The Dark History Behind The Game Awards

[@thegameawards]

Thanks guys!

[@raaaaaaaaaam496]

Balls?

[@kreature6673]

Show zelda

[@diamom_]

Show spiderman 2

[@kimberlyc1406]

its our favorite nepo baby!

[@kingoutback]

please wrap it up

[@NakeyJakey]

edgy and boney tied me to a chair and forced me to watch MANswers for 71 hours (such an odd number I know just make it 72)

[@youtubesuperfan1]

Oh no

[@lamibonxd]

jakey

[@northslate4850]

Just did this to my grandfather he stopped moving halfway through it was very funny

[@lynn8656]

nakey fakey (he is not nakey)

[@rpuccio01]

hey jakey love your album

[@jake_nowak]

Shoutout to the Burbacks parents for naming their boys after pasta Spag(Eddy) and Riga(Tony)

[@0project]

spagedward and riganthony

[@JB2FROSTY]

You clever mf

[@vesper1538]

​@@0projectspagward and rigatony

[@nicholasqualters]

Cant wait to name my kid spag

[@finchcarvingadiamond]

They are the Mario Brothers in real life and I'm afraid.

[@andyn46]

"Hot girls read cheat codes" is one of the most 00s sentences that has ever been said

[@ApolloK]

The fact that the game awards come from the same network as manswers makes more sense than I'd like to admit

[@ddjsoyenby]

it's all adding up.

[@killjoy8372]

Usually my coworkers never get close enough to my desk to see what's playing on my phone but luckily today a coworker got right up to my desk just in time for the shirtless women fighting, 10/10 great video guys

[@frailvoid5844]

THIS COMMENT WAS LOLTASTIC!!

[@mozeyad4573]

@@frailvoid5844 ☝🤓

[@superdrummerboy1028]

​@@frailvoid5844 😬🧐

[@kamikazemelon787]

truly a universal human experience lol

[@joshuatealeaves]

@@frailvoid5844 We need a 2 year old update. How has LOLTASTIC aged in your mind

[@s_t_brown]

You guys have such great chemestry, it feels like you are brothers sometimes.

[@megax5000]

wait they're not??

[@OverClover]

twins, even!

[@phantasmagorics]

@@megax5000 people say they look similar but i don't see it

[@grosebud4721]

@@megax5000r/whooooosh

[@Kmichaelcook87]

Chemestry as spelled seems like a portmanteau of chemistry and incest 😂

[@hastyscorpion]

The fact that Madden was named game of the year in 2003 is by far the funniest thing in this entire video.

[@dromie5059]

How come? I genuinely don't understand

[@Silver4Hire]

​@@dromie5059 While you certainly can have a lot of fun playing them, sport games are rarely considered "great games". especially when 2003 had one of the greatest games EVER: Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic

[@PipeGuy64Bit]

Tbf Madden 2004 was a very revolutionary title to the franchise since it overhauled the gameplay as the quarterback. But of course it's not something that many people especially nowadays would know or care about

[@sebastianb.3754]

Holy shit any actual footage was such a tough watch. Thanks.

[@zachflag6506]

The 2006 footage had me on the ropes for real man

[@cheekiestgore1634]

​@ZachFlag I've been scrolling looking for someone so specifically mention 2006. It's where I'm currently at so I dunno how much worse it gets. But them shitting on video game players while hosting an award show for videos games is wild. The actual footage of the the award was a rough watch

[@spam_1224]

It was so fun lol I loved every second

[@caseys2698]

@@spam_1224you’re part of the problem then if you don’t think that shit is cringey to watch.

[@cookieface80]

@@caseys2698 Sooooo.... The Game Awards? That hasn't changed.

[@LadyGameProfessor]

I'm a professional game designer and a woman - I joined the industry in 2003. If you thought THIS was bad, you should see the crap I had to put up with at work...or conferences. =(

[@CheersMyDudes]

Oof! I bet you have a few stories to tell!

[@xxxoomer]

Tell us about The Matrix Online!!!

[@twilso12]

As I kid I never registered this because I never watched it, so I never knew it existed. It took being shown shit like this for me to understand that toxic masculinity absolutely exists and had been a huge problem for awhile. Now there are “good men” who haven’t been shown the dichotomy of masculinity and the manifestations of each - who believe the world is out to attack men in general when that’s never been the case. The culture war is an interesting abstract collage of corporate greed recognizing what sells the most and the fastest to make the biggest profit and won’t correct course until the money begins to deplete. They don’t care about the women who suffer under toxic cultures they create because they don’t live in them, but they do attract the most toxic of males because the parameters were set to do just that. Sell to the most toxic. It’s unfortunate video games got brought into this because you can see in retro gaming commercials that it wasn’t a “boy” thing at all. It was actually a family thing. This also deteriorated when 8-bits started pumping out drug rattled garbage games that were absolute messes. It gave the impression to some that video games were for mindless numbskulls, add on the new TTN and you get the terrible culture being bred throughout the country and the world. Sad.

[@esmeecampbell7396]

​@@twilso12this is a wrong way to look at it. The intention was never to sell to the most toxic. The intention was what it always is, to sell to the most PEOPLE. That was where the money was back then.

[@twilso12]

@@esmeecampbell7396 you’re very wrong and clearly do not understand social engineering

[@galactic85]

Jesus Christ....this was painful to watch. Aside from the blatant sexism and misogyny of those older awards shows I just think it's sad that our culture created a whole TV network devoted to perpetuating the idea that being a "man" means you should only care about getting drunk, acting stupid, boobs, and getting erections 24/7 like brain damaged teenager. Like.....if those were the only aspects of my identity that I was allowed to predominantly express or was pressured into expressing just to feel like I belonged that would drive me insane. It would be torture.

[@Digger-Nick]

Calm down there timmy

[@peewee139]

@@Digger-Nick galactic85 got a point tho. this stuff was insulting to both women AND men. i say this as a woman

[@SeerWalker]

and this is exactly why misogyny hurts everybody

[@Digger-Nick]

@@peewee139 Not really. Sex sells and everyone willingly chose to participate. When it comes to gender roles in society women have NO PROBLEM AT ALL using it to their advantage every single chance they get. People need to stop pretending like things always haven't been this way

[@ddjsoyenby]

honestly spike at best could be dumb fun, but yeah it was not a good network.

