Spike TV Announces Nominees for 10th Annual Video Game Awards

SPIKE TV ANNOUNCES NOMINEES FOR 10th ANNUAL VIDEO GAME AWARDS

“VGA TEN” TO STREAM ON XBOX LIVE WITH

GROUNDBREAKING NEW INTERACTIVITY

MARK BURNETT PRODUCED SHOW TO FEATURE HOST SAMUEL L. JACKSON AND

MUSICAL PERFORMANCES BY LINKIN PARK AND TENACIOUS 

Interactive Multiplatform Event Includes Exclusive World Premieres Of Highly Anticipated Titles Including

“The Last Of Us,” “Gears Of War: Judgment,” and “South Park: The Stick of Truth”

Complete List of Nominees Announced, with “Borderlands 2,” “Halo 4” 

and “Journey” Leading the Way with Seven Nominations Each

“VGA TEN” Will Air LIVE on Friday, December 7 on Spike TV at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT,

Simulcast on MTV2, MTV Tr3s, and Live Stream on Xbox LIVE, Spike.com and GameTrailers.com

New York, NY, November 15, 2012 – Spike TV today announced the nominees of “VGA TEN” (#VGA) – the network’s tenth annual live televised event to celebrate the best in video games.  “VGA TEN,” hosted by Samuel L. Jackson, willfeature exclusive world premieres as well as musical performances by Linkin Park and Tenacious D.  The interactive multiplatform special will premiere LIVE from Sony Picture Studios in Culver City, CA on Friday, December 7 at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT on Spike TV.  Additionally, “VGA TEN” will simulcast on MTV 2, MTV Tr3s, Xbox LIVE, Spike.com and GameTrailers.com.

Spike TV and Microsoft also unveiled plans to broadcast the 2012 Video Game Awards to Xbox LIVE users in multiple countries this December.  Fans will be able to view the “VGA’s” on Xbox consoles in the United States and additional countries to be confirmed at a later date.* The show will also be streamed internationally on Spike.com and GameTrailers.com. 

Airing alongside the tenth anniversary television broadcast, the U.S. Xbox LIVE stream of the VGAs will showcase groundbreaking interactivity that lets users “play” the show as it happens live in Los Angeles.  Responses to poll questions will be tabulated in real time on screen for the Xbox LIVE audience and users with Xbox Smartglass will get a unique second-screen experience that updates in real time alongside the show content.

Check out the entire nominees list at Spike TV

SPIKE TV’s “VIDEO GAME AWARDS” AIRS LIVE ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7

AT SONY PICTURE STUDIOS IN CULVER CITY

FOLLOW SPIKE TV PR ON TWITTER @SPIKETVPR

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Halo 4, Dishonored and The Last of Us top Game Critics Awards nominations

by Richard Mitchell on Jun 20th 2012 3:00PM

The nominees of the E3 2012 Game Critics Awards have been announced. Nominees for best of show include Dishonored, Halo 4, The Last of Us, Tomb Raider and Assassin's Creed 3. The games to receive the most nominations overall were Halo 4, The Last of Us and Dishonored, which each racked up four nominations. Meanwhile, the publisher to walk away with the most nominations was Sony Computer Entertainment at 12 nods, with Microsoft, Nintendo and EA tied in second place with eight each.

The nominees were voted on by various publications across print and the web, including our personal favorite: Joystiq. Winners will be announced on Tuesday, June 26.

You can see a full breakdown of nominations – sorted by category, genre and platform – on the Game Critics Awards website. Take in some more detailed stats – including platform and publisher nominations, and the number of nominations per game – right here.

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Portal 2, Arkham City and BF3 clean up at 2012 BAFTA game awards

by Jordan Mallory on Mar 17th 2012 6:00PM

Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.

