2010 Spike TV Video Game Nominees and Reaction

How many Spike TV Video Game Awards will your favorite game win on the live December 11 telecast from the Los Angeles Convention Center at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT?

Appearing on the PC and Xbox 360 with a PlayStation 3 version coming on New Year’s Day, Mass Effect 2 cleaned up with a leading 11 nominations.

The big three console categories — Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 – were predictably filled by their own companies — Nintendo, Sony Computer Entertainment and Microsoft respectively except for Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption on PS3 and Electronic Arts/BioWare’s Mass Effect 2 on Xbox 360.

Early 2010 games still packed a punch while Fallout: New Vegas was a surprising multiple nominee due to several noticeable glitches and graphic snafus. The Nintendo DS and the PlayStation Portable split the nominees for best handheld with two each with Super Scribblenauts/Professor Layton and the Unwound Future and God of War: Ghost of Sparta/Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

Superstar discoveries await players who did not know Sam Worthington, Neil Patrick Harris, Gary Oldman, John Cleese, Kristen Bell, and Emmanuelle Chriqui provide voices on favorite games. Andy Serkis definitely should have received a “precious” best performance nomination for Monkey in Enslaved: Odyssey to the West.

Patrick Stewart, Robert Carlyle, Jason Isaacs and Natascha McElhone were all silenced for Castlevania Lords of Shadow, one of several prominent games that did not get a nomination. Just Dance 2, Enslaved, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, and Gran Turismo 5 should have got at least one, but there are only so many nominations.

So do the big budget productions win out or do the artistic effects on the audience determine the nominations. Check out the full nominee list:

Game of the Year
Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision/Treyarch)
God of War III (Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Studios Santa Monica)
Halo: Reach (Microsoft/Bungie Studios)
Mass Effect 2 (Electronic Arts/BioWare)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego)

Studio of the Year
BioWare
Blizzard Entertainment
Bungie Studios
Rockstar San Diego

Best Xbox 360 Game
Alan Wake (Microsoft/Remedy)
Fable III (Microsoft/Lionhead Studios)
Halo: Reach (Microsoft/Bungie Studios)
Mass Effect 2 (Electronic Arts/BioWare)

Best PS3 Game
God of War III (Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Studios Santa Monica)
Heavy Rain (Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream)
ModNation Racers (Sony Computer Entertainment/United Front Games)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego)

Best Wii Game
Donkey Kong Country Returns (Nintendo/Retro Studios)
Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Nintendo/Good-Feel)
Metroid: Other M (Nintendo/Team Ninja/Nintendo)
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo/Nintendo)

Best PC Game
Fallout: New Vegas (Bethesda Softworks/Obsidian Entertainment)
Mass Effect 2 (Electronic Arts/BioWare)
Sid Meier’s Civilization V (2K Games/Firaxis)
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment)

Best Handheld Game
God of War: Ghost of Sparta (Sony Computer Entertainment / Ready At Dawn Studios)
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (Konami / Kojima Productions)
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future (Nintendo/ Level-5)
Super Scribblenauts (Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment / 5th Cell)

Best Shooter
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Electronic Arts/DICE)
BioShock 2 (2K Games/2K Marin)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision/Treyarch)
Halo: Reach (Microsoft/Bungie Studios)

Best Action Adventure Game
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal)
God of War III (Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Studios Santa Monica)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego)
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo/Nintendo)

Best RPG
Fable III (Microsoft/Lionhead Studios)
Fallout: New Vegas (Bethesda Softworks/Obsidian Entertainment)
Final Fantasy XIII (Square Enix/Square Enix)
Mass Effect 2 (Electronic Arts/BioWare)

Best Multiplayer Game
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Electronic Arts/DICE)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision/Treyarch)
Halo: Reach (Microsoft/Bungie Studios)
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment)

Best Individual Sports Game
EA Sports MMA (Electronic Arts/EA Tiburon)
Shaun White Skateboarding (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 (Electronic Arts/EA Tiburon)
UFC Undisputed 2010 (THQ/Yuke’s Media Creations)

Best Team Sports Game
FIFA Soccer 11 (Electronic Arts/EA Canada)
Madden NFL 11 (Electronic Arts/EA Tiburon)
NBA 2K11 (2K Sports/Visual Concepts)
MLB ’10: The Show (Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Studios San Diego)

