New York, NY, November 18, 2009 – Spike TV today announced the nominees and categories for the biggest world-wide event ever to celebrate the video game industry, the 2009 “Video Game Awards.” The seventh annual “VGAs” will be a global event, broadcasting in over 180 territories and countries and gathering megastars from the worlds of video games, Hollywood, music, sports and more to honor the outstanding achievements within the video game industry during the past year. The two-hour event, taking place in Los Angeles, CA, will premiere LIVE on Spike TV Saturday, December 12 at 8:00pm, ET/PT (tape delay west coast). Beginning today, fans can vote for their favorite nominees at VGA.Spike.Com.

The 2009 “Video Game Awards” will reveal blockbuster global premieres of never-before-seen titles and break international news with announcements of new games from the industry’s leading publishers. Game companies contributing exclusive new content to the VGAs include 2K, Activision, Disney Interactive Studios, Electronic Arts, LucasArts Entertainment, Microsoft Game Studios, THQ, Ubisoft, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, with more to be announced in the coming weeks..

VGA 2009 This year VGA viewers will get a sneak peek at Halo: Reach with the debut of an exclusive, world premiere video from the opening of the game. Halo: Reach is an all-new prequel to the massively popular Halo trilogy from developer Bungie and Microsoft Game Studios which launches in the fall of 2010 exclusively on the Xbox 360.

“The global appetite and response from the fans internationally has been astounding,” said Casey Patterson, executive producer and senior vice president, Event Productions Spike TV. “Video games, like movies and music, are a universal language and Spike is thrilled that we will now be showing gamers all over the world a glimpse into their future with more than 12 mind-blowing world premieres.”

For additional information about other “VGA” world exclusives and announcements, fans can log onto VGA.Spike.com as well as get updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Spike_TV.

Leading the way with eight nominations this year, including nods for Game of the Year and Studio of the Year, is Naughty Dog’s cinematic adventure Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Batman: Arkham Asylum, Rocksteady Studios’ dark and gritty Batman game, racked up seven nods, including Game of the Year as well as Best Voice for Mark Hamill’s portrayal of The Joker. Infinity Ward’s military shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Valve’s zombie thriller Left 4 Dead 2 each landed six nominations.

Nominees for Spike TV’s 2009 “Video Game Awards” were determined by the VGA Advisory Council, made up of a group of the most well-respected experts in the industry of leading game media outlets such as GameTrailers.com, Game Informer, USA Today, Wired, Penny Arcade, GameSpot and IGN. Games released between December 2, 2008 and November 23, 2009 were eligible for nomination.

Following are several of the nominees and categories for Spike TV’s 2009 “Video Game Awards.” For a full list, please go to VGA.Spike.Com.

GAME OF THE YEAR

o Assassin’s Creed 2 (Ubisoft / Ubisoft Montreal)
o Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eidos Interactive – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment / Rocksteady Studios)
o Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision Publishing / Infinity Ward)
o Left 4 Dead 2 (Valve)
o UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves (Sony Computer Entertainment / Naughty Dog)

STUDIO OF THE YEAR

o Infinity Ward
o Naughty Dog
o Rocksteady Studios
o Valve

BEST MUSIC GAME

o DJ Hero (Activision Publishing / FreeStyleGames)
o Guitar Hero 5 (Activision Publishing / Neversoft Entertainment)
o LEGO Rock Band (MTV Games – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment / Traveler’s Tales Games – Harmonix)
o The Beatles: Rock Band (MTV Games / Harmonix)

The official sponsors of Spike TV’s 2009 “Video Game Awards” are Burger King, Mountain Dew, Verizon Wireless, GameStop, Energizer and U.S. Army.
Albie Hecht, Oscar®-nominated producer and Casey Patterson, senior vice president, event production & talent development for Spike TV will serve as executive producers of Spike TV’s 2009 “Video Game Awards.” Beth McCarthy will direct. Greg Sills is supervising producer.