want to see these celebrities be funny, or cry like Halle Berry when they win. They tune in to see fashion and "personality." Without star power, the National Book Awards on BookTV is just as exciting.

  • and the new add-ons that display graphics of Jenna Jameson on the walls. It's amazing how much detail you can get in a couple of pixels! Hubba hubba!
    +----
    |@...
    |.D..
  • Frankly, it should've happened a lot sooner- because there are a lot of great videogame pioneers who deserved more recognition than they got, including the geniuses at Infocom [csd.uwo.ca], Howard Scott Warsaw [scottw.com] (despite the travesty that was E.T. for Atari...), ID [idsoftware.com] and so on.

    And no offense to /. or [slashdot.org] The Onion [theonion.com], but the Webby Awards (recognizing "the best of the Web both in quality and quantity") is the most ridiculous and pointless awards ceremony of the last century.

    If the Internet is, as is often claimed, one of the most important mediums of the last century (and perhaps even last 1000 years), doesn't it deserve a better body for the recognition of its best-and-brightest contributors than this? An awards ceremony created by a pretty actress cum filmmaker cum Good Morning America 'internet expert'?

    (inserting obligatory karma-whore reply, "I dunno man- her body looks pretty good to me!")
  • Mac Airways:
    The cashiers, flight attendants and pilots all look the same, feel the same
    and act the same. When asked questions about the flight, they reply that you
    don't want to know, don't need to know and would you please return to your
    seat and watch the movie.

    - this post brought to you by the Automated Last Post Generator...

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