Best Driving Game
Blur (Activision/Bizarre Creations)
ModNation Racers (Sony Computer Entertainment/United Front Games)
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit (Electronic Arts/Criterion Games)
Split/Second (Disney Interactive Studios/Black Rock Studio)

Best Music Game
Dance Central (MTV Games/Harmonix)
DJ Hero 2 (Activision Publishing/FreeStyleGames)
Def Jam Rapstar (Konami/Autumn Games / 4mm Games)
Rock Band 3 (MTV Games/Harmonix)

Best Soundtrack
Def Jam Rapstar (Konami/Autumn Games /4mm Games)
DJ Hero 2 (Activision/FreeStyleGames)
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (Activision/Neversoft Entertainment)
Rock Band 3 (MTV Games/Harmonix)

Best Song in a Game
“Basket Case” by Green Day (Green Day Rock Band)
“Black Rain” by Soundgarden (Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock)
“Far Away” by José González (Red Dead Redemption)
“Goldeneye” by Nicole Scherzinger (GoldenEye 007)
“Replay/Rude Boy Mashup” by Iyaz & Rihanna (DJ Hero 2)
“Won’t Back Down” by Eminem (Call of Duty: Black Ops)

Best Original Score
God of War III (Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Studios Santa Monica)
Halo: Reach (Microsoft/Bungie Studios)
Mass Effect 2 (Electronic Arts/BioWare)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego)

Best Graphics
God of War III (Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Studios Santa Monica)
Heavy Rain (Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream)
Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Nintendo/Good-Feel)
Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego)

Best Adapted Video Game
LEGO: Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (Warner Bros. Interactive/Traveller’s Tales)
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Chengdu)
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (Activision/Beenox)
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (LucasArts/LucasArts)
Transformers: War for Cybertron (Activision/High Moon Studios)

Best Performance by a Human Male
Daniel Craig as James Bond (James Bond 007: Blood Stone/Activision)
Gary Oldman as Sgt. Reznov (Call of Duty: Black Ops/Activision)
John Cleese as Jasper (Fable III/Microsoft)
Martin Sheen as Illusive Man (Mass Effect 2/Electronic Arts)
Nathan Fillion as Sergeant Edward Buck (Halo: Reach/Microsoft)
Neil Patrick Harris as Peter Parker/Amazing Spider-Man (Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions/Activision)
Rob Wiethoff as John Marston (Red Dead Redemption/Rockstar Games)
Sam Worthington as Alex Mason (Call of Duty: Black Ops/Activision)

Best Performance by a Human Female
Dame Judi Dench as M (James Bond 007: Blood Stone/Activision)
Danica Patrick as Herself (Blur/Activision)
Emmanuelle Chriqui as The Numbers Lady (Call of Duty: Black Ops/Activision)
Felicia Day as Veronica (Fallout: New Vegas/Bethesda Softworks)
Jennifer Hale as Commander Sheppard (Mass Effect 2/Electronic Arts)
Kristen Bell as Lucy Stillman (Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood/Ubisoft)
Tricia Helfer as Sarah Kerrigan (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty/Blizzard Entertainment)
Yvonne Strahovski as Miranda Lawson (Mass Effect 2/Electronic Arts)

Best Downloadable Game
Costume Quest (THQ/Double Fine Productions)
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (Square Enix/Crystal Dynamics)
Monday Night Combat (Uber Entertainment/Uber Entertainment)
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal/ Ubisoft Chengdu)

Best DLC
BioShock 2: Minerva’s Den (2K Games/2K Marin)
Borderlands: The Secret Armory of General Knoxx (2K Games/Gearbox Software)
Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker (Electronic Arts/BioWare)
Red Dead Redemption – Undead Nightmare (Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego)

Best Independent Game
Joe Danger (Hello Games)
Limbo (PlayDead)
Super Meat Boy (Team Meat)
The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom (The Odd Gentleman)

Most Anticipated Game
Batman: Arkham City (Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment/Rocksteady Studios)
BioShock: Infinite (2K Games/Irrational Games)
Gears of War 3 (Microsoft/Epic Games)
Portal 2 (Valve/Valve)