It's commonplace to complain about SpikeTV's Video Game Awards. I'm not a big fan of the annual event myself, as it really doesn't have much appeal for me. The presentation seems aimed at a different audience, the awards are usually debatable, and the trailers are hit-or-miss. In short, the VGAs are not for me. 

After reading some angry reactions to the VGAs over the weekend, I've come to realize that it's perfectly acceptable for the awards show to not be for me. The show may not be for you, either, and it's time to come to grips with this reality. I'll grant that the stereotypical writing and humor should probably be adjusted, but a lot of the show's content is a vehicle to get the medium out to a larger audience. 

The landscape of the gaming community has changed. Far more people play video games now than we've ever seen. Video games have gone from a pastime for kids back in the late 1980s and early 1990s to a full-blown industry that generates billions of dollars each year. With this increase in gaming consumers, gaming habits and preferences diversify and change. It's no longer viable for the industry to play solely to its core gaming audience. They're certainly important, but so are the other, more casual consumers who drop millions of dollars themselves every year. For these consumers, who are new to gaming, Call of Duty and Angry Birds are the new Mario and Zelda. 

The trick is to take the good and accept the bad. If nothing else, the VGAs have been a great method of getting us ready for the next year in gaming. This year was no different. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD was a surprise, along with new footage of Mass Effect 3 and Bioshock Infinite... to name a few. We got to see Shigeru "I'm not retired yet" Miyamoto get recognized for his years of service in the industry, which was well-deserved. Yeah, there were teabagging and off-humor jokes in there... and, yeah, inviting voice talent like Mark Hamill and Tara Strong to the show and not even recognizing them was a poor move. These issues don't go unnoticed and everyone outside of the show's production team has rightly criticized them.

It's OK to be critical of the VGAs, but don't make the mistake of putting yourself and what you want or expect ahead of the big picture. If the show bothers you that much, do what I did: Don't watch it and, instead, catch up on the good stuff when it's all over. I got what I wanted out of the experience just the same, and without all of the lowbrow stuff.