The problem with the VGAs is the same problem that nearly all of Western gaming, from journalists, developers, and gamers, are suffering from. That problem is an deeply rooted embarrassment to be involved with gaming, and the wish that gaming were more like other more socially acceptable forms of entertainment like movies and TV.

Kotaku sings the praises of Little Big Planet, but says the best parts of the game are the acting by a B-class British nobody and the soundtrack "that doesn't sound like it should be in a videogame, and that's a good thing!" Almost every game at the VGAs looks like it wishes it was a Hollywood Blockbuster, while one of the few games that truly revels in the fact that it's a videogame (Super Smash Bros Brawl) gets snubbed by Boom Blox (a game that wishes it was Jenga) and Soul Calibur IV (a game that wishes it were a shitty action movie.)

Do I even need to mention the fact that we got nearly 10 minutes of the King of Queens doing "funny segway tricks" at out Video Game Awards Show? Need I even comment on the fact every "celebrity presenter" at the show seemed to be either embarrassed to be there or condescending to the entire medium of videogames? Kiether Sutherland had the balls to actually say something along like "Someday, videogames will get to actually be sort of as cool as movies!"

What a fucker.

There was a time when I personally could have gone the Hollywood route and tried to be in movies and TV, but I passed that shit up because Hollywood is filled with phonies and the entire industry is so full of itself that it's revolting. There are a lot of great people who work in Hollywood, and a lot of great stuff going on there, but the pervading culture in that town is shit. The reason I love Destructoid, and videogames in general, is that they have the potential to rise above all that. Destructoid has thus far gotten siccessful of just being honest about loving vidogames. That's not what I say tonight at the VGAs.

I feel bad saying all this, because Geoff Kieghly seems like a really well meaning guy; a guy who really loves videogames and wants them to grow, but this just isn't the way to do it. To show this side of the videogame industry to the world, the side that obviously is desperate for recognition from "real" celebrities like Kim Kardashian and 50 Cent, so desperate that they're willing to sell their soudl to do it, just makes the whole field look like a bunch of self-loathing wankers. If the show is going to be on TV, then it can't be any other way. TV shows need ratings to survive, and to get ratings, you need celebrities. You need to pander. You need to suck.

So if you need to suck in order to be on TV, why be on TV?

Next year, the show should be a web cast only, with Dave Jaffe, Ken Levine, Cliffy B, Kojima, Suda 51, Will Wright, the Media Molecule guys, and Miyamoto all as presenters and recipients of awards. This could be a show that bypasses everything that makes TV awful. It wouldn't be targeted towards teenage boys (as everything on Spike seems to be), or kids, or any age group for that matter. It would be a show that would but demographic targeting last, and tribute to videogames first.

It may not take off the first year, or even the first couple of years, but it would take off eventually, because anything made with the genuine love of videogames will eventually find its audience.

So yeah, that's my rant. Thank you, and goodnight.