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VGA ratings fall for fourth year, but rise among younger and male viewers
The Spike VGAs may have put on a brave front this year, but the ratings have once again shown a decline, reports Variety. 627,000 people tuned in on Saturday night, a three percent drop from last year -- about 20,000 viewers. To help put that figure into context, the show's debut in 2007 enjoyed a much more substantial 921,000 viewers. It wasn't all a total downer, though (unless you actually watched the show, we guess). The VGAs actually saw a rise in viewers within key demographics. The Neil Patrick Harris-hosted show received a 12 percent boost in adult viewers aged 18 to 49, from 370,000 last year to 450,000, while 18- to 34-year-old viewers increased in number by five percent, from 278,000 viewers last year to 292,000 this year. Men aged 18 to 34 showed the most significant rise -- 15 percent over last year, from 281,000 viewers to 251,000.
It's a wrap-up: Spike VGAs 2010
"You know what? I'm gonna call it: Best VGAs yet," liveblogged Joystiq's Justin Mcelroy. "I don't think I'm kidding." "Bullshit! Major step back from last year," responded brother and co-correspondent Griffin a moment later, before conceding, "Okay, in terms of news? Maybe." (But "in terms of raw waja? It was the worst one yet.") It might not be doing Spike's Video Game Awards show justice to separate the newsy bits from the embarrassing shenanigans, but we're doing just that, in this very post, for a couple of reasons: First, we all love recaps -- don't we? And second, there's simply no replacement for enduring the VGAs by watching them directly on your TV. Whether you tuned in or not this past Saturday night, you'll get the goods here, but know that we've neglected to round up some ... things.
From the VGAs Red Carpet: Criterion's Craig Sullivan
We just saw Criterion's creative director Craig Sullivan at the launch for Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit a few weeks ago, and so when he showed up on this weekend's VGAs red carpet, we congratulated him on the game and its addictive Autolog feature. "It's been phenomenal," he agreed. "It does change the way people play. People are playing the same event ten, fifteen, fifty times, and you don't get that in racing games. It's a very big deal for us and we're really glad that people are embracing it and having fun." The social service doesn't do what most implementations have so far done and share stats out to Twitter or Facebook. Instead, it keeps the sharing inside the game, and Sullivan says that's the way Criterion designed it. "You get information about Need for Speed when you're playing Need for Speed," he says. "That was really key to us." Criterion is also seeing in-game comments used more than expected, though it "usually degenerates into a load of swearing." As for what's next, Sullivan says DLC is the current focus, though Criterion wouldn't mind making either another Need for Speed or Burnout title, or any other genre for that matter. "We made Black before, and everybody wants us to make Black 2. As long as it's fun and it suits the strengths of the studio, we're interested in making any kind of game. We always joke and say we'll make a game about jelly, or make a game about horses, or tennis or whatever it is. If it fun and it fits with what Criterion stands for, then we'll pretty much make anything."
From the VGAs Red Carpet: Treyarch's Mark Lamia
With Infinity Ward's studio heads on the outs with Activision, it was up to Treyarch to take over the Call of Duty series, and according to fan reception, it did exactly that. "The response that I've gotten," Treyarch head Mark Lamia tells us, "is that people are happy with the game." But he says during VGA's red carpet event that it was never about competition among Activision's studios. "We've just got to stay focused on what we want, what we're making and our own creative, and that's really the best way to do your best work." Now that it's become the Call of Duty heir apparent, what's next for Treyarch? "First thing we're doing," says Lamia, " is we're still working on Black Ops." Lamia promises Treyarch is listening to the community and will be responsive in tuning the game and providing new content. "So everyone who bought and is investing their time in Black Ops, they can expect that that's just how we work." Lamia says Treyarch is in fact "a Call of Duty studio as far as anyone is concerned." World at War's Zombies mode had a successful life on the iPhone, and we asked if Treyarch was considering trying to replicate that success with Black Ops. Lamia says he trusts developers Ideaworks to do a good job on a sequel if that's what they choose to do, but "it's not a question of can we do it or is it good to do it, it's really about focus. Right now we are just focused on the PC and console skus that were just launched. There's millions of people playing every day, and we're focused on supporting that."
