The Spike TV held their annual Video Game Awards last night and we had the the opportunity to see some new titles premiere for the 1st time. I was here doing a live play by play and we had a great turnout with some awesome readers who all participated in polls and asked questions. I had a great time with all you guys. Thanks.
After nearly 24hrs I’ve had time to reflect on the event. Truthfully I can’t say that the night was a complete success for a variety of reasons but before we get to that, let’s look at what they did right.
The Good:
Neil Patrick Harris: The guy is just naturally funny so when he had the chance to take a run at Rachel Bilson after he was presented with the award for best voice Actor he was hilarious. He did well out there and I’d like to see him there again next year.
The Stage:
They did a damn fine job integrating the virtual environments onto the high tech stage.
The Trailers:
It was great to see the trailers in glorious HD on a 92″ screen. I can’t lie when I say that I had a bit of a chub for some of the premieres.
Failures:
Rachel Bilson:
AWFUL – That’s all I have to say about that.
Gears of War Pulled:
The fact that earlier in the day MS pulled Gears of War from the schedule leads me to believe that they felt Uncharted 2 stole the show and I have to agree. Of course they deny such things but what else are we supposed to think? Way to disappoint MS.
The Super Secret Premiere:
Was there a super secret premiere because I didn’t see one. Sure Elder Scrolls probably excited some people, hell even Forza likely moved racing aficionados but there was no major announcement aside from the firm date of November 1, 2011 being the day that Mr.Nathan Drake invades our living room. While I’m talking about Uncharted, let’s think for a moment about that game. Was that supposed to be the super secret title and EW blew it by prematurely showing Sony’s hand? My money is on yes. Mass Effect wasn’t even a shock due to a logistical error on the EA website.
All in all the VGAs are well on the way to becoming a premiere event that’s likely to get bigger and better. They did a good job. It’s just too bad that some of the wind was taken out of their sails because of an accidental post and perhaps the article by EW. Below is a list of all the winners and the trailers that were shown last night.
Game of the Year
Winner: Red Dead Redemption
Other nominees: Halo: Reach, Mass Effect 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, God of War III
Best Xbox 360 Game
Winner: Mass Effect 2
Other nominees: Halo: Reach, Alan Wake, Fable III
Best Playstation 3 Game
Winner: God of War III
Other nominees: Heavy Rain, Red Dead Redemption, Modnation Racers
Best Wii Game
Winner: Super Mario Galaxy2
Other nominees: Metroid: Other M, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Donkey Kong Country Returns
Best PC Game
Winner: Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
Other nominees: Fallout: New Vegas, Sid Meier’s Civilization V, Mass Effect 2
Best Handheld Game
Winner: God of War: Ghost of Sparta
Other nominees: Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Professor Layton and the Unwound Future, Super Scribblenauts
Best Shooter
Winner: Call of Duty: Black Ops
Other nominees: Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Bioshock 2, Halo: Reach
Best Action/Adventure Game
Winner: Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
Other nominees: God of War III, Red Dead Redemption, Super Mario Galaxy 2
Best RPG
Winner: Mass Effect 2
Other nominees: Fable III, Fallout: New Vegas, Final Fantasy XIII
Best Multiplayer
Winner: Halo: Reach
Other nominees: Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
Best Individual Sports Game
Winner: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11
Other nominees: EA Sports MMA, Shaun White Skateboarding, UFC Undisputed 2010
Best Team Sports Game
Winner: NBA 2K11
Other nominees: FIFA Soccer 11, Madden NFL 11, MLB ’10: The Show
Best Driving Game
Winner: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
Other nominees: Blur, Modnation Racers, Split/Second
Best Music Game
Winner: Rock Band 3
Other nominees: Dance Central, DJ Hero 2, Def Jam Rapstar
Best Adapted Video Game
Winner: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game
Other nominees: Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, Transformers: War for Cybertron
Best Downloadable Game
Winner: Costume Quest
Other nominees: Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, Monday Night Combat, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game
Best DLC
