Yes, Joel McHale Saved The Train Wreck That Was Spike's VGX Awards

Gaming Blend "No one can consistently say what the exact problem was, but everyone knows that every part of it was a problem. One of the bigger issues of debate was whether the Dorito Pope and the Dorito Bishop made the show better or worse. Well, I have to say that Joel McHale working sidekick duty with Geoff Keighley was the best worst thing to happen for the Spike VGX Awards show."

[HolyDuck]

No, no he did not.

Edit:
Totally agree with you, Lukas.

The whole running Geoff layers joke coupled with the diaper jokes were just unbearable.

On another note, totally not related to Joel but those rappers were abysmal.

[GarrusVakarian]

Wtf is this article talking about?! Joel Mchale was cringeworthy to the max with his "jokes". Is that what passes for comedy these days? Every time the camera went back on him i dreaded it, he was one of the reasons why the VGX show sucked so much. Why can't it be hosted by some genuine gamers?

[NewMonday]

Joel McHale mad it crash harder

I would really love to see Angry Joe, Jim Sterling(with the hitman suit) Frances(in-character) and HipHopGamer in a round table.

[I_am_Batman]

I agree. He made the show almost unwatchable for me. He didn't seem interessted in the games at all. The only thing he did was making the show feel like a 3 hours long awkward moment.

[Gazondaily]

I thought he was brilliant. I love the awkward comedy like that. I do have a really immature sense of humour, as do my mates, I just loved that he was trolling so much and made things so awkward.

Like the Dying Light walkthrough, he goes "oh wow, right through the concrete" as the enemy glitches through it. Lol that made me laugh or how he was bold enough to ask Reggie about the Xbox and PlayStation.

[Rzep]

@Septic

The sad thing is that Joel did what a game journalist should do. He wasn't there to suck the proverbial dick of the developers unlike Geoff. He saw something stupid or off and he pointed to it, not acted as if there was nothing wrong.

[nveenio]

He was horrid. You could even tell that he was driving Geoff crazy. I've never seen someone this unfunny. He even made Chuck Nice look good.

[pompombrum]

I liked Joe tbh, Geoff is so high energy and excitable, you needed someone like him to make it work. If they had someone else who was as enthusiastic as Geoff, it would have been far far worse. Some of Joe's jokes like the layers and diaper were definitely pretty poor but for the most part, he done a good job offering comic relief when needed.

[gaffyh]

"No one can say consistently what was wrong..."

Erm...I can.

1. World premiere now some how means showing different stuff from already announced games. That's just a blatant lie IMO, and is the main reason why VGX was terrible. I said a few days back, Geoff overhyped everything.
2. No audience meant everything felt awkward.
3. No build up to award announcements means there is nothing special when people get the award, and the fact that most of the Devs weren't there to collect shows how little they respected the show.
4. Nintendo's appearance was, as always, underwhelming.
5. None of the new game announcements were exciting.
6. Joel McHale was completely disinterested and was almost pointless, apart from a few jokes, Geoff was a far better host. I think part of the reason for this was probably because McHale expected the show to have much higher production values, and it was shit to be honest.

[FriedGoat]

Geoff Keighley is EVERYTHING I hate about Gaming media. I hate the Americanised bull**** that we keep getting.

Joel made it more bearable for me, I enjoyed him constantly pointing out how retarded the format was.

[Baka-akaB]

Personally i'm glad he was here . The show was simply awful , and would have been worse without him .

He went overboard many times , but other than that , he pretty much highlighted how much of a bootlicker Geoff was , and how boring it was to have guest happy to speak for 5 mins about their tech instead of showing their game and gameplay , and unable to give even an approximative date or coming with teasers .

Had someone from Ubisoft been onstage , he'd probably make fun of the division trailer literally showing nothing but pretty walls with a voice over , and it would be much warranted .

He reacted just fine , when someone actually had a game to show , like Techland with Dying lights , and went straight to it . Instead of throwing tons of tech babble that only appeal to people truly invested in that area , and empty PR crap .

He also raised an interested eyebrow over Telltales' Game of Throne . And yet they had nothing to show .
In the end , did put Regis and Nintendo on the spot , and in an (deserved) awkward position , but in the end , DK tropical freeze , was one of the only games he liked yesterday

[nirwanda]

I think they should get rid of all this celeb stuff, and Greg miller to host as at least he says what he thinks and get marcus beer as hes another that has a bit of personality and ties in gametrailers, also they should have someone within the industry who is respected like Jaffe, molyneux, carmack etc.

[Pintheshadows]

I think Geoff should ask Charlie Brooker.

[ABizzel1]

I would have rather had Geoff host the show by himself (says a lot), if I had known Joel would be this awful. I liked that Geoff got the digs on everything and was asking GOOD question about all the games, but that may have just been the huge contrast between Geoff being a gamer and Joel being an idiot on stage. But 1 thing I'll give Geoff is that he keep it professional through all of the intimidation Joel and Reggie were giving him. Geoff didn't let Reggie off one bit, and it's what he needed to do...

