Like them or hate them, the Spike TV VGA’s are the closest thing the gaming industry has to the Oscars. Granted, there are much more prestigious awards a game can win, most of which are within the industry itself. Yet, as far as recognition and public exposure for the gaming industry, the VGA’s are as close as we have to the red carpet; and you can’t blame them. This year alone there were 13 new titles revealed, many of which were highly expected sequels or new IP’s from well revered studios. The industry giants are there, the games are there, and while the way the awards are presented may come off as a year end party at your local frat house, the nominees are carefully picked, with the winners proving this is no popularity contest.

The nominations are distributed in the categories one would expect. Best downloadable game was snagged by Supergiant Games’ “Bastion,” which also picked up best original score and best song in a game. Best fighting game went to Neatherealm Studios’ “Mortal Kombat,” beating out “Marvel vs. Capcom 3.”

In the sports games categories: driving was awarded to “Forza 4,” team sports to “NBA 2k12,” and individual sports to “Fight Night Champion.”

The genre awards yielded some more expected winners. Shooter went to “Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3” while RPG was taken by “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” and “Batman: Arkham City” walked away with best adventure game.

Console awards were given to the expected best of each system. “Super Mario 3D Land” hopped off with best handheld game while best PC game went to “Portal 2.” Best Xbox 360 game was given to “Batman: Arkham City,” best PS3 game to “Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception,” and best Wii game to “Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.”

In probably the biggest upset of the night the best multiplayer award was triumphantly handed to “Portal 2” beating out juggernauts like “Battlefield 3” and “Modern Warfare 3.” This, if anything, shows how carefully chosen the winners are.

In classic Spike TV fashion there were some offshoot awards. “Mass Effect 3” won most anticipated game and the Joker from “Arkham City” won best character. Awards were also handed out to the talent behind the games, with Ellen McLain winning best performance by a human female and Stephen Merchant winning best performance by a human male for their work on “Portal 2” as GLaDOS and Wheatly, respectively. A couple of industry “Hall of Fame” awards were given out as well with Blizzard Entertainment earning the “Gamer God” award and Shigeru Miyamoto being honored into the Video Game Hall of Fame.

Finally, the big award of game of the year was earned by “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.”

As mentioned earlier, several big games were announced in the show, with Naughty Dog’s “The Last of Us” and Epic Games’ “Fortnite” standing out. Bioware announced they’re new project with “Command and Conquer: Generals 2,” the first real-time strategy game for the esteemed developer. One of the biggest surprises of the show was the long awaited gameplay reveal of “Metal Gear Solid Rising: Revengance,” a game that had not been seen since E3 2009. Kojima Productions has teamed up with Platinum Games (of “Bayonetta” and “Vanquish” fame) to bring about this side story to the Metal Gear Solid lore.

Overall, the VGA’s are getting better. Spike TV seems to understand that gamers tune in to the show to watch the major announcements and see their games earning honors. It almost seems fair to allow for rampant celebrity pushing when we see the developers stumble over their acceptance speeches, live TV is not for everyone. However, having a speech being cut short by a man in military garb tea-bagging the speaker or shoving some rather important awards into a montage during a commercial break is stuff that needs to go. We are a long way from the gala night seen at the Oscars, frankly, we may never get there. But once the gamers who watch the show are treated with as much respect as the games being awarded, then we will have a night to remember.

The Spike TV Video Game Awards are this weekend and you know what that means — lots and lots of teases for brand new game reveals. The latest comes from Cliff Bleszinski over at Epic Games, who teases that we’ll see an “entirely fresh and new experience” from the studio most famous for games like Unreal, Gears of War and Shadow Complex. Any guesses what it could be? I’m holding out for the Jazz Jackrabbit reboot.

Cliff Bleszinski promised a Gears of War announcement you weren’t expecting at tonight’s Spike TV Video Game Awards — which would be true, unless you were expecting no announcement.

Major Nelson announced via his blog this morning that the announcement won’t be making the show. “I have just learned of a decision to postpone our planned Gears of War news from Epic Games for the Spike Video Game Awards this weekend.  I wanted to share this with you and let you know that while these are never easy decisions, we can tell you that what we have to share for the franchise in 2011 will definitely be worth the wait and we look forward to working with our partner at Spike on sharing this world premier news when it is ready.

While it’s a bummer that we won’t hear about the series, there are still plenty of announcements and reveals expected to happen. Stick with Blast for up to the minute coverage.

Only two shows of note tonight: “Crash” premieres on Starz at 10, and “Eureka’s” finale is on SyFy (still not used to spelling it that way) at 9.

On Sunday, HBO restarts “Curb Your Enthusiasm” at 9 p.m. The popular show from the “Seinfeld” people is back. CBS is also airing the Emmy Awards at 8 p.m. Sunday.

Spike TV’s 10th season premiere of “The Ultimate Fighter” on Wednesday is the most watched episode of the fighting series ever, and the most watched original show ever on the Spike TV Network, drawing g4.1 million total viewers — almost wholly male, according to Nielsen.

The History Channel had some success with its “MysteryQuest” series, which also premiered Wednesday, drawing 1.2 million watchers.

With the recent dramatic pirate news, Spike TV is partnering with 44 Blue Productions (“The True Story of Black Hawk Down”) to make a reality television series called “Pirate Hunters: USN.”

The series promises “an up-close and behind-the-scenes look at the US Navy operation to end this deadly threat of piracy in the Gulf of Aden.”

“We are thrilled to be front and center with the Navy on such an important mission,” said Sharon Levy, senior vice president of original series for Spike. “The access we have will really give our viewers the kind of heart-stopping action they have come to expect from Spike programming.”

This cross between “Deadliest Catch” and “Cops” is going to go through the pilot process first as camera crews board two American warships: USS San Antonio and USS Boxer.

“Piracy off the coast of Africa is a real and deadly threat,” said Rasha Drachkovitch, president and founder of 44 Blue Productions. “With ‘Pirate Hunters: USN,’ our goal is to capture that drama for the TV audience in order to highlight the heroic work undertaken by the US Navy every day in this fight against terrorism.”

There is no word on when the series might air.