If the Video Game Awards are actually an awards show, and not just a keynote for promoting upcoming games, then the big news from last night was The Walking Dead: The Game. Eminently quotable analyst Michael Pachter said before the show that if this title, a downloadable self-published game, took home Game of the Year, he'd eat his hat. To his credit, Pachter later tweeted out a request for one, presumably to consume.
But the surprises don't just stop there. The Walking Dead won Game of the Year coming out of the Best Adapted Game category. Except for 2003, the first year of the VGAs, when things were very different from today, only two adapted games have even been nominated for GOTY: Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, and neither won. This is a different time in games development, with publishers looking for games whose characters and stories they fully own.
Some might look to a licensed or adapted work and consider that the game derives its significance, or at least the attention given to it, because it draws on some other franchise in popular entertainment. So it's strange that a licensed, adapted work reminds us that story, and characters, and choices, and the memorable experiences they create, matters most.
Here's another surprise nugget: The Walking Dead: The Game earned its makers five Video Game Awards. The next big winner? Journey, with three (including a nomination for Game of the Year.) Borderlands 2 also took home three awards, the best haul for a traditional boxed console game.
So if you're thinking this might have been a different Video Game Awards, in its 10th year, you're probably right. Had the show given more attention to that purpose—only a handful of these awards were actually presented in the broadcast—we might be pondering it as a landmark year. The VGAs are often accused of being an industry popularity contest, but maybe this year they acquired recognizable critical heft. We'll have to see what happens next year, and the year after.
So here are the 25 winners of the 2012 Video Game Awards, plus the Game of the Decade. Two fan-voted awards gave Character of the Year to Claptrap from Borderlands 2, and Most Anticipated Game to Grand Theft Auto V.
Game of the Year
The Walking Dead: The Game
Telltale Games
Also nominated: Assassin's Creed III, Dishonored, Journey, Mass Effect 3
Studio of the Year
Telltale Games
Also nominated: 343 Industries, Arkane Studios, Gearbox Software
Best Xbox 360 Game
Halo 4
Microsoft Studios/343 Industries
Also nominated: Assassin's Creed III, Borderlands 2, Dishonored
Best PS3 Game
Journey
Sony Computer Entertainment/thatgamecompany
Also nominated: Assassin's Creed III, Borderlands 2, Dishonored
Best Wii/Wii U Game
New Super Mario Bros. U
Nintendo
Also nominated: The Last Story, Xenoblade Chronicles, ZombiU
Best PC Game
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
2K Games/Firaxis Games
Also nominated: Diablo III, Guild Wars 2, Torchlight II
Best Shooter
Borderlands 2
2K Games/Gearbox Software
Also nominated: Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Halo 4, Max Payne 3
Best Action-Adventure Game
Dishonored
Bethesda Softworks/Arkane Studios
Also nominated: Assassin's Creed III, Darksiders II, Sleeping Dogs
Best Role-Playing Game
Mass Effect 3
Electronic Arts/BioWare
Also nominated: Diablo III, Torchlight II, Xenoblade Chronicles
Best Multiplayer Game
Borderlands 2
2K Games/Gearbox Software
Also nominated: Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Guild Wars 2, Halo 4
Best Individual Sports Game
SSX
Electronic Arts/EA Canada
Also nominated: Hot Shots Golf World Invitational, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13, WWE '13
Best Team Sports Game
NBA 2K13
2K Sports/Visual Concepts
Also nominated: FIFA 13, Madden NFL 13, NHL 13
Best Driving Game
Need For Speed: Most Wanted
Electronic Arts/Criterion Games
Also nominated: Dirt: Showdown, F1 2012, Forza Horizon
Best Song in a Game
"Cities" (Beck) for Sound Shapes
Also nominated: "Castle of Glass" (Linkin Park for Medal of Honor: Warfighter); "I Was Born for This" (Austin Wintory for Journey); "Tears" (Health for Max Payne 3)
Best Original Score
Journey
Sony Computer Entertainment/thatgamecompany
Also nominated: Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Halo 4, Max Payne 3.
Best Graphics
Halo 4
Microsoft Studios/343 Industries
Also nominated: Assassin's Creed III, Dishonored, Journey
Best Independent Game
Journey
thatgamecompany
Also nominated: Dust: An Elysian Tail, Fez, Mark of the Ninja
Best Fighting Game
Persona 4 Arena
Atlus/Arc System Works/Atlus
Also nominated: Dead or Alive 5, Street Fighter X Tekken, Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Best Handheld/Mobile Game
Sound Shapes
Sony Computer Entertainment/Queasy Games
Also nominated: Gravity Rush, LittleBigPlanet (PS Vita), New Super Mario Bros 2
Best Performance by a Human Female
Melissa Hutchison for The Walking Dead: The Game
Also nominated: Emma Stone for Sleeping Dogs; Jen Taylor for Halo 4; Jennifer Hale for Mass Effect 3
Best Performance by a Human Male
Dameon Clark for Borderlands 2
Also nominated: Dave Fennoy for The Walking Dead: The Game; James McCaffrey for Max Payne 3; Nolan North for Spec Ops: The Line
Best Adapted Video Game
The Walking Dead: The Game
Telltale Games
Also nominated: Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
Best Downloadable Content
Dawnguard for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Bethesda Softworks/Bethesda Game Studios
Also nominated: Leviathan for Mass Effect 3; Mechromancer Pack for Borderlands 2; Perpetual Testing Initiative for Portal 2
Best Downloadable Game
The Walking Dead: The Game
Telltale Games
Also nominated: Fez, Journey, Sound Shapes
Best Social Game
You Don't Know Jack
Jellyvision Games
Also nominated: Draw Something, Marvel: Avengers Alliance, SimCity Social
Game of the Decade
Half Life 2
Valve Corporation
Also nominated: Batman: Arkham City, BioShock, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Mass Effect 2, Portal, Red Dead Redemption, Shadow of the Colossus, Wii Sports, World of Warcraft