This Saturday, Dec. 11, Spike will be hosting its 2010 installment of their Video Game Awards. The annual awards show provides a wonderful opportunity for individuals working in the video game development industry to receive recognition for all of their hard work. It's also a interesting chance to see how the “mainstream” world views our gaming culture.
Spike recently announced the nominations list for the show. Some of them make perfect sense, but others not so much. A few of them are downright silly. So silly, in fact, that you can't help but utter “Seriously?” when going through the list.
After the jump: A complete list of nominees for Spike's 2010 Video Game Awards… along with why some of them are completely ridiculous.
]
8 Reasons Why the 2010 Spike VGAs Awards are Ridiculous
1. “Best Performance by HUMAN Female”
That's right, this nomination is for human females only. Apologies to all of the female bears and monsters who have worked so hard this year.
Danica Patrick is nominated for her role as…herself? Really? I wonder how much time she devoted to research herself before playing the part. Also, Emmanuelle Chriqui is nominated for her role as “The Numbers Lady” in Call of Duty: Black Ops. As the silly role title suggests, her job is to simply read numbers for this game. Sure, she's pretty, but reading numbers hardly warrants a “best performance” nomination. It's a shame that voice actress Lindsey Shaw didn't get nominated for her excellent role of “Trip” in Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. Perhaps she didn't read enough numbers.
2. Best performance by HUMAN male
Once again, non-humans males have to sit this one out. Nathan Fillion is nominated in this category for his performance as Sergeant Edward Buck in Halo: Reach. As much as I love Mr. Fillion and his work, the guy only had two sentences in the game.
3. Kirby's Epic Yarn nominated for “Best Graphics”
Kirby's Epic Yarn, a standard-def Wii game that looks like it was constructed out of pipe cleaners, somehow managed to beat Mass Effect 2, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, and Enslaved for the nomination for best graphics. Granted, the game had a clever and unique art style, but it doesn't deserve the nomination.
4. The existence of the “Most Anticipated Game” award
The very existence of an award for something that is “most anticipated” is silly. Think about this one for a bit. We're awarding an unreleased video game for the amount of hype it has. For all we know, these games may never be released
Alan Wake had atmospheric songs to close each chapter in the game. Mass Effect 2 had an amazing orchestrated score during its final moments to make the game feel grand and epic in scope. These games, among others, use brilliantly composed soundtracks to build atmosphere and create a certain mood for the game.
Green Day's “Basket Case” song is nominated for “Best Song in a Game” for Green Day: Rock Band. The problem with this is that “Basket Case” shouldn't be part of a the game's soundtrack–it's a level.
6. Certain nominated games weren't even released when they were nominated
Spike's nominations for the 2010 Video Game Awards were announced on November 17. However, “Best Wii Game” nominee Donkey Kong Country Returns wasn't released until November 21. Unless Spike had access to an early copy of the game, it hardly seems fair to nominate a game that no one played yet.
Since nominating a game before its release date doesn't even matter to Spike, it hardly seems fair that Gran Turismo 5, released on November 24, was ignored for the nomination of “Best Driving Game.”
7. “Game of the Year” Award
Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the second highest rated video game of all-time, you'd think that it would at least be nominated for 2010's “Game of the Year.”
And the complete nominations list on the next page…[
Spike's 2010 VGAs Nominees
Studio of the Year
* BioWare
* Blizzard Entertainment
* Bungie Studios
* Rockstar San Diego
Best Wii Game
* Donkey Kong Country Returns
* Kirby's Epic Yarn
* Metroid: Other M
* Super Mario Galaxy 2
Best Xbox 360 Game
* Alan Wake
* Fable III
* Halo: Reach
* Mass Effect 2
Best PS3 Game
* God of War III
* Heavy Rain
* ModNation Racers
* Red Dead Redemption
Best PC Game
* Fallout: New Vegas
* Mass Effect 2
* Sid Meier's Civilization V
* StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
Best Handheld Game
* God of War: Ghost of Sparta
* Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
* Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
* Super Scribblenauts
Best Shooter
* Battlefield: Bad Company 2
* BioShock 2
* Call of Duty: Black Ops
* Halo: Reach
Best Action-Adventure Game
* Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
* God of War III
* Red Dead Redemption
* Super Mario Galaxy 2
Best RPG
* Fable III
* Fallout: New Vegas
* Final Fantasy XIII
* Mass Effect 2
Best Multiplayer Game
* Battlefield: Bad Company 2
* Call of Duty: Black Ops
* Halo: Reach
* StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
Best Individual Sports Game
* EA Sports MMA
* Shaun White Skateboarding
* Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11
* UFC Undisputed 2010
Best Team Sports Game
* FIFA Soccer 11
* Madden NFL 11
* NBA 2K11
* MLB '10: The Show
Best Driving Game
* Blur
* ModNation Racers
* Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit
* Split/Second
Best Music Game
* Dance Central
* DJ Hero 2
* Def Jam Rapstar
* Rock Band 3
Best Soundtrack
* Def Jam Rapstar
* DJ Hero 2
* Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
* Rock Band 3
Best Song in a Game
* Basket Case by Green Day
* Black Rain by Soundgarden
* Far Away by José González
* GoldenEye by Nicole Scherzinger
* Replay/Rude Boy Mashup by Iyaz N Rihanna
* Won't Back Down by Eminem
Best Original Score
* God of War III
* Halo: Reach
* Mass Effect 2
* Red Dead Redemption
Best Graphics
* God of War III
* Heavy Rain
* Kirby's Epic Yarn
* Red Dead Redemption
Best Adapted Video Game
* LEGO: Harry Potter: Years 1-4
* Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game
* Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
* Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
* Transformers: War for Cybertron
Best Performance by a Human Male
* Daniel Craig as James Bond
* Gary Oldman as Sgt. Reznov
* John Cleese as Jasper
* Martin Sheen as Illusive Man
* Nathan Fillion as Sergeant Edward Buck
* Neil Patrick Harris as Peter Parker/Amazing Spider-Man
* Rob Wiethoff as John Marston
* Sam Worthington as Alex Mason
Best Performance by a Human Female
* Dame Judi Dench as M
* Danica Patrick as Herself
* Emmanuelle Chriqui as The Numbers Lady
* Felicia Day as Veronica
* Jennifer Hale as Commander Sheppard
* Kristen Bell as Lucy Stillman
* Tricia Helfer as Sarah Kerrigan
* Yvonne Strahovski as Miranda Lawson
Best Downloadable Game
* Costume Quest
* Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
* Monday Night Combat
* Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game
Best DLC
* BioShock 2: Minerva's Den
* Borderlands: The Secret Armory of General Knoxx
* Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker
* Red Dead Redemption – Undead Nightmare
Best Independent Game
* Joe Danger
* Limbo
* Super Meat Boy
* The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom
Most Anticipated Game
* Batman: Arkham City
* BioShock: Infinite
* Gears of War 3
* Portal 2
Game of the Year
* Call of Duty: Black Ops
* God of War III
* Halo: Reach
* Mass Effect 2
* Red Dead Redemption
