The Impact of the Game Awards for Gaming
Is this the Oscars of Gaming?
The Game Awards is going to have its 2023 edition and this the first year I have followed the potential nominees and will be watching the show more for the winners than the reveals. I wanted to write down my thoughts on the awards as it is the closest thing gamers have to their own Oscars. The event itself can be polarizing to many as its become known for having some old school E3 style cringe moments, questionable celebrity appearances, and the dump of ads we have to deal with. The creator and main man behind the show, Geoff Keighley, has also become somewhat of a slightly polarizing figure and I wanted to look at the awards as a whole and what they bring to gaming, how I fee about them, and what I like and don’t like.
The Oscars of Gaming?
One thing is clear, no matter how you feel about the Game Awards, they are the closest thing we gamers have to the Academy Awards. However, while that is true, the show feels and acts more like the MTV Movie Awards. I don’t mean that in a bad way. Compare how the MTV Movie Awards conducts itself against the Oscars and its obvious the Game Awards in tone comes much closer to MTV. Some in the crowd are just fans who paid for a ticket, and they constantly cheer and whoop. Celebrities show up and make colorful jokes, and even the developers of games get in on it (looking at you Josef Fares). The show has more reveals and musical performances than taking time to appreciate the nominees and winners. It has a party atmosphere, not an awards ceremony atmosphere like the Oscars.
This is not an attack on the show by the way. Anyone that knows me knows I have had issues with the Oscars as a casual, but sometimes more moderate to hardcore movie fan. My cinephile brother Luis, who has his own Substack (The Mendez Movie Report), and I have gone back and forth debating the Oscars. He thinks for the most part they are fine, though he does acknowledge it could be better. I maintain they are out of touch and consistently drop the ball at getting the audiences back they used to get. But the Game Awards doesn’t have that problem.
The Game Awards have put up massive numbers. Last year, the show had 103 million viewers on its live stream. Every award is a good mix of serious games with strong narrative and fun blockbuster tiles. I think the Oscars can learn A LOT when you see the variety that the Game Awards’ nominees have. Game of the Year nominees have ranged from serious titles such as The Last of Us Part 2, and more fun driven titles such as Super Mario Bros. Wonder. But the Game Awards have things they can learn from the Academy.
The show tends to fly past the smaller awards so Geoff can bring on stage a celebrity promoting their latest film, or a random musical performance, or because of the numerous reveals the show has become known for. This has led to a feeling as if the awards are not the point of the show, which makes no sense because it’s called the Game AWARDS. I want them to treat every award as a big deal and give the winners their time to shine and thank who they want to. I don’t mind celebrity appearances or promotion, but they should always be the second thought behind the awards themselves. So, is The Game Awards gaming’s Oscars? Yes, but also no. It’s its own thing and has a lot more work to do to reach that level.
The Grumbling Around the Show and Its Creator
My history with the show is mixed when it comes to the winners, especially the Game of the Year award. A great example is when It Takes Two won. Now, I have yet to play it, but I still believe that was the year of Metroid Dread. It still baffles me that It Takes Two won, but I’ve also disagreed with a game that I knew why it won, such as The Last of Us Part 2. I understood why it won, but I didn’t have it as my Game of the Year, and quite frankly I’m part of the minority of gamers that doesn’t like the game. But that’s what I want to talk about, disagreeing with the winners.
In today’s media landscape, the idea of the Game Awards being the factual ruling on the best games is nonsense. But I think a lot of gamers get upset because a major show with over 100 million watching doesn’t line up with their own views. You have to go into these things knowing it’s all subjective and enjoy the celebration of gaming. I know I disagree as much as I agree with the show’s picks and that’s okay. I have my own lists and more coming out. It’s okay to be upset for a game you were pulling for losing out, but just remember it doesn’t take away your opinion.
Another point of controversy is the man behind the curtain, Geoff Keighley. There are some in the community that have begun to hate this man. They’ve even taken the funny Doritos Pope meme and taken to use it almost as a slur against him. I think this is wrongheaded. I like Geoff, and from what I’ve heard he’s a nice guy. Does he do the show the way I want? No. Are their things he does from a business standpoint that make me cringe? Definitely. But what I see in Geoff is a passionate individual. Geoff badly wants to celebrate the industry and gives us a way to do it. Sure, let’s be real, some of it is money - but everyone needs to make money. Geoff to me seems sincere in making a great show for us to look back at the best gaming had for the year.
I understand some of the grumbling about him. He tends to over hype his events (something he’s getting better at not doing), he uses countless marketing that gamers have mostly no interest in, and his tweets around E3 sounded weirdly happy about the event seemingly dying. But Geoff does this as a gamer who loves the industry and wants to celebrate it with as many people as possible. I have no issues with Geoff - I don’t even know him personally! But what I see is a fellow gamer who’s using his influence give back to the industry we love.
What I Would Do
Overall, my interest in the Game Awards is more the observer/historian part of me. I see it as an event that could go on for a long time and is the closest thing to gaming’s Oscars. Is it a perfect event? Nope. So, what would I do differently? Well first, I would not fly by the awards. Last year the Family Game of the Year award quickly passed by, and they’ve done this with others, including Best Score and Music – which is a travesty if you ask me. No more of that, I would give these awards and their nominees time. Second, I would lessen the world premieres. I get it, I get excited about the reveals as well. But a good chunk of them feel like they could be revealed on social media. I would make the cut for reveals harder and the ones that make it have more weight to them. Lastly, I would cut out the random musical performances and have the Game Awards orchestra (one of the better parts of the show) have segments playing a quick suite of songs for every nominee in Best Score and Music. That’s just some things I would do that in my opinion would make the show better, and closer to an Oscars.
Final Thoughts
No matter how you feel about the Game Awards, they are now an official part of gaming. I would even say they are one of the most significant things to come out of the industry in the 2010s. I’m going to watch and enjoy the show for what it is. I’ll see how many I got right and how many I agree with. I hope at least one or two reveals pique my interest. I’m going to have a good time and enjoy the celebration of one of the best years in video gaming history.