Live-blogging Spike's 2012 Video Game Awards

Hey everyone! Welcome to our semi-live blog of the Spike 2012 VGAs where you can keep up with all of the exciting and ridiculous things going on at the event... if you aren't already following the stream. You should probably just check out the Stream, but if you want to double down on VGAs and join in on the definitely serious commentary I've got in store. If you haven't already, visit our wrap up of the reveals and rumors behind tonight's show, or just grab a bag of chips and settle down for some fun.

7:57 - Tencious D going to play us out. Thanks for joining us everyone! This has to be the oddest outro for a Video Game Awards show ever. It's just Tenecious D singing about themselves. Oh well, The Walking Dead won! Big step for the VGAs.

7:54 - Black Ops 2 short video with an in-game Samuel L. "I'm the real Black Ops mother******. Time for Game of the Year. And the winner is... The Walking Dead. WHOA. PACHTER WAS WRONG. PACHTER WAS WROOOONG. AHHH! Telltale Games also wins Studio of the Year.

7:49 - We're currently in commercials. It looks like all of the big announced premieres have been shown, so we have game of the year left and that's it. Unless there's a big surprise coming up.

7:44 - BioShock Infinite time with Ken Levine. Guy is just excited to talk about his game, which is super cool. More of this please. Elizabeth is an amazing character. The premiere gives a great look at the quality of animation in Infinite. Now we're seeing some combat and damn, this is ultra violent. Protagonist is bettling a Handyman now... I think he won. It's hard to tell. Then... a GameStop ad? I think that was misplaced.

7:43 - I didn't catch this guy's name. I think he's from a TV show. Premiere for Halo 4: Spartan Ops. Dr. Halsey is here, and I'm not really sure what else is going on. I hope there're no spoilers here. 

7:37 - Minecraft video! Was pretty cute seeing Sam shoot Steve with arrows. Now Tenecious D is taking the stage, but I don't know if they're performing. They're presenting Greatest Video Game of the Decade. BASS DUEL. If Bass Duel is a game, then I'm there. The game of the decade is... Half Life 2. OF. COURSE.

7:31 - And the character of the year is Claptrap! Congratulations Borderlands 2. He's dancing, he's dancing! COMMERCIALS.

7:30 - @RabidChinaGirl says the live blog reads like I'm slowly going insane. Sounds about right. Who has a drink? If sanity is measured by how few exclamation points you use, this is definitely a losing battle.

7:27 - Bring on the "how hot is Lara Croft" jokes! Time to premiere the Tomb Raider trailer. The orchestra is back out on stage setting the mood for the premiere. This is probably my favorite part of the VGAs. More music from video games! 

7:26 - Dishonored short trailer. Samuel L. Jackson shooting a waiter and quoting Pulp Fiction for the twentieth time.

7:19 - Gears of War: Judgment premiere time. It's Baird and Cole! 30 days after emergence day and the gang has handcuffs on. The chainsaw gun is still around, so there's that. Not much else to say beyond it looks like a Gears of War game! Plenty of Locust to kill. COMMERCIALS.

7:18 - Who is Zachery Levi?

7:16 - Samuel L. Jackson has a gun! Shepard is playing Mass Effect 3 multiplayer... err, both Sheps. And Garrus! 

7:16 - "What if the story of American was not the one you knew." Images from a book and the image we've already been shown in motion. "One crown, one ruler, and one man to stop King Washington." Hey that's a thing if you're into it.

7:11 - Some IGN guy! Now Marlon Wayans! Snoop Lion! Jokes in-between! Snoop Lion seriously came to stage on a giant golden throne with a half-dozen ladies on his arm. Snoop Dog is introducing The Tyranny of King Washington, which is an odd choice. Oh well!

7:06 - Samuel L. Jackson as a jedi Angry Bird? Yes that is a thing now. Oh dear, is it commercial time again already?

7:02 - Best Independent Game! Hey they're actually broadcasting this category this year. Props! I don't see how Journey can lose this one... let's see. The winnder is Journey. Yup. Journey also wins Best PS3 game and Best Original Score. This is a real award here, guys. This means something to these developers. The first emotional thankyou of the evening.

6:59 - Let's pay honor to our soldiers overseas... by playing a Linkin Park song that debuted in Metal of Honor: Warfighter! /facepalm

6:58 - Character of the year for Black Ops 2. I forget the guy's name...

6:52 - Nerd Machine is back with a couple of dudes I could care less to hear from. Commercials. We've still got premieres for Tomb Raider, BioShock and Gears of War: Judgment coming up. Stay tuned.

6:49 - Best Action Adventure from Jessica Alba. Holy crud, dudes, Dark Souls 2. And the winner is... Dishonored! Arkane guys very thankful.

6:46 - Jessica Alba came out on stage and got the loudest ovation of the event. Video game, fuh, right? She's reading from a script about Mario. She's a good actor. The next premiere is... is this freaking Demon's Souls? Is this Dragon Age? What is going on? WHAT!? It's Dark Souls II! Whoa! Did not expect that. Outstanding CG trailer showing a guy in armor, well, wandering around the world and finding places that look absolutely terrifying. It looks perfect, especially that angry three-eyed dragon at the end.

