The video game industry is already rich -- its revenues exceed movie box office receipts in the United States. Now it wants to be famous.
In Spike TV's inaugural Video Game Awards, a glitzy, red-carpet event airing Thursday, David Spade cracks wise as host, Pam Anderson and Lil' Kim make special appearances, WWE wrestlers grapple on stage, and buxom models deliver awards and pop champagne for the guests. Oh, and a few video games get recognized, too.
The event marks the second attempt this year, after the G4 network's G-Phoria awards in August, to celebrate button mashing with a celebrity-laced extravaganza -- a reflection of the industry's growing pop-culture cred.
"People have always wanted to see something equivalent to the Academy Awards for games," said Gamespot executive editor Greg Kasavin.
He's not sure that G4 or Spike TV has achieved that, but noted that the latter "has gotten some attention, if nothing else."
Kasavin, along with many gaming press colleagues, said that the industry is becoming too much a part of everyday entertainment not to have its own showcase TV fete. Certainly, games are getting support from other parts of the celebrity establishment.
"Rappers talk a lot about video games in their music," Xbox Nation editor Evan Shamoon noted. Young comedians like David Cross, Jack Black and Dave Chappelle also mention video games a lot, he said. Snoop Dog is an outspoken fan.
"These people make it very clear that they are into games," Shamoon said.
The challenge for awards shows, it seems, is finding the appropriate balance between mainstream appeal and hard-core gaming fanaticism.
Shamoon echoed a number of sarcastic comments on gaming boards when he chided Spike TV for choosing nominees more on sales pull than technical or creative innovation. The network's Game of the Year finalists are Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PC version), Madden NFL 2004 and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell.
Nonetheless, Shamoon conceded that G4's fest, which catered to a more serious gaming audience with categories like Best Cinematic and Best Weapon, "was sort of ho-hum."
Another issue is figuring out how much to focus on the games themselves versus the people who create them. Unlike the Academy Awards, neither gaming ceremony did much to honor designers or programmers. Spike TV instead put its emphasis on lining up celebrity "advocates" for all the winning games.
"We felt that the first time going out we wanted to take a much more commercial tack," Spike TV spokesman Robert Pini said. However, he predicted that game developers would have greater prominence in next year's show, saying that Spike TV may take a booth at E3, the industry's major business confab, to foster those relationships.
Pini, and others, also said that as more Americans participate in gaming, the hottest developers will become more marketable as celebrities in their own right, like movie directors today. Shamoon noted, for instance, that design legends like John Carmack (Doom, Quake), Warren Specter (Deus Ex) and Peter Molyneux (Black & White) already are revered among committed joystick jockeys, and could become household names.
"When Peter Molyneux announces he's working on a new game, thousands upon thousands of posts go up (on gaming message boards)," Shamoon said.
GameSpy executive editor Dave Kosak said this fame is only likely to intensify as the video game industry grows. "Big games will require big leaders," he said.
But the real stars of future awards galas, according to Pini, may not be human at all. "The characters are becoming like the new celebrities," he said.
Kosak agreed, saying, "I think we'll see digital celebrities at some point."
Ubisoft marketing chief Tony Kee said that point might have arrived already. He asserted that fans of his company's Splinter Cell report feeling a genuine attachment to Sam Fisher, the game's protagonist.
"Lara Croft. Mario. Those are big brands," Kee said, adding that he thinks skateboarder Tony Hawk is more famous through his video games than from real life.
Spike TV already is tapping into this virtual personality worship with short segments in its show called "Secret Life of Games," which depict game heroes like Croft doing ordinary activities like grocery shopping. Pini said the goal of the awards is to turn the games into stars.
The taped telecast begins at 9 p.m. EST Thursday.
