LOS ANGELES – Celebs, reality TV stars and game designers walked the same red carpet on Saturday for the Spike TV Video Game Awards.
Viewed from the bustle of the press pit, the flow of talent was curious. Actor Mark Hamill threw his arm around pro skater Tony Hawk. Designers from Infinity Ward and Harmonix mingled with Zachary Quinto and Mike Tyson. Photogs snapped all and sundry. But the biggest murmur among the assembled paparazzi happened upon the arrival of four bottle-tanned cast members from the hit reality show Jersey Shore.
Southern California usually wilts under rain, but the awards ceremony amiably survived a day-long drizzle. The red carpet was hermetically sealed in plastic, like an improvised greenhouse warmed by Klieg lights rather than grow lamps. And a massive tent covered the whole shebang, an awards show on the roof of a parking garage.
From outside, the portable shelter looked imposing if slightly flimsy, but inside it all came together. A shiny, T-shaped stage took one end of the tent. Intricate video projections depicting post-apocalyptic wastelands and Blade Runner-style skylines created a powerful illusion of space. Press, attendees and nominees took seats in bleachers and two pits close to the stage.
I found myself midway up the stands in comfortable theater-style seats with a low table for snacks and drinks at my feet. Waiters delivered cocktails to the crowd, a move that prevented a massive crowd at the bar and guaranteed that seats remained full for the brief moments that cameras had to prove that there was, indeed, an audience to observe the evening's proceedings.
The show, broadcast live, went off like clockwork. A salvo of game trailers, award presentations and musical performances were delivered in rapid-fire succession. Among the clips: a sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum, footage from Tron: Evoution, a peek at Green Day: Rock Band and an early cinematic for Halo: Reach. The awards were quickly and efficiently doled out between the trailers. On commercial breaks, the audience lit up with the glow of iPhones, thumbing sneaked commentary to Twitter.
The winners weren't terribly surprising. Uncharted 2 took Game of the Year. Rocksteady won Studio of the Year for its work on Batman: Arkham Asylum. Indie designers Jenova Chen and Kellee Santiago walked onstage to accept Flower's nod for "Best Independent Game" – a category ironically "fueled by Mountain Dew." The general tone of the show, while frequently lurid and immature, was generally respectful of the craft of game design. Few other fields would give prime-time air to creators who spend a good part of their day hunched behind a computer monitor. To see them earnestly, graciously and sometimes nervously accept their awards in front of a live TV audience was a pleasure, no matter how many skimpy skirts and below-the-belt jokes sandwiched their acceptance speeches.
The most interesting moment of the evening was unscripted, delivered by the only host who couldn't be chained to a teleprompter. Handing out the award for "Best Music Game" (to The Beatles: Rock Band), musician Stevie Wonder made a plea to game makers to create videogames more accessible to people with disabilities. Wonder's honest request was a lively wake-up call in a largely pre-fab evening.