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[GOTY] vgZero 2011 Awards - Biggest Surprise & Disappointment

Biggest Surprise

Winner - Dead Island

The video game industry is one of the more diverse entertainment industries and through this the market has a wider range of products and often you'll find something unexpected making its way into your life. Often games will get denied at first by the consumer whether it be down to returning to a classic franchise which had a less than stellar previous outing or perhaps the game might be retreading an overused idea. This award is for the game that offered unexpected brilliance and 2011 was a strong year for surprises. Indie developers got into the act with Bastian which for a small digital-distribution title it offered fantastic writing and voice work to match its unique art style and classic isometric gameplay. Some games were expected to be good but ended up surprising everyone by blowing away all expectations like The Witcher 2 which was one of the best PC (and soon to be 360) titles in years thanks to it's beautiful visuals of a rich fantasy world along side a much more refined gameplay system than its predecessor. There were several more modest titles that rose above expectations such as Shadows of the Damned which while liking polish had great writing and was incredibly fun - a quality often forgot about in modern games. Ultimately there can only be one winner and that is of course Dead Island a game revealed several years ago that fell off the radar and became close to vaporware but made a triumphant return with an emotional CG trailer that brought the game back to the lime light. Dead Island surprised not only by being developed by a relatively small Polish developer (Techland) famed for budget racing titles and the first-person western franchise Call of Juarez but by also taking the much-used 'zombie' scenario in a new direction. Not only was the game set on a tropical island but it was also sandbox allowing you to explore freely and even took cues from Left 4 Dead and had 4 player co-op. Featuring RPG mechanics and a quest log system added depth to the game and aided the experience by giving you more control over the development of your character but also more freedom to do what you please on the island. Dead Island was the best selling new IP of 2011, and with good reason too.

Runner up - Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Deus Ex was one of the greatest games of all time, the sequel Invisible War... not so much. Fans had a right to be skeptical over future games thanks to the flop sequel but after the franchise laid dormant for 8 years the prequel Human Revolution released and put fans' minds to ease as it blew away expectations. Eidos offered an experience that was close, if not on par, with the legendary original. Deep skill-trees, you decide how to tackle every situation from a variety of options, well written... the list goes on. We agree that Human Revolution was a better game than Dead Island but this is about the biggest surprise and while Human Revolution met skepticism Dead Island was the bigger shock.

Biggest Disappointment

Winner (Loser) - Dragon Age II

Now if we flip the coin we see that not every game can be a winner. Some games just fail to meet up to fan demands or critical expectation. Game of Thrones: Genesis was a strong contender purely because of the hugely popular book and tv series it is based upon but unfortunately it was a rushed under-developed tie-in and fans had to look else where to get their fix. Some games are just unfortunate enough to be shooting above their own weight, as was the case with Homefront. The game was hyped up to be a challenger to genre leaders Battlefield and Modern Warfare but released with a whimper, the game did find some love though as our reviewer fell in love with the game and it managed to develop a small but devoted following and established the foundations to be built upon. Some games shoot heavily under their weight and this was evident more than ever in 2011. id Software's first full game since 2004's Doom 3 was met with lukewarm reception, Rage was hyped not only because of the new technology being used but because of id's first-person shooter pedigree. The game faced numerous bugs at launch and was overall infuriatingly average. On the contrary Uncharted 3 released to critical acclaim and was widely praised as an excellent game but fans couldn't help to feel disappointed as instead of a huge increase in quality as seen in the jump from 1 to 2 the third game was equal to the second, if a little worse. It just goes to show that no matter how good a franchise is when it plateaus... it's still stagnation. However one game was more disappointing than the rest and by quite some distance and hits a lot of the targets mentioned above. Acclaimed developer? Check. A sequel to a widely praised title? Check. Hype? Check. Dragon Age II had a high bar of expectation and it fell well below. Bioware met heavy criticism for their changes to the sequel. The art style wasn't particularly unique or good looking, it just came across as lazy and ugly. The first game wasn't particularly a looker but it featured a lot more detail and still passed off as a respectable looking modern game for its scope. The deep combat system of the first was cut down heavily, party control and the control of the protagonist was limited as it became more action based than strategy. The game had a much smaller scope than the first by being more linear, featuring less speech and less quests, more repetition, and by losing the unique varied opening scenarios the first game had. It was a backwards step in every way. Dragon Age II managed to lose fans of the first game, lose fans of Bioware and turned away potential new customers. Let's hope Dragon Age III corrects these faults and returns to the style of the original or finds a happy median.