[@ChaosRaych]

I'm a woman who has enjoyed video games for over 30 years. I was a teen around the Spike TV era. That sort of programming certainly contributed to low self-esteem & a negative body image, but I think it also help shape my not-like-other-girls mentality at the time. I'd watch that stuff & think, "That's not me.. I'm not a boring nag! I'm different!" As for feeling excluded, I actively avoided shooters & other online games just so I wouldn't have to deal with harassment. Most guys I knew IRL thought it was cool that I was into gaming, but they'd still explain things to me like a 5-year-old. The space as a whole still has its issues, but it's come a long way in terms of inclusivity.

[@littlejack59]

I mean, it's been pretty inclusive for a while now, even back in the og cod days it was more inclusive than it is now, the difference was that it was okay to shit on someone, so will get shit talked for something, whether it be your race, weight, voice, age, gender, etc. The only girls I know that actually got any respect while playing video games were the ones that were either, a. Are really good at the game or b. Could take and dish out insults.

[@Nikimouse311]

I feel this so much! My two best friends growing up were boys; majority of my cousins are boys; my dad is a professional musician in the rock genre so that’s majority men. Like, other male musicals would leave Maxiim and Hustler around the house allllll the time. I grew up with a lot of male energy. That absolutely catered to my, “I’m not like other girls. Im one of the fun ones” attitude that took me years to unpack. I actually got into gaming late, in 2016 in my mid 20s, but one of the things that kept me out (besides my parents not buying me a console) was that it seemed like it was for boys.

[@littelcreatchure506]

I still avoid any kind of online game for exactly that reason

[@Arvak]

I had a very similar experience growing up. I've been gaming for ~21 years (I'm 27 now) and definitely faced a lot of misogyny in gaming when I was younger. It breaks my heart to still see a lot of it today, but it's definitely better than it was

[@alexsmith6322]

@@littlejack59maybe, as someone who is, you know, NOT a woman, you aren’t the one who can definitively say how long video games have been inclusive for 😂 like your anecdotal interactions with women in video games literally do not matter and mean nothing. So I’m gonna go with the first hand experience of actual women who experience these communities. Simply asserting “nah it’s been inclusive for forever, where have you been” when you are the “in” group is so laughably unaware

[@rachel.beth99]

Looking back, that kind of culture is definitely a reason why I, a girl who has played video games since gradeschool, actively refused to acknowledge that I liked video games because I didn't feel like the games I liked "counted" because "girls hate video games".

[@Lil_Yuri]

It's the reason I, as a chick with mainly guy friends, wanted to play video games, but my parents only let me play Sims games and then took it away because I got so addicted to it I was failing school (I still have a strong guilt aversion to them well into adulthood). It felt like as a teen I had to choose one: bimbo or pick me (or Mormon lol).

[@Cristin647]

My parents exclusively bought me those "made for girls" games like the Imagine series, and while I didn't hate them, I would always end up stealing my older brother's games because they just looked more fun a lot of the time. Hell, to this day I sometimes find my old video game stuff in my brother's room because no one could've possibly thought that that stuff belonged to a girl. They even gave him my Pokemon cards that he ended up selling since I couldn't possibly have cared about them, and they obviously ended up on my bookshelf by mistake. I have since restarted my collection as an adult and no one can stop me now. Anyways, great video Ed and Toni.

[@flamingmanure]

well...tbh alot of girls do hate video games and actively demonize ppl that play them, in my experience at least, so theres a counter culture for every culture it seems. do you feel things are better now atleast?

[@Peannlui]

​@@flamingmanure God no. Workplace sexual abuse? Gåmergate? It's a nightmare, so of course many women will hate the scene.

[@allyrose6437]

​@@Peannlui yeah, like I hate parts of it. But I still love video games.

[@crystalrose7921]

I was a woman in that era, and yes i learned real quick to never speak because once they knew i was female, they treated me like crap. It was frustrating. I could never get good at multiplayer shooters beecause it was not fun. So i played mostly alone, andthen i played with my husband and then my kids and now we game with our grandkids, and i still stay muted.

[@clamcrewcarclub6017]

Well it seems nobody uses game chat anymore, everyone stays in parties with friends or stay silent lol Game on grandma

[@desertdesk]

@@clamcrewcarclub6017unless you play tf2. Tf2 has some of the most insane people I’ve. Ever seen, all talking in text chat (great game though)

[@bubblybobabubbles]

Hey, if it makes you feel any better, as a woman in the gaming space I don't feel like I'm treated like crap en mass for being a girl. We've come a long way! I'm glad you kept your love for video games through the years despite not feeling welcome in the area of your interest.

[@littlejack59]

To be fair, they would've treated you like crap if you were a dude aswell, and that definitely wasn't the reason why wouldn't couldn't get good. I remember using voice chat and just being rosted for being a squeaker.

[@ScabeiathraxUK]

@@littlejack59 They wouldn't have been treated equally like crap, and they still wouldn't. A woman would've got much worse treatment than you did, and I don't think you'd be too likely to get good at a hobby you were entirely unwelcome in.

[@elen5871]

"Geoff Keighley is the Pizza Planet Truck of video games" I'm not gonna stop laughing about this for 17 years

[@elen5871]

also lemme tell ya, as an old lady adjacent person, I have never been that comfortable when it comes to certain aspects of the video game world, and I am truly thankful to have seen shit swing away from misogyny. terrifying how quickly it has swung back! but I guess uh. idk insert baseball bat joke here.

[@Meimoons]

@@elen5871here here!