From the VGAs Red Carpet: Jennifer Hale
Voice actress Jennifer Hale is a veteran of the industry, playing tons of memorable roles from Bastila in Knights of the Old Republic to Samus Aran in Metroid Prime and the female Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect series. She stopped to chat with us for a bit as she walked down the red carpet at this weekend's VGAs, and shared a little bit about the characters she's played so far. Commander Sheperd was an interesting character to play, just because she can be so different from player to player. "I rely a lot on my director, Ginny McSwain," said Hale. Of course there are the various lines to be said for the Renegade and Paragon branches, but because players can vary Hale's character's appearance so much, does she have a default in mind when portraying the voice? "No," she said. "Think about it -- you don't go through your life thinking about your appearance from the outside, except for getting dressed in the morning. Neither does she. She goes out into the world and she is who she is in the middle of her, and that's how she goes through the world." Hale doesn't actually play many games ("I'm terrible at them," she laughs), but her favorite experiences are "when I have awesome directors and awesome scripts." Her favorite character in recent memory? Brutal Legend's Ophelia, opposite Jack Black. Because "it was Tim," she says. "It was Tim Schafer, and you cannot go wrong with Tim Schafer."
From the VGAs Red Carpet: Guillermo del Toro and THQ's Danny Bilson
THQ Executive VP of Core Games Danny Bilson stopped by our red carpet post at the VGAs this weekend with director Guillermo del Toro in tow, and Bilson talked with us about all of THQ's upcoming properties, including the quickly ensuing Red Faction movie on SyFy. "They're prepping right now," he promised, "And there's another one coming that we're going to announce soon." Would that be the elusive Saints Row 3? "I can't talk about it or they'll cut my head off," he said. "But we're going to be talking about it at some point in the future in a big way." For his part, Guillermo del Toro decided to work with THQ on the newly revealed inSane because he believes that gaming "is one of the most immersive mediums for storytelling right now." We asked him to tick off a few specifics, and he dutifully did. "Left 4 Dead has passages that are incredibly scary. Silent Hill is great, and Shadow of the Colossus was incredibly moving. There are Call of Duty moments that are better than any war movie." Bilson interrupted at that one. "Wait until they ride the bus in the first level of Homefront!" As for del Toro's inSane, Bilson says, "we're only focusing on the game right now, and whatever happens later happens later. But we're building an incredible world together that we will be talking about more later on." We'll look forward to it.
From the VGAs Red Carpet: Bioware's Doctors
At the red carpet event right before the VGAs this weekend, all we could get out of Bioware's two founding doctors, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, about their reveal was that "it involves shooting." Sure enough, as we predicted, the new game ended up being Mass Effect 3, and we'll look forward to more information about that game as we move toward release next year. But in the meantime, Muzyka and Zeschuk were happy to tell us what they thought of fan reaction to the last entry in the series. Even though it came out last January, Mass Effect 2 remains a game of the year contender for 2010. "It's a tremendous honor for us to have the game considered in that light by the fans," said Muzyka. "At the end of the day, that's what it's all about." Zeshuck agrees that "it's a long time. But people seem to remember it, and it's really exciting that it's still on people's minds." With Dragon Age 2 and The Old Republic already on the way, and now Mass Effect 3 due out next year as well, we asked if Bioware is concerned about spreading itself too thin. "There was a point a couple of years ago where we actually thought about that really carefully," says Zeschuk. "We actually did kind of constrict ourselves a few years back. We had to very specifically structure the studios." But nowadays, the doctors feel that the company's balance is exactly right. "I've actually just done a circuit across the studios," says Muzyka. "What really struck me is how passionate our people are, and how much they care about the quality of the experiences. We're making different types of games in every studio, but they all retain that feel of Bioware."
Red Dead Redemption wins VGA 'Game of the Year'
There could only be one winner. After it was all said and done, Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption took home the coveted Game of the Year prize from the VGA, besting Call of Duty: Black Ops, God of War III, Halo: Reach and Mass Effect 2. Other noteworthy winners throughout the evening include Costume Quest's victory as downloadable game of the year, and Limbo's victory as indie game of the year. In addition, BSG's Tricia Helfer finally won an award for something, as a voice in Starcraft 2. For the full list of winners, click past the break.
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception trailer reveals 11/1/11 release
During tonight's extended version of last week's exceptionally short teaser trailer, we got the release date of the PS3's major 2011 release. Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception will be released on November 1, 2011 or, as the myriad future trailers will write it: 11/1/11. As @naughtydog tweets, that's actual gameplay at the end there. It's a small glimpse, and our capture video isn't much to write home about, but we'll embed a high-definition version as soon as we get our hands on it. In the interim, dissect what we've got in the comments. Guys, Uncharted 3 and Mass Effect 3 in November 2011? Our video game cup runneth over!
