Mongo Nation

All the results from Machinima’s first annual award show!

By Jeremy Azevedo

Last week, we attended Machinima’s “Inside Gaming Awards” in Santa Monica, which proved to be a fun alternative to the incongruous celebrity photo-op that is known as the Spike VGAs.

We didn’t get to interview Busta Rhymes’ Watch, or talk to Audrina Patridge about that one time she played Super Mario Bros. with her brother for ten minutes when she was seven, but we did get to drink (too many) vodka Red Bulls with some of our favorite game designers and of course, the lovely people at Machinima.

Teh Call of Duty is SRS BIZNS!

To no one’s surprise, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 executed a serious killstreak on the competition, taking home no fewer than six awards. Here are the results from each category:

Game of the Year
Modern Warfare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)

Best Trailer
Halo 3: ODST (Microsoft, Bungie)

Best Multiplayer
Modern Warfare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)

Best Narrative
Brutal Legend (EA, Double Fine)

Best Art Direction
Batman Arkham Asylum (Eidos/Warner Bros., Rocksteady Studios)

Best Animation
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eidos/Warner Bros., Rocksteady Studios)

Best Game Cinematography
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Sony, Naughty Dog)

Best Replayability
Modern Warefare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)

Best Indie Game
I MAED A GAM3 W1TH ZOMBIES 1N IT!!!1 (Ska Studios)

Most Compelling Character
The Joker – Batman Arkham Asylum (Eidos/Warner Bros., Rocksteady Studios)

Best DLC (best content pack/expansion content)
Fallout 3 – Expansions (Bethesda Game Studios)

Best Downloadable Game (games only available digitally for purchase or free download)
Plants vs. Zombies (PopCap)

Most Original Game
Scribblenauts (Warner Bros, 5th Cell)

Best Control
Modern Warfare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)

Best Game Innovation
1 vs. 100 - Massively Multiplayer Online game show with real prizes (Microsoft)

Best Original Score
Modern Warfare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)

Best Weapon
AC - 130 - Modern Warfare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)

Best Sound Design
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Sony, Naughty Dog)

(For a full list of nominees, click here and watch the embedded video!)

Official event coverage from Machinima’s “Inside Gaming”. Video clicks through to individual categories.

I was a bit shocked that Shadow Complex didn’t win in the “Downloadable Game” category, and that there was virtually no RPG love to be found in any of the categories. (No Dragon Age? WTF?). Not even Borderlands could put a stop to the Juggernaut that is Modern Warfare 2. I was, however, quite happy to see Fallout 3, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Brutal Legend and Scribblenauts each take a prize. What do you think? Do you agree with the results? Disagree? Join the discussion on our Facebook page and let us know!

Header image by Gavin Holt