[@CrazedsHideout]

As a woman gamer who was a teenager in the mid-00's, I can safely say that I felt highly alienated by the male side of gaming. Which was weird because I had male friends who played games, but we never... talked about games together. Manga, school, history, other cultures, life... sure. But if video games were brought up, even though they knew that was primarily what I did at home after school, they were sure to seperate what I liked to play into the category of "chick games". Kingdom Hearts? Fatal Frame? Mario? Dumb baby games for girls. Needs more half-naked women and sports to count. Oh, we both like FF7? Well, girls don't like it in the "same way", so it was different. Me and the other girls who loved video games and anime/manga stuff used to hang out in the same spot for years and talk about all the nerdy/geeky stuff we liked and it wasn't until my senior year that ANY of the guys acknowledged that we existed and legitimately liked video games and that was only after I went way too indepth about the plot of Chrono Trigger during a class debate. Heck, one of my best friends had a boyfriend when we were in our early 20s who refused to believe either of us were "real gamers" until he walked in on us unannounced playing Samurai Warriors 2. He had seen us playing games before, but he thought we were just pretending to impress him. If it wasn't for the internet family I made eons ago in a Final Fantasy forum, I would have thought all male gamers were toxic idiots who thought women only liked shopping and beach vacations.

[@ddjsoyenby]

yeah, it's not great now.........but it was waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy worse back than!

[@mikehiebert6227]

this post started out sad and upseting but ended on a happy note. im glad you found a nice acceptiong internet community not filled with video game toxic masculinity!

[@CrazedsHideout]

@@mikehiebert6227 I'll admit, I lucked out there. 17 years later and the majority of us still grief each other on being massive nerds. XD

[@truckerdave8465]

In my teens it was D&D and magic the gathering that was not for girls. My fellow band nerds would not let me join the D&D game. Like wtf. Luckily I was in the computer classes at school and video games hadn’t been truly deemed as ‘not for girls’ yet and one of my classmates gave me a copy of sailor moon doom. Then they moved into games being not for girls. And the internet in general, also not for girls. My name is a reference to that. Check out Roberta Williams. I like to point to her when boys get spicy. One of the biggest pioneers in video gaming was a woman.

[@monkfishy6348]

Every guy loved it when they found out I was into video games. Weird, maybe you were the problem?

[@ConnorNolanTech]

I'm so glad y'all mentioned Spike TV giving Madden 2004 its first game of the year award before the show even started. My brother and I were livid when they did that

[@TheFinalFarewell]

I mean the alternative would be waiting through that whole award show just to learn that of ALL the games that year, including but not limited to Final Fantasy X-2, Mario Kart: Double Dash, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and the original Call of Duty...they decided to give GAME OF THE YEAR to a Madden title. If I Sar through that award show for that disrespect, I'd be pretty mad.

[@makeitthrough_]

@@TheFinalFarewell I mean, X-2 doesn't belong within fifty feet of that discussion. If XII hadn't been as decent as it was I would've called X-2 the death of the franchise

[@TheFinalFarewell]

@@makeitthrough_ Fair enough. If I'm being honest I haven't played that one in particular, I just added it as I looked down the long list of big releases from that year

[@Soniman001]

@@makeitthrough_ ignore the story and X-2 is a good game

[@MisterMelvinheimer]

​@@Soniman001ignore the story and you lose half the reason to play a Final Fantasy in the first place.

[@amnoirgg8563]

Those early VGA shows are the type of misogyny that bred the “I’m not like other girls” mentality that all of us teenage girls had to go through in the early 2000’s and it was bad for ALL of us.

[@flamingmanure]

except for the fact that "im not like other guys" exists, in truth some ppl just like to feel special and far from the norms, they think its an appeal for some.

[@miadietrich7347]

It truly was a special flavor of "not like other girls" that we became. I completely agree that being a female gamer back then brought on this mentality. I'm so glad it's not as much of a boys' club now, so we can just like what we like and not be considered "special" or "fake" for it.

[@KitKat_293]

it also fully informed the anita sarkessian brand of gaming criticism and commentary. Even as a woman and feminist I found myself not really connecting with her analysis over the years, if not fully disagreeing many times. but my god with this absolute state of things its no wonder her takes were seemingly so extreme and regressive. it was in response to this absurdly extreme and regressive misogyny around gaming. her heavy handed takes were kind of warranted tbh. I was in middle school in 2003-2005. I forgot how bad this shit was

[@GigaDonk99]

@@flamingmanure how come every time a woman talks about sexism in any capacity, some douche bro has to come in and be like "things ALSO are bad for men sometimes", and its never to add to the conversation in a meaningful way, its just to shut down the woman and make it all about you.

[@emblemblade9245]

@@KitKat_293h, yeah, that explains how I think I remember feeling. I remember not really liking the vibes of her criticisms, I just forgot what the content actually was. But the way you described it does ring a bell. She obviously shouldn’t have gotten the amount of backlash she did

[@dollbowz]

animal crossing has been a huge part of my life since i was little and i have so many hours across all the games but since i grew up in this era i would often say no or say "yeah but not real games" when people (especially guys) asked if i played video games. they'll judge us for gaming, not gaming, playing easy games, playing hard games. it's almost like some straight men deeply hate women, crazy! i appreciate y'all shining some light on it though as it was a real bummer to grow up surrounded by that and feel like i wasn't allowed to enjoy my favorite thing

[@AleksandarBell]

It’s funny now because there’s a massive amount of women gamers now so companies have begun to really appreciate that demographic, so this “video games are only for men” is generally obsolete now. These companies change their tune so quickly for money.

[@MustaineIsGod]

This!! I was always asked what games I was playing at the time and if I answered Sims or Animal Crossing (games I have always played on and off since they came out), I would be labelled a "casual gamer" or a "fake gamer". But honestly I was too uncomfortable to say I was playing any other games because I knew I would be interrogated to see if I was a "real gamer". It's so disgusting, and I'm talking about recent history like 2010-2016.

[@evelynwright329]

my son ruined my switch on monthers day. i miss my island so much i had a dream i visisted one of my villagers. the whole dream was just me giving a cartoon chicken named Goose a new workout shirt. ive had multiple people laugh at me when i say its been really hard to have my favorite hobby taken away bc my hobby isnt "worth" being upset over losing.

[@pte_n0vember]

@@MustaineIsGod aaah I almost forgot about the interrogations. 😂 Yeah, either the games you liked didn't count as "real games" or if you named the "right" games they'd grill you on some insanely specific detail to prove that you were lying about liking it. No matter what, it always boiled down to you not being a "real gamer". I quickly learned to stay silent about liking games around those types, or only mention the most obscure games they never even heard of.

[@gorgannan5177]

Look at them now. 1k hours in New Horizons because lockdown sucked. And by them, I mean me.

