Does national television know how to handle games coverage yet?
"Gears of War 3" was officially announced this past Monday (to the surprise of absolutely no one). Armed with this knowledge alone, game enthusiasts might question the timing of the announcement in Games Business Land, a time sandwiched between Penny Arcade Expo and Electronic Entertainment Expo. "GOW3" is a big deal, no doubt, but the timing just seems rather odd. What gives the Epic Games guys the right to break tradition and do things on their terms?
Selling several millions of copies of your games does, apparently. Epic's lead game designer Cliff Bleszinski saw fit to bypass the traditional mediums of games coverage entirely and announce the game on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, complete with an exclusive teaser trailer.
First off, regardless of how the announcement went down specifically, Jimmy Fallon deserves props for giving this kind of stuff the time of day (or night) on national television at all. Last summer, he also gave Microsoft some time to show off the still-under-development Project Natal — another forward-thinking and much appreciated move. His open reception of games coverage is indicative of a true common interest, and Fallon evidently feels the same way as many others that such coverage is severely underrepresented.
But something about the mood of that Bleszinski interview felt uncomfortable. As the man behind some of the most eye-bleeding graphics and trailblazing gameplay of this generation, Bleszinski always struck me as one of those guys who "gets it," one who understands the modern gaming world and what his audience wants. Somehow, however, the first topic that came to mind for him and Fallon was his high score in "Super Mario Bros." from his youth. Not only are high scores the last reason why anyone loves or remembers that game, but Fallon's tone also insinuated that this great accomplishment was an indication of Bleszinski's modern game design skills. The two skills might be related tangentially, but in terms of one influencing the other, they have little to nothing to do with one another.
Bleszinski went along with it all in stride, but I couldn't help but notice a lack of sincerity to the enthusiasm of the crowd. They sounded reluctant to show support for such a foreign concept. Perhaps they were even offended that Fallon was attempting to elevate game designers to the level of credibility of actors and movie directors. Somehow I don't think anyone who applauds a high score in "Super Mario Bros." has a clue about what gaming means in the 21st century, let alone 2010.
Although I chastise the details of the interview, I fully encourage Fallon to continue with this trend. Little by little, the public at large will hopefully become more accepting of video games as a medium worth paying attention to just as much as movies and TV. We probably won't be holding Cliff Bleszisnki to the same standards as George Lucas and Steven Spielberg any time soon, but they have to start somewhere. "Games on TV" still needs time before the idea catches on for real. Just ask the entire G4 network.
