Spike Video Game Awards 2012 Nominees

It's once again that time of the year: time for the Spike Video Game Awards. Over the years the Spike VGAs have grown in prominence, both as a major televised industry event and a place to showcase some of the next year's hot new titles, but not necessarily in quality. Some could argue that the awards themselves, while usually indicative of sales trends, don't exactly fall in line with the collective gamer opinion.

This year's nominees, however, are actually some of the strongest we've seen in quite some time. Rather than go for the obvious choices — granted, many are still there — Spike opted to reward some new IPs and even a downloadable title few gamers would even consider being a 'Game of the Year' contender. Actually, make that two downloadable titles.

Games like Halo 4, Assassin's Creed 3, and Black Ops 2 all receive credit in some form or another, but they have some stiff competition from some unexpected titles. Though, if these three games don't sweep their respective categories, that would be surprising, but at the same time invigorating.

Without further ado here are the nominees:

Game of the Year

  • Assassin's Creed 3
  • Dishonored
  • Journey
  • Mass Effect 3
  • The Walking Dead

Studio of the Year

  • Gearbox Software
  • 343 Industries
  • Arkane Studios
  • Telltale Games

Best Xbox 360 Game

  • Assassin's Creed 3
  • Dishonored
  • Borderlands 2
  • Halo 4

Best PS3 Game

  • Assassin's Creed 3
  • Borderlands 2
  • Journey
  • Dishonored

Best Wii/Wii U Game

  • New Super Mario Bros. U
  • The Last Story
  • Xenoblade Chronicles
  • ZombiU

Best PC Game

  • Diablo 3
  • Guild Wars 2
  • Torchlight 2
  • XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Best Shooter

  • Borderlands 2
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
  • Halo 4
  • Max Payne 3

Best Action Adventure Game

  • Assassin's Creed 3
  • Dishonored
  • Darksiders 2
  • Sleeping Dogs

Best RPG

  • Diablo 3
  • Mass Effect 3
  • Torchlight 2
  • Xenoblade Chronicles

Best Multi-Player Game

  • Borderlands 2
  • Guild Wars 2
  • Halo 4
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

Best Individual Sports Game

  • Hot Shots Golf World Invitational
  • SSX
  • Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13
  • WWE '13

Best Team Sports Game

  • FIFA Soccer 13
  • Madden NFL 13
  • NBA 2K13
  • NHL 13

Best Driving Game

  • Dirt: Showdown
  • F1 2012
  • Forza Horizon
  • Need for Speed: Most Wanted

Best Song in a Game

  • "Castle of Glass" by Linkin Park - Medal of Honor: Warfighter
  • "Cities" by Beck - Sound Shapes
  • "I Was Born for This" by Austin Wintory - Journey
  • "Tears" by Health - Max Payne 3

Best Original Score

  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
  • Halo 4
  • Journey
  • Max Payne 3

Best Graphics

  • Assassin's Creed 3
  • Dishonored
  • Halo 4
  • Journey

Best Independent Game

  • Dust: An Elysian Tail
  • Fez
  • Journey
  • Mark of the Ninja

Best Fighting Game

  • Dead or Alive 5
  • Persona 4 Arena
  • Street Fighter X Tekken
  • Tekken Tag Tournament 2

Best Handheld/Mobile Game

  • Gravity Rush
  • LittleBigPlanet (Vita)
  • New Super Mario Bros. 2
  • Sound Shapes

Best Performance By a Human Female

  • Emma Stone as Amanda Cartwright - Sleeping Dogs
  • Jen Taylor as Cortana - Halo 4
  • Jennifer Hale as Commander Shepard - Mass Effect 3
  • Melissa Hutchison as Clementine - The Walking Dead

Best Performance By a Human Male

  • Dameon Clarke as Handsome Jack - Borderlands 2
  • Dave Fennoy as Lee Everret - The Walking Dead
  • James McCafferey as Max Payne - Max Payne 3
  • Nolan North as Captain Martin Walker - Spec Ops: The Line

Best Adapted Video Game

  • Disney Epic Mickey 2
  • LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
  • The Walking Dead
  • Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

Best DLC

  • Dawnguard - The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
  • Leviathan - Mass Effect 3
  • Mechromancer Pack - Borderlands 2
  • Perpetual Testing Initiative - Portal 2

Best Downloadable Game

  • Fez
  • Journey
  • Sound Shapes
  • The Walking Dead

Best Social Game

  • Draw Something
  • Marvel: Avengers Alliance
  • Sim City Social
  • You Don't Know Jack

As we alluded to, Dishonored, Journey, and The Walking Dead are all getting their name out their in some typically high-profile categories. The fact that all three are nominated for Game of the Year, and Halo 4 is nowhere to be seen, is probably the biggest shocker of the bunch. But knowing those games, as a bunch, have better odds chance against Mass Effect 3 and AC 3 could lead to some interesting developments.

This year's Studio of the Year choices are also fairly solid, with props being given to some of this year's biggest risk takers. It's surprising to see that BioWare isn't in the mix just by virtue of their name, but then thoughts of the Mass Effect 3 ending debacle and the Doctors departing paint a decidedly grimmer picture.

Though gamers can't officially vote on any of these nominees — that task is up to the 2012 VGA Advisory Council — they can, however, vote in the 'Most Anticipated Game' and 'Character of the Year' categories. Most Anticipated Game is (surprisingly) the juiciest category of all those announced with BioShock Infinite, Grand Theft Auto 5, and The Last of Us battling for pre-2013 supremacy. Fan response to GTA 5's trailers tells me Rockstar's latest will take the category, but it nonetheless has some stiff competition.

Most Anticipated Game

  • BioShock Infinite
  • Grand Theft Auto 5
  • The Last of Us
  • Tomb Raider
  • South Park: The Stick of Truth

Character of the Year

  • Connor - Assassin's Creed 3
  • Commander Shepard - Mass Effect 3
  • Clap Trap - Borderlands 2
  • Master Chief - Halo 4
  • Raul Menendez - Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

Character of the Year, on the other hand, is a really silly category. And is mainly just a chance for these voice actors to perform some scripted skit that was hastily put together by the game's respective developer. Last year The Joker won for Arkham City, but Mark Hamill was seated up in a balcony and didn't get to accept the award.

Halo 4 Microsoft Most Expensive Game

While most gamers typically don't look forward to hearing which title came away with the award for 'Best Driving Game' or 'Best RPG,' there's still an entire awards show wrapped around the guise of one big marketing event. In reality, most look to the Spike VGAs as a Winter E3 — a chance to see what unannounced games they can look forward to and to receive closer looks at some of next year's most anticipated titles.

We've yet to hear anything regarding major reveals, though, so for now gamers can mull over the nominees.

What do you think of the nominees for the 2012 Spike Video Game Awards? Who will/should win in each category?

The 10th Annual Spike Video Game Awards will air live at 9 PM ET and 6 PM PT on SpikeTV. Samuel L. Jackson will be hosting this year's festivities.

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Source: Spike