[@AdeelTariq0]

The only problem with current game awards is the hollywood celebrity cameos. Like games industry still look up to hollywood for approval or something

[@ddjsoyenby]

yeah :/

[@Bighomie39]

Yeah, Al Pacino being at The Game Awards is still kinda weird to me. Like, c'mon, does Al Pacino even game like that? What's his rank on CS;GO

[@gumfoil]

This is probably the best takedown of cringy 2000s stereotyping I've ever seen. If I can say that as an OLD OLD OLD OLDoldoldold OLD lady. More video essays, please!

[@truckerdave8465]

Agreed! Also old old old old old old old lady. I loved KOtOR. I played it. In my 20s. I’m so old. Also Darth Revan was a woman, period.

[@maryisazombie]

As a big KOTOR Fan, every old felt like a punch lol 😂

[@Puppy_Puppington]

I don’t wanna be olds :(

[@DarkNessBear]

Just want to say thanks for sticking through all that garbage era and staying with games. You the real hero!! ❤

[@legosbyjacob]

If I had a nickel for every time an award show got cancelled after Joel McHale hosted it, I'd have two nickels which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.

[@puffnisse]

What was the other one?

[@legosbyjacob]

@@puffnisse Legocon 2022

[@PanAndScanBuddy]

Joel performs a valuable service and I respect it

[@analcommando1124]

He Britta'ed award shows.

[@caseys2698]

Seeing him criticize the small awards show by just being himself really did just feel like Jeff from Community 😂 thinking of the Dean’s Commercial episode lol

[@ranna6738]

I feel like spike TV has a huge responsibility for why us female gamers stayed silent on voice chats and picked male avatars and names. Especially in competitive gaming. It’s such a bummer to be told to get back in the kitchen and let my boyfriend use his console. Yes actual things I was told too many times in the last 15 years or so.

[@ChaosRaych]

I had a guy tell me once to "stick to basket weaving" 🤣 I've heard so much unhinged stuff, like I must be paying my friends in feet pics to play with me. I have to remind myself that it takes a sad, lonely existence to sit behind a screen & mic spewing misogyny at strangers over a game

[@abathtub1411]

@@ChaosRaych stick to basket weaving?????????? what in the middle schooler who just learned about historic crafting is that xD

[@seaweedpopcorn8957]

still happens in random lobbies for competitive games. pretty gross. though thankfully it's less common, and people feel a lot less comfortable doing it in person now

[@tearsfordears]

Like at least tell me my aim sucks or accuse me of not paying attention- shit that actual pertains to the game!

[@breadg1818]

@@abathtub1411 hey dude dont trash bascet weaving

[@zachflag6506]

I feel like every woman that ever featured on any Spike TV show deserves financial compensation

[@quackmasterson5128]

spike TV veterans discount

[@tarman47]

Like the giant paycheck they took to wear skimpy clothes?

[@zachflag6506]

@@tarman47 "giant check" dawg they barely paid their WRITERS. You think they were giving fat paydays for the women they used as set dressing?

[@Puppy_Puppington]

@@zachflag6506yeah lol

[@Qunarr]

@@zachflag6506 they didn’t pay their writers enough because they spent most of the budget on the woman’s bodies 💀

[@BroxTheHusky]

I remember unironically watching Manswers on Spike as a tween/teen. I am currently working on a time machine to punch myself in the head.

[@MichaelCutts7]

I might have to borrow that for a similar mission

[@morgantremble]

I remember being an elementary school aged GIRL and hanging out with my dad in the basement while Spike TV was on the tv.

[@nickl2854]

It looks like it was mythbusters but like the shittiest darkest alternate universe version I guess?

[@ddjsoyenby]

i did........and i am not super bothered i was a dumb kid i've changed and matured.

[@Lil_Yuri]

To be fair to you, before KZbin and other online video really took off, it was like "well, it's on TV", that was roughly 2/3 of what I watched, random stuff that happened to be on basic cable.

[@TheFinalFarewell]

Spike TV: The first EVER network made to appeal to what has been the number one target demographic of all cable television from the invention of cable til the dawn of streaming services 😂

[@michaelhegedus4491]

You know Eddy and Tony never disappoint. Until they do and they will find me and punch me in the face

[@MattyP650]

Go 9ers. We’re coming to take the house down up in stinky filthy Philly 🤢

[@onlystaar]

@@MattyP650football fans🤢

[@MattyP650]

@@onlystaar you’re a hater! Big Negative energy off you. Hope your day turns around, friendo

[@onlystaar]

@@MattyP650 did you read your prior comment

[@ashwilliams1725]

@@MattyP650 football fans 🤢

[@ak-t7d6f]

I had no idea the earlier VGAs were so disastrous. It makes more sense now why Geoff wasn’t so thrilled about a random kid coming on stage and pulling a prank which could potentially tarnish the reputation of the show. He probably wants to avoid recreating the past cringefest again as much as he can. And he also wants the show to be taken more seriously.

[@M60A3]

That kid was annoying

[@aoBubs]

it's wild to remember how gross 2000s nerd culture could be edit- and also pop culture overall, to be fair

[@mechanomics2649]

Could be? There are an unfortunate amount of areas where it still is.

[@HeWhoisKarim]

Nah the ability to be stupid for fun back then was great.

[@JeremiahMcaninch]

I think Eddy made a great point, that wasn't the actual culture. It was the portrayed culture by media. Those who worked in media just didn't know enough about the culture, and had dated views on it based off their experiences when gaming was a fringe hobby.

[@shoopusdawhoopus]

'2000s nerd culture' is not what you see on screen here. This was corporate networks testing the waters for what worked. Video games didn't make more money than movies or music at this point. The games that sold the most were sports games and pokemon. The people who were in to sports games idolized girls, rap and partying. This was the demographic chosen to advertise to: young men. For the most part, young men are still the primary demographic today, the industry has just found out that they can plug in some token elements to add a small bonus of young women to the demographic.

[@beefy74]

i understand that it’s not a great representation of gaming culture, but let’s not forget how hostile the culture was towards women. and it’s not like they wouldn’t have continued doing the show if it didn’t get traction in the first place.