You see this is what I'm talking about, I would read Reggie like a children's book. Reggie catching a case, because Geoff's trying to ask about what NIntendo's doing and what they have planned. I wouldn't have been nice once Reggie caught an attitude. Geoff should have said, have you seen your sales in the last year, this is one of the few chances you get to address your audience that's not only streamed across the world but will be broadcasted on TV, you need all the press time you can get and your here showing Cranky Kong. Ooh, Oooooh I would have read Reggie big goofy looking...... Stay calm, stay calm.

And Joel did nothing, but make everything awkward. He was nothing but an energy vampire, or a good time leech draining the little bit of good that they did have.

*Joel was AWFUL
*The Comedy was AWFUL
*Skits were AWFUL and offensive to many of the companies (even if true :)
*The Loiter Sqaud (whoever) were AWFUL and awkward
*The concert was AWFUL (EVERYBODY looked like people off the street got asked to perform)
*The announcements were Average at best (No Man's Sky was the only surprise and it was surprising to me simply because that game is pushing AAA studio features by a team of 4 indie developers)

It was just an AWFUL event, and a waste of 3 hours. I don't even want to watch the highlights on Spyke.

[static5245]

Does anybody here know who Joel McHale is? His whole comedy thing is making fun of basically what is in front of him. He makes fun of Pop culture and video games fall under that category. And he isn't really into video games. Would you have him host the Emmys? No. Why? Cause he would make fun of everything and everyone. He's a dick, thats why he's funny

Me? I would've gotten Chris Hardwick to host. Cause I know he would've been funny and been happy there

[ABizzel1]

@static5245

Yes Chris Hardwick should have did it. He has the experience on G4 and Talking Dead, and he's actually funny and brings a good energy to the set. The VGX was already a mess with the low budget, and mediocre content, but Joel, the awful concert, and the awful skits just buried it.

[nnotdead]

Who gives a fuck. No one ever seems to like or care about this show, so why are there so much discussion about it. There are dozens of websites that will be doing their own GOTY. Watch the ones you like.

Maybe before, when this was on tv, i could see people wanting a better representation of the gamer community,(we really don't deserve one) but now that the VGX is just another web show there is no need to care.

[BattleAxe]

Cinemablend is dumb, article is dumb.....it's because of dumb people who write articles like these that human kind is going to hell in a hand basket....

[pompombrum]

Articles like this are an indication of human kind's doom? I'd say the idiots who lap up and defend the micro transactions in games are a better indicator.. at least why gaming will go to hell.

[TheTwelve]

One of the best written articles I've seen in quite awhile, even if I didn't agree with the content.

[Snookies12]

Agreed. He was awful.

[omi25p]

i still think roosterteeth should do a proper award show rather than just the Podcast awards. Its so much better than all the other award shows.

Their appearance on the VGA's this year was the highlight of the show for me.

[OverPaperSkies]

The North Korea joke was gold hahahaha!

[ErryK]

He didn't save the wreck, he was a part of it.

[dansdooz]

Its not what i expected tbh, thought joel was quite funny and witty, geoff was layered to the max lol.

[mike32UK]

I literally fell to sleep watching this garbage

[ar00043]

I actually did, glad I didn't miss anything :D

[HighResHero]

I nodded out half way through, bumped my head on the table, then went to sleep.

I actually that it was funny how Joel pointed out how full of $#@% the whole show was and even though some(a lot) of the humor was a bit odd and out of place, it was better than a lot of the vapid, disingenuous nonsense I'm used to seeing.

[MestreRothN4G]

I was at cinema watching Hunger Games 2 with my girl.

Nice trade. A very great movie instead of a crap exposition of the worst USA has to offer.

But I couldn't avoid watching it later. Or trying to watch.

[Prime157]

I remembered last year's and remembered not to watch it.

[Rzep]

He made the thing watchable. Still this is the last time I give the VGAs the benefit of doubt. Untill they drop Geoff and hide him in some deep dark basement I am done. Never have I seen anyone so souless.

Joels additude reflected mine to be honest. The show was shit, it was going to be shit and it deserved all the shit it got.

Spike and Gametrailers need to shut down because they are doing a disservice to my favorite part of the entertainment industry, gaming.

[HarryMasonHerpderp]

I enjoyed the way he made Geoff sweat a little.
The guy was a massive douche bag though.
Not sure why people are defending him on GAF, all he did was insult gamers and make a mockery of the show.
Whether the show deserved to be mocked though wasn't his call when he's probably taken a nice big pay cheque for his trouble.

[Rzep]

The show was a mockery of gamers and gaming in general yet you have something against a co host?