Runner up - Rage

Rage wasn't a bad game. The problem was it was incredibly average and was coming from a legendary developer after 7 years of work. The game looked good but the new technology wasn't incredibly impressive and upon release had a lot of visual bugs. The world was bland and the gun play was boring. The game had potential but unfortunately fell well short of greatness.

Stay tuned as we still have more super well respected awards to dish out to the best developer, publisher, trailer and more!

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[GOTY] vgZero 2011 Awards - Sound & Visuals

[GOTY] vgZero 2011 Awards - Sound & Visuals
While Mike has been filling you in on what is in store for the year ahead I don't think we should forget about 2011 just yet. It was a hell of a year and it deserves some recognition as one of the best years in gaming ever, it had everything from highly anticipated sequels such as Skyrim along side fresh new titles like L.A. Noire as well as new platform releases in the 3DS and Vita. We got our first look at the next generation when Nintendo revealed the Wii-U and rumors have started to surface about the next Xbox and the Playstation 4 but rather than dwell on the future possibilities let's get back to the past and present to hand out some much coveted vgZero Awards (Personally I'd say we're up there with the Emmys, but more respectable). After much deliberation we've reached a conclusion and in the coming days you'll see the results, just don't expect teabagging and a game trailer every 3 minutes. Here's part one, enjoy! Best Visuals
Year on year we see a vast improvement in visuals in the gaming industry. Developers use a number of methods, such as giving the art team a larger role giving us gorgeous looking lands as displayed in games like The Witcher 2 or perhaps by trying a different quirky style like Nintendo used in Skyward Sword - what it lacks in polygons it makes up for in personality. However this year the best looking game came down to pure technological achievement and is none other than Battlefield 3. DICE pushed the bar higher than anyone else this year by not only delivering the best looking PC game to date but also translating the spectacle straight onto consoles with a stellar porting effort. It's hard not to be taken aback when first seeing Battlefield 3 on its highest settings, from the lighting to the textures it all just screams excellence and can easily be compared to the waves the original Crysis made back in 2007. Speaking of Crysis the sequel to the visual powerhouse released in 2011 too and while the game didn't disappoint in the visual department it didn't set the bar far above anything else like its predecessor did. Battlefield 3 took that honor this year.

Runner up
Coming in second is no shame, nor would coming in 17th and that is a testament to the strength of the competition this year. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception delivered the next best visual experience without the benefit of the higher-end technology DICE had at their disposal for the PC market as Naughty Dog again showed how they're at the forefront of PS3 development.

Best Sound
Audio is often under appreciated within games yet it is something that can make or break an experience as demonstrated by Bastion in 2011 - not to say the gameplay is bad, it's far from it, but the narration throughout is splendid and neatly guides the game forward. Often licensed songs can provide a better experience, like with Saints Row: The Third taking its cue from Grand Theft Auto with in-game radio stations and one moment in particular with two characters singing along as you drive provided me with a hearty laugh. Sometimes a breath taking orchestral score provides the game with an added slice of excitement like in Skyrim which gives it a sense of grandeur. The best audio this year came from a game that had an average original sound track and voice acting that wasn't out of the ordinary. Battlefield 3 excelled in its audio design for the in-game sounds and make the experience really nail the feeling of immersion and this more than makes up for original music and voice acting. The sound of every bullet that pings past, the sound of the jets soaring above or the rough noise of the tank as it navigates the rocky terrain to deliver a round that causes a deafening explosion near by. You don't need high-end headphones to enjoy it either as even through your TV speakers you'll get a stellar audio experience.

Runner up
In a game that aims to not only create tension for the player to evoke fear but to also create scenes of sudden urgency and panic you need a good audio team. Visceral Games has just that and more. In 2008 they released Dead Space to acclaim and in 2011 they hit it out the park with the sequel, Dead Space 2. The game manages to create both terror in paranoia with foot steps and feint screams but also panic when being chased by a mob of hideous screaming necromorphs as the music reaches a crescendo. The sound is an integral part of the experience and it excels at its role.

