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Giancarlo Varanini
Associate Editor

Currently Playing: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GC), Panzer Dragoon Orta (Xbox), Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper (GBA)

How Far Have We Really Come?

Last week, the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences held its annual awards ceremony in Las Vegas at the wonderfully nonentertaining Hard Rock Hotel, which attempts to make up for its incredibly small casino area by putting a bunch of worthless music memorabilia up in the lobby and in the hallways of the hotel itself. If you really care about what Eminem was wearing at the Grammys two years ago, then the Hard Rock Hotel is for you. But regardless of the décor, this year's awards held a special significance for me on a number of different levels: Yu Suzuki was being honored with the Hall of Fame award, and it would be the first time that I would get to participate in an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto. From Mario and Zelda to Space Harrier and Virtua Fighter, these two men helped fuel my passion for gaming, and their games constitute a large portion of my fondest game-playing memories over the past 19 years or so.

Just having these two men in the same relatively confined area at once was quite a sight to behold. But as great as it was to see two of the best game designers in the world within spitting distance of each other, it was somewhat overshadowed by the awards ceremony itself. The ceremony featured a number of incredibly embarrassing moments that only helped to solidify the stereotype of gamers as being antisocial freaks that feed on the innards of pigeons in the black of night and build cabins out of nothing but Twinkies and those sticky things from cereal boxes that can be thrown at walls. The organizers also succeeded in making a number of flat-out blunders--not the least of which occurred when Yu Suzuki stepped onto stage to accept his Hall of Fame award.

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Look! There goes Vince Neil...oh wait, who cares?
The creator of Virtua Fighter stepped onto the stage and began to deliver his speech via his translator, thanking members of the academy (which is supposedly made up of industry peers, but you wouldn't know that based on some of the games that received awards) and saying how grateful he was to be the recipient of the award. But as he neared the end of his speech and struggled to remember anyone or anything that he forgot to mention, the wonderful people running the whole production decided to cut him off with the oh-so-unsubtle tactic of forcing the house band to start playing "get off the stage music." Yes, that's right--the same people honoring Yu Suzuki for a lifetime of work cut him off. To me, this particular portion of the night was just as bad as or at least equivalent to CBS cutting off an emotional Frank Sinatra at the Grammys a few years back, which was an absolute disgrace to the Grammys and the network. Whoever made the decision to cut off Suzuki should be ashamed of themselves and go dunk their heads in a tub of nachos and then walk outside so that pigeons can peck at their scalps! Maybe I shouldn't go that far, but it's certainly something that detracts from an event that's trying to establish some form of legitimacy.

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You just don't cut this man off!
The presenters for the show weren't exactly helping the cause either. A few of the presenters who stepped onstage broke away from the admittedly horrible script laid out for them on the enormous teleprompter seated out in the middle of the audience only to say that they never played video games and that they didn't know what was going on. Of course, in an age of manufactured pop stars or celebrities, you can't help but wonder if they were just saying that to protect their reputation because celebrities and rock stars don't play video games, you know! Speaking of rock stars, Motley Crue front man Vince Neil was also at the festivities and likewise didn't feign any interest in video games as he presented the award for best music along with well-known industry music producer Tommy Tallarico--neither did his girlfriend for that matter (or maybe wife?), who insisted on staying up on the second floor, away from the scum and villainy of the video game industry.

While it may seem like the AIAS awards was a complete mess, there were a few glimpses of hope that this particular event was actually recognizing games that were deserving of such distinctions. Animal Crossing walked away with quite a few awards, which is surprising considering that these awards tend to favor technical merits over anything else. But in the end I just can't help but feel confused. The host of the show, Dave Foley (from TV's Kids in the Hall and News Radio), got a few good jokes in there, but he also got a few good jabs at the gaming populace. Moreover, most of the presenters didn't even look remotely interested in the awards that were being presented because they were too busy thinking about how much longer they would have to wait until they could leave the show. I understand that they're trying to bring a mainstream appeal to the ceremony, but at the same time the organizers are really degrading the whole idea of an awards ceremony for video games to begin with, and that's really unfortunate.

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