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PS3 exclusive 'The Last of Us' to debut at Spike VGAs
Over the last couple of years, Spike TV's annual Video Game Awards ceremony has become a launching pad for more than teleprompter dialogue and stilted celebrity sight reads. Publishers are utilizing the exceedingly televised event as an opportunity to reveal new titles and IPs; take The Last of Us, for example. Beyond the fact that it's a PS3 exclusive and will have something to do with ants, rioting and/or the apocalypse, The Last of Us is as much of a mystery to us as it is to everyone else. Glean what you can from the teaser above, and visit the official site for a short clip of an ant licking its butt.
VGA 2009 viewership down 5% from 2008
Spike TV's Video Game Awards show isn't simply about celebrating the best of the games industry. No, it plays host to numerous WORLD EXCLUSIVE trailers. But, just how many people tuned in to watch? According to a report by Variety's The Cut Scene, not too many: Roughly 647,000 viewers watched the broadcast in 2009, a 5-percent decrease from 2008's viewership, and a 30-percent decrease from 2007's. When accounting for DVR views, the total jumps to 691,000 viewers. (For comparison's sake, the most recent Golden Globe awards drew in 16.9 million viewers.) The online numbers (via GameTrailers.com) should make it pretty clear what Spike TV is doing right -- and what it's doing wrong. The scene pictured above, featuring Mike Tyson and the cast of The Jersey Shore, got a paltry 16,000 views. The Halo: Reach trailer, on the other hand, got 584,000. Perhaps if the Video Game Awards focused on, y'know, video games, there would be more reason to stay tuned in.
