Nominees for each of the categories for the Video Game Awards (VGA) have been announced. You can check out the nominees and vote for your favourites on the Spike TV website, but here are some of the highlights:
For Game of the Year, the five nominees are Assassin's Creed III, Dishonored, Journey, Mass Effect 3, and The Walking Dead: The Game. The selection represents a nice mix, with a couple of typical AAA sequels (albeit very good ones, particularly Mass Effect 3), that rarity of a brand new AAA title, an episodic series, and an indie title. But the comments are full of people demanding to know why Halo 4 hasn't made the list, though it was nominated for Best Xbox 360 Game.
The list for Studio of the Year is full of familiar names. 343 Industries is the studio that recently took over from Bungie as the sole developer of the Halo series, and was responsible for Halo 4. Arkane Studios was behind Dishonored, Gearbox Software developed Borderlands 2 (up, quite deservedly, for Best Multiplayer Game), and Telltale Games created the disturbing and emotional The Walking Dead: The Game.
It's a good year for indie games too. Journey has been nominated for an astonishing number of categories: Game of the Year, Best PS3 Game, Best Song in a Game, Best Original Score, Best Graphics, Best Independent Game, and Best Downloadable Game. And it's nice to see the likes of Dust: An Elysian Tail recognised in the nominations for Best Independent Game, as well as Fez and Mark of the Ninja.
Are you happy to see so many independent studios getting recognition? Or are you just annoyed that Halo 4 hasn't made the cut for Game of the Year?
