VGA Roundup: GOTY is Uncharted 2

In America, there’s one thing you can count on before you open your presents and react like a beast to getting that console you’ve always wanted. The Spike TV Video Game Awards, which celebrates the best the industry had to offer throughout 2009.

This year, the show saw a number of surprising announcements and showcases of highly anticipated games. Among these were reveals of Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 (reported over here with trailer), Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, Green Day: Rock Band, Deadliest Warrior: The Game and True Crime.

While people where whooping at a new Batman game being made, there were also first looks at Halo: Reach, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, the new Medal of Honour, Spec Ops: The Line, Crackdown 2, UFC 2010 Undisputed and Tron: Evolution. And here you thought December was a quiet time of the year for game news.

The awards themselves invited a flurry of debate as to which game truly deserved the title, even in the SPOnG Underwater Castle where the serene landscapes and inoffensive coral seldom have us arguing about anything (OK, that’s a lie).

While Uncharted 2: Among Thieves picked up some well deserved awards, such as Game of the Year and Best Graphics, X-Men Origins: Wolverine Uncaged Edition managed to win the Best Cast award. But that’s cool, because we know they really meant Brutal Legend, right? And of course, Megan Fox winning Best Female Performance would have nothing to do with her actual performance.

Street Fighter IV won Best Fighting game, and in a pleasantly surprising twist Flower won the Best Independent Game award. That’s some good news right there. Modern Warfare 2 earned its fair share of multiplayer and shooter-based prizes, and Rocksteady Studios (Batman: Arkham Asylum) caught the Studio of the Year title. DJ Hero won Best Soundtrack, a fact that Svend is still trying to purge from his mind, bless him.

In general, the VGAs was a fun-filled evening packed with talking points galore and revelations aplenty. Any results that you disagree with? Voice those concerns in the SPOnG forum. If you want to see a list of the winners, they’re at the bottom of this page - just below is a tower of videos of all the first looks and reveals made at the event. Enjoy!

Medal of Honour


Batman: Arkham Asylum 2


Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II


Halo: Reach


Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands


Green Day: Rock Band


Spec Ops: The Line


Crackdown 2


UFC 2010 Undisputed


Deadliest Warrior: The Game


Tron: Evolution


True Crime


Game of the Year - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Studio of the Year - Rocksteady Studios (Batman: Arkham Asylum)
Best Independent Game - Flower
Best Xbox 360 Game - Left 4 Dead 2
Best PS3 Game - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Best Wii Game - New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Best PC Game - Dragon Age: Origins
Best Handheld Game - Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
Best Shooter - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Best Fighting Game - Street Fighter IV
Best Action Adventure Game - Assassin’s Creed II
Best RPG - Dragon Age: Origins
Best Multi-player Game - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Best Individual Sports Game - UFC 2009 Undisputed
Best Team Sports Game - NHL 10
Best Driving Game - Forza Motorsport 3
Best Music Game - The Beatles: Rock Band
Best Soundtrack - DJ Hero
Best Original Score - Halo 3 ODST
Best Graphics - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Best Game Based On A Movie/TV Show - South Park Let’s Go Tower Defence Play!
Best Performance By A Human Female - Megan Fox as Mikaela Banes
Best Performance By A Human Male - Hugh Jackman as Wolverine
Best Cast - X-Men Origins: Wolverine Uncaged Edition
Best Voice - Jack Black as Eddie Riggs
Best Downloadable Game - Shadow Complex
Best DLC - Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony
Most Anticipated Game - God of War III