And I hope they burn in...

On Wednesday Spike TV aired its fourth annual video game awards. I usually try and catch it every year, excited that gaming has its own awards show but then halfway through I remember why I never make it to the end - its not very good. Oh it has its moments but it needs a major make over. If Spike wants its award to be taken seriously, it needs to get a little more serious. Get rid of all the F-bombs and jokes about body functions but keep the humor. Having a high profile host is great but the odd mix of presenters (Seth McFarlane and that chick from myspace? She can't really be considered a celeb can she?) was a little off-putting. Gaming is fairly well established now, these awards (again, IF they want to be taken seriously) should reflect that.

I can't really argue too much with the winners and losers. Most of the nominees were certainly deserving and most of the big winners (Oblivion, Gears) earned their proper respect. I'm a little disappointed that Lynda Carter didn't win Best Supporting Female Performance, after all, she's freakin' Wonder Woman for crying out loud! Jen from Prey should have gotten Cyber Vixen of the Year but whats more disturbing is that Princess Peach was even nominated. Are you kidding me? They couldn't have found anybody else but a chick from a kids game? How about the girl from Need for Speed Carbon? I also disagree with best multiplayer game. I think COD3 and Resistance are much better than Gears online but thats just me.

Below are the lists of the nominees with the winners in bold type.

GAME OF THE YEAR
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda), Okami (Capcom/Clover Studio), Gears of War (Microsoft/Epic Games), Guitar Hero 2 (Red Octane/Harmonix), Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Ubisoft)

CRITIC'S CHOICE (game to be released after 11/15/2006 but before 12/31/2006)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo/Nintendo EAD), Resistance: Fall of Man (Sony Computer Entertainment America/Insomniac Games), Medieval II: Total War (Sega/Creative Assembly), Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas (Ubisoft Montreal), Wii Sports (Nintendo)

BEST DRIVING GAME
Burnout Revenge, Xbox 360 (Electronic Arts/Criterion Games), Need For Speed Carbon (Electronic Arts/EA Black Box), TOCA Race Driver 3 (Codemasters), GTR 2 (10tacle Studios/SimBin Development Team)

BEST INDIVIDUAL SPORTS GAME
Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis (Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego), EA Sports Fight Night Round 3 (Electronic Arts/ EA Chicago), Tony Hawk's Project 8 (Activision/Neversoft ), Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (Electronic Arts/EA Redwood Shores), Top Spin 2 (2K Sports/Power and Magic)

BEST ACTION GAME
Dead Rising (Capcom), New Super Mario Bros (Nintendo/Nintendo EAD), Okami (Capcom/Clover Studio), Saints Row (THQ/Volition), Bully (Rockstar Games/Rockstar Vancouver)

BEST TEAM SPORTS GAME
NBA2K7 (2K Sports/Visual Concepts), Madden NFL 07 (Electronic Arts/Tiburon), NCAA Football 07 (Electronic Arts/Tiburon), FIFA 07 (Electronic Arts/EA Canada), NHL 07 (Electronic Arts/EA Canada)

CYBER VIXEN OF THE YEAR
Lara Croft - Tomb Raider: Legend (Eidos Interactive/Crystal Dynamics), Alyx Vance - Half-Life 2: Episode 1 (Valve), Princess Peach - New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo/Nintendo EAD), Enrica - Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent (Ubisoft Montreal), Jen - Prey (2K Games/ Human Head Studios/3D Realms)

BEST SONG
"LocoRoco No Uta" by Nobuyuki Shimizu and Kemmei Adachi, LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment America/SCE Studios Japan), "Heavenly Star" by Genki Rockets, Lumines II (Buena Vista Games/Q Entertainment), "Helicopter" by Bloc Party, Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure (Atari/The Collective), "Summer Shudder" by AFI in Madden NFL 07 (Electronic Arts/Tiburon), "Lights and Sounds" by YellowCard, Burnout Revenge-XBOX 360 (Electronic Arts/Criterion Games)

BEST SOUNDTRACK
Guitar Hero 2 (Red Octane/Harmonix)Madden NFL 07 (Electronic Arts/Tiburon), Scarface: The World is Yours (Vivendi/Radical Entertainment), Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar Games/Rockstar Leeds / Rockstar North)

STUDIO OF THE YEAR
Clover Studio (Okami), Relic (Company of Heroes), Cliff Bleszinski /Epic Games (Gears of War), Todd Howard / Bethesda Softworks (The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion), Harmonix (Guitar Hero 2)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks), Bully (Rockstar Games/Rockstar Vancouver), Electroplankton (Nintendo), Okami (Capcom/Clover Studio), Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix)

