I Went to The Game Awards

 As cheesy as it may sound it has been a dream of mine to attend a Game Awards show since it aired in 2014. I use to watch the Spike Video Game Awards back when I was a kid and every December I would get excited for this end of year E3 of sorts. I finally got the opportunity when I was actually looking to get tickets to the IMAX showing, funny enough. I was excited to watch The Game Awards in a theater filled with people who actually liked the event. I have been trying to get people to watch The Game Awards with me for a while but it always felt like pulling teeth. I get it, The Game Awards are not for everyone its an award show and we all know that “Awards shows would be less stupid if they were giving to the right people”. To me The Game Awards is different, its actually not about the awards so much and more about spectacle and world premieres. It acknowledges the games of the last year while looking ahead at the games of the new year, a perfect way to end the year and it has become a tradition for me. 

Okay so down to the nitty gritty, I arrived at the Microsoft Theater in LA. I wasn’t sure how to dress should I go fancy ( I mean it is an award show) but then again it’s the game awards so you know people are going to dress like they are presenting at E3 aka nerdy top with a blazer, dark jeans and sneakers. I wore a business casual blue dress with red heels and a gold ring necklace (Yes I was dressing like Sonic the Hedgehog because Sonic Frontiers got snubbed at the show, I mean not even nominated for best soundtrack is a crime, but I digress) When we arrived about half the people dressed up and the other half looked like they just crawled out of bed so if you’re planning on attending and wondering about dress code just do whatever you want dress in black tie or sweatpants it don’t matter. We waited outside the theater. There was a Diablo 4 booth outside that I guess we missed because we got there too late but there were guys in robes weaving around the crowd with signs about Lilith. There was also The Game Workers Alliance picketing outside the Theater. Since I arrived pretty late and close to the time they were letting people in I didn’t really get a pamphlet but according to their website “Game Workers Alliance is a movement formed and maintained by Raven Software QA employees. Our focus is on improving the conditions of workers in the video game industry by making it a more sustainable, equitable place where transparency is paramount. Additionally, we advocate for our disenfranchised and minority workers by creating a diverse space to let their voices be heard in solidarity.”(https://gameworkersalliance.com/).

The main lobby had giant statues of the awards you could take a picture in front and also a Samsung Gaming Hub booth, upstairs was were the hot shots were, the big gamers if you will, so once we got upstairs we were told we were not cool enough and had to go back down. The basement floor just looked like a cool hangout with a bunch of chairs but I felt weird since no else was down there but employees of the venue so I went back to the lobby. They opened the doors pretty quickly after that and we sat down.

I’m not going to talk about the show itself since you can just watch the whole thing on youtube,  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vl9yakt_5tc)

 Honestly I was too far away from the stage to see much of both stages, not the big one with Geoff Keighley and definitely not the little one with Sydney Goodman.  There was also a huge camera crane in the way of the screen. The Game Awards are definitely made for people watching at home, not for the people there. We’re just paying to be background filler for Geoff Keighley and see some Z-list celebrities. With that said I’m glad I went, next time I might try to throw an at home soiree with themed cocktails like people do for the Oscars, and who knows maybe someday I’ll go back and hopefully be able to get better seats.