Winner: Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare
Other nominees: Bioshock 2: Minerva’s Den, Borderlands: The Secret Armory of General Knoxx, Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker
Best Independent Game
Winner: Limbo
Other nominees: Joe Danger, Super Meat Boy, The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom
Character of the Year
Winner: Sgt. Woods (Call of Duty: Black Ops – Activision)
Other nominees: Ezio Auditore da Firenze (Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood – Ubisoft), John Marston (Red Dead Redemption – Rockstar Games), Kratos (God of War III – Sony Computer Entertainment)
Studio of the Year
Winner: Bioware (Mass Effect 2)
Other nominees: Blizzard Entertainment (Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty), Bungie Studios (Halo: Reach), Rockstar San Diego (Red Dead Redemption)
Best Graphics
Winner: God of War III
Other nominees: Heavy Rain, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Red Dead Redemption
Best Soundtrack
Winner: DJ Hero 2
Other nominees: Def Jam Rapstar, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, Rock Band 3
Best Song in a Game
Winner: “Far Away” (Red Dead Redemption)
Other nominees: “Basket Case” (Green Day: Rock Band), “Black Rain” (Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock), “GoldenEye” (GoldenEye 007), “Won’t Back Down” (Call of Duty: Black Ops), “Replay/Rude Boy Mashup” (DJ Hero 2)
Best Original Score
Winner: Red Dead Redemption
Other nominees: God of War III, Halo: Reach, Mass Effect 2
Best Performance by a Human Male
Winner: Neil Patrick Harris as Peter Parker / Amazing Spider-Man (Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions)
Other nominees: Daniel Craig as James Bond (James Bond 007: Bloodstone), Gary Oldman as Sgt. Reznov (Call of Duty: Black Ops), John Cleese as Jasper (Fable III), Martin Sheen as Illusive Man (Mass Effect 2), Nathan Fillion as Sergeant Edward Buck (Halo: Reach), Rob Wiethoff as John Marston (Red Dead Redemption), Sam Worthington as Alex Mason (Call of Duty: Black Ops)
Best Performance by a Human Female
Winner: Tricia Helfer as Sarah Kerrigan (Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty)
Other nominees: Dame Judi Dench as “M” (James Bond 007: Bloodstone), Danica Patrick as herself (Blur), Emmanuelle Chriqui as The Numbers Lady (Call of Duty: Black Ops), Felicia Day as Veronica (Fallout: New Vegas), Jennifer Hale as Commander Sheppard (Mass Effect 2), Kristen Bell as Lucy Stillman (Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood), Yvonne Strahovski as Miranda Lawson (Mass Effect 2)
Most Anticipated Game
Winner: Portal 2
Other nominees: Batman: Arkham City, Bioshock: Infinite, Gears of War 3
The Trailer Debuts
Insane: hard to say anything about this game but it’s not due out until 2013 which leads me to speculate that it could perhaps be a launch title for the next gen of systems.
Prototype 2: I really enjoyed the original Prototype so I’m more than a little excited about this one.
Batman Arkham City: A sequel to the best comic book game ever. PLEASE HURRY!!!
Uncharted 3 Drakes Deception – Nathan Drake is the ultimate mans man. Can it just be November 2011 already?
Elder Scrolls V: I hated the last Elder Scrolls game but will no doubt give this bad boy a shot. I love Bethesda so I owe it to my favorite company.
Mass Effect 3: All we got was an official teaser trailer. It opens the doors to some pretty awesome things though. Here’s hoping for a 2011 release.
Resistance 3: Resistance is a great series I really should get around to finishing part 2.
Mortal Kombat: Sigh…Fighting games are so one dimensional. I used to really enjoy Mortal Kombat and I will play it but I’m not so excited for this one. The cool thing is that Kratos is a PS3 exclusive character so that makes me wonder who’s the guy for Xbox 360? Johanna Dark or Marcus Fenix are my guesses.
Portal 2: A hugely popular game that I was never able to get into. Also awarded the most anticipated title of 2011 (something tells me that’s been changed to Uncharted 3).
SSX Deadly Descents: AWESOME!!! It’s about time we’re getting another SSX game. SSX was the first game my now wife ever played while we were together and it rekindled her enjoyment of videogames. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t totally jacked up to see more of this game.
Forza: Ho hum – that is all I have to say about that.
Thor: It’s tough to get too excited for this one because the track record of games based on movies or tied into movies is less than stellar.
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