BEST FIGHTING GAME
Tekken: Dark Resurrection (Namco Bandai), Dead or Alive 4 (Tecmo/Team Ninja), Mortal Kombat Armageddon (Midway Games), Street Fighter Alpha Anthology (Capcom), God Hand (Capcom/Clover Studio)

BEST SHOOTER
Black (Electronic Arts/Criterion), Prey (2K Games/ Human Head Studios/3D Realms), Half-Life 2: Episode 1 (Valve), Gears of War (Microsoft/Epic Games), Call of Duty 3 (Activision/Treyarch)

BEST MILITARY GAME
Company of Heroes (THQ/Relic), Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Ubisoft), Call of Duty 3 (Activision/Treyarch), The Outfit (THQ/Relic), Battlefield 2142 (Electronic Arts/EA UK/DICE UK)

BEST GRAPHICS
Gears of War (Microsoft/Epic Games), Okami (Capcom/Clover Studio), Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Ubisoft), The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks), Company of Heroes (THQ/Relic)

BEST HANDHELD GAME
New Super Mario (Nintendo/Nintendo EAD), Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day (Nintendo), Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar Games/Rockstar Leeds/Rockstar North), Tetris DS (Nintendo), LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment America/SCE Studios Japan)

BEST WIRELESS GAME
Diner Dash (Glu Mobile), SWAT Force (Vivendi/KAOLink), Tower Bloxx (Digital Chocolate), Super K.O. Boxing (Glu Mobile)

BEST MULTI-PLAYER GAME
Gears of War (Microsoft/Epic Games), Company of Heroes (THQ/Relic), Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (Konami/Kojima Productions), Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Ubisoft), Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent (Ubisoft Montreal)

BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGY
Wii (Nintendo), PS3 (Sony Computer Entertainment America), DS Lite (Nintendo)Electroplankton (Nintendo)

BEST PC GAME
Company of Heroes (THQ/Relic), Half-Life 2: Episode 1 (Valve), Battlefield 2142 (Electronic Arts/Digital Illusions CE), Star Wars: Empire at War (LucasArts/Petroglyph), The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda)

BEST RPG
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda), Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix), Kingdom Hearts II (Square Enix), Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria (Square Enix/tri-Ace)

BEST GAME BASED ON A MOVIE OR TV SHOW
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts/Traveller's Tales), The Godfather (Electronic Arts/EA Redwood Shores), Scarface: The World is Yours (Vivendi/Radical Entertainment), The Sopranos: Road to Respect (THQ/7 Studios), Family Guy (2K Games/High Voltage Software)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A HUMAN (MALE)
Seth MacFarlane in Family Guy (2K Games/High Voltage Software), Gerry Rosenthal in Bully (Rockstar Games/Rockstar Vancouver), Patrick Stewart in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks), Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow (Bethesda Softworks/7 Studios/Buena Vista Games), Kiefer Sutherland in 24: The Game (2K Games/SCEE Studios Cambridge)

BEST SUPPORTING MALE PERFORMANCE
Seth Green in Family Guy (2K Games/High Voltage Software), James Woods in Scarface: The World is Yours (Vivendi/Radical Entertainment), James Caan in The Godfather (Electronic Arts/EA Redwood Shores), Philip Michael Thomas in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar Games/Rockstar Leeds/Rockstar North), 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), Tia Carrere in Saints Row (THQ/Volition), Emmanuelle Vaugier in Need For Speed Carbon (Electronic Arts/EA Black Box), Keely Haws in Tomb Raider: Legend (Eidos Interactive/Crystal Dynamics), Rosario Dawson in Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure (Atari/The Collective)

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE PERFORMANCE
Rachel Leigh Cook in Kingdom Hearts II (Square Enix), Elisha Cuthbert in 24: The Game (2K Games/SCE Studios Cambridge), Brittany Murphy in Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure (Atari/The Collective), Mila Kunis in Family Guy (2K Games/High Voltage Software), Lynda Carter in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda)

BEST CAST IN A GAME
The Godfather (Electronic Arts/EA Redwood Shores), Family Guy (2K Games/High Voltage Software), Scarface: The World is Yours (Vivendi/Radical Entertainment), Saints Row (THQ/Volition), The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda)

MOST ADDICTIVE GAME
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda), Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day (Nintendo), Gears of War (Microsoft/Epic Games). Guitar Hero 2 (Red Octane/Harmonix), Company of Heroes (THQ/Relic)

terry.terrones@gazette.com