Geoff Keighley
Geoff Keighley | |
---|---|
Nationality | Canadian |
Occupation | journalist, presenter |
Known for | video game journalism |
Geoff Keighley is a Canadian video game journalist and presenter. His work spans online, print and TV outlets. He is most known for hosting (and being the executive producer of) the video game show , GameTrailers TV and co-hosting the now-defunct G4 show G4tv.com.
Keighley is also a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Kotaku,[1] etc. As of January 2008, besides hosting GTTV, Keighley can still be seen as a correspondent on another G4 show, The Electric Playground, and his work can be read in monthly columns on the GameFly website. Keighley was the executive producer of the Spike Video Game Awards. Keighley was the executive producer of The Game Awards that was first shown in December 2014.[2]
Presenting
In addition to GTTV, Keighley has been involved in many other video game-related project on television. On Comcast's G4 network, he appeared as the network's lead anchor for its E3 press conference coverage, interviewing CEOs from companies like Sony and Electronic Arts. For MTV he created the concept and produced (with LivePlanet) "Gears of War: Race to E3” and “Gears of War: Race to Launch,” two specials that took viewers inside the development of the hit Xbox 360 game from Microsoft. And in 2007, the Discovery Channel aired a five-hour documentary on releases including those of such companies as World of Wonder Productions, based on a treatment by Keighley, who also served as consulting producer. Geoff has also hosted and co-produced a number of video game launch specials for Spike TV, including "Madden NFL 08 Kickoff" featuring a performance by Ozzy Osbourne and "Halo 3: Launched!" featuring a performance by Linkin Park. He was also interviewed on what became a controversial Fox News' segment on Mass Effect, and was later praised by gamers online for being the only one on the show who had actually played the game.[3][4][5]
Keighley is known for writing reviews and previews and going behind the scenes of the game industry for in-depth business profiles and lengthy feature pieces. In a July 2008 interview on The Jace Hall Show, Keighley spoke about the importance of this process, stating "There's such a lack of investigative journalism. I wish I had more time to do more, sort of, investigation. Really dig into some of these bigger issues, so I could look at like, the 'Red Ring of Death' problem. That's never really been properly reported about, like what really happens."[6] However, he has faced criticism from some quarters for his willingness to positively present games to maintain exclusives, regardless of their actual quality, and to accept industry PR at face value in an October 2012 column published in Eurogamer.[7]
The Game Awards
Geoff was involved with Spike's Video Game Awards for many years and in 2014, created his own awards show, The Game Awards.[8] On June 15 Keighley hosted YouTube's live coverage of E3 2015, it was viewed a total of eight million times in its live 12-hour run. [9]
Controversy
In 2012 he became involved in an online controversy after appearing at a promotional stream for the video game Halo 4 in front of several bags of product-placed Doritos and Mountain Dew bottles. The event came to be known as Dorito Gate and sparked a debate on video game journalism.
In a column on Eurogamer, former journalist Robert Florence accused Keighley and others of often being in bed with the video game industry.[7] The controversial piece was met with criticism and several changes were made by its editor Tom Bramwell due to legal action. [10][11][12][13]
References
- ↑ Flynn De Marco (February 10, 2008). "McWhertor Invades GameTrailers TV". Kotaku. Retrieved February 14, 2008.
- ↑ Keighley, Geoff. "Nominees announced for The Game Awards 2014". The Game Awards. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
- ↑ Geoff Keighley Pwns Fox News With +1 Truth Power | SarcasticGamer.com
- ↑ Keighley Sets Mass Effect Record Straight... Or Tries To | Kotaku Australia
- ↑ FOX NEWS on MASS EFFECT Sex Debate(video), GameTrailers, Jan 21, 2008
- ↑ "Jace Hall, Ep 7: Is Video Game "Journalism" Legit?". The Jace Hall Show. Season 1. Episode 7. July 16, 2008.
- 1 2 Robert Florence,. "Lost Humanity 18:A Table of Doritos". Eurogamer.
- ↑ Brian Crecente. "VGA host backs new gamer-centric award show out of his own pocket". Polygon.
- ↑ http://www.tubefilter.com/2015/06/22/youtube-e3-live-stream-stats/
- ↑ "Worthplaying - Editorial - 'Media, Ethics, Tomb Raider and the Streisand Effect'". WorthPlaying. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
- ↑ "RPS’s Position On The Eurogamer/Florence Debacle". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
- ↑ William Usher. "Eurogamer Writer Loses Job For Pointing Out How Much Video Game Journalism Fails". CinemaBlend. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
- ↑ Erik Kain. "Eurogamer Confirms Journalist Lauren Wainwright Threatened Legal Action". Forbes. Retrieved December 9, 2014.