[HighResHero]

The show deserves to be mocked but not gamers IMO.
It is just full of it in general and he pointed some if it out while Geoff cringed.
The show does a terrible job protecting/representing the interests of gamers anyway so no harm done.
I wouldn't say he saved the show though.

[Orbilator]

I stayed up to watch it in UK ........ Such a waste of 3 hours of my life.
Destiny looked good as did wit her and titanfall but I could have caught them videos on YouTube today rather than wasting my life lol.

[Parasyte]

No, Joel was part of the problem. That "layers" joke he kept using got old after the third or fourth iteration. The adult diaper jokes weren't funny at all, and he came off as kind of a douche bag.

They need to get someone like Jay Mohr, Angry Joe, or Jim Sterling to host this thing. Not some pseudo celebrity that no one hardly gives a damn about.

[Baka-akaB]

I'm all for a video game only related "co hosts" but only if it doesnt just become a "i love it / it's amazing" circle jerk fest .

Nope not everything shown was ever going to be amazing . And while some politeness and civil attitude is due , going for the throat of studios and publishers showing crap and talking crap should happen .

Wich has yet to happens in such shows , unless the celeb co host goes crazy like yesterday

[EXVirtual]

No. He was terrible. His jokes were crusty, he made stupid suggestions and it doesn't seem like he really cares about games.

[HappyWithOneBubble]

If you ask me, I say he made it worst.

[pyramidshead]

I agree to a certain extent. The show was in it self awful, so instead of just listing to Geoff, who was boring to watch, we got to see himself rethink his life through his eyes by choosing the completely wrong co-host lol.

[Jawgasim]

I love watching this guy on Community but he made the whole thing a lot more awkward. He also was very abrupt to the game developers that they had during the awards show.

[MasterCornholio]

Diaper man?

No way in heck did he save it.

[whyisthehorsestaring]

I couldnt watch it because of him.

[MasterCornholio]

I only lasted an hour.

:(

[showtimefolks]

Just when spike TV and GT were starring to get real with awards they be this kind of show

I still remember when madden won GOTY

ND got robbed and RS didn't deserve GOTY, GTA 5 was amazing but TLOU was perfection or as close to perfection as possible

[Goro]

Samuel L Jackson was a much better host.

[linkenski]

Joel McHale should be right on top of those "most embarassing moments of VGX 2013" lists. I wanted to punch him, and so did those guys from Nintendo.

[MasterCornholio]

Your wrong about that.

Cranky Reggie wanted to beat him with a stick.

[CapsLocke]

I thought he was pretty much a d*ck and asshat.

[esemce]

The guy was a cu*t and the reason I stopped watching.

[AshleeEmerson]

I really, really hope the person who has taken their precious time to write this article was very stoned when writing this article. Joel made me feel bad to be a gamer, this whole show reminded me why the game industry isn't taken seriously by some and was he drunk? I meant to say, "he was surely drunk". This show was less than a joke and I hope to never see it again, low production and very cheap feeling. I'm definitely not a fan or Geoff but I felt really bad for him, he wanted to beat the Donkey Kong out of Joel.

We need a much more serious show for gamers and here's a personal complaint that no one cares about; The Last Of Us... First of all, I love Assassin's Creed and Grand Theft Auto and happily beat them both they were absolutely wonderful games but when it comes to quality and emotion nothing I've ever played has come close to The Last of Us and it not winning game of the year was almost as painful as watching the show itself... Never mind, nothing was that painful but the saving grace is that I'm sure Naughty Dog is beyond the VGX's.

Now that was a horrible waste of my time back to Killzone -

[Grave]

I agree. The Last of Us was amazing. It did more than most games could ever hope for. It was a visceral, emotional experience and will go down as one of the greatest, if not the best, games of the last generation. The Last of Us should have been GOTY without question.

[Grave]

P.S. At least we got to see Joel do the "Banderas" which was easily the best thing about the entire show! Congrats to Naughty Dog!!

[AshleeEmerson]

Oh, I fully agree.

[Rockstar]

2 words would have made this infinitely better

Victor Lucas!

[iMaim]

Games deserve a good game award ceremony but we don't need hosts that are as deadpan and uninterested as McHale.

[SynestheticRoar]

Joel was the conductor of that train wreck.

[MikeGdaGod]

the whole show was trash, but at least Joel made it entertaining

#1 - the setup and sound were horrible. it was like they never bothered to do a sound check prior to broadcast.

#2 - the hype about new game announcement and previews were a lie. we're in a new generation of games and they showed barely nothing.

#3 - the awards themselves were a joke...how are GTAV, TLOU, AC:BF up for best action game AC:BF wins, but GTV:5 wins game of the year, and Naughty Dog wins studio of the year for TLOU...in what world does that make sense????

