''GameTrailers'' (''GT'') was an American
video gaming website created by Geoffrey R. Grotz and Brandon Jones in 2002. The website specialized in multimedia content, including
trailers and gameplay footage of upcoming and recently released video games, as well as an array of original video content focusing on video games, including reviews, countdown shows, and other
web series
A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...
.
''GameTrailers'' was acquired by
Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to:
* Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate
* Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom
* Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...
in November 2005; under its ownership, ''GameTrailers'' also produced a television series, ''
GameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley
''GameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley'' (or ''GT.TV'') is a television show about video games hosted by video game journalist Geoff Keighley. Originally titled ''Game Head'', on January 25, 2008, the show relaunched under its current name with a ...
'', for sister property
Spike TV
Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles.
The channel was o ...
. In 2014, the site was acquired by
Defy Media
Defy Media was an American digital media company that produced original online content for the 12–34 age group. Originally founded in 1996 as Alloy Online (later Alloy Digital), the final company was formed in 2013 by its merger with Break M ...
. In February 2016, the site was shut down; rights to ''GameTrailers'' brand and content were sold to
IGN Entertainment
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distr ...
, which continues to run its
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel, while most of ''GT'' remaining staff went on to found the independent gaming publication ''
Easy Allies
''Easy Allies'' (abbreviated as ''EZA'') is an online video game website that includes news coverage, reviews, personality-driven gaming videos and short form comedic series, created by a group of former '' GameTrailers'' staff. Since acquiring ...
''.
Business history
GameTrailers was founded by Geoff Grotz and Brandon Jones (the latter who was the primary narrating voice of the company's videos throughout its existence) in 2002. Jon Slusser and his company Hornet Animation invested in the startup, and Jon took over as CEO. The company was then acquired by
MTV Networks
Paramount Media Networks (formerly known as Warner Cable Communications, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, MTV Networks, Viacom Media Networks, and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks) is an American mass media division of Paramount Global tha ...
in November 2005 for an undisclosed sum. On March 18, 2006, Shane Satterfield was hired as GameTrailers' first
editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
and supervising producer.
In 2007, MTV Networks restructured its entertainment division, merging Ifilm.com and SpikeTV.com into Spike.com, and grouping this new property, GameTrailers and
Xfire
Xfire (pronounced "X-Fire") was a proprietary freeware instant messaging service for gamers that also served as a game server browser with various other features. It was available for Microsoft Windows.
Xfire was originally developed by Ult ...
, into Spike Digital Entertainment, with Jon Slusser as the new SVP in charge, Geoff Grotz as Vice President of Product Development, Shane Satterfield as Vice President of Content, and Brad Winters as the new general manager of GameTrailers.com.
In June 2014, GameTrailers was purchased by
Defy Media
Defy Media was an American digital media company that produced original online content for the 12–34 age group. Originally founded in 1996 as Alloy Online (later Alloy Digital), the final company was formed in 2013 by its merger with Break M ...
. Soon after it was reported that senior members of GameTrailers were fired, which is about two-thirds of full-time staff. On February 8, 2016, GameTrailers was shut down.
On June 1, 2015, Shane Satterfield launched a hand-curated social network for gaming enthusiasts under the name SIFTD. On March 21, 2016, a majority of the remaining staff at GameTrailers, including Brandon Jones, launched a series of new
Patreon
Patreon (, ) is a membership platform that provides business tools for content creators to run a subscription service. It helps creators and artists earn a monthly income by providing rewards and perks to their subscribers. Patreon charges a com ...
-supported channels under the new name
Easy Allies
''Easy Allies'' (abbreviated as ''EZA'') is an online video game website that includes news coverage, reviews, personality-driven gaming videos and short form comedic series, created by a group of former '' GameTrailers'' staff. Since acquiring ...
.
Since 2016,
IGN Entertainment
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distr ...
has owned GameTrailers' brand and back catalog. The company will continue to maintain GameTrailers'
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel, uploading archived original content, and posting new trailers via the channel.
