Spike Video Game Awards Recap

 

 

 

In case you missed out on last night's VGA's, I'm here to give the rundown on the big winners and the even bigger world premieres.  To start off Samuel L. Jackson was back to host and easily the best part was seeing Sam inserted into this year's most popular games. Seeing Sir Sam (isn't it about time we knight him as the coolest muthaf**ka alive) in Dishonored going all Pulp Fiction on the butler was the highlight of my night.

 

 

 

 

So here the big winners from the VGA's from December 7th with occasional commentary:

 

 •Game of the Year: The Walking Dead

          Very surprised The Walking Dead won considering the nominees, but I think it's incredibly awesome that a DLC was able to secure a victory over giants such as Mass Effect 3, Assassin's Creed 3, and Dishonrored.

 •Studio of the Year: Telltale Games

 •Best Xbox 360 Game: Halo 4

 •Best PS3 Game: Journey

 •Best Wii/Wii U Game: New Super Mario Bros. U

 •Best PC Game: XCOM: Enemy Unknown

 •Best Shooter: Borderlands 2

          Another surprise for Borderlands 2 to come out on top when you consider Halo 4 and CoD: Black Ops 2 were probably considered the favorites.

 •Best Action/Adventure: Dishonored

          With one of the deepest set of nominees, Sleeping Dogs, Assassin's Creed 3, and Darksiders 2, it's great to see a new lP getting the nod to show that not all great games are sequels (at least not yet).

 •Best RPG: Mass Effect 3

          DUH!

 •Best Multiplayer: Borderlands 2

 •Best Individual Sports Game: SSX

 •Best Team Sports Game: NBA 2K13

 •Best Driving Game: Need for Speed Most Wanted

 •Best Song in a Game: "Cities" by Beck, from Sound Shapes

 •Best Original Score: Journey

 •Best Graphics: Halo 4

 •Best Independent Game: Journey

 •Best Fighting Game: Persona 4 Arena

 •Best Handheld/Mobile Game: Sound Shapes

 •Best Performance by a Human Male: Dameon Clarke in Borderlands 2 as "Handsome Jack"

 •Best Performance by a Human Female: Melissa Hutchison in The Walking Dead as"Clementine"

 •Best Adapted Game: The Walking Dead

 •Best DLC: The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim - Dawnguard

 •Best Downloadable Game: The Walking Dead

 •Best Social Game: You Don't Know Jack

 •Game of the Decade: Half-Life 2

 •Character of the Year: Claptrap from Borderlands 2

           Not often do I find myself rooting for a bad guy, but I was rooting for Raul Menendez (from CoD: Black Ops 2) to pull this one out.  Claptrap is a great choice as well! Whether playing Borderlands 1 or 2 you're for a great time with frequent LOL moments.

 •Most Anticipated Game: Grand Theft Auto 5

 

The VGA's also gave us a bevy of world premiers:

 

Tomb Raider

 

 

South Park: The Stick of Truth

 

 

BioShock Infinite

 

 

Gears of War: Judgement

 

 

Dark Souls II

 

 

The Last of Us (performance from VGA's)

 

 

Phantom Pain (Metal Gear 5?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





 

 

 

 

 

Want to play games with your kids that don't suck? Here you go!

With this holiday jam packed with AAA titles like; Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Assassin’s Creed 3, and Halo 4, all of which are rated M, it's clear these titles will be in heavy rotation throughout the year.  But for those of us with younger kids, it’s still too early to be raking up the killstreaks, but how else do we close the gap and get our kids on the sticks?  Well depending on their ages and interest in gaming, your choices may be limited at best.  But no matter I still bond with my 6 and 3 year old and hitting the sticks together is one of our favorite activities  but as anyone who’s ever tried to play some of the games designed for kids will tell you…they are effin terrible!  But being the overseer of The Gamedom, there are few games out there that are tolerable if not downright fun.

So even though I am a self admitting Wii-hater, Nintendo still houses the classic characters who I've grown up playing so there are a few games worth mentioning: New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Mario Kart Wii, and Kirby’s Return to Dream Land are all games that you can sit down and play and not want to gauge out your eyes.  But as I said, Wii-hater here and I don’t want to waste too much time on those.

Here is my list of my go to games to play with my kids:

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

Even though this game came out in 2006, and my son was only 9 months old, it is still a pretty breezy game to pick up and play and doesn't boggle you down with a complicated control scheme.  There's a good chance that you may have already played this game in its entirety so following the story isn’t needed, and most kids could care less about why their favorite superheroes are fighting and you could easily find this at your local Gamestop for under $10.

(skip stinkers: SpiderMan: Friend or Foe and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2)

Rock Band (1,2,3)/ Lego Rock band

Go ahead and dust of those plastic instruments and rock out with your kids!  Now Lego Rock Band has the best selection of songs for the younger kids, but chances are they just want to bang away on the drums anyway, so just turn on “No fail” mode and blast away.  Being that the music craze has fizzled any Rock Band game can be had for dirt.

(skip pretenders: Guitar Hero and Rock Revolution)

Disney Universe

I was initially reluctant to playing this game, but I actually enjoyed my time playing with my son.  Even though I don’t like admitting this, but I could see myself playing this one solo.  The replayability for Disney Universe is pretty high and most levels are a breeze to get through.  The major gripe I have with this game is that there is no drop in/drop out which hurts because when my son just wants to play himself, I’m always on call to help with boss battles and not being able to just hop in, well sucks.  Like the Lego games before it, this game is a collect-a-thon and being under $20 makes it a solid investment for the kids.
(skip Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game)

Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes

Anytime superheroes are involved, I’m instantly intrigued and when you add Lego on top of that…“well, dude there you have it!”  The compelling and addictive formula for the Lego series hasn't changed much, and that’s not a bad thing!  The controls are immediately familiar and the difficulty is just the right mix for kids and adults alike.  For the 1^st, Lego Batman included full voiceover work instead of the familiar “silent picture” vibe.  The collect-a-thon is made even more impressive with an incredible stable of DC characters albeit it would have been more fun to have them unlocked earlier in the game.  Being that this is the newest game listed, you're definitely going to see the price higher than the rest. 

(skip mis-step: Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4)

E3 Extravaganzapalooza

Not much I really need to say: Day 1 of E3...DAYUM!


Halo 4 demo

Assassin's Creed 3

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

Dead Space 3

Tomb Raider

Resident Evil 6

Far Cry 3

Splinter Cell: Blacklist

Crysis 3

Watch Dogs

I'm claiming this now...E3 2013...I will be there