Check back next time when I'll take a look at the biggest surprise of the year and the most disappointing, and no Battlefield 3 doesn't win every award... I promise.

Written by: James Stevenson

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RE: [GOTY] vgZero 2011 Awards - Sound & Visuals
Tbh, these days I'd say there're two sub-categories in "good visuals"

There's the pursuit of perfect realism, which these days is only really attainable in mega-budget FPS games such as Battlefield or Crysis.

and the Artistically amazing/clever graphics, such as is more often found in indie games.

Case in point, last year VVVVVV was probably one of my favourite games graphically, but there's no way it'd go up against anything made in the past few decades for good graphics in the classic sense.

either way, since I've not been the elitist PC gamer for a while - Crysis 1 still remains unbeaten for graphics IMO (Although BF3 came close, maybe next year), so my favourite visuals for 2011 would probably be Minecraft, Bastion or Limbo.

(This post was last modified: 01-17-2012 05:21 PM by Irony.) Lukémon101
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New York Videogame Critics Circle announces first annual awards show

by Ben Gilbert on Jan 13th 2012 8:30AM

Look, we're gonna be upfront about this, we're a little biased -- okay, I'm a little biased -- toward any news involving the New York Game Critics Circle (I'm the standing member for Joystiq), but we're putting together an awards show and it's gonna be totally boss. On February 2, a gaggle of us are taking over New York University's Cantor Film Center and holding an awards show to honor the best games of 2011 -- what we consider to be 2011's best, anyway.

Founding member (and occasional NPR correspondent) Harold Goldberg is heading up the proceedings with some assistance from various NYGCC members, while an unannounced, well-known voice man is on tap to MC the event. The first annual awards show will take place on February 2 and we've dropped the entire list of nominees after the break. It'll also be open to the public with limited seating, which we'll have more info on in the coming weeks.

Wondering who voted for said nominees? That list is right here, but rest assured that everyone involved is totally your favorite.

Big Apple Award – Best Game Batman: Arkham CityElder Scrolls V: SkyrimL.A. NoireMinecraftPortal 2Saints Row: The ThirdUncharted 3: Drake's DeceptionThe Legend of Zelda: Skyward SwordManhattan Award for Most New York-centric Game Batman: Arkham CityCrysis 2Resistance 3Sideway NYHerman Melville Award for Best Writing in a Game BastionBatman: Arkham CityL.A. NoirePortal 2Saints Row: The ThirdSerious Sam 3Battery Park Award: Best Handheld Console Game Aliens: InfestationProfessor Layton and the Last SpecterRayman 3DSuper Mario 3D LandTin Pan Alley Award: Best Overall Music in a Game BastionCatherineDark SoulsL.A. NoirePortal 2Saints Row: The ThirdThe Legend of Zelda: Skyward SwordThe A Train Award Best Mobile/iOS Game Contre JourFIFA 12Grand Theft Auto IIIInfinity Blade IISuperbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EPWhere's My Water?Off Broadway Award for Best Indie Game BastionFruit NinjaMinecraftRealm of the Mad GodSideway NYSuperbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EPThe Binding of IsaacStatue of Liberty Award for Best Open World Game Batman: Arkham CityDark SoulsDeus Ex: Human RevolutionL.A. NoireSaints Row: The ThirdGreat White Way Award for Best Overall Acting (Combines Male and Female Acting) Batman: Arkham CityL.A. NoirePortal 2Uncharted 3: Drake's DeceptionMad Man Award – Best Commercial Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (featuring Jonah Hill)Long Live Play – (Michael)The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3DS (featuring Robin Williams)Algonquin Roundtable Award for Best Videogame Book All Your Base Are Belong to Us by Harold GoldbergReady Player One by Ernest ClineReality Is Broken by Jane McGonigalReamde by Neal StephensonSuper Mario by Jeff Ryan

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Watch the Spike TV Video Game Awards, right here on Joystiq!

by Jordan Mallory on Dec 10th 2011 7:50PM

If you're like a lot of folks these days and rely entirely on services like Netflix and Hulu for your daily intake of episodic television goodness, you may think that your fiscal living situation will prevent you from watching this year's Spike TV Video Game Awards ceremony.