[@antiichristie]

This video reminded me why I was so into feminism in 2010-2014. Growing up in the 2000s was brutal

[@SolaceMcfly]

What made you change I'm curious

[@antiichristie]

@@SolaceMcfly i'm still a feminist I'm just more intersectional and concerned ab socialist principles now

[@parkyercarcass]

@@antiichristie we love to hear it

[@ANogueira-nz8vm]

You literally grew up in one of the easiest times to be a woman. Fucking perpetual victimhood

[@comicsans3537]

Ditto. I was rabid because of how much I was sexualized as a pre-teen by men in their golden years. I've only calmed down in the last few years 😮‍💨

[@kookachoo173]

No matter what year it is, there’s an uncomfortable video game award show somewhere.

[@entirelybonkers8832]

The fact that there’s people who look back on this and say it’s “real comedy” and “the good days” before people were “too sensitive” scares me. this shits disgusting and slimy and makes so many people feel terrible. Like I’ll never understand it I get growing up with stuff and not liking change but thinking being a terrible slime ball to everyone especially women and minorities and that ruining peoples mental health and tearing people down is good comedy and are good things that are funny and cool is just beyond me. Having to be silent in game lobbies or hide hobbies to avoid getting harassed just because you’re not a guy playing video games shouldn’t be a thing it’s not nearly as bad as it used to be but it’s still got issues I hope the future of gaming keeps getting better

[@emblemblade9245]

You’re very right. Comedy should never be used to insult people who don’t want to be part of the joke.

[@emilliewtf]

Hold onto this video, and bring it up whenever someone mentions it. The "good ol' days" weren't that good.

[@officialblimp]

exactly

[@abschu713]

Very funny to see all the “comedians” now who are crying about “cancel culture” and how they can’t make “funny jokes like they used to,” then you look at their old performances and it’s just disgusting, unfunny, hack material

[@ZavierG1]

Man, in the 90s they were really just throwing garbage at the wall to see what would stick

[@violentvixen592]

You mean the 2000's? The first spike video game awards was 2003

[@ZavierG1]

@@violentvixen592 I was more referring to the Nashville network and how they evolved. I'm a little disappointed that roller derby professional wrestling didn't take off

[@violentvixen592]

@@ZavierG1 ahh I gotcha

[@beatstar]

Hey, solid video. As someone who works on an award show myself, let me throw my few cents in. We made an entire award show because of the Spike VGAs in 2011, called the Vidya Gaem Awards (/v/GAs). They've become a yearly event since then, and I've been working on the /v/GAs since I was 16. In our first year, people nominated the Spike Video Game Awards for "worst video game event", and it won by a landslide. Geoff Keighley actually acknowledged the win and tweeted out, "We won! /v" right after the show. There's excellent research in your vid, but what you said in 6:44 isn't accurate. Spike VGA was not the first televised gaming award show. The first major televised award show was Cybermania ’94, which Geoff Keighley worked on when he was 14 and is credited in the show as a "Interactive Product Specialist". That isn't even the first award show for video gaming, depending on who you ask or what you consider as "official", they go as far back as 1979 or earlier with the Arcade/Arkie Awards. While the guy had some role to play in making the Spike TV Video Game Awards, both at Spike and his earlier time as editor-in-charge for MTV, I think much of the raunchier, sexist content was pushed for by network heads at Spike itself and not him. Were that not that case, we would have heard something. And to be clear, it wasn't only Spike that teetered on "male-power dynamic" BS, G4TV also had this problem. Remember that time in 2008 when Kevin Pereira attempted to pop a balloon on Olivia Munn's rear end by thrusting himself onto her live on the air? Any of the producers ask Olivia Munn if she was okay with this? VGX, Spike's final VGA presentation, made me really think Spike divested from the concept of gamers as a target audience. I'd speculate the soundstage setting was for cost reasons. Joel McHale really capitalized on the opportunity to co-host and went wild with it, took a bad situation and intentionally made it worse for Spike by roasting them nonstop throughout the presentation. Geoff Keighley's past time at Spike didn't haunt his new production too badly, and his past notoriety as "Dorito Pope" belies the genuine difficulty in getting the industry to fund and attend an award show when there were dozens of other ones already out there. You gotta give the man credit for ingenuity though. He knew Britney Spears, who was in the middle of a Vegas residency, and she loaned him use of her theater and the set for their first show. Not even making this up! In later years, I took it upon my self to go and attend The Game Awards since 2019 in person, because complaining about it is one thing, but being there is another. If you get over the pomp and circumstances surrounding the nominations/voting process (which is something I still philosophically disagree with), it's actually not that bad of a time. If you forgive some of the advertisements, which are there to pay for the show's crew and the rent, there's something special about bringing thousands of gamers, developers, and creatives sharing a roof and getting to see new things get released, kind of like E3 without the lines or the walking. After many years of hearing the guy is literally a shill, or that he's some kind of imposter, I've come to realize there's an easier explanation to why he manages to make these shows: Geoff Keighley legitimately loves video games. The award show is something he called his 30-year journey. Calling something a 30-year journey, with the work to back it up over those years, isn't something that's easily faked. When I finally got a chance to meet the guy earlier this month at the New York Game Awards, he remembered our show, even spelling out the "Vidya" part. We had a good talk. He mentioned his years at Spike, and that he was past them. It's wild that I've pretty much gone on a similar road (working on a gaming award show) and find myself in such a unique place to describe what's going on, but here we are. It's thanks to the people who believe in gaming and make each year an interesting one.

[@NathanBrownisawesome]

Super cool history bro +1 you

[@TheStarBot]

/v/? Isn’t 4chan is no better then sexist and misogynistic then Spike?

[@AleksandarBell]

@@TheStarBot depends on what side of 4chan you’re on tbh. One of my best friends in the world is an avid 4chan user but she’s on a different side than what you normally see memed about. Some fandom stuff is okay and generally some communities are cool but yeah a lot of 4chan is horrible.

[@benman540]

Joel McHale dogging on the show the whole time was perfect lol

[@sarahbearbabygirl]

very joel mchale of him, i would expect nothing less. if you want to NOT be roasted, don’t hire joel mchale lol.

[@soltandvinegar]

Joel McHale is literally so iconic in everything he does.

