While many SA gamers may not be familiar with Spike TV’s annual Video Game Awards, many US gamers regard them as gaming’s equivalent to the MTV Music Awards of gaming. This year the event will take place on December 12.
The most hotly debated category is the Game of the Year (GOTY) award. Apart from the GOTY award, the VGAs also nominate a best studio, best graphics, best Xbox 360/PS3/PC/Wii game and many more.
The VGAs are widely criticized for choosing games based on their popularity rather than quality, as well as other shortcomings. A prime example was when Halo won the award for best PC game in 2003, when it was in actual fact a two year old console port.
Last year’s awards
Game of the Year: Grand Theft Auto 4
Studio of the Year: Media Molecule
Best Shooter: Gears of War 2
Best RPG: Fallout 3
Best Graphics: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Best PC Game: Left 4 Dead
Best Xbox 360 Game: Gears of War 2
Best Wii Game: Boom Blox
Best PS3 Game: LittleBigPlanet
This year’s nominees
VGA has released the list of nominees for the various awards in 2009
We have marked our predictions with italics, and our votes with an asterix. Italics = what will win, *= what we think should win.
Game of the Year
Assassin’s Creed 2 (Ubisoft / Ubisoft Montreal)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eidos Interactive – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment / Rocksteady Studios)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision Publishing / Infinity Ward)
Left 4 Dead 2 (Valve)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves* (Sony Computer Entertainment / Naughty Dog)
No Borderlands, inFamous,Killzone 2?
Studio of the Year
Infinity Ward
Naughty Dog*
Rocksteady Studios
Valve
No Gearbox?
Best Shooter
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2* (Activision Publishing / Infinity Ward)
Halo 3: ODST (Microsoft Game Studios / Bungie)
Killzone 2 (Sony Computer Entertainment / Guerrilla Games)
Left 4 Dead 2 (Valve)
Again, where’s Borderlands?
Best RPG
Borderlands (2K Games / Gearbox Software) (There it is:)
Demon’s Souls (Atlus / FromSoftware)
Dragon Age: Origins* (Electronic Arts / BioWare)
Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story (Nintendo / AlphaDream)
Best Fighting Game
BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger (Aksys Games / Arc System Works)
Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny (NAMCO BANDAI Games / Project Soul)
Street Fighter IV (Capcom / Capcom/Dimps)
Tekken 6* (Namco Bandai Games)
Best Individual Sports Game
EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 4 (Electronic Arts / EA Canada)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10* (Electronic Arts / EA Tiburon)
UFC 2009 Undisputed (THQ / Yuke’s Media Creations)
Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo)
Best Handheld Game
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars* (Rockstar Games / Rockstar Leeds)
Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story (Nintendo / AlphaDream)
Professor Layton and The Diabolical Box (Nintendo / Level-5)
Scribblenauts (Warner Bros. Interactive / 5th Cell)
Best Graphics
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eidos Interactive – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment / Rocksteady Studios)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision Publishing / Infinity Ward)
Killzone 2 (Sony Computer Entertainment / Guerrilla Games)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves* (Sony Computer Entertainment / Naughty Dog)
Best Game Based on a Movie or TV Show
Ghostbusters: The Video Game* (Atari / Terminal Reality)
South Park Let’s Go Tower Defense Play! (Microsoft / DoubleSix)
The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (Atari / Starbreeze AB)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine* (Activision Publishing / Raven Software)
Best Music Game
DJ Hero* (Activision Publishing / FreeStyleGames)
Guitar Hero 5 (Activision Publishing / Neversoft Entertainment)
LEGO Rock Band (MTV Games – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment / Traveler’s Tales Games – Harmonix)
The Beatles: Rock Band (MTV Games / Harmonix)
Best Driving Game
Dirt 2 (Codemasters)
Forza Motorsport 3* (Microsoft Game Studios / Turn 10)
Gran Turismo (PSP) (Sony Computer Entertainment / Polyphony Digital)
Need for Speed SHIFT (Electronic Arts / Slightly Mad Studios)
Best Action Adventure Game
Assassin’s Creed 2 (Ubisoft / Ubisoft Montreal)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eidos Interactive – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment / Rocksteady Studios)
Brütal Legend (Electronic Arts / Double Fine Productions)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves* (Sony Computer Entertainment / Naughty Dog)
Best Team Sports Game
FIFA Soccer 10*(Electronic Arts / EA Canada)
Madden NFL 10 (Electronic Arts / EA Tiburon)
NBA 2K10 (2K Sports / Visual Concepts)
NHL 10 (Electronic Arts / EA Canada)
No PES?
Best Soundtrack
Brütal Legend* (Electronic Arts / Double Fine Productions)
DJ Hero (Activision Publishing / FreeStyleGames)
Guitar Hero 5 (Activision Publishing / Neversoft Entertainment)
The Beatles: Rock Band (MTV Games / Harmonix)
Best Xbox 360 Game
Batman: Arkham Asylum* (Eidos Interactive – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment / Rocksteady Studios)
Forza Motorsport 3 (Microsoft Game Studios / Turn 10)
Halo 3: ODST (Microsoft Game Studios / Bungie)
Left 4 Dead 2 (Valve)
Best Wii Game
MadWorld (SEGA / Platinum Games)
New Super Mario Bros. Wii* (Nintendo)
Punch-Out!! (Nintendo / Next Level Games)
Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo)
Best PS3 Game
inFAMOUS (Sony Computer Entertainment / Sucker Punch)
Killzone 2 (Sony Computer Entertainment / Guerrilla Games)
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time (Sony Computer Entertainment / Insomniac Games)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves* (Sony Computer Entertainment / Naughty Dog)
Best PC Game
Dragon Age: Origins* (Electronic Arts / BioWare)
Left 4 Dead 2 (Valve)
Plants vs. Zombies (PopCap Games)
The Sims 3 (Electronic Arts / The Sims Studio)
No Dawn of War II? And where is Anno 1404?
Best Original Score
Assassin’s Creed 2 (Ubisoft / Ubisoft Montreal)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2* (Activision Publishing / Infinity Ward)
Halo 3: ODST (Microsoft Game Studios / Bungie)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Sony Computer Entertainment / Naughty Dog)
Best Multiplayer Game
Borderlands (2K Games / Gearbox Software)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2*(Activision Publishing / Infinity Ward)
Halo 3: ODST (Microsoft Game Studios / Bungie)
Left 4 Dead 2 (Valve)
Best Independent Game Fuelled by DEW
‘Splosion Man (Twisted Pixel)
Flower (ThatGameCompany)
Osmos (Hemisphere Games)
Trials HD* (RedLynx)
Most Anticipated Game
Bioshock 2 (2K Games / 2K Marin)
God of War III (Sony Computer Entertainment / SCE Studios Santa Monica)
Mass Effect 2 (Electronic Arts / BioWare)
Starcraft II* (Blizzard Entertainment)
Have your say on the 2009 VGA nominees in the forums
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