TNN to air Video Game Awards Ceremony

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - It's a hit-driven business given to flashy premieres and high-profile talent and now the video games business has gone fully Hollywood: it has its own red-carpet awards show.

 

The National Network, a unit of the MTV Networks division of Viacom Inc.  on Thursday said it will develop, produce and air an award show for the video game industry to be shown toward the end of 2003. No venue for the show was announced.

 

The network said the two-hour show will honor categories like "Hottest Hero and Heroine," "Most Addictive," "Coolest Villain," "Best Game based on a Movie," "Best Celebrity Actor and Actress in a Game" and "Game of the Year."

 

Though many may not realize it, a number of top video games feature celebrity cameos. The hottest game of the year, "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City," features voice work by Ray Liotta, Dennis Hopper, former football star Lawrence Taylor, and porn star Jenna Jameson and others.

 

The network cited a fit between its target audience -- people ages 25 to 34 -- and the core audience for video games as a reason for doing the first-of-its-kind show.

 

While the games business has had awards events in the past, they have traditionally been tied to industry conferences and have not been televised.

 

Comcast Corp. launched a digital cable channel devoted solely to video games, G4, earlier this year.

 

So now I know where there are so many freakin Video Game commercials during RAW.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

Does anyone remember the one year they did a video game award deal on TBS???

 

Leslie Neilson and that middle kid from Home Imporvement hosted it.

 

The one thing I remember more then anything else is when they were showing highlights of a WCW game on the big screen, while L.N. is talking...then all of a sudden on the stage there's Regal and Pillman fighting in the background...then Nielson pulls a gun and shoots it in the air, and they stop fighting.

 

Damn...that's oldschool