Enough Geoff Keighley. Enough State of Play. Enough 25 “bass drop” trailers. This is stupid.

AGRacing

AGRacing

Member
I want to advocate for a reset in video game marketing. Some thoughts on how to start:

I think we're up to about 300 bass pounds per average Geoff Keighley show.. and if you ask me I think they start losing their impact around the 100 or so mark. BOOM BOOM BO-BO-BA-BOOM. Enough.

Japanese exposition laced trailers also need to go away. They're awkward. For everyone.

10 minute DLC announcements. Go away.

State of Play. Go away.

I haven't seen a live event with genuine enthusiasm in it since the E3 where they announced FFVII remake.

Stop faking it. Start making it.
 
goat licking GIF
 
AGRacing said:
I want to advocate for a reset in video game marketing. Some thoughts on how to start:

I think we're up to about 300 bass pounds per average Geoff Keighley show.. and if you ask me I think they start losing their impact around the 100 or so mark. BOOM BOOM BO-BO-BA-BOOM. Enough.

Japanese exposition laced trailers also need to go away. They're awkward. For everyone.

10 minute DLC announcements. Go away.

State of Play. Go away.

I haven't seen a live event with genuine enthusiasm in it since the E3 where they announced FFVII remake.

Stop faking it. Start making it.
Click to expand...

you could just not watch it
 
I genuinely don't know of a single gamer who likes Geoff Keighley. At best, he's inoffensive and boring, like slice of unbuttered toast. But at worst, he's cringey, self-absorbed, and annoying as shit.

I wouldn't mind him for one event a year, but we really need some new blood for hosting. Geoff is not the emperor of video games.
 
These shows are always trash and feel like a waste of time when they are over. Everyone still tunes in to all of them though (me included).
 
While I 100% agree with OP, it's pretty obvious this can't realistically happen. We "gamers" are spending so much money continuously, the companies can't help but feel they're the greatest ever and that we love all the shit they put out. Also, when you're such a big shot, you gotta have a huge marketing dept and push out all these trailers all the time. Because we continue buying every piece of shit released, they think their shit is golden and that we want more of it.
 
I'm still pissed he stole E3 from us. What a jerk. It's also the way he stole it. He called it Summer Game Fest and just streamed events that were already planned.
 
Last edited:
Why is Geoff Keighley hosting all these events?
Well, when E3 started to stumble with publishers pulling out, and then died completely when Sony, EA, Nintendo pulled out and then COVID put the final nail in the coffin, he put up his own money/collateral to create a production company to put on all these live events(The Game Awards, Summer Game Fest, Opening Night Live). No one else did. Someone else could have. Someone else still could. But no one wants to.

Keighley, regardless of what you think of him, genuinely likes this industry and the people that work in it. He's been producing gaming related shows since back when TV was still a thing.

You know how you love it when random celebrity #764 hosts stuff and reads off a bunch of stupid jokes written by some random writer because "that's what you do when hosting these things"? That's your alternative.

Why not let the guy who legitimately loves the industry and the medium do it? Because If he decides to take his ball and go home because we're all a bunch of unappreciative whiny babies, all you're going to be left with are 20 minute State of Plays 3 times a year, random 2 game Nintendo Directs, and 1 Xbox Showcase a year with a bunch of games that'll be cancelled before they see the light of day.

Also, you guys know you don't have to watch, engage with, consume any of this live right? No one is forcing any of you to watch any of this?

If you don't like the personalities, just catch up on trailers after the show.
 
I agree, but the reality is that there will always be a three meter wall between people who provide and people who consume. The guys promoting the shows and deciding the PR strategy aren't the ones playing for hobby, and vice versa.
 
The Game Awards was his baby and actually a great idea, and very impressive for him to build off the ground from pretty much nothing to what it is. We can keep that.

The other two were clearly made up by the industry and handed to him because of his experience with TGA, and I think it shows that he's not really as invested or passionate about them and there really isn't enough interesting content to fill them with.
 
Gambit2483 said:
I hate how we gave up E3 for freaking Geoff Keighley...
Click to expand...

No, we gave up E3 for YouTube.

The old means of filling a room with journalists and businessmen to show a bunch of videos and talk up figures was bound to crash; it already had crashed in 2017 when they held the show in an airplane hangar. Nintendo Direct proved to be the future of promotions, and eventually, every other publisher switched.

Keighley is just a coordinator trying to create a single keynote-level show outside of every publishers' dedicated event (if/when pubs do host their own Direct during a seasonal promo cycle.) So far, he has secured the numbers to make it happen. But content on his show is rarely (if ever for several years now) locked to only his stream/channel. Content debuts there and then is up online shortly after.

If people ever tire of Keighley, his show will go away, but nothing will replace it.
 
Last edited:
Just stop watching Keighley's bullshit shows. Absolute worst case scenario is that you'll learn about the one or two announcements you give a fuck about a few minutes after the fact on YouTube or GAF instead of seeing them live.