[@kayacarmen]

@@sarahbearbabygirl exactlyyy i was looking for this comment lol so true

[@glenharris9366]

It is absolutely wild (and easy to forget) that this stuff was less than 20 years ago. Sometimes it feels like things don't change, but this gives me some hope we can still keep improving. We've come a long way, but there's still further to go!

[@inazonitobe737]

It makes me sad these things happened. It's easier to pretend Eddy made them up and hired actors to act the events out.

[@guitarsimon1]

Christopher Judge making Al Pacino wait for 8 minutes set a new standard for Gigachads worldwide.

[@grocket9520]

it feels like my two favorite professors are ignoring the curriculum and talking about shit that really matters 😤💪

[@dromie5059]

wait that's so accurate

[@badm4gic]

What I like the most about Geoff Keighley is that no matter how many video game related shows he hosts or is apart of, his energy and excitement never falters. Even during VGX he kept a big smile and tried to make the best of it. You can tell he genuinely loves and cares for this industry with just how much effort he goes into year by year to make it better and better.

[@cradio52]

I love how we’re all discovering how insanely disgusting and problematic Spike TV was; I remember being like 12 when it was big and being made to feel so uncomfortable by it, it was always gross to me. I feel like you can draw a straight line between kids who secretly watched and grew up on shit like Spike TV and Maxim Magazine in the 2000s and today’s sad, 25-35 year old incels.

[@miadietrich7347]

Can probably also draw a line between those boys and today's men obsessed with "the grind" and lambos.

[@DGchase]

To be fair it was the only place I could find tits as a kid 😂

[@LucasRibeiro-po4pb]

I mean, not straight. I'm in that age bracket, been alone my whole life not by my choice, but was also always repulsed by the human objectification and machismo of that cultural era. I think we should stop perpetuating the myth that just because women aren't romantically interested in a man that means he is a bad person.

[@blankness8]

​@@LucasRibeiro-po4pbWhile I think "incel" did start off as a term that referred to men who "couldn't" get in/keep relationships, nowadays it refers to men who grow to hate women or men that women find attractive because of it. So as long as that's not you - in the future, know that comments about incels aren't referring to you ^^ It's really not anyone's business who or who you aren't having sex with & it says nothing about your character

[@LucasRibeiro-po4pb]

@@blankness8 Thanks for the positive reply. You make a lot of sense. I guess it is hard disassociating with the name given the "dictionary" meaning of the words

[@SuplexThisBear]

My main takeaway from this is man, we need to have more robot combat shows in 2023. Legitimately still great to watch.

[@Multi-Waves_Music]

BattleBots is great, but we definitely need more

[@saaams]

Finally understood why Muppets were included in the VGAs (The Geoffies Awards) when I saw Geoff's face in the Muppets Haunted Mansion movie lmao I hated admitting that SpikeTV's award show engrained internalized misogyny into my personality, knowing now that I was trying to be a pick-me girl gamer so I wouldn't be treated like garbage in MW2 lobbies. It carried itself over later in my life up until recently when I noticed I was part of the problem. All I can say is I'm glad we're not in 2005 anymore.

[@CC-gs4dx]

The "I am man" burguer king song is pretty much a real world "I am Just Ken"

[@geoffzolkos8843]

great video boys, some of those early vga clips really hurt to watch but it's encouraging to see how far we've come

[@ClaymorTerorist]

The Burback brothers do Defunctland. Love it!

[@GeeBarone]

Finally, a youtube channel just for us guys.

[@thanos6346]

Being born in the 2nd half of the 2000s, I wasn’t really around for most of it, but that spike tv stuff seems like a parody of reality compared to today.

[@Lil_Yuri]

That's kinda generally how life felt back then.

[@mashaga]

God, those early 2000s versions of the award show were grim. David Spade just sounded like a huge slimeball.

[@puffnisse]

So he sounded like David Spade?

[@whodatninja439]

when doesnt he?

[@TheCartooner]

"Geoff Keighley is like the Pizza Planet Truck of the games industry" is the funniest and most accurate way to describe him

[@Oniongrl]

I remember watching these shows as a kid. Being a female video game player just made me have internalized misogyny and a “I’m not like other girls” complex I didn’t come out of until my late teens. It also made me struggle with my femininity because I was being told all the things I liked were masculine. Crazy times

[@rotroom]

this single handedly killed any nostalgia i was feeling for the early 2000s.

[@emblemblade9245]

Ok but Bionicle was cool

[@gorgannan5177]

Ok but the Gameboy Advanced was cool

[@lou1012]

Tony's reactions are inspiring me to "we talked about patience" to my lil sister

[@milesclayborne]

To be fair to Joel McHale, if they didn’t wanna get roasted they shouldn’t have hired him. It’s a major part of his personality as a presenter. I remember a podcast where Dan Harmon said Joel would walk into a room full of powerful television executives, insult them the entire time, and they absolutely loved him for it. The two the them presented the 2013 creative arts Emmy’s and it’s one of the funniest award show presentations of all time

[@VexaVivi]

im halfway through the video and im dying on the inside. THIS WAS REAL LIFE FOR US OLDER PEOPLE. THIS WAS REAL.

[@Pyrrhonian]

I knew Geoff saved the day but I never realized to what extent, I only really started following the event yearly once it became the game awards. It's bound to have awkward moments as game devs aren't actors or performers, but I think it nails everything it needs to.

[@SwissSauce]

man, after hearing geoffs history and how dedicated he is to making a genuinely good gaming awards show, FOR gamers, it makes me feel pretty bad whenever anything goes wrong in the game awards, most notably the most recent one, that you talked about in this video. screw that bill clinton kid.

[@teddobomb9037]

My god. That Neil Patrick Harris bit where he just shoots everybody and the dancers are moaning and screaming. Jesus Christ...it doesn't occur to you how much times have changed until you see shit like that

[@mohabexpert123]

"How about meet cracked ribs, and concussion" Mad fear when Tyson says some shit like that

[@megax5000]

heyo, just discovered your channel and man, what a way to start off. i'm so happy to see someone talk about the early VGAs, which i think have kinda been lost to time. but anyway, your summary and commentary throughout have been spot on. you guys nailed how both the VGAs and the gaming community actually are. y'all just got yourself a new subscriber!

