Samuel L. Jackson Back to Host Spike TV's 2006 Video Game Awards the Year's Biggest Celebration for Gamers

4th Annual Gaming Extravaganza Premieres Wednesday, December 13 at 10:00 PM; Tapes at USC's Galen Center in LA; James Caan, Rosario Dawson, Johnny Depp, James Gandolfini, Seth Green, Brittany Murphy, Patrick Stewart, Kiefer Sutherland and James Woods All Nominated for their Performances in Video Games Voting Starts Today, Only On http://www.vga2006.spiketv.com

NEW YORK, Nov. 9 -- Spike TV presents an action, adventure, fantasy and sports gamer's paradise when mega star Samuel L. Jackson hosts the 4th annual Spike TV 2006 Video Game Awards (VGAs) premiering on Wednesday, December 13 (10:00 PM-Midnight, ET/PT).

Spike TV's 2006 Video Game Awards tapes on Friday, December 8 at the University of Southern California's Galen Center in Los Angeles with the two-hour "games vs. games" extravaganza.

"This year's show will be all about bringing the games alive on screen, huge world premieres and game inspired performances that will blow the roof off of our biggest event yet," says Casey Patterson, Executive Producer VGA's and Senior Vice President, Event Production and Talent Development for Spike TV. "There is nobody cooler than our returning host, gamer god Sam Jackson to lead the virtual madness."

Voting for this year's nominees on http://www.vga2006.spiketv.com starts today and runs through Thursday, December 7. Also online, fans can log on to view exclusive red carpet and backstage coverage of the event.

The official sponsors of Spike TV's 2006 Video Game Awards are Burger King(R), Mountain Dew, Pontiac, Stride(TM) Gum, U.S. Air Force and Verizon Wireless.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion from Bethesda Softworks tops this year's VGA nominations with ten including "Game of the Year," "Most Addictive," and "Best Performance by a Human - Male" for actor Patrick Stewart as well as "Studio of the Year" for Bethesda Softworks and designer Todd Howard. Company of Heroes (THQ) and Gears of War (Microsoft) each have six nominations. All categories and nominees are listed below.

Nominees of Spike TV's 2006 Video Game Awards were determined by the VGA Advisory Council, made up of a group of gaming industry experts. Winners will be determined by votes from the Video Game Industry Voting Council and consumer voting. The winner in the "Most Addictive Game" category will solely be determined by viewer voting.

Spike TV's 2006 Video Game Awards pays tribute to the outstanding achievements of games, designers, animation, breakthrough technology, music and performances of the past year in the world of video games. The awards also provide a glimpse at the future of gaming -- including exclusive sneak peeks and world premiere footage of some of the hottest and most anticipated games of 2007 and beyond.

Following are the nominees for Spike TV's 2006 Video Game Awards:

GAME OF THE YEAR The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks) Okami (Capcom/Clover Studio) Gears of War (Microsoft/Epic Games) Guitar Hero 2 (Red Octane/Harmonix) Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Ubisoft)

CRITIC'S CHOICE (game to be released after 11/15/2006 & before 12/31/2006) The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo/Nintendo EAD) Resistance: Fall of Man (Sony Computer Entertainment America/Insomniac Games) Medieval II: Total War (Sega/Creative Assembly) Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas (Ubisoft Montreal) Wii Sports (Nintendo)

BEST DRIVING GAME AWARD Burnout Revenge-XBOX 360 (Electronic Arts/Criterion Games) Need For Speed Carbon (Electronic Arts/EA Black Box) TOCA Race Driver 3 (Codemasters) GTR 2 (10tacle Studios/SimBin Development Team)

BEST INDIVIDUAL SPORTS GAME Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis (Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego) EA Sports Fight Night Round 3 (Electronic Arts/ EA Chicago) Tony Hawk Project 8 (Activision/Neversoft ) Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (Electronic Arts/EA Redwood Shores) Top Spin 2 (2K Sports/Power & Magic)

BEST ACTION GAME Dead Rising (Capcom) New Super Mario Bros (Nintendo/Nintendo EAD) Okami (Capcom/Clover Studio) Saints Row (THQ/Volition) Bully (Rockstar Games/Rockstar Vancouver)

BEST TEAM SPORTS GAME NBA2K7 (2K Sports/Visual Concepts) Madden NFL 07 (Electronic Arts/Tiburon) NCAA Football 07 (Electronic Arts/Tiburon) FIFA 07 (Electronic Arts/EA Canada) NHL 07 (Electronic Arts/EA Canada)

CYBER VIXEN OF THE YEAR Lara Croft - Tomb Raider: Legend (Eidos Interactive/Crystal Dynamics) Alyx Vance - Half-Life 2: Episode 1 (Valve) Princess Peach - New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo/Nintendo EAD) Enrica - Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent (Ubisoft Montreal) Jen - Prey (2K Games/ Human Head Studios/3D Realms)

BEST SONG "LocoRoco No Uta" by Nobuyuki Shimizu and Kemmei Adachi in LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment America/SCE Studios Japan) "Heavenly Star" by Genki Rockets in Lumines II (Buena Vista Games/Q Entertainment) "Helicopter" by Bloc Party in Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure (Atari/The Collective) "Summer Shudder" by AFI in Madden NFL 07 (Electronic Arts/Tiburon) "Lights and Sounds" by YellowCard in Burnout Revenge-XBOX 360 (Electronic Arts/Criterion Games)

BEST SOUNDTRACK Guitar Hero 2 (Red Octane/Harmonix) Madden NFL 07 (Electronic Arts/Tiburon) Scarface: The World is Yours (Vivendi/Radical Entertainment) Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar Games/Rockstar Leeds / Rockstar North)

