If I asked you to link both variety TV shows and entertainment industry award nights with videogames you might not find the answer quite so obvious. Indulge me if you will. The connection is simple really and it's all tied into the growing popularity of video gaming, or as it's been called, the 'mainstreamification' of videogaming.
Hear that whooshing sound outside your house? That, my friend, is the sound of the mainstreamification of gaming, the sounds of millions of Wii remotes being waggled by grannies and girlfriends, toddlers and teens, and every demographic in between. Many of them playing games that we (gaming enthusiasts, hardcore gamers, call us what you will) wouldn't spit on, let alone purchase. But for all our disdain and disgust, could this mainstreamification be the best thing that could happen to this past time we all love?
I'm going to come off the fence for this one (I can only sit there so long) and say categorically, absolutely, definitely 'YES'. The way I see it, the mainstreamification of gaming is a great thing, a healthy thing, a necessary thing. That whooshing sound is the strong and powerful heartbeat of an industry thriving, expanding and growing. There might be games on the best selling lists that make you cringe, but that's fine. You don't need to play them; you don't need to concern yourself with them. The franchises you love aren't going away, and as the industry grows and attracts more and more game developers, more and more creative minds, more and more enthusiastic gamers with genuine passion for the industry, then we'll see greater innovation, greater experimentation, greater creativity and originality.
What does any of that have to do with variety TV shows and red carpet award nights? I think both have an inevitable role to play in this on-going mainstreamification.
The word of a Muppet
Back in February, Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live alumni and new host of the NBC variety TV show Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, promised his new show would shine a light on the videogame world. Speaking with Canada.com Fallon said, "We're going to treat a video game premiere as if it was a movie premiere. My generation grew up with the computer. We grew up with the Internet. We live in a videogame type of world - videogames are second nature to us. Games make more money, as an industry, than the film industry."
Good to his word, a week or so back on the 15th of April, Fallon discussed gaming and played Punch-Out on the Wii with co-host of G4TV’s X-Play, Morgan Webb, actor Ice-T and Elmo. Ok, so not a roundtable discussion with the brightest minds in gaming, but we are talking US network TV, and the mainstreamification of gaming. With the beautiful Ms. Webb, a Muppet and a famous rapper turned actor, they've pretty much got all bases covered, although I'm not entirely convinced about Elmo's gaming cred.
Point being isn't that you or I are going to get our gaming news from such a medium, or that we're going to start making our game purchasing decisions based on Elmo's recommendations. We'll do what we've always done. We'll be getting our news, our previews, our reviews, and our feedback from the gaming enthusiast sites - hopefully PALGN.
By the time videogame releases get a mention on big name TV shows, you and I will know all there is to know and then some. But that's ok because we're not the audience - not for that segment at least. But it's still good news, even when delivered by a Muppet. Remember the whooshing noise? It's getting louder and stronger all the time and its mainstream shows like Jimmy Fallon's that's adding to the clamour.
Award nights are important too. Again, not to me, and most likely not to you either but for the industry? Hell yes.
Have you heard of Holly Carinci? Didn't think so. She's a Canadian lass with as much ambition as Peter Molyneux. Her goal is to create a videogame awards show that's as big as the Oscars. To her credit, she's already got a few runs on the board. For the last three years she's produced an awards night - the Elan Awards - that recognise videogames, animation and visual effects. What started as a 'Canadian only' show, expanded in its second year to include a number of international categories, and this year's show which was held last Saturday night was, according to Carinci, one hundred percent international in flavour.
Speaking to online media outlet, Georgia Straight, Carinci spelled out her vision.
"Oh, definitely the new Oscars. No joke. I’m determined. Trust me - it better be. It’s been a lot of sacrifice. I’ll just expand on that a tiny little bit. The Academy Awards and the Oscars - I’m feeling sad—there’s a loss of interest in them, et cetera. I think that they’re imperative; I think they’re really important; and I really hope to see them grow. There is a new dominant entertainment industry now - it’s going to be twice the size of music next year - and that’s video games. So, with movies as the third industry, and video games twice as big as the second industry, they’ve got to be Oscars - have to be. So, we’ve got three years plus shaping it that way."