Original content
GameTrailers' first version of its magazine style show was ''GT Weekly'' and premiered in August 2005, hosted by
Amanda MacKay
Amanda MacKay is a model, television host, and journalist. She has been a host for MTV Canada, G4techTV, and GameTrailers TV on Spike TV.
Biography
MacKay grew up in the Vancouver, British Columbia suburb of Coquitlam, where she attended Sir Fr ...
and Daniel Kayser. After 44 episodes, in March 2007, the show was rebranded as ''GameOne'' and given a live chat where viewers could talk about the show.
In February 2007,
ScrewAttack
Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC is an American digital media company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2003 by Burnie Burns, Matt Hullum, Geoff Ramsey, Jason Saldaña, Gus Sorola, and Joel Heyman, Rooster Teeth is a subsidiary of Warner ...
started providing content including
Top Tens, Video Game Vault entries and episodes of ''
Angry Video Game Nerd
''The Angry Video Game Nerd'' (abbreviated as ''AVGN'') is an American retrogaming review comedy web series created by and starring James Rolfe. The series centers on Rolfe's titular skit character, often simply shortened to "the Nerd" (sometim ...
'' for GameTrailers. Shortly after,
Spike
Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Books
* ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave
* ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick
* ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...
's ''Game Head'' also started to cooperate with GameTrailers.
On January 25, 2008, ''GameOne'' was replaced by ''
GameTrailers TV'', the rebranded version of Spike TV's ''Game Head'', still hosted by
Geoff Keighley
Geoff Keighley () is a Canadian video game journalist and television presenter. He was most known for hosting the video game show '' GameTrailers TV'', and for co-hosting the now-defunct '' G4tv.com''. Keighley is also a freelance writer whose ...
, but produced by GameTrailers and co-hosted by Amanda MacKay and Daniel Kayser. The show appeared at 12:30 AM on Spike every Thursday night.
List of shows hosted by GameTrailers
''Invisible Walls''
''Invisible Walls'' was a
video blog
A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog (), is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in ...
-
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
created and hosted by
editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
Shane Satterfield and run by the staff of GameTrailers with freelance journalist Marcus Beer, who originally came to the show on a biweekly basis as the ever-angry character "Grumpy McGrump", as co-host. The podcast was eventually hosted by
editorial director
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, org ...
Ryan Stevens after Shane Satterfield left GameTrailers after Episode 238. They were often joined by a rotating panel of GT editors including Justin Speer, Daniel Bloodworth, Michael Damiani, Patrick Morales, Chris Nguyen, and (formerly) Miguel Lopez. The show's debut episode was recorded on March 13, 2008, and published the following day. The podcast was a semi-
round table discussion show in which the GameTrailers staff members discussed various goings-on in the
video game industry
The video game industry encompasses the development, marketing, and monetization of video games. The industry encompasses dozens of job disciplines and thousands of jobs worldwide.
The video game industry has grown from niches to mainstrea ...
, including new video game releases and
controversies
Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...
.
The show underwent a couple of major overhauls throughout its run; for its one-hundredth episode, the show introduced new visual graphics (including new avatars for the cast designed by
iam8bit
iam8bit, Inc. is a media production company, creative think tank, policy institute, and art exhibition based in Los Angeles, California.
Development
iam8bit was originally developed by video game and tech journalist Jon M. Gibson, in the su ...
, a new intro also done with iam8bit, and a new logo) and stopped censoring profanities. On the show's two-hundredth episode, which was streamed and recorded live for the milestone occasion, the show began recording with the hosts on-camera and the hosts' avatars were no longer used, although the hosts were seen recording on-camera for Episode 150 and had to record themselves without being seen one last time on Episode 201, due to not having cameras on hand at the 2012
Game Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tutori ...
and for the new ''Invisible Walls'' studio to be prepared.