#4 - the lack of a real audience hurt the show. awards are being handed out, and there's almost no applause BESIDES Joel. at least he clearly understood how weird that was.

#5 - i'm all for hip hop, but Tyler the Creator and his buddies are lame as hell. i cringed the entire time they were on screen. this was by far the weakest parts of the show.

no wonder they cut it from tv....wasted 3 hours of my life

[Playstationologist]

You hated it enough to write that 32 paragraph essay and still watched all 3 hours??

LOL

[MikeGdaGod]

ha! yup...when i feel passionately about a subject my thoughts pour out through my fingers....took less time than you think, trust me.

but seriously, the show would have been horrible if it weren't for Joel. people want to talk about his jokes being awkward, but nothing was more awkward than announcing award winners and getting no response at all from the audience.

edit: i didn't disagree with you btw...i'm one of the few people on N4G that can take a joke

[Landquake]

As did several other N4G members... your point? Criticism is not equal to hating something. Anyway, I agree with the points that were made above. The show was lame and some of us stuck through the whole 3 hours hoping that some incredible game announcement would be shown.

Joel's joke's were at times cringeworthy, and maybe he was a bit on the douchebag side, but I think his attitude reflected the overall atmosphere of VGX: aloof and uninterested.

On another note, regarding his behavior, some people are a bit on the melodramatic side... his behavior made you "embarrassed to be a gamer"? Really?

[Playstationologist]

I enjoyed him busting on about Geoff's layers, guy deserves it for the constant "WE'LL REVEAL MIND BLOWING EARTH SHATTERING NEWS"

[e-p-ayeaH]

The guy was anoying and stupid gametrailers is still trying to be cool lmao.

[kingmushroom]

Lame nerds are lame

[Ashunderfire86]

Joel made it worst. And WTF is Joel McHale!

[Rockstar]

He's actually pretty good in Community IMO
But he's no Troy and Abed

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[kingmushroom]

He was a a guy cracking jokes as the shlip was sinking, last years vgas where ab8t better, what a fail of ashow this has become, they're aming to reach the abyss.

[EffectO]

I would pay to see him ridicule this dishonest industry/stupid fanboys.

[_LarZen_]

Joel McHale is the only reason the show was embarrassing and horrible to watch at times!

Geoff Keighley should have hosted it alone or at least had someone with him that has some passion for games. McHale is a funny guy but this was just the wrong place for him.

If it was not for Keighley trying to keep it professional I would have stopped watched.

[worldwidegaming]

The biggest mistake was even watching it in the first place.
Nothing but delayed games and stuff you put on your wish list.
They should throw them guys in a production factory to help make more consoles!
Now thats an idea!

[AceBlazer13]

The gaming community needs to stop feel offended by Joel's pokes at us. Cause if that awards show was anything to go by we deserve to feel ashamed. I'm just sad that is gonna air on tv, and that is the impression people are gonna have of us. Whoever wrote those scripts should be fired, Joel seemed more entertaining when he strayed from it.

Imagine being asked to host an award show and then you meet something that looks like a guy's basement. Little to no audience that don't know how to clap apparently. Annoying ass loiter squad,' I like Potatoes!' GTFO.

God alone could've saved this wreck.

All the cash this industry makes you'd think they could throw a respectable awards show together. Rent a place, invite all the devs and publishers out, some of the sites. Make the industry respectable dammit.

[bangoskank]

I find it disturbing that people find this guy funny. The whole event was an embarassment to gamer culture, but was made worse by this tool's involvement. Come to think of it, the VGA's have always sucked. I could never tolerate them for more than 5 minutes.

[Fringe_Agent13]

He wasn't funny and wasn't needed. Geoff could've hosted in his own.

[ajax17]

They should have gone with Aisha Tyler. She's a gamer, she's hot, she's funny. She'd have been perfect.

[Kran]

Something tells me a lot of these comments didn't actually read the article...

[LAWSON72]

For these events why dont they get well known people in the industry like someone popular on Youtube? It is cheaper and IMO they would make the show much better

[SoulSercher620]

Wait there were people that actually liked Joel on VGX last night? I'll admit I liked how he put Reggie on the spot asking about the state of the Wii U but after that his jokes either were not funny at all or trying too hard. He actually made me like Geoff a little because he was acting like how a gamer should despite overhyping everything.

[KillrateOmega]

I wouldn't necessarily say that he saved it. I mean, on one hand, part of me did appreciate how he openly acknowledged how terrible the show was, but on the other hand, the jokes about diapers and Geoff's clothes got really old really quick.

On top of that, he came off as a huge, uninterested douchebag, and I get it, that's his comedic style, but I guess it's just something I don't have an appreciation for.

There's also the fact that he is obviously not gamer, but whatever.

[TransientDreamer]

"Dorito Pope and the Dorito Bishop"
There's definitely no bias against Keighley in this article.