[@D44RK_Iced_Yogs]

God I love this kind of content! So glad you two are so into making them! Your guys humor and jokes are on point!

[@praetoram]

You guys remember Idiocracy? This all feels like the TV shows from that. I guess it's convenient timing it came out the same decade all of this did.

[@infinite-ichthyologist]

just learning this unknown history of Spike TV has floored me.

[@TurbopropPuppy]

"If you were a gamer and a woman in the mid-2000s, would you feel welcome in this gaming industry?" I'm a gamer girl in the early 2020s and I don't feel welcome in the gaming industry. People _still_ make hate videos about Anita Sarkeesian, nothing has changed all that much under the surface.

[@RariettyC]

People who are perpetually stuck in 2013 need to realize it's a decade later

[@emblemblade9245]

They do realize it’s a decade later and they hate it and try to deny it but they can’t run from reality. Pansies

[@mandridhugh9555]

If only you hadn't skipped through 2007 to 2010, 2009 was the most memorable one for me, as it was when Jack Black threw his award on the ground for Brutal Legend not getting GOTY. It was also the year we got the teaser for Arkham Knight and the sole teaser for the once forgotten game Fortnite.

[@holoheart9352]

Watching this as a little girl on live tv, especially the body paint year, made me give up my dreams on making video games. Cause the message was clear. The only people talking are men. And women are dirt to walk on and meat to eat with your eyes. The envoirnment may have gotten "better" over the years. But the bar is beyond the floor back the . Its barely on the floor now, half falling into a rotting wood floor the landlord swore he replaced it and didn't cover it up with new paint each year to hide it that there's mold in the core.

[@PenitusVox]

Honestly, all this time I've been assuming that the Game Awards are the exact same as they were in the Spike TV era and haven't watched it because of that.

[@Dantalliumsolarium]

I knew the sexism was bad, but holy shit. I’m honestly glad lil me was simply unaware of it, cuz it might’ve kept me even farther from the gaming community. I’m still pretty removed lolol. But thank you for making such thoughtful and funny content. It’s a much better space to be in

[@Arcademan09]

I remember when I was a kid I found the Spike video games Awards Show and I was excited at first and then I was so confused as the show kept going, even as a kid that entire channel was so weird to experience, I don't even think anyone my age watched it

[@pandora6867]

as nostalgic as I am for the 2000s, I also hate the decade more and more with every video I see that even mentions it 😭 as a girl, I actively avoided talking about video games outside of a couple close friends I trusted dearly and my brother because of the culture at the time

[@dena81]

So I am female who was about 22/23 on 2003 and 2004, when these first time game awards came out. Never watched them but I can tell you, being a female gamer in the early 2000s was not a great time. I love gaming, have since I got my first 8 bit system when I was 7 years old. And I remember back in those days on my Xbox with Xbox live, just speaking on chat and I'd have guys young and old messaging me left and right. They had even had a clan on XBL that was all female that I had wanted to join but I was turned off because they were all the 'hot' types who wore booty shorts, etc. I had plenty of my female friends who either used the voice changing feature or never spoke because of the harassment. And female characters back then peaked at Lara croft. So no it wasn't a good time for us over all but it's amazing to see how the landscape has changed. The fact we have so many female protagonists that don't need to a sexy stereotype and the fact there are male gamers now that can see how disgusting it was back then, that gives me some hope. Also helps that we have twitch and more female gamers out there but they still get the 'sexified' treatment which is eh. And that's my rambling rant.

[@pksstr]

Heather from Silent hill 3 (2003) was a great female protagonist

[@emblemblade9245]

Can’t forget Samus the OG

[@bgtechno93]

Sex sells that the truth, so many twitch streamers use that to their advantage and are making a good living. The issue is that its over-sexualized to the point where its becoming the 2003 and 2004 era. Man love good looking women (same as women loving good looking man) its a fact but when it's overdone it becomes overbearing. With Lara Croft she is a good looking character but also bring in the kind, charming women that when playing you want her to be protected and not die in the situation she was in the game. You feel her emotions, and hardship she is going trough but also her courage and willingness to fight ot the end, you want her to succeed. A strong female character in which her beauity is not the main factor that makes her Lara Croft but the advanture and willingness to find the truth about her father and fight Trinity. That why i love Lara Croft (Tomb Raider and Rise of the Tomb Raider) a smart, inteligent, caring, adventures fighter and to add a good looking women.

[@eggi4443]

​@@bgtechno93 sex sells but there are places where it's more appropriate. gaming isn't a gendered thing so targeting one specific group with sexual remarks is weird. twitch "thots" are clear about who they are targeting

[@CalumJames]

Im gonna need you guys to never put this much terminal cringe in a video ever again.

[@Memu_]

It's a bit more bearable with audio only

[@vigaxan86]

20:26 world record holder Tommy Tallarico spotted

[@lukasmadrid1945]

Good spot if true

[@Mega-Famous]

His mother is very proud

[@desertdesk]

The first American to ever kiss sonic on his little mouth!

[@Poseidon650]

All of this makes more sense when you realize that gaming in the early 00’s was seen at the time by media execs as a branch-off of the 90’s grunge and skater counterculture. They were appealing to what they thought gaming was at the time based on the shifting hobbies of the 16-23 crowd at the time, it wasn’t an isolated vortex of misogyny.

[@ncksr]

These videos are so niche and fun I love it. There is a certain vibe to watching ripped 2000s TV content on KZbin.

[@phantomzone7840]

Little late to the party here but I just wanna say, as someone who was a child during that gross time I’m more shocked at the rampant sexism of the time more than the gaming disinterest. Growing up I never really watched too much tv just because KZbin was starting to be this big thing (plus i was a kid so couldn’t have too much tv) so I was never aware of just how bad it was. It’s honestly pretty gross just how much shows like that have likely affected the men and women of today.

[@kre4ture218]

20:28 Did I just spot a Tommy Tallarico in the wild? I guess his mom must be very proud

[@RayGuitard]

Just saw him, I was gonna make the exact joke, lol.

[@desertdesk]

He held hands with miyamoto for 5 years!!

[@liammcnicholas918]

He was the first American to work on Sonic

[@heavenly2k]

Yall are seriously one of my favorite channels. Your humor and dynamic is like me with my closest friends.