The podcast ended after publishing Episode 284 on January 17, 2014. It was initially replaced by a short-lived show called ''Thanks for Playing!'', which lasted until April 25, 2014, with a true final episode published on June 27, 2014. A later revival podcast called ''GT Time'', which features some of the ''Invisible Walls'' regulars including Damiani and Bloodworth, debuted on March 14, 2014 (which was coincidentally the six-year anniversary of the debut episode of ''Invisible Walls'') and lasted until February 2016.
Other shows
*''GT Countdown'' – A top ten list of video games and video game-related subjects. Ended in October 2015.
*''GT Wish-List'' – A compilation of all things the GameTrailers team wishes will be in an upcoming game. Usually the game has divulged very little information about itself at the point of the release of the wish-list, thus there is a lot of speculation as to what the game could be.
*''Bonus Round'' – A panel show hosted by Geoff Keighley, typically featuring three guests who are some combination of game developers, industry journalists and/or industry financial experts. The show focuses not just on critical analysis of particular games but also on the process of game development (including technical and design innovation) as well as publishing, sales, marketing, and business practices in the gaming industry. Ended in 2015.
*''The Final Bosman'' – A weekly show hosted by Kyle Bosman airing Wednesdays, where he talks about current gaming topics from his perspective with humorous quips. Ended in 2016.
*''Trailer Score'' (previously known as ''Let's All Go To The Trailers'') – A weekly show, in which Brandon Jones, Kyle Bosman and Daniel Bloodworth discuss and rate the newest video game trailers.
*''GT Time'' – A weekly podcast show hosted by Kyle Bosman, in which a panel discuss the latest video game related news stories and make bets about what will happen during the next week. Ended in February 2016.
*''Baddest Games'' – A weekly show hosted by Rob Slusser, where he talks in an intentionally awkward manner about video games that got bad reviews by the press and therefore were good in his opinion. According to his Twitter account, Slusser will no longer be with GameTrailers in the wake of Defy Media acquiring the company.
*''
GT TV'' – An informative show on the gaming industry and upcoming games hosted by Geoff Keighley.
*''GT Previews'' – Previews of upcoming games.
*''Level'' – A show where the GameTrailers team talks about their favorite levels from their favorite games.
*GT Reviews – Reviews of various video games that are scored on a 1.0 through 10.0 scale. As of their ''
Dead Space 3
''Dead Space 3'' is a 2013 survival horror action video game developed by Visceral Games and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is the third and final main entry in the ''Dead Space'' series. The ...
'' review in 2013, GameTrailers has stopped providing separate sub-scores and segments for different elements of a game (which used to include story
f necessary design, gameplay, and presentation) in favor of more cinematic videos, and the people who reviewed the game and edited the video are now mentioned in the intro. As of February 8, 2016,
Firewatch
''Firewatch'' is an adventure game developed by Campo Santo (company), Campo Santo and published by the developer in partnership with Panic Inc., Panic. The game was released in February 2016 for Microsoft Windows, macOS, OS X, Linux, and Play ...
was the last video game reviewed on Gametrailers.
**GT Review Pods – Shorter video reviews for independent, downloadable and/or lesser-known video games or game content (such as expansions). After the 2012 revamp, the name was discontinued, but the shorter reviews are still made on a regular basis. Until 2013, these shorter reviews did not have different segments for the different elements of a game, but they still had the now-discontinued sub-scores.
*''Retrospectives'' – A history of the stories of video game franchises usually in multiple parts.
*''GT Pop-Block'' – A closer look on game trailers showing the findings of GameTrailers staff in that specific trailer.
*''Anthology'' – A collection of the essential entries in the virtual library of video game greatness.
*''
Angry Video Game Nerd
''The Angry Video Game Nerd'' (abbreviated as ''AVGN'') is an American retrogaming review comedy web series created by and starring James Rolfe. The series centers on Rolfe's titular skit character, often simply shortened to "the Nerd" (sometim ...
