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GlaDOS' voice will return in Dota 2
Ellen McLain, the voice of none other than Portal 2's GlaDOS, was probably the most charming celebrity to stroll down the red carpet at the Spike Video Game Awards. Sure, the reality show stars and athletes may have attracted more attention, but McLain was all smiles as she used her operatic voice to talk about how great the limo ride to the show was. "This is so funny," she laughed, "the last time I was in a limo was in LA in 1981 with Rex Harrison! So only thirty years later, I have my second limo ride!" McLain said she too has been charmed, by the fan response to her popular character. "I love the way the fans are wondering who is Chell, is Chell the offspring of GlaDOS and Cave Johnson, all this stuff. And I also think that the Portal games have drawn a lot of young women into gaming." She said that she and husband John Patrick Lowrie, who also does voices for Valve's games, have "gone to some fancons, and the women are so excited, they come in and they're either dressed up like Chell or they're dressed up like GlaDOS." And we haven't heard the last of McLain yet. "Eric Wolpaw told me in the limo," she said, "that it has been announced, John and I have both done voices for Dota 2. So we're going to be in there." "There are a lot of characters in Dota 2," confirmed Lowrie. "There are like 100 characters, so we've done quite a few of them."
From the VGAs Red Carpet: Criterion's Craig Sullivan
We just saw Criterion's creative director Craig Sullivan at the launch for Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit a few weeks ago, and so when he showed up on this weekend's VGAs red carpet, we congratulated him on the game and its addictive Autolog feature. "It's been phenomenal," he agreed. "It does change the way people play. People are playing the same event ten, fifteen, fifty times, and you don't get that in racing games. It's a very big deal for us and we're really glad that people are embracing it and having fun." The social service doesn't do what most implementations have so far done and share stats out to Twitter or Facebook. Instead, it keeps the sharing inside the game, and Sullivan says that's the way Criterion