STUDIO OF THE YEAR Clover Studio (Okami) Relic (Company of Heroes) Cliff Bleszinski /Epic Games (Gears of War) Todd Howard / Bethesda Softworks (The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion) Harmonix (Guitar Hero 2)

BEST WIRELESS GAME Diner Dash (Glu Mobile) SWAT Force (Vivendi/KAOLink) Tower Bloxx (Digital Chocolate) Super K.O. Boxing (Glu Mobile)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks) Bully (Rockstar Games/Rockstar Vancouver) Electroplankton (Nintendo) Okami (Capcom/Clover Studio) Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix)

BEST FIGHTING GAME Tekken: Dark Resurrection (Namco Bandai) Dead or Alive 4 (Tecmo/Team Ninja) Mortal Kombat Armageddon (Midway Games) Street Fighter Alpha Anthology (Capcom) God Hand (Capcom/Clover Studio)

BEST SHOOTER Black (Electronic Arts/Criterion) Prey (2K Games/ Human Head Studios/3D Realms) Half-Life 2: Episode 1 (Valve) Gears of War (Microsoft/Epic Games) Call of Duty 3 (Activision/Treyarch)

BEST MILITARY GAME Company of Heroes (THQ/Relic) Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Ubisoft) Call of Duty 3 (Activision/Treyarch) The Outfit (THQ/Relic) Battlefield 2142 (Electronic Arts/EA UK / DICE UK)

BEST GRAPHICS Gears of War (Microsoft/Epic Games) Okami (Capcom/Clover Studio) Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Ubisoft) The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks) Company of Heroes (THQ/Relic)

BEST HANDHELD GAME New Super Mario (Nintendo/Nintendo EAD) Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day (Nintendo) Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar Games/Rockstar Leeds / Rockstar North) Tetris DS (Nintendo) LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment America/SCE Studios Japan)

BEST MULTI-PLAYER GAME Gears of War (Microsoft/Epic Games) Company of Heroes (THQ/Relic) Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (Konami/Kojima Productions) Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Ubisoft) Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent (Ubisoft Montreal)

BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGY WII (Nintendo) PS3 (Sony Computer Entertainment America) DS Lite (Nintendo) Electroplankton (Nintendo)

BEST PC GAME Company of Heroes (THQ/Relic) Half-Life 2: Episode 1 (Valve) Battlefield 2142 (Electronic Arts/Digital Illusions CE ) Star Wars: Empire at War (LucasArts/Petroglyph) The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks)

BEST RPG The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks) Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix) Kingdom Hearts II (Square Enix) Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria (Square Enix/tri-Ace)

BEST GAME BASED ON A MOVIE OR TV SHOW Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts/Traveller's Tales) The Godfather (Electronic Arts/EA Redwood Shores) Scarface: The World is Yours (Vivendi/Radical Entertainment) The Sopranos: Road to Respect (THQ/7 Studios) Family Guy (2K Games/High Voltage Software)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A HUMAN - MALE Seth MacFarlane in Family Guy (2K Games/High Voltage Software) Gerry Rosenthal in Bully (Rockstar Games/Rockstar Vancouver) Patrick Stewart in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks) Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow (Bethesda Softworks/ 7 Studios/Buena Vista Games) Kiefer Sutherland in 24: The Game (2K Games/SCEE Studios Cambridge)

BEST SUPPORTING MALE PERFORMANCE Seth Green in Family Guy (2K Games/High Voltage Software) James Woods in Scarface: The World is Yours (Vivendi/Radical Entertainment) James Caan in The Godfather (Electronic Arts/EA Redwood Shores) Philip Michael Thomas in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar Games/Rockstar Leeds / Rockstar North) James Gandolfini in The Sopranos: Road to Respect (THQ/7 Studios)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A HUMAN - FEMALE Vida Guerra in Scarface: The World is Yours (Vivendi/Radical Entertainment) Tia Carrere in Saints Row (THQ/Volition) Emmanuelle Vaugier in Need For Speed Carbon (Electronic Arts/EA Black Box) Keely Haws in Tomb Raider: Legend (Eidos Interactive/Crystal Dynamics) Rosario Dawson in Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure (Atari/The Collective)

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE PERFORMANCE Rachel Leigh Cook in Kingdom Hearts II (Square Enix) Elisha Cuthbert in 24: The Game (2K Games/SCE Studios Cambridge) Brittany Murphy in Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure (Atari/The Collective) Mila Kunis in Family Guy (2K Games/High Voltage Software) Lynda Carter in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks)

BEST CAST The Godfather (Electronic Arts/EA Redwood Shores) Family Guy (2K Games/High Voltage Software) Scarface: The World is Yours (Vivendi/Radical Entertainment) Saints Row (THQ/Volition) The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks)

MOST ADDICTIVE The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks) Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day (Nintendo) Gears of War (Microsoft/Epic Games) Guitar Hero 2 (Red Octane/Harmonix) Company of Heroes (THQ/Relic)

Albie Hecht, Oscar(R)-nominated producer and co-creator of the "Kids' Choice" and "Video Game Awards," and Casey Patterson, Senior Vice President, Event Production & Talent Development for Spike TV will serve as Executive Producers of Spike TV's 2006 Video Game Awards. Alicia Portugal will serve as Producer and Scott Fishman is the Executive in Charge of Production. Beth McCarthy will serve as director.

Spike TV is available in 90 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).

SOURCE Spike TV
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