VGA Winners

Bethesda ended up with the biggest wins of the night with Skyrim winning Game of the Year as well as Best RPG with Bethesda also winning studio of the year. With 2011 being a fantastic year for gamers, the other nominees for Game of the year were very good as well. Despite this, I agree whole heartedly with giving Skyrim the nod. I think a lot of it comes down to genre. It is much, much easier to turn a game like Uncharted 3 into a beautiful game. Uncharted 3 is extremely linear to the point of almost feeling like a rail game. With such a narrow and precise path it becomes much easier to make everything more visually impressive and polished – hence why the game got amazing reviews from a lot of sites. In an open world sandbox type game, like Skyrim, the sheer magnitude makes greatness all the more elusive. So when you combine the the grandiose open world with stellar gameplay, you end up with a winner.

The other nominees for game of the year did not come up empty-handed. Arkham City won character of the year for the Joker, best Xbox 360 game, best action adventure game, best adapted video game. Uncharted 3 won best PS3 game and best graphics. Portal 2 won best PC game, best multiplayer, best performance by a human female for Ellen McLain as GLaDOS, best performance by a human male for Stephen Merchant as Wheatley, and best DLC for Peer Review. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword won best wii game and best motion game.

Spike also introduced a new Video Game Hall of Fame to recognize “franchises throughout history that have brought the industry to where it is today.” The first inductee into this hall of fame is The Legend of Zelda. While there might be some other franchise you think might be more deserving for in inaugural inductee(the only one I might consider before would be Mario), no one will argue that the Legend of Zelda belongs in this Hall of Fame. The Legend of Zelda goes back over 25 years to the original release which truly changed the way games are played. It did not fit into any specific genre of the time but instead took the best elements from different types of games into something that was truly fun to play. Fast forward 25 years and over a dozen releases and you have a franchise that continues to reinvent itself while at the same time remaining true to it’s core nature.

The remaining significant award, Gamer God, was given to Blizzard Entertainment. As a huge Blizzard fan, I obviously agree with this 100%. Blizzard is responsible for some of the biggest and most popular franchises. Blizzard does not put out poor games. The reason is that they simply will not release an inferior product. If they are working on something and it continues to look like it won’t be great, they’ll can it. If a project is taking longer than expected, instead of rushing to get a final product out like most studios do, they will just hunker down and keep working and polishing until they know that have a quality product that is ready for release. Blizzard definitely deserved this award and I think that was the overall theme of the Video Game Awards – the winners all seemed very deserving of what they won.

List of winners:
Game of the Year: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Studio of the Year: Bethesda Game Studios
Character of the Year: The Joker of Batman: Arkham City
Gamer God: Blizzard Entertainment (right on)
Best Xbox 360 Game: Batman: Arkham City
Best PS3 Game: Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
Best Wii Game: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Best PC Game: Portal 2
Best Handheld/Mobile Game: Super Mario 3D Land
Best Shooter: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (much reviled, but much loved)
Best Action Adventure Game: Batman: Arkham City
Best RPG: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Best Multiplayer: Portal 2
Best Individual Sports Game: Fight Night Champion
Best Team Sports Game: NBA 2K12
Best Driving Game: Forza Motorsport 4
Best Fighting Game: Mortal Kombat
Best Motion Game: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Best Independent Game: Minecraft (still haven’t caught on to the minecraft craze)
Best Adapted Video Game: Batman: Arkham City
Best Song in a Game: Build that Wall by Darren Korb found in Bastion
Best Original Score: Bastion
Best Graphics: Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
Best Performance by a Human Male: Stephen Merchant as Wheatley in Portal 2
Best Performance by a Human Female: Ellen McLain as GLaDOS in Portal 2
Best Downloadable Game: Bastion
Best DLC: Portal 2: Peer Review
Most Anticipated Game: Mass Effect 3 (right on)
GameTrailers.com Trailer of the Year: Assassin’s Creed: Revelations E3 Trailer (how’d that turn out eh?)
NFL Blitz Cover Athlete: Ray Rice

Video Game Hall of Fame: The Legend of Zelda