SSX: Deadly Descents debuts at Spike VGAs
What is SSX: Deadly Descents? It's the next SSX game of course, silly! A brief trailer shown at tonight's Spike VGAs shows a distinctly darker, bro-ier snowboarding game than we're used to from the series -- "Nothing is more bone-chilling than reality!" is its tagline, for instance. Some consolation? The game will apparently use real world landscapes. Then again, we're happy as all get out to see anything from SSX. So, in summary: snowboarding, SSX, EA, bros, real-world environments. We've added the trailer after the break, so head past and see for yourself!
Forza 4 announced with live-action trailer
Forza 4 was unveiled with a dramatic live-action trailer during tonight's Spike VGAs. The teaser gave an idea of what the game will include -- namely, simulation driving in really fast, expensive cars. Did you expect any less? See it for yourself after the break. Also, we're guessing that the Kinect functionality that we saw with Forza back at E3 could end up in this forthcoming title. Color us interested, just please, please don't make us pretend there's a steering wheel in our hands. Forza 4 arrives on Xbox 360 in Fall 2011.
Spike VGAs 2010: The liveblog
God, are we really doing this again? OK, fine. For the fourth (yes, fourth) year running, my brother (and fellow Joystiq editor) Griffin McElroy and I are going to watch the VGAs so you don't have to. Traditionally, we make fun of them in the cruelest and most profanity-laden way possible, but maybe they'll, you know, be really great this year? Like, super duper classy? ... Maybe? Bookmark this page and let's find out together after the break at 8 p.m. EST. %Gallery-110364%
Guillermo Del Toro's inSane finally revealed
As promised, the Spike VGAs played host to the unveiling of the joint project between THQ and Pan's Labyrinth director, Guillermo Del Toro. Titled inSane, nothing was revealed about the game's actual gameplay -- it's being developed by Volition and won't be launching until sometime in 2013 (no joke!). Based on the initial trailer, it's clear that it'll be a horror game. Hit the jump for the trailer. Update: THQ's Danny Bilson offered a little more via Twitter, stating that THQ and Del Toro have been working together on the game for six months so far and just finished up "the story beats" yesterday, whatever that means. Finally, Bilson described the game as a "Horror Adventure Title."
Prototype 2 kills its maker in 2012
The latest unveiling at the Spike VGAs is a sequel to 2009's Prototype, unsurprisingly titled Prototype 2. This time, however, the protagonist isn't Alex Mercer -- instead, he's the target of one Sgt. James Hellen, who seems to have undergone infection himself in an attempt to take out Mercer. The game will launch in 2012. Hit the jump for the teaser trailer.
Resistance 3 coming September 6, 2011
Resistance 3 will be coming out on September 6, 2011 -- nearly three years after the release of Resistance 2. Its predecessor debuted with solid reviews, but fans thought differently. Insomniac Games is spending a lot more time with the next iteration in the PS3-exclusive FPS series, where you play as the man that killed the hero of the first two games. You can see the fruition of their efforts in the VGA trailer, embedded after the break.
Kratos confirmed for Mortal Kombat, exclusive to PS3
As rumored this past week, Kratos was confirmed during tonight's Spike VGAs as playable in the forthcoming Mortal Kombat reboot. Scorpion's all "Get over here!" and Kratos is all "I don't think you know who I am!" You shoulda seen it! Well, actually, you can -- right now! The full debut of Kratos can be found after the break.
Thor: God of Thunder coming to consoles on May 3rd, 2011
Yep, it's another Sega published video game adaptation of a comic book movie. What could go wrong? Hopefully, this God of War approach to the God of Thunder will prove a bit more successful when it launches on May 3rd, three days before the movie.
Mass Effect 3 officially revealed (no, seriously this time)
As speculated and teased (and accidentally outed), BioWare and EA tonight revealed the next installment in the Mass Effect series: Mass Effect 3. Alongside the official announcement at tonight's Spike VGAs came the first trailer of Shepard and Co. in action. Surprise, surprise -- Earth's burning! The final chapter to BIoWare's trilogy will launch sometime in "holiday 2011." Head past the break for the debut tease!
Batman: Arkham City VGAs trailer takes out the trash
The wait was worth it: Batman: Arkham City's VGA trailer showed Bats taking down some crooks seemingly strapped with tons of high-tech weaponry in the most badass way. Of course they're no match for The Dark Knight -- why would they even try?
Skyrim: Elder Scrolls 5 coming 11/11/11
In one of the bigger surprises during the VGAs, Bethesda's Todd Howard took to the stage, surrounded by a menagerie of monks, to reveal the latest in the Elder Scrolls series: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Head past the jump for the teaser, featuring narration by Max Von Sydow. %Gallery-110474%
