So it's that time of year again Ranters, where Game of the Year deliberation begins. While all the major online and print publications (including ours) will be doing their own nominating and voting for Game of the Year contenders, we sadly don't have the same budget that a network like Spike TV does in order to host the annual Video Game Awards - and we like to wait until all the games are actually out.

Today the VGA nominees for the key category have been announced, and you can go to Spike's VGA website to vote on your favorite contenders. Though we should mention that, according to our interpretation of the site, the VGAs are not a people's choice award. Rather your votes influence an advisory council who actually get final say on the winners.

This year's production will have Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Apprentice) serve as Executive Producer and the event promises to reveal the return of Alan Wake, a new BioWare project and more info on Metal Gear Solid: Rising.

Enough about the mechanics of the VGAs. The list of nominees for the coveted 2011 Game of the Year Award are as follows:

Certainly, this list will not agree with everyone as some would be quick to point out that some worthy candidates such as Gears of War 3Assassin's Creed: Revelations and Dead Space 2 are absent. It's also difficult to judge the list as a whole since two of these titles (Skyrim and Skyward Sword) have yet to see release. For the most part though, the list seems to offer a decent cross-section of the various platforms and high-profile releases from this year.

Year after year, the VGAs take criticism from the fans, the media and industry folk - but it is one of the biggest gaming events of the year and regardless of your feelings towards the awards themselves, the event does offer a showcase of exclusive reveals and trailers for upcoming releases. Let's hope for this year's show, they take our advice on 4 ways to improve the Spike Video Game Awards.

Take a look at the 2010 VGA winners and share what your picks for the 2011 Game of the Year?

For those of you looking to play some of these games before awards deliberations and in-depth spoilertastic discussions start getting posted on the internet, we've got your back.

Batman: Arkham City is available now for the PS3 and Xbox 360. The PC version will be available November 15, 2011 (read our review here). The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will be released November 11, 2011 for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will be released November 20, 2011 for the Wii. Portal 2 is available now for the PC, Mac, PS3, and Xbox 360 (read our review here). And finally, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is available now for the PS3 (read the newly posted review here).

The Spike Video Game Awards will air live on December 10, 2011.

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