Spike TV Releases Details About 2008 VGA’s

Spike TV announces the nominees and categories for the year’s most acclaimed celebration in the excellence of gaming – the 2008 “Video Game Awards.”

The sixth annual “VGAs” will bring together megastars from the worlds of video games, Hollywood, music, sports and more to celebrate the outstanding achievements within the video game industry over the past year.  The 2-hour extravaganza will premiere LIVE on Spike TV Sunday, December 14 at 9:00pm, ET/PT (tape delay west coast) from Sony Picture Studios in Culver City, CA.
 
The 2008 “Video Game Awards” will feature exclusive premiere footage from the industry’s most highly anticipated releases.  Spike TV will reveal one, new world-premiere each Wednesday leading up to the live telecast on December 14.  The very first exclusive to be announced is EA Sports’ Fight Night Round 4.  In addition, fans can log onto VGA.Spike.com to view the latest, breaking news on this year’s event.

Multi-platinum selling hip-hop artist 50 Cent will perform his brand-new single “Get Up” from his fourth major label album, Before I Self Destruct.  During the performance, 50 Cent will bring to life the gaming experience from his upcoming video game, 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand, with exclusive video and choreography.

Leading the way with nine nominations, including a nod for Game of the Year, is Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto IV, while LittleBigPlanet, Fallout 3 and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots all notched seven nominations.  November’s hottest release, Gears of War 2, garnered four nominations.  Below are several of the nominees and categories, while the full list can be found at VGA.Spike.com.  

The celebration will also honor legendary game designer Will Wright with the Gamer God award for his groundbreaking achievements in the world of gaming.  The genius behind SimCity, The Sims, and 2008 mega-hit SPORE, Wright will mark the first ever winner of this prestigious honor.

Additionally, during tonight’s (11/13/08) 9:00 PM presentation of “TNA: iMPACT!” on Spike TV, “GameTrailers TV” host Geoff Keighley will break in live at 10:15 PM to announce additional categories and breaking news for the event.

Nominees and winners for Spike TV’s 2008 “Video Game Awards” were determined by the VGA Advisory Council, made up of a group of the most, well-respected experts in the industry.  Games released between December 2, 2007 and December 1, 2008 were eligible for nomination.  The Best Independent Game Fueled by Dew winner will be selected by fans who vote on VGA.Spike.com.

Following are several of the nominees and categories for Spike TV’s 2008 “Video Game Awards:”

GAME OF THE YEAR
Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar Games/ Rockstar North)
LittleBigPlanet (Sony Computer Entertainment/ Media Molecule)
Fallout 3 (Bethesda Softworks/ Bethesda Game Studios)
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc/ Kojima Productions)
Gears of War 2 (Microsoft Game Studios/ Epic Games)

STUDIO OF THE YEAR
Media Molecule
Rockstar North
Harmonix
Bethesda Game Studios

BEST MUSIC GAME
Rock Band 2 (MTV Games/ Harmonix)>
Guitar Hero World Tour (RedOctane/ Activision Publishing/ Neversoft Entertainment)
Wii Music (Nintendo/ Nintendo)
SingStar (Sony Computer Entertainment/ SCE Studios London)

Albie Hecht, Oscar-nominated producer and co-creator of the “Kids’ Choice” and “Video Game Awards,” and Casey Patterson, senior vice president, event production & talent development for Spike TV will serve as executive producers of Spike TV’s 2008 “Video Game Awards.”  Greg Sills is supervising producer and Alicia Portugal is executive in charge of production.

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