This past weekend Spike TV played host to the ninth annual Video Game Awards. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim took home the Vector Monkey trophy for Game of the Year, besting Portal 2, Batman Arkham City, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Throughout the night, host Zachary Levi (Chuck) interacted with neat in-show augmented reality animations from the aforementioned nominees. Skyrim also won Best RPG and helped Bethesda get crowned Studio of the Year. Portal 2 was recognized multiple times throughout the night; it won Best PC Game, Best Multiplayer Game, Best Performance by Male and Female, and Best DLC. Arkham City also won multiple awards for Character of the Year (The Joker), Best Xbox 360 Game, Best Action Adventure Game, and Best Adapted Video Game. This year the Gamer God Award went to Blizzard Entertainment, and Shigeru Miyamoto was on hand to accept the first ever Video Game Hall of Fame Award for The Legend of Zelda. After the break you’ll find a list of all the night’s winners and losers.

Though the awards play a big part of the VGAs every year, it’s the world premiere footage from upcoming games that really gets gamers amped. Among the most celebrated were Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us, Command and Conquer: Generals 2 from Bioware, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, Fortnite from Epic Games (introduced by Cliffy B. himself), Irrational Games’ Bioshock Infinite, and Blizzard’s introductory cinematic for Diablo III. And then were was the VGAs epic finale. Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima stepped on stage to unveil the latest pulse-pounding trailer for Metal Gear Rising. This one took my breath away; it’s a must-see. Jump after the break to watch all of the world premiere trailers screened at the VGAs.

[Via Spike 1, 2] Continue reading 2011 Video Game Awards winners and exclusive trailers →