According to Gamespot (via Variety), the videogame industry is ready to get serious about putting on an awards show, it seems.
The three big boys on the block, Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, and the largest publishers that produce games for video game systems, have joined forces to back "The Game Awards," with the first show set to take place on Dec. 5, from the Axis Theater in Las Vegas.
The show, which will be streamed live across all gaming systems and devices, is direct competition to Spike's "VGX," formerly "The Video Game Awards," which was much maligned and essentially a television promotional platform for upcoming releases during the peak holiday shopping season.
The "Game Awards" also will be produced as an awards show that hypes new games with a first look at trailers and other content, along with musical performances, appearances by game developers, eSports players, and online content creators.
Oddly enough, Geoff Keighley, who produced the Spike awards show is also the man behind the new "Game Awards."
The host of "GameTrailers TV" and former regular on gaming network G4, Keighley wants the event to acknowledge the place of videogames at the center of modern entertainment and culture... and make it available to a far larger audience.
Instead of airing on just one network, it will be distributed via a digital pool that includes Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, Nintendo, and Valve's Steam, which has over 100 million worldwide users on its own.
"The 'Game Awards 2014′ will celebrate our collective love of games and the passion we all hold in our hearts for this incredible entertainment medium," Keighley said. "Gaming has never been stronger, and this year we will celebrate the fastest-selling launch year ever for new game consoles, the dramatic rise of eSports and mobile gaming around the globe, and preview the games that will make 2015 the biggest year yet."
Keighley has lined up a veritable "who's who" of video game industry supporters, who will also serve on the show's advisory board. These supporters include: Reggie Fils-Aime, president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America; Yves Guillemot, CEO, Ubisoft; Hideo Kojima, president, Kojima Productions; Shawn Layden, CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment America; Peter Moore, chief operating officer, Electronic Arts; Xbox chief Phil Spencer; Martin Tremblay, president, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment; Rockstar Games and Valve.
"Electronic Arts has long championed the way gaming brings together players with the talented teams behind the world's greatest video games, and this event will be an exciting new opportunity to do just that," said EA's Moore. "We look forward to supporting 'The Game Awards' alongside our friends in the industry."
The "The Game Awards" will essentially kick off an outbreak of end-of-the-year honors for the videogame industry that concludes in February with the annual "D.I.C.E. Awards," produced by the Academy of Interactive Arts of Sciences. That event is considered the "Oscars" of the gaming biz but is a smaller, classier, and more intimate affair for the industry.
Producers will begin selling tickets for "The Game Awards" via TicketMaster on Nov. 11, so start saving up your tokens now, kiddies.