[@SuperNoob200]

What a great video from Tony Burback and Eddy Nine-Pins

[@puffnisse]

HE SAID TO NOT CALL HIM THAT!

[@defenderofmen11]

In 2006, 1 in 3 gamers was female. That is way too high of a percentage to completely ignore as a demographic for an awards show or in the industry in general. Even with the distribution closer to 50:50 now, women are often ignored in gaming or pigeonholed to mobile or puzzle games. We've all know the stereotypical basement-dwelling weirdo that's a gamer, but the majority of gamers I know run the spectrum in age, gender, other interests, and personality. Also, imagine the Tonys or the Oscars treated theater or movie fans the same as the mid 2000s gamer awards. "We all know you like to spend your money watching things in a dark theater, like a weirdo"

[@mightypistachio1726]

I had to escape to the comments multiple times to avoid the second hand embarrassment from the old video game award shows

[@DewDewMegaDeeDee]

This is hands down by far and away my favorite KZbin Channel hosted by twin brothers that uploads once every month or two or three!

[@shrimbloMale2]

At 25:00 I saw the bald guy and thought it was joe rogan, after looking closer it was not but then I looked to the person next to him and it was Joe Rogan, I proclaimed "oh there is Joe Rogan" and started laughing

[@birdigo]

lost it at the "hot girls read cheat codes" bit how is that a thing aired seriously on television its so funny

[@nicolascage4eva]

You know it’s gonna be a good day when you get the Burback notification.

[@MegapiemanPHD]

The best part of the old Spike Video Game Awards was that one year where they had an intro animation of a bunch of characters from differant games and genres batteling each other with Sam Jackson MCing the brawl.

[@isacl1ment]

I was a gamer and a woman in the 90's and after that first time that was a mistake, I never ever did tell a guy I didn't know and trust, that I played D&D, videogames and read comics. Never. Ever. And this shows are just how it was and why I kept this to myself and my friends.

[@finchfry]

This misogyny in the gaming community was running rampant in the 00s. I remember being a little kid and seeing footage of E3, which is supposed to be a relatively corporate event where video game companies would give game journalists and other industry professionals early looks at what they had coming up. From '95 up until '05, they had what were called "booth babes" who were scantily clad women at almost every booth trying to draw attention to whatever game they were advertising. I remember being an 8 year old and seeing footage from E3 (because my dad watched Giant Bomb coverage of the event) and the only women I would see were these booth babes. And, the whole time, men would be saying things along the lines of "I bet they don't even know what a video game is". As an AFAB child I remember looking at that and just knowing that I was unwelcome. I felt like, when I grew up and was still an AFAB person who liked video games, I would always be viewed as just a "booth babe who doesn't actually know anything about video games". I'm so glad things are changing. Video game related work is definitely still a male heavy industry, and there are still unwelcoming boys' clubs, but I can see the difference. Now when I see women paid to advertise a game, it's because they made a sick cosplay. Not because some dude decided that the way to get good reviews on his studio's game was to hire someone to cater to the gaze of male journalists.

[@emblemblade9245]

Sounds more like a seedy carnival than a press event, the way you described it. That’s awful and depressing. I’m glad things have improved a lot since then.

[@Ubylmoen]

Fun/sad fact about Opryland. The guy that made the decision to close it was only with the company for one year. He came in, closed the park, then left and made it everyone else's problem. It was very popular, nobody wanted it to close.

[@aJb530]

This is a great video guys! Feels very Defuncland in your own style. Can't wait to see more like it :)

[@AlonescapeRS]

I’m so happy we’re mostly past all this “using women as props on stage”

[@NrettG]

I've done a TGA awards/Christmas party for the past 3 years with my friends, it's honestly the best mix. If something doesn't grab our attention we just ethier chat or hand gifts to each other, when we do pay attention it's honestly the best. The dead silence when TLOU2 won GOTY, everyone getting excited for Sonic 2 when that trailer dropped, and overall one of our friends was a huge bayonetta fan and got his fair share this past event. TGA may be complete garbage or boring but damn do I love it every year, can't wait for this year.

[@stawnyczy]

i was not expecting a new burback video today but i appreciate it

[@HeWhoisKarim]

I think the free kickstarter money she got without having to do anything or be held accountable is enough.

[@siphillis]

Just now realizing that Mega64’s “Todd and Aaron” series is a direct parody of the Spike Video Game Awards, right down to Madden winning Game of the Year right at the start.

[@MrMufungo]

During the 2000's, the part of the comedy that doesn't translate to modern day is the "cool self-loathing of being a loser edginess" aspect of Gen X (20's/30 year old at that time). We see it now for what it was, but back then being sarcastic and mean was cool.

[@ToastedFox]

I really can’t tell if Eddie secretly loves rainforest cafe or he’s been traumatized for life.

[@slashingkatie7872]

This is where neckbeards came from. They grew up watching this stuff, 2010s happened and we grew out of this and the neckbeards were upset they didn’t have their booby girls to fap to.

[@nicholasqualters]

I love the fever dream flashback to rainforest cafe You can leave the apes, but you can never leave the jungle

[@FrankenSama]

Me and my friends did a marathon of the VGX shows throughout the year and it was such a cursed trip. The fact Geoff Keighley manage to turn this around to something more professional is a miracle

[@the_chris]

I've worked in the Games Industry for 20 years. I've worked for some of the biggest companies and some of the most well known studios, and huge games. In the last 3/4 years, I've had to work with TGAs/Summer Game Fest directly as I'm in the Indie space more now. I worked on a huge segment in 2021 where we had a well known musician perform a track alongside a video from an unreleased game. The team behind SGF/TGAs are a nightmare. They don't care about games, it's all money and nothing else. They really upset the musician and will often ghost teams after weeks/months of work. They treat smaller teams terribly. It really saddens me to see it thrive as a show, as it's such a blight on the industry that just vacuums money for atrocious ROI. If you're a small indie dev reading this - don't waste your money here. You will spend insane amounts of money just to get a trailer on - that the viewers will trash and you'll find other activities drive traffic infinitely better.

[@emblemblade9245]

Thanks for sharing your story, we still clearly have a long way to go