Video Game Awards show plenty of pizzaz

Los Angeles (CA) - Video games have surely come arrived as a main staple of entertainment. What better way to prove it than with their own awards show? Next month, Spike TV will broadcast the third annual Video Game Awards on December 10th. To get a preview of the VGAs we went to the taping of the show over the past weekend, held in Los Angeles (of course) at the Gibson Amphitheater inside the Universal Citywalk entertainment complex.

Hosting the show was noted actor Samuel L. Jackson, who complained somewhat tongue-in-cheek "where are all the brothers in games - we are less well represented than frogs and other cartoon animals?" Casey Patterson, the executive producer of the show, said "We are thrilled to have Sam Jackson hosting this year's show; he is one of the coolest guys on the planet!"

The auditorium was packed with fans along with the notables who were up for such categories as "Best Performance by a Human Female" and "Best Cybervixen" and "Designer of the Year." In addition to the awards themselves, the show features presentations of popular musical numbers by Missey Elliot and Def Leppard.

The auditorium had a glitzy feel with over 100 feet of video screens to display scenes from the games and illustrate some of the winning computing graphic sequences, befitting the venue and the show. Winners of the various awards were determined by a panel of several hundred gaming journalists, along with two "viewer's choice" awards that were decided entirely by viewer's votes.

The red carpet area was buzzing with photographers and we managed to grab a few celebrities ourselves.

While we won't give away the winners, we did see such notable celebrities as Carmen Electra, Kiefer Sutherland, Natasha Bedingfield, and Tony Hawk as they arrived at the show.

Tune in next month for the show!