Portal 2 Leads Spike TV VGA Nominees With 12 Nods

Valve's Portal 2 leads the field of nominees for Spike TV's ninth annual Video Game Awards show with 12 nominations, ahead of Batman: Arkham City with 10 nods and Uncharted 3 with nine nominations. All three of those games are up for Game of the Year honors, alongside Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, up for two total awards, and Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, which is up for four. The Zelda series as a whole will also be honored as the show's first "Video Game Hall of Fame" recipient, a designation Spike executive in charge of publisher relations Geoff Keighley said was "natural" for "a franchise that inspired many of us to see the potential of games when it debuted 25 years ago." Nominees and winners in most categories were chosen by an advisory council of 24 representatives from major American game journalism outlets. Viewers will be able to vote online in the Most Anticipated Game and Best Game Trailer categories. As usual, the awards telecast on December 10 will feature the debut of a number of marketing trailers for games including BioWare's next project, the sequel to Alan Wake, Metal Gear Solid: Rising, Tom Clancy's Rainbow 6 Patriots, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron and BioShock Infinite. Last year's show gave top honors to Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption, and other recent Game of the Year winners include Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Grand Theft Auto IV and Halo 3. A full list of Spike TV's 2011 Video Game Award Nominees follows: Game Of the Year Batman: Arkham City (Warner Bros Interactive / Rocksteady Studios) The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Softworks / Bethesda Game Studios) The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo) Portal 2 (Valve) Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Sony Computer Entertainment / Naughty Dog) Studio Of the Year Bethesda Game Studios Naughty Dog Rocksteady Studios Valve Best Xbox 360 Game Batman: Arkham City (Warner Bros Interactive / Rocksteady Studios) Forza Motorsport 4 (Microsoft Studios / Turn 10 Studios) Gears Of War 3 (Microsoft Studios / Epic Games) Portal 2 (Valve) Best PS3 Game Infamous 2 (Sony Computer Entertainment / Sucker Punch) Killzone 3 (Sony Computer Entertainment / Guerrilla Games) LittleBigPlanet 2 (Sony Computer Entertainment / Media Molecule) Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (Sony Computer Entertainment / Naughty Dog) Best Wii Game Disney's Epic Mickey (Disney Interactive Studios / Junction Point Studios) Kirby's Return To Dream Land (Nintendo / Hal Laboratory) Lost In Shadow (Hudson Entertainment) The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo) Best PC Game Battlefield 3(Electronic Arts / DICE) Minecraft (Mojang) The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings (Atari / CD Projekt) Portal 2 (Valve) Best Handheld/Moibile Game Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (Capcom) Infinity Blade (Epic Games / Chair Entertainment) Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo) Jetpack Joyride (Halfbrick Studios) Best Shooter Battlefield 3 (Electronic Arts / DICE) Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Activision / Infinity Ward / Sledgehammer Games) Gears Of War 3 (Microsoft Studios / Epic Games) Rage (Bethesda Softworks / Id Software) Best Action/Adventure Game Assassin's Creed: Revelations (Ubisoft / Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft Annecy) Batman: Arkham City (Warner Bros Interactive / Rocksteady Studios) The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo) Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (Sony Computer Entertainment / Naughty Dog) Best RPG Dark Souls (Namco Bandai / From Software) Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Square Enix / Eidos Studios – Montreal) Dragon Age Ii (Electronic Arts / Bioware) The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Softworks / Bethesda Game Studios) Best Multi-Player Game Battlefield 3 (Electronic Arts / DICE) Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Activision / Infinity Ward / Sledgehammer Games) Gears Of War 3 (Microsoft Studios / Epic Games) Portal 2 (Valve) Best Individual Sports Game Fight Night Champion (EA Sports / EA Canada) Tiger Woods Pga Tour 12: The Masters (EA Sports / EA Tiburon) Top Spin 4 (2K Sports / 2K Czech) Virtua Tennis 4 (Sega) Best Team Sports Game FIFA Soccer 12 (EA Sports / EA Canada) NBA 2K12 (2K Sports / Visual Concepts) NHL 12 (EA Sports / EA Canada) MLB '11: The Show (Sony Computer Entertainment / SCE Studios San Diego) Best Driving Game Dirt 3 (Codemasters) Driver: San Francisco (Ubisoft / Ubisoft Reflections) Forza Motorsport 4 (Microsoft Studios / Turn 10 Studios) Need For Speed: The Run (Electronic Arts / EA Black Box) Best Fighting Game The King Of Fighters XIII (Atlus / Snk Playmore) Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate Of Two Worlds (Capcom) Mortal Kombat (Warner Bros. Interactive / Netherrealm Studios) WWE All Stars (THQ / THQ San Diego) Best Motion Game Child Of Eden (Ubisoft / Q Entertainment) Dance Central 2 (Microsoft Studios / Harmonix) The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo) The Gunstringer (Microsoft Studios / Twisted Pixel) Best Independent Game Bastion (Supergiant Games) Minecraft (Mojang) Superbrothers: Sword And Sworcery EP (Capybara Games) The Binding Of Isaac (Edmund Mcmillen) Best Adapted Video Game Back To The Future: The Game (Telltale Games) Batman: Arkham City (Warner Bros Interactive / Rocksteady Studios) Captain America: Super Soldier (Sega / Next Level Games) Lego Star Wars Iii: The Clone Wars (Lucasarts / Traveller's Tales) Best Song In A Game "Build That Wall (Zia’s Theme)” By Darren Korb - Bastion "Exile Vilify" By The National - Portal 2 “I'm Not Calling You A Liar” By Florence + The Machine - Dragon Age II "Setting Sail, Coming Home (End Theme)" By Darren Korb - Bastion "Want You Gone" By Jonathan Coulton - Portal 2 Best Original Score Bastion (Warner Bros. Interactive / Supergiant Games) Batman: Arkham City (Warner Bros Interactive / Rocksteady Studios) Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Square Enix / Eidos Studios – Montreal) Portal 2 (Valve) Best Graphics Batman: Arkham City (Warner Bros Interactive / Rocksteady Studios) LA Noire (Rockstar Games / Team Bondi) Rage (Bethesda Softworks / Id Software) Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (Sony Computer Entertainment / Naughty Dog) Best Performance By A Human Male J.K. Simmons as Cave Johnson - Portal 2 Mark Hamill as The Joker - Batman: Arkham City Nolan North as Nathan Drake - Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Stephen Merchant as Wheatley - Portal 2 Best Performance By A Human Female Claudia Black as Chloe Frazer - Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Ellen Mclain as GladOS- Portal 2 Emily Rose as Elena Fisher - Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Tara StrongaAs Harley Quinn - Batman: Arkham City Best Downloadable Game Bastion (Warner Bros. Interactive / Supergiant Games) Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (Microsoft Studios / Fuelcell Games) Stacking (THQ / Double Fine) Trenched (Microsoft Studios / Double Fine) Best DLC Fallout: New Vegas – Old World Blues (Bethesda Softworks / Obsidian) Mass Effect 2: Arrival (Electronic Arts / Bioware) Mortal Kombat: Freddy Krueger (Warner Bros. Interactive / Netherrealm Studios) Portal 2 Peer Review (Valve)