how BGNR would have voted for Spike's VGAs

Pictured above: three HUGE gamers

So the VGAs were held over the weekend. My buddy Jeff tweeted the following about 5 minutes into the show:

"Jack Black wins best voice? Travis-sham-ockery. And I turn off the #VGAs :("

And that about sums it up. Destructoid posted an article appropriately titled "VGAs: Tribute to Gaming or Exercise in Self Loathing", which expands on the sentiment Jeff and many others were tweeting.

Some of the presenters seemed to be pretty convincing, I was buying Jake Gyllenhal, but Zachary Quinto was almost sneering at us fat bastards in the audience. Then you had ladies like Olivia Wilde and Trisha Helfer, who seemed to be genuine, but still had the wiff of insincerity about them. Maybe they just read a teleprompter better than the kids from Jersey Shore.

I'd really love it if Video Games had an "Oscars" a legitimate serious award show that those of us who are enthusiastic about video games could get behind, but I'm afraid that the VGAs is not that show. I mean, they started off the show with Jack Black destroying his trophy, I mean what does that say about the legiticmacy of your award if you have the trophy get destroyed as a bit? You think someone would do that with an oscar? Maybe Sean Penn would, but he'd just be trying to make a point about how little he cared about something that everyone else would be totally excited for. Also, the script was extremely suspect, stuff like "Viceral, heart stopping, and amazing are all words used to describe the world premiere trailer for True Crime". Really? By who? If it's a world premiere who has seen it to say these things? Activisions marketing department perhaps? Also, the 'exclusives premieres" were not that earth shattering (excluding UFC 2010...I mean THAT was amazing). Even games I was truly hyped for like Halo Reach seemed a bit "meh".

Having said that it was pretty sweet to see THQ beat out Wii Sports, Tiger Woods, FIFA, and Fight Night 4 to win Best Solo Sports award.

Here's a list of the winners:

Winners at the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards:

• Game of the Year: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
• Studio of the Year: Rocksteady Studios
• Best Independent Game: Flower
• Best Xbox 360 Game: Left 4 Dead 2
• Best PS3 Game: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
• Best Wii Game: New Super Mario Bros. Wii
• Best PC Game: Dragon Age: Origins
• Best Handheld Game: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
• Best Shooter: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
• Best Fighting Game: Street Fighter IV
• Best Action Adventure Game: Assassin's Creed II
• Best RPG: Dragon Age: Origins
• Best Multiplayer Game: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
• Best Individual Sports Game: UFC 2009 Undisputed
• Best Team Sports Game: NHL 10
• Best Driving Game: Forza Motorsport 3
• Best Music Game: The Beatles: Rock Band
• Best Soundtrack: DJ Hero
• Best Original Score: Halo 3: ODST
• Best Graphics: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
• Best Game Based On A Movie/TV Show: South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play!
• Best Performance By A Human Female: Megan Fox (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)
• Best Performance By A Human Male: Hugh Jackman (X-Men Origins: Wolverine)
• Best Cast: X-Men Origins: Wolverine
• Best Voice: Jack Black (Brütal Legend)
• Best Downloadable Game: Shadow Complex
• Best DLC: Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony
• Most Anticipated Game of 2010: God of War III


And now here's my list. I should point out that I obviously haven't played every game out there. I don't own a PS3, so all I know of those games are what I've played in the break room at the office. And there are a lot of games I loved, but for which there isn't a great category. Games like Ghostbusters, Trine, Red Faction, Battlefield 1943, and Resident Evil 5 all got a little over looked even by myself. And it's no secret to anyone who knows me that I'm a notorious Halo fan boy, so sorry Modern Warfare 2, you ain't gettin any more love from me, not that you need it. Anyway here's my take on the list of categories Spike was judging:

• Game of the Year: Borderlands
Any game encourages me to skip the gym so I can come home and play has something going for it.

• Studio of the Year: 5th Cell
• Best Independent Game: Torchlight
• Best Xbox 360 Game: Halo 3 ODST
• Best PS3 Game: KillZone 2
• Best Wii Game: House of the Dead Overkill
• Best PC Game: Torchlight
• Best Handheld Game: Scribblenauts
• Best Shooter: Halo 3 ODST
• Best Fighting Game: Street Fighter 4
• Best Action Adventure Game: Batman Arkahm Assylum
• Best RPG: Borderlands
• Best Multiplayer Game: Borderlands
• Best Individual Sports Game: UFC 2009 Undisputed
• Best Team Sports Game: Warhammer Blood Bowl
• Best Driving Game: Forza Motorsport 3
• Best Music Game: The Beatles: Rock Band
• Best Soundtrack: House of the Dead Overkill
• Best Original Score: Battlefield 1943
• Best Graphics: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
• Best Game Based On A Movie/TV Show: The Biggest Loser
• Best Performance By A Human Female: Arleen Sorkin - Harley Quinn Batman - Arkham Asylum
• Best Performance By A Human Male: Bill Murray - Peter Venkman - Ghostbusters
• Best Cast: Ghostbusters
• Best Voice: mark Hammil - The Joker - Batman Arkham Asylum
• Best Downloadable Game: Shadow Complex
• Best DLC: Mothership Zeta (Fallout 3)
• Most Anticipated Game of 2010: Darksiders (I know it's a THQ game, but that has to tell you something if I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a game I've seen around the office for months).