'' – Video game
review
A review is an evaluation of a publication, product, service, or company or a critical take on current affairs in literature, politics or culture. In addition to a critical evaluation, the review's author may assign the work a rating to indi ...
rants starring and created by
James Rolfe
James D. Rolfe (born July 10, 1980) is an American YouTuber, online personality, filmmaker, and actor. He is best known for creating and starring in the comedic retrogaming web series ''The Angry Video Game Nerd'' (2004–present). His spin-off ...
from Cinemassacre Productions, about a frustrated video game reviewer who plays games from the 80s and 90s. In 2013, Rolfe decided to continue his show independently on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
and Cinemassacre.com.
*''Pach-Attack!'' – A show hosted by financial analyst
Michael Pachter
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name "Michael"
* Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...
where he answers questions submitted by GameTrailers users regarding the video game industry from a financial perspective. Ended in July 2014 after GameTrailers was acquired by Defy Media, in 2015, Patcher created a new show called Patcher Factor on YouTube channel.
*''Pop-Fiction'' – Short 5–10 minute episodes that center around myths and urban legends in video games.
*''Timeline'' – An in-depth look into the chronology, history, and story progression of popular gaming franchises. Only ''
The Legend of Zelda
''The Legend of Zelda'' is an action-adventure game franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-rele ...
'' and ''
Kingdom Hearts'' have received this treatment.
*''Top 100 Trailers of All Time'' – A top 100 countdown list of the best video game trailers ever made as determined by the GameTrailers staff, which ran throughout September 1 to October 8, 2011. The first four episodes focused on a
score of various game trailers and the top 20 trailers each received their own individual episode, all with commentary on each selection. Honorable mentions were also displayed during the episodes and the final episode focused on the ten video game trailers voted the best by GameTrailers viewers.
*''Annoyed Gamer'' – A now defunct show hosted by Marcus Beer, where he discusses polemic topics that can harm gamers as well as the industry. Ended in 2014.
*''Mandatory Update'' – A comedic show on a weekly basis that's presenting the weekly news in humorous fashion hosted by Elyse Willems and Isla Hinck. Before his firing, Rob Slusser served as a comic relief for the show in between bits. Occasionally the show is replaced by an hour long podcast known as Mandatory Update Nights. The show ended on February 6, 2016, two days before Gametrailers was shut down, therefore
Easy Allies
''Easy Allies'' (abbreviated as ''EZA'') is an online video game website that includes news coverage, reviews, personality-driven gaming videos and short form comedic series, created by a group of former '' GameTrailers'' staff. Since acquiring ...
revived the show on July 3, 2021.
*''Trailer Academy'' – A show hosted by founder Brandon Jones analyzing video game trailers and discussing what's making a good video game trailer.
*''GT News'' – A daily news show hosted by Andrea Rene featuring the latest headlines from across the video game industry. Ended in 2015.
*''Huber Hype'' – Acclaimed hype enthusiast Michael Huber hits terminal velocity each week in the pursuit of ultimate hype. In 2016, after GameTrailers was shut down, the show is succeeded by Huber Syndrome on Easy Allies.
*''Ladies in the Lobby'' – This six-part series provides a female perspective into gaming though a series of interviews with Elyse Willems, Andrea Rene, Stephanie Bayer, Mari Takahashi, Jessica Villarreal, and Nikole Zivalich.
*''Tabletop Adventures'' – Lailia Meliamne (Isla Hinck), Pervance Tosscobble (Elyse Willems), Andry Highhill (Kyle Bosman), and Hogger (Michael Huber) adventure through a devious and hilarious ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...
'' campaign prepared by Dungeon Master Ben Moore.
*''First Fifteen'' – Kyle Bosman and someone else play through the first fifteen minutes of a random video game.
Was also available as a podcast.
See also
*
Easy Allies
''Easy Allies'' (abbreviated as ''EZA'') is an online video game website that includes news coverage, reviews, personality-driven gaming videos and short form comedic series, created by a group of former '' GameTrailers'' staff. Since acquiring ...
References
External links
*
{{Video Game Critics
Defunct websites
Internet properties established in 2002
Internet properties disestablished in 2016
Cinemassacre
Former Viacom subsidiaries
Video game news websites
Webby Award winners
IGN
2005 mergers and acquisitions
2014 mergers and acquisitions