Next year Holly hopes to move the awards show to LA. In the US, she'll face stiff competition from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) who have been presenting Interactive Achievement Awards in California since 1996, possibly without Holly's knowledge! This year's event held in Las Vegas as part of the D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit was hosted by comedian Jay Mohr, the actor and comedian last seen on Australian TV screens in episodes of Ghost Whisperer - you can't get more mainstream than that.
The awards were even televised this year, albeit on cable TV. Announcing the deal with IFC (International Film Channel), the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences proudly proclaimed that this 'Marks the first broadcast of the Oscars of Videogames on a Major Television Network'.
Out-Oscaring the Oscars.
If you can't beat them, join them
While Holly and the AIAS try to out-Oscar the Oscars, other industry organisations, perhaps recognising the threat they represent, have embraced the medium. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) have videogame awards. Detractors of the award point to the fact that winners are decided by a popular online voting system, and the awards are also co-branded with BAFTA's partner in this particular exercise; video game retailer, GAME. If you wanted to be really cynical you might suggest
that if BAFTA were truly serious about the category they would change the name of the organisation to BAFTVGA - British Academy of Film and Television and Video Game Arts - but it doesn't really roll off the tongue quite as readily. While the game awards were webcast they weren't televised.
If videogame awards nights are ever to reach the height of the Oscars both in terms of audience numbers and presentation, then it begs the question; who would host such an awards ceremony?
Perhaps Jay Mohr's recent AIAS gig in Las Vegas points the way. It needs to be someone with broad appeal, someone recognisable, someone entertaining, and like Jay (who has lent his voice to a few videogames including Scarface: The World is Yours they need to have a link to the videogaming industry, and it needs to be something more substantial than just 'playing games'. Actor and song and dance man, Hugh Jackman, coming fresh off hosting duties at this year's Oscars might be perfect. Dressed as Wolverine...definitely not. Obviously balancing the importance of fronting such a ceremony with someone with real pulling power and someone with actual credibility and relevance to the industry is important.
And what do you do for entertainment? Play exclusive game trailers ala the Spike TV Video Game Awards? The Academy Awards highlight the songs nominated for Oscars, give them the theatrical treatment and the opportunity to shine on the world stage. The appeal is that occasionly the songs are actually popular in their own right. Granted, no one ever wants to hear Celine belt out that bloody Titanic song ever again, not on stage, not on the radio, not now, not ever, but it's rare that the nominated songs are quite that nauseating.
The videogame world has sweeping orchestral soundtracks that are the equal of any Hollywood blockbuster. The fact is, they are often scored by the same talented composers. The question is, are they that well known and well loved that they can fill 3 minutes of commercial airtime beamed to a global audience in the hundreds of millions?
And what about the beautiful people? Red carpets are all about the beautiful and the glamorous people. The ugly, the plain, the non-descript? You want the drab, grey linoleum down that darkened alley to your right. TV and movies have a simple and effective way of eliminating the 'ugly'. Film and TV are visual mediums, and if you're not visually appealing then there's next to no chance of you visually appearing so to speak. Are there exceptions to the rule? Of course. There are a number of fine actors who have slipped past the 'ugly detectors', but make no mistake - they are the exception, not the norm.
Now remember, I'm not expecting any of this to sound the least bit exciting or interesting, but I'll stand by my original premise; that the continuing mainstreamification is important to the continued prosperity of this medium we all love, and a vehicle that promotes the medium to the mainstream is of equal importance.
You won't see a videogame award at this year's Logies or a videogame premiere on Rove (you will see Elmo) but stay tuned. It can only be a matter of time.
Until next weekend, that's The Wrap.
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