Each of the big three have their own issues, but they can still throw together a quality presentation when they actually have something to show. And that's because their priority is building excitement for their ecosystem, so they're incentivized to focus on games that they know gamers are already interested in or on high quality hidden gems. Granted, there's still plenty of filler and "we're contractually obligated to show this" moments, but at least the underlying goal is to excite the viewer.

The underlying goal of Keighley's shows is to sell as many advertising slots as humanly possible. That's why they're bloated and have zero quality control. Quality control is fundamentally counterproductive to what they're trying to achieve.

I guarantee that Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft all thoroughly vet the games that make it into their presentations, even if that vetting process is out of sync with what you personally want to see. (I got as sick of cozy farming/life simulators in the latter days of the Switch 1 as anyone, but Nintendo had the data to know that Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing were two of the system's biggest hits.) Meanwhile, the only gatekeeping at a Keighley show is performed by any given game's marketing budget.
 
Last edited:
Dacvak said:
I genuinely don't know of a single gamer who likes Geoff Keighley. At best, he's inoffensive and boring, like slice of unbuttered toast. But at worst, he's cringey, self-absorbed, and annoying as shit.

I wouldn't mind him for one event a year, but we really need some new blood for hosting. Geoff is not the emperor of video games.
Click to expand...
Joe Rogan, the arguably most influential interviewer in the world right now, has non existent interview skills. It's like a flow of words for hours on end. Geoff is exactly that - a perfect bland example of mediocrity that is acceptable for the masses.
 
TVexperto said:
I dont think this money is going to Geoff though? I think its going to koelmesse GmbH that is organizing gamescom?
Click to expand...
He's company gets a fee from Gamescom. But you're right. This money goes to them first.

The best way to consume a show like this is with a thread like the one March Climber March Climber is working on for Future Games Show
March Climber

Thread 'Future Games Show | Gamescom 2025| Recap'

As predicted, this ended up being a better show than Opening Night Live. I'll post the recap and update the next few posts with trailers as I go.

Edit: All trailers are up.

Shooter

Hell Let Loose: Vietnam (World premiere with gameplay)


Den of Wolves (new gameplay)


Dreams of Another (new gameplay with dev commentary)


Pizza Bandit (reveal with gameplay)


BPM Bitcrushed (World premiere with gameplay)


Cronos A new Dawn (new gameplay with dev commentary)


Active...
  • Like
  • Fire
  • Love
 
Cyberpunkd said:
Joe Rogan, the arguably most influential interviewer in the world right now, has non existent interview skills. It's like a flow of words for hours on end. Geoff is exactly that - a perfect bland example of mediocrity that is acceptable for the masses.
Click to expand...
Joe's strategy works well because it's an interview, and he's creating a blank canvas for his guests to paint on.

That strategy doesn't work at all when you're the only one talking, and you're supposed to be the person entertaining and informing the audience.
 
Loomy said:
Keighley, regardless of what you think of him, genuinely likes this industry and the people that work in it. He's been producing gaming related shows since back when TV was still a thing.
Click to expand...
The hard thing to stomach is the fact that "Final Hours of…" are genuinely great writing. This guy is extremely intelligent, probably more so that anyone in the industry ok the creative side of things. Which is also why it hurts that he knows exactly he has to dumb it down for the average Joe to make money.
 
Dacvak said:
Joe's strategy works well because it's an interview, and he's creating a blank canvas for his guests to paint on.
Click to expand...
I disagree. I think he is simply giving his guests a platform to push their agenda and benefit from his reach. Which is incredibly profitable for him, but that's not what an interview should be about. Granted, the traditional media abdicated their responsibility with the rise of the social media, so I cannot blame him for profiteering from it.
 
Cyberpunkd said:
The hard thing to stomach is the fact that "Final Hours of…" are genuinely great writing. This guy is extremely intelligent, probably more so that anyone in the industry ok the creative side of things. Which is also why it hurts that he knows exactly he has to dumb it down for the average Joe to make money.
Click to expand...
cHY5rZpPEWieLHgc.jpg
 
Last edited:
Cyberpunkd said:
I disagree. I think he is simply giving his guests a platform to push their agenda and benefit from his reach. Which is incredibly profitable for him, but that's not what an interview should be about. Granted, the traditional media abdicated their responsibility with the rise of the social media, so I cannot blame him for profiteering from it.
Click to expand...
That's fair. I was just inferring; I've never actually listened to his podcasts.
 
SEGAvangelist said:
I'm still pissed he stole E3 from us. What a jerk. It's also the way he stole it. He called it Summer Game Fest and just streamed events that were already planned.
Click to expand...
He didn't tho, E3 was getting stale, for one good show, you had plenty of cringe slop, remember that time in one of the Sony conferences, they decided to stop everything for 30 minutes, so they could move all the people to another place and show their pretentious ass TLOU themed floor for a trailer? That wasn't great, remember meme-tier Nintendo waggle-music show? Remember the Xbone show? the "pro" players from whatever EA game they were trying to pimp? Ubislop and their cringe 10 minute dances to promote a dancing game? all the Konami slop?

Blame R*, they never showed up to an E3 event and all eyes are on them whenever a megaton trailer lands on youtube and their site

I wish E3 was back but not if it's more of the same, filler with some good stuff in-between is not worth the time spent watching it
 
It's all shit since E3 went.

