humans are so played out

I've got nothing better to do on a Tuesday night. Sure, I can sit down on the couch and watch the tragic events unfold as my hobby is knocked back about 15 years and dragged through the mud of sophomoric humour and big chested babes. Video games are just for kids? After sitting through exactly 30 minutes of the absolutely ridiculous display of what some pointy haired network exec thinks gamers want, I'd have to agree.

Negative attention is still attention, so forgive me for further trampling the Spike TV Video Game Awards to death. I just fail to see the relevance of most of the categories, and even the nominees. X-Men Legends nominated as best RPG? I've got nothing against the game, but I'd hardly classify it as anything outside of a multiplayer action game. The Best military game category contained two RTS games, one of them not even based in reality. Why not just have a separate RTS category? It's pretty clear the categories aren't based on any set number of candidates, and you'd have more luck getting an explanation for the inclusion of a Best PC game category. And any awards show that neglects to even mention the biggest MMORPG release of the year, or worse, an entire fucking platform discredits itself.

Everything about this event just reeked of a half-assed attempt to get parents or clueless casual gamers out to the stores before Christmas. I mean the presenters couldn't have been more wooden in their delivery, forcibly confessing their love of video games. Even the crowd seemed stoical in their reception of each winner, not sure themselves of what was happening.

If this awards show was someone's idea of representing "gamer culture", there must have been some kind of misstep along the way to gaming's mainstream acceptance. Are "real" gamers not interesting enough? If you don't like Halo or GTA or Madden does that make you irrelevant? I'm not going to say I've got my finger on the pulse of today's youth - the gratuitous use of hip hop culture and its relation to gaming certainly confused me - but I think I've got an idea about what makes a good game. I'd also hold awards given to games by the industry that makes them in higher regard than those essentially bought with a publisher's advertising dollar.

stabbing yourself in the neck