While the G4 cable television network has gradually moved away from its original game-centric focus and reduced the spectacle of its annual G-phoria gaming award show, another cable gaming awards program is apparently staying the course when it comes to glitz and glamour.

　　Spike TV's official Web site for its 2006 Video Game Awards has opened up for voting, and on it the Viacom-owned network for men confirms that last year's master of ceremonies, Samuel L. Jackson (Snakes on a Plane, The Red Violin), will once again host the event. However, whether the still-unannounced lineup of presenters and performers can measure up to last year's show--which featured the likes of Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Charlize Thereon, and Keifer Sutherland--remains to be seen.

　　As far as the actual game awards, Spike TV will be doling out honors in 28 categories, from Game of the Year to Cyber Vixen of the Year. While gamers can vote for their favorite nominees online, it's unclear exactly how much the vote matters. According to the site, "winners of all categories except Critic's Choice are determined in part by viewer voting." (Emphasis added.)

　　To be eligible for the Critic's Choice category, a game's release date must fall between November 8, 2005, and December 24, 2006. For all other categories, the range is December 1, 2005, to November 7, 2006.

　　Spike TV will air the 2006 Video Game Awards Wednesday, December 13, at 10 p.m. ET/PT. To vote on the nominees for 27 of the 28 categories, go to the official 2006 VGA Web site.

　　GAME OF THE YEAR

　　The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda)

　　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 but 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

　　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 and 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, LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment America/SCE Studios Japan)

　　"Heavenly Star" by Genki Rockets, Lumines II (Buena Vista Games/Q Entertainment)

　　"Helicopter" by Bloc Party, 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, 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 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 WIRELESS GAME

　　Diner Dash (Glu Mobile)

　　SWAT Force (Vivendi/KAOLink)

　　Tower Bloxx (Digital Chocolate)

　　Super K.O. Boxing (Glu Mobile)

　　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)

　　BEST RPG

　　The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda)

　　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)

　　BEST CAST IN A GAME

　　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)

　　MOST ADDICTIVE GAME

　　The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda)

　　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)