Not so! The fact that you're reading this means you have an internet connection of some kind, which means that you can't hide from you can watch the awards live, right here on Joystiq, thanks to the handy embedded live stream above. As always, we'll also be liveblogging the event and posting individual posts for big news, but we really recommend checking out the stream for the full experience.

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Yu Suzuki to be honored as 'Pioneer' at Game Developers Choice Awards

by Ludwig Kietzmann on Feb 11th 2011 12:00PM

Yu Suzuki, a central driving force behind iconic Sega franchises such as Space Harrier, Afterburner, Virtua Fighter and Out Run, will be honored with the Pioneer Award at the 11th annual Game Developers Choice Awards next month. The accolade recognizes creators of "breakthrough genres and concepts" and serves to highlights Suzuki's definitive role in the "golden age" of Sega arcade games.

His career started with Sega in 1983 and has encompassed an incredible variety of standout games and personal passions. It's interesting to reflect on the differences in scope between some of his most well-known projects: Shenmue attempted to recreate a vibrant and reactive simulacrum of Yokosuka, Japan, while Ferrari F355 Challenge was an enthusiastic tribute to just one car, displayed across three screens.

Yu Suzuki will receive the prestigious gong (in person!) at the Game Developers Choice Awards on Wednesday, March 2, in San Francisco, once he manages to extract it from a giant toy capsule machine. "This is cool!" he'll say. "Maybe I should get another."

[Image credit: "The Disappearance of Yu Suzuki" / 1UP]

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G4 live streaming DICE awards, broadcasting edited version

by Alexander Sliwinski on Jan 13th 2011 7:40PMThe 14th annual Interactive Achievement Awards (i.e., the DICE awards) will be broadcast on G4 this year. The show, hosted again by funnyman Jay Mohr, will air in a one-hour edited format across the television waves on Saturday, February 12 at 4PM ET/PT. However, the show will also be streamed live, and unedited, on the interwebs at G4tv.com/DICE, beginning at 7:30 PT (10:30 ET) on Thursday, February 10.
We'd recommend checking out the unedited clips from last year for an idea of the "insider" jokes and stuff that's not likely to make its way to broadcast.
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Red Dead and Limbo lead nominees for 2011 GDC Awards

by Griffin McElroy on Jan 12th 2011 7:00PMIt's almost time once again for the industry's premier awards show that doesn't feature regular appearances by Jersey Shore cast members: the 11th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards. The event's organizers have released the mercifully Mountain Dew-based-category-free list of nominees, which includes a number of potential merits for Limbo, Red Dead Redemption, Mass Effect 2 and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.
Check out the full list of nominees after the jump and discuss your favorites in the comments! (Oh, that's your pick for Best Visual Arts? Well, we can't say we agree with you, there.)
2011 GDCA Nominees
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo)Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)Limbo (Playdead)Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)God of War III (SCE Santa Monica)Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream)Kirby's Epic Yarn (Good-Feel & HAL Laboratory)Minecraft (Mojang)Limbo (Playdead)Dance Central (Harmonix)Starcraft II (Blizzard)Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream)Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)God of War III (SCE Santa Monica)God of War: Ghost of Sparta (Ready At Dawn/SCE Santa Monica)Cut the Rope (ZeptoLab)Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (Kojima Productions)Game Dev Story (Kairosoft)Dragon Quest IX (Level 5)Limbo (Playdead)Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)Halo: Reach (Bungie)Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (DICE)Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)Costume Quest (Double Fine)Limbo (Playdead)Super Meat Boy (Team Meat)Minecraft (Mojang)Monday Night Combat (Uber Entertainment)Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream)Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)Costume Quest (Double Fine)Fallout: New Vegas (Obsidian)Limbo (Playdead)Darksiders (Vigil Games)Minecraft (Mojang)Monday Night Combat (Uber Entertainment)Super Meat Boy (Team Meat)God of War III (SCE Santa Monica)Limbo (Playdead)Call of Duty: Black Ops (Treyarch)Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montreal)Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)Call of Duty: Black Ops (Treyarch)Limbo (Playdead)Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montreal)
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