We used to have 3 solid days of gaming news and announcements, proper ones.

Now it's all over the place, some are so watered down they announce fuck all.

So so boring now.
 
EN250 said:
He didn't tho, E3 was getting stale, for one good show, you had plenty of cringe slop, remember that time in one of the Sony conferences, they decided to stop everything for 30 minutes, so they could move all the people to another place and show their pretentious ass TLOU themed floor for a trailer? That wasn't great, remember meme-tier Nintendo waggle-music show? Remember the Xbone show? the "pro" players from whatever EA game they were trying to pimp? Ubislop and their cringe 10 minute dances to promote a dancing game? all the Konami slop?

Blame R*, they never showed up to an E3 event and all eyes are on them whenever a megaton trailer lands on youtube and their site

I wish E3 was back but not if it's more of the same, filler with some good stuff in-between is not worth the time spent watching it
Click to expand...
That move wasn't Sony's choice, but it is why they never returned to E3 the year after.
 
Dacvak said:
I genuinely don't know of a single gamer who likes Geoff Keighley. At best, he's inoffensive and boring, like slice of unbuttered toast. But at worst, he's cringey, self-absorbed, and annoying as shit.

I wouldn't mind him for one event a year, but we really need some new blood for hosting. Geoff is not the emperor of video games.
Click to expand...

I mean, I don't think he is a great host and to be honest I find a lot of his events boring.
But I don't dislike him. Overall I still appreciate what he is doing in trying to keep these conferences alive and giving us a pseudo E3 to look forward to in June and then another decent showcase at the end of the year. And every now and then he has a decent event too, TGA last year was pretty solid.

I don't really get what alternative his haters want.

Do they think that if he goes away Sony and Nintendo will suddenly put on expensive live shows at specific dates again? lol. They don't give a shit, we'd just keep getting States of Play / Directs at random dates, never knowing if the next one is in 2 months, 8 months or a year from the last one.
Or do people think some billionaire will make his own showcase as a passion project and pay for everything out of pocket so he doesn't have to add filler to pay the bills? While simultaneously convincing all third parties to give them all their big announcements?
Or we want a show that's just as full of slop and filler but it's hosted by Kinda Funny and we have to watch fucking Greg Miller on stage for 3 hours?
 
Last edited:
E3 - the highs of Miyamoto with the master sword, the lows of Ravi drums and puppies woman.
The glory of the 599 PS3 reveal , the gigantic Ubisoft presenter from Friends.

Now we have Geoff felating Kojima.
 
Loomy said:
Why is Geoff Keighley hosting all these events?
Well, when E3 started to stumble with publishers pulling out, and then died completely when Sony, EA, Nintendo pulled out and then COVID put the final nail in the coffin, he put up his own money/collateral to create a production company to put on all these live events(The Game Awards, Summer Game Fest, Opening Night Live). No one else did. Someone else could have. Someone else still could. But no one wants to.
Click to expand...

I mostly agree, except the highlighted. Others did try, but luckily, they partnered with Keighley (either by wise business choice or failure to compete or whatever other factors) rather than making a clusterfuck of micro-shows.

There was awareness that the summer season of COVID A) was going to be streamers only even with E3 consortium hemming and hawwing about doing something, and B) was going to be the final nail that changes summer game marketing season forever. Many journalist sites and media corps and streaming outlets were jockeying for position to get an online event going, while publishers were busy weighing options of which horse to back while also keeping enough their own event if they were going to do one (and many, many of them did). It got messy. Some shows got to the finish line and so we had that month-long+ gaming summer run, but the situation shook itself out eventually; content partnerships were made, and the Keighley show emerged as the kickoff event.

Like or dislike Keighley, the future would likely have been the same; this thread would have been complaining about some show hosted by IGN or Gamespot or whatever slick media production studio E3 might have contracted if Keighley hadn't won the race.
 
Last edited:
CamHostage said:
Like or dislike Keighley, the future would likely have been the same; this thread would have been complaining about some show hosted by IGN or Gamespot or whatever slick media production studio E3 might have contracted if Keighley hadn't won the race.
Click to expand...
ESA did try. They partnered with ReedPop to bring E3 back. But by then it was too late. Too many of the publishers that paid the bulk of the cost had already pulled out. They also went on a gaming media buying spree just before COVID that they seem to be trying to get out of now.

But yeah. E3 was dead long before it died. Looking back, opening it up to fans may have been some last ditch attempt at saving it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

30fps enough for you?
2 3 4 5 6
279
3K
Hector Hall replied
Took them long enough to realize lossless scaling is garbage.
Clickbait 
30
416
Three replied
There's one thing DK Bananza hasn't gotten enough credit for...
2
88
613
Kacho replied
  • Locked
Cmon Sony enough is enough!
0
555
REDRZA MWS replied
Geoff Keighley is teasing a (sequel?) game with tagline "blood will spill" for Gamescom Opening Night
2 3
136
538
Zacfoldor replied
Top Bottom