The VGX, formerly Spike Video Game Awards, is an annual award show hosted by Spike TV that recognizes the best computer and video games of the year. It features live music performances and appearances by popular performers in music, movies, and television. Additionally, preview trailers for upcoming games are highlighted. The show is produced by GameTrailers TV’s video game journalist/ presenter Geoff Keighley. The event has been held at various locations in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, California as well as Las Vegas, Nevada.
And this year, Geoff Keighley will be producing The Game Awards 2014 independently without the involvement of Spike TV. From the nomination list below, we can see that besides some common awards such as “Game of The Year”, “Best Indie Game”, “Best Narrative”, there is also the presence of a “Most Anticipated Game” honor and trailers announcing new games; at the same time it also features some unique categories that look to highlight more of what’s going on in video game culture these days, such as “Trending Gamer,” “eSports Team of the Year” and “Best Fan Creation.”
In addition to rewarding publishers and developers, The Game Awards will also recognize fans and gamers around the world, including eSports players. People can vote for their favorites in a number of fan voted categories including Most Anticipated Game.
The winners will be revealed on December 5 at the AXIS Theater in Las Vegas.
GAME OF THE YEAR
Bayonetta 2 (Platinum Games/Nintendo)
Dark Souls 2 (From Software/Bandai Namco Games)
Dragon Age: Inquisition (BioWare/Electronic Arts)
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment)
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Monolith Productions/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
DEVELOPER OF THE YEAR
Blizzard Entertainment
Monolith Productions
Nintendo
Telltale Games
Ubisoft Montreal
BEST INDEPENDENT GAME
Broken Age: Act 1 (Double Fine Productions)
Monument Valley (Ustwo)
Shovel Knight (Yacht Club Games)
Transistor (Supergiant Games)
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (The Astronauts)
BEST MOBILE/HANDHELD GAME
Bravely Default (Silicon Studio/Square Enix/Nintendo)
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment)
Monument Valley (Ustwo)
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (Sora Ltd/Bandai Namco Games/Nintendo)
Threes! (Sirvo)
BEST NARRATIVE
South Park: The Stick of Truth (Obsidian Entertainment/Ubisoft)
The Walking Dead: Season Two (Telltale Games)
The Wolf Among Us (Telltale Games)
Valiant Hearts: The Great War (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft)
Wolfenstein: The New Order (MachineGames/Bethesda Softworks)
BEST SCORE/SOUNDTRACK
Alien: Isolation (Christian Henson, Joe Henson and Alexis Smith/The Creative Assembly)
Child of Light (Coeur de pirate/Ubisoft Montreal)
Destiny (Marty O’Donnell/Bungie)
Sunset Overdrive (Boris Salchow/Insomniac Games)
Transistor (Darren Korb/Supergiant Games)
BEST PERFORMANCE
Adam Harrington as Bigby Wolf, The Wolf Among Us (Telltale Games)
Kevin Spacey as Jonathan Irons, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Sledgehammer Games/Activision)
Melissa Hutchison as Clementine, The Walking Dead: Season Two (Telltale Games)
Trey Parker as Various Voices, South Park: The Stick of Truth (Obsidian Entertainment/Ubisoft)
Troy Baker as Talion, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Monolith Productions/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
GAMES FOR CHANGE
Never Alone (Upper One Games/E-Line Media)
The Last of Us: Left Behind (Naughty Dog/Sony Computer Entertainment America)
Mountain (David O’Reilly/Double Fine Presents)
This War of Mine (11 bit studios)
Valiant Hearts: The Great War (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft)
BEST SHOOTER
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Sledgehammer/Activision)
Destiny (Bungie/Activision)
Far Cry 4 (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Titanfall (Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts)
Wolfenstein: The New Order (MachineGames/Bethesda Softworks)
BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE
Alien: Isolation (The Creative Assembly/Sega)
Assassin’s Creed Unity (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Bayonetta 2 (Platinum Games/Nintendo)
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Monolith Productions/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
Sunset Overdrive (Insomniac Games/Microsoft Studios)
BEST ROLE-PLAYING GAME
Bravely Default (Silicon Studio/Square Enix/Nintendo)
Dark Souls 2 (From Software/Bandai Namco Games)
Divinity: Original Sin (Larian Studios)
Dragon Age: Inquisition (BioWare/Electronic Arts)
South Park: The Stick of Truth (Obsidian Entertainment/Ubisoft)
BEST FIGHTING GAME
Killer Instinct: Season 2 (Iron Galaxy Studios/Microsoft Studios)
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax (Arc System Works/Atlus)
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (Sora Ltd/Bandai Namco Games/Nintendo)
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (Sora Ltd/Bandai Namco Games/Nintendo)
Ultra Street Fighter 4 (Capcom)
BEST FAMILY GAME
Disney Infinity 2.0 (Avalanche Software/Disney Interactive)
Fantasia: Music Evolved (Harmonix/Disney Interactive)
Mario Kart 8 (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo)
Skylanders Trap Team (Toys for Bob/Activision)
Tomodachi Life (Nintendo SPD/Nintendo)
BEST SPORTS/RACING GAME
FIFA 15 (EA Canada/EA Sports)
Forza Horizon 2 (Playground Games/Turn 10 Studios/Microsoft Studios)
Mario Kart 8 (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo)
NBA 2K15 (Visual Concepts/2K Sports)
Trials Fusion (RedLynx/Ubisoft)
BEST ONLINE EXPERIENCE
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Sledgehammer Games/Activision)
Dark Souls 2 (From Software/Bandai Namco Games)
Destiny (Bungie/Activision)
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment)
Titanfall (Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts)
BEST REMASTER
Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar North/Rockstar Games)
Halo: The Master Chief Collection (343 Industries/Microsoft Studios)
Pokémon Omega Ruby/Pokémon Alpha Sapphire (Game Freak/The Pokemon Company/Nintendo)
The Last of Us Remastered (Naughty Dog/Sony Computer Entertainment America)
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix)
MOST ANTICIPATED GAME
Batman: Arkham Knight (Rocksteady Studios/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
Bloodborne (From Software/Sony Computer Entertainment America)
Evolve (Turtle Rock Studios/2K Games)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt Red/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/Sony Computer Entertainment America)
ESPORTS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Martin “Rekkles” Larsson (League of Legends)
Xu “Fy” Linsen (Dota 2)
James “Firebat” Kostesich (Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft)
Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
Matt “NaDeSHoT” Haag (Call of Duty)
ESPORTS TEAM OF THE YEAR
Samsung White (League of Legends)
Evil Geniuses (Dota 2)
Edward Gaming (League of Legends)
Newbee (Dota 2)
Ninjas in Pajamas (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
TRENDING GAMER
Evan “Vanoss” Fong
Jeff Gerstmann
PewDiePie
StampyLongHead
TotalBiscuit
BEST FAN CREATION
“BEST Zelda Rap EVER!!” By Egoraptor
Luigi Death Stare by CZBwoi and Rizupicorr
“Mine the Diamond (Minecraft Song)” by Tobuscus
Minecraft – Titan City by Colonial Puppet
Twitch Plays Pokemon by Anonymous
Source: Polygon, TheGameAwards.com