video game awards

Editor's note: John Gaudiosi is a national journalist who has been covering the video game business for more than a decade. In addition to blogging for WRAL.com, he also writes about gaming for Wired Magazine, The Washington Post, Xbox.com and Yahoo! Games.

LAS VEGAS - I've been a judge for the past three SpikeTV "VGAs" (Video Game Awards) and I have to say Las Vegas is definitely my preferred venue for this awards show, which aired Dec. 9 at 9 p.m. on SpikeTV and will get rotation for the next few weeks.

While this year's show didn't have quite the star power of the LA shows, most of the celebs that showed up were gamers. And the musical groups―Foo Fighters and Kidd Rock―were awesome this year.

Spending time in the green room this year was an interesting experience. Don King posed for pictures while Spider-Man creator Stan Lee sat by himself and Tony Hawk played Rock Band with some assorted comedians. Skateboarders were well represented with Ryan Sheckler of MTV's "Life of Ryan" attending as well as ? of EA's SKATE game.

The stars of NBC's hit show, "Chuck," Zach Levi and Josh Gomez--arguably the biggest gamers I've ever interviewed―played Rock Band on the red carpet (as many attendees did) as well as in the green room.

When it comes to games, EA had a great collection of games on hand for players to check out on Xbox 360, including a brand new build of Burnout Paradise chock full of new features, The Simpsons Game, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 08 and Rock Band. Nintendo had four Wii games set up, including Wii Sports' Boxing, which was a big hit. Every time I turned around, another four people were jamming on Rock Band.

Over at the beautiful Wynn Casino, which is where the attending VGA judges stayed, there was a hospitality suite over at the Tower Suites with every game console set up and a stack of games for each. SpikeTV definitely made sure there were games to play for everyone.

I have to say―and I'm not being biased because I'm one of the 40 judges who nominated and then voted on the winning games―that the VGAs, which celebrate their fifth anniversary with this telecast, are the most legitimate form of awards for the game industry today. Unlike the Interactive Achievement Awards, which aren't televised and require entrants to pay for consideration, the VGAs is a great representation of the top games of the year.

That's because SpikeTV got it right by turning to the gaming press―and not just the hardcore gaming magazines, but the mainstream press who cover games, as well―and letting them drive both the nomination process and (a first for this year) the voting for the top games.

What this means to gamers is that they truly have an awards show that matters. There's no Hollywood lobbying of lavish gifts like the Golden Globes and no ego-driven voting like at the Oscars. The best games of the year actually make it into the VGAs. The thing that's become hard, though, since so many good games shipped this year, is deciding which one is the best in each category.

But the important thing is that there won't be second-guessing like there is when movies are nominated, and others aren't. The VGAs get it right, and I'm glad SpikeTV has stuck with this show, although they've tweaked the format and the venue each year. I'm looking forward to many more great awards shows to come.

Spike Video Game Awards
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The Spike Video Game Awards (VGA) is an award show that recognizes the best computer and video games of the year. Started in 2003, the Spike TV Video Game Awards garnered much attention, since video game awards were not common prior to its introduction.

Contents
1 Video Game Award Results
1.1 2007 Awards
1.2 2006 Awards
1.3 Previous Awards
2 Parodies
3 References



[edit] Video Game Award Results

[edit] 2007 Awards
Game of the Year: Bioshock

Studio of the Year: Harmonix

Best Shooter: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Best RPG: Mass Effect

Best Military Game: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Best Individual Sports Game: Skate

Best Handheld Game: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Best Graphics: Crysis

Best Game Based on a Movie or TV Show: The Simpsons Game

Best Rhythm Game: Rock Band

Best Driving Game: Dirt

Best Action Game: Super Mario Galaxy

Best Team Sports Game: Madden NFL 08

Best Soundtrack: Rock Band

Breakthrough Technology: The Orange Box

Best Xbox 360 Game: BioShock

Best Wii Game: Super Mario Galaxy

Best PS3 Game: Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

Best PC Game: The Orange Box

Best Original Score: Bioshock

Best Multiplayer Game: Halo 3

Most Addictive Video Game fueled by Dew: Halo 3


[edit] 2006 Awards
For more details on this topic, see 2006 Spike Video Game Awards Results.
Game of the Year - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Before PS3 Version (Bethesda Softworks)
Action Game of the Year - Dead Rising (Capcom)
Best Individual Sports Game - Tony Hawk's Project 8 (Activision/Neversoft)
Best Team Sports Game - NBA 2K7 (2K Sports/Visual Concepts)
Cyber Vixen of the Year - Alyx Vance - Half-Life 2: Episode One (Valve)
Best Game Based on a Movie or TV Show - Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts/Traveller's Tales)
Best Performance by a Human (male) - Patrick Stewart in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks)
Best Supporting Male Performance - James Gandolfini in The Sopranos: Road to Respect (THQ/7 Studios)
Best Performance by a Human (female) - Vida Guerra in Scarface: The World Is Yours (Vivendi/Radical Entertainment)
Best Supporting Female Performance - Rachael Leigh Cook in Kingdom Hearts II (Square Enix)
Best Cast - Family Guy Video Game! (2K Games/High Voltage Software)
Best Song - "Lights and Sounds" by Yellowcard in Burnout Revenge (Electronic Arts/Criterion Games)
Best Soundtrack - Guitar Hero II (Red Octane/Harmonix)
Best Original Score - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks)
Studio of the Year - Cliff Bleszinski / Epic Games (Gears of War)
Best Driving Game Award - Burnout Revenge (Electronic Arts/Criterion Games)
Most Addictive Game - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks)
Best Fighting Game - Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (Midway Games)
Best Shooter - Gears of War (Microsoft/Epic Games)
Best Military Game - Company of Heroes (THQ/Relic)
Best Graphics - Gears of War (Microsoft/Epic Games)
Best Handheld Game - New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo/Nintendo EAD)
Best Multiplayer Game - Gears of War (Microsoft/Epic Games)
Best Breakthrough Technology - Wii (Nintendo)
Best RPG - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks)
Best PC Game - Company of Heroes (THQ/Relic)
Best Wireless Game - SWAT Force (Vivendi/KAOLink)
Critic's Choice (released after 11/15/2006 and before 12/31/2006) - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo/Nintendo EAD)

[edit] Previous Awards
2004 Spike TV Video Game Awards Results
2005 Spike TV Video Game Awards Results

[edit] Parodies
The Video Game Awards were parodied on an episode of MADtv, highlighting the fictional 1st Annual Video Game Awards on June 21, 1977, hosted by Joe Namath (played by Michael McDonald) and Farrah Fawcett (played by Arden Myrin), musical guest The Jackson Five, and award presenter Mark Spitz (played by Ike Barinholtz). Pong and Asteroids were the only video games nominated for all of the awards presented, even though Asteroids wasn't released in the arcade until 1979. The categories shown in the sketch were "Best Graphics in a Video Game" (Asteroids wins), and "Most Realistic Sound in a Video Game" (Pong and Asteroids win in a tie). Bobby Lee accepts an award as a designer of Asteroids. Space Invaders is shown to display the future of video games, although it was released before Asteroids in 1978.[1]