6:45 - And we're back! It's Claptrap's nomination video for Best Character! "I am my own inspiration after all." "You probably already voted for me, but if you didn't... go ****"

6:39 - Samuel L talking to Master Chief via hologram, in a 343 created video. Yeah, interesting. COMMERCIALS! Sorry for the lack of images yet, semi-live-blogging is hard!

6:37 - And now Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. Gabriel/Dracula has returned. "Something comes back to me. I was great once. Feared. Yes. Now I remember." Wow, it looks like it takes place in the modern era in some capacity, though some of the game does take place in ancient times.

6:37 - "Do I need to remind you what is out there?" Lots of new faces in the trailer. "It's got everything to do with that little girl." A lot more of the world being shown, including a semblence of authority. "You make every shot count." "I believe everything happens for a reason." "It can't be for nothing." For Naughty Dog, it was a pretty sloppy trailer, but I'll be damned if that game doesn't look amazing.

6:34 - Gustavo Santalia doing a charming tune to introduce us to The Last of Us and the upcoming premiere, I'd assume. Pasting a big countdown over his face confirms the upcoming trailer quite clearly. Thanks Spike.

6:32 - Back in the action, this is Connor's Assassin's Creed 3 Best Character of the Year nomination video. Very calm and collected compared to the usual Spike VGA fare.

6:30 - Like @Darknet mentioned, I also felt kind confused about what The Phantom Pain was when the trailer first started. Pretty safe saying it's a first-person survival horror now that it's over though, and that sounds pretty amazing.

6:27 - Something something about The Nerd Machine. I think this is a commercial. Premieres coming for The Last of Us and Castlevania next.

6:24 - Now we're being treated with a live performance of the Mass Effect 3 theme, with footage of various games playing in the background. It's kinda sad, but all of the footage of The Walking Dead they're showing is the violent stuff. Check that, it's a mashup of several games' themes including Dishonored's whaling song. Next is the Assassin's Creed 3 theme.

6:22 - Whoa! Sam Jackson as a Walking Dead character. It's the axe in the woods with a bear trap scene and Sam Jackson is all about chopping the guys leg off. Hmm.

6:20 - A short video where future Sam Jackson gives some poorly cosplayed video game characters a disc to save gaming. 

6:20 - We're in commercial right now, but Spike is doing a good job of keeping it on theme. Games and sports and the such. Commericals over!

6:14 - A hand-crafted short video of Master Chief and Cortana for Best Character of the Year. Each character will have something like this throughout the night. Apparently Master Chief wants to meet Samuel L.

6:11 - Moby Dick Studio, you play a soldier who has been in an accident and is missing his arm. He's crawling through a hallway, but there's lots of smoke. "Is this real?" "Something is coming." An enemy soldier is killing hospital patients. "What are they after." Some pretty graphic violence going on here along with some surreal, static-filled music. "No escape." Ok, that enemy was on fire... this isn't normal. That was a unicorn on fire. That was a whale on fire bursting out of the ground. The Phantom Pain is the name of this game. Whoa.

6:10 - I forgot who this guy is! His name is Adam. Time for a premiere! Of gameplay! What is it?

6:07 - Three actors from The Walking Dead TV show come out to give an introduction to the Best Shooter category. Winner is... Borderlands 2! Oh Borderlands 2 also wins Best Multiplayer... that was sneakily put in. "Vote for Claptrap for character of the year!"

6:04 - Looks like we're going to get the full South Park: The Stick of Truth trailer now. I was worried we had missed it! "News of a new kid spreads throughout the land." "That was your one goddamn job, Clyde!" "Don't ask why Kenny wanted to be a chick, that's just how he's rolling right now." Looks fun!

6:02 - Okay cool, they decided to go with famous Sam quotes madlibbed with video game references. That's the smart way to go. Oh man, we're back into the fully scripted stuff and it's really bad. Samuel L. has had to double check the prompter to see if that's really what he has to say a couple times.

6:00 - South Park teaser! Wait what, this dude is talking over the South Park teaser. Oh god, time to find the right stream. Okay, link updated. In case you missed it, Cartman murdered Bilbo Bagins and then introduced Samuel L. Jackson.

5:57 - And here's Cliff B. and the chief editor of Kotaku. Is this a metaphor for the VGAs? What  do you think we'll see tonight? "Keighley getting tea-bagged. The internet would love that."

5:55 - Oh hey, it's Geoff Keighley. I'm going to go get something out of the oven. Keighley teases the announcement of a "familiar franchise." I read that tweet yesterday, Keighley!

5:53 - And now we're talking to Jennifer Hale about lesbian action. Oh, and she's up for an award too. This is terribly awkward. I was not prepared. They've got one thing right, if you're not playing fem-Shep what are you waiting for.

5:52 - @Mudkip94 You should know the VGAs aren't about the awards by now.

5:50 - And Marlon Waynes starts the first pubic hair conversation of the night. Won't be the last, this is the VGAs after all!

5:46 - I DON'T KNOW WHO THESE PEOPLE ARE. Oh hey, there's Michael Pachter. Call Wii U Nintendo's downfall in the morning, say downloadable titles don't have a prayer to win Game of the Year in the evening. Keep it real, Michael!

5:38 - Hey, hey, everyone. It's 20 minutes til th show begins and I'm just trying to get some assets together before diving into the current content on Stream -- red carpet interviews! Back in a second.