GameTrailers

GameTrailers

File:Gametrailers New Logo Wikipedia.png
Type of business	Division of Viacom Media Networks
Available in	English
Headquarters	2600 Colorado Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90404, Santa Monica, California , United States
Owner	Viacom
Founder(s)	Geoffrey R. Grotz, Brandon Jones
Industry	Video game journalism
Parent	Viacom Media Networks
URL	Gametrailers.com
Registration	Free or available membership
Current status	Active

GameTrailers (also known as GT) is a media website that specializes in video game related content. It provides free access to original programming (such as reviews and previews), game trailers and recorded game play. Along with standard definition (640x360), many of the video clips are offered in a higher resolution (960x540).

Users can upload videos, create blogs, and participate in forums. On the past version of GameTrailers users could join and create factions, which had their own private forums. Factions were cut when the website was revamped, along with the GTD currency system, as well as forum levels.

Content history

GameTrailers' first version of its magazine style show was GT Weekly and premiered in August 2005, hosted by Amanda MacKay 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.

On January 25, 2008, GameOne was replaced by GameTrailers TV, the rebranded version of Spike TV's Game Head, still hosted by Geoff Keighley, but produced by GameTrailers and co-hosted by Amanda MacKay and Daniel Kayser. The show appears at 12:30 AM on Spike every Thursday night.

In February 2007, ScrewAttack started providing content including Top Tens, Video Game Vault entries and episodes of The Angry Video Game Nerd for GameTrailers. Shortly after, Spike's Game Head also started to cooperate with GameTrailers.

On June 27, 2012, GameTrailers launched their new website design, which includes a completely revamped homepage, upgraded message boards, and new animated graphics for reviews. However, this change met disappointment.

List of video segments hosted by GameTrailers

Invisible Walls

Invisible Walls is a video blog/podcast hosted by the staff of GameTrailers, with editor-in-chief Shane Satterfield as the main host. Show regulars include fellow GT editor Ryan Stevens and freelance journalist Marcus Beer, who originally came to the show on a biweekly basis as the ever-angry character, "Grumpy McGrump". The show's debut episode was recorded on March 13, 2008 and published the following day.

The show underwent a couple of major overhauls throughout its run; for its one-hundredth episode, the show introduced a new intro, new visual graphics (including new avatars for the cast 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; they announced that the show would now be recorded with the hosts on-camera and their avatars would no longer be 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 and for the new Invisible Walls studio to be prepared.

Other segments

• GT Countdown - A top ten list of video games and video game-related subjects.
• 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^* - An interview show hosted by Geoff Keighley.
• 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.
  • 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.
• 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.
• Pach-Attack!^* - A show hosted by financial analyst Michael Pachter where he answers questions submitted by GameTrailers users regarding the video game industry from a financial perspective.
• Pop-Fiction - Short 5-10 minute episodes that center around myths and urban legends in video games.
• 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.

^* Also available as a podcast.

Business history

Gametrailers.com was founded by Geoff Grotz and Brandon Jones 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 in November 2005 for an undisclosed sum.

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, into Spike Digital Entertainment, with Jon Slusser as the new SVP in charge, Geoff Grotz as Vice President of Product Development, and Brad Winters as the new general manager of GameTrailers.com.

External links

• GameTrailers
• WikiCheats A wiki-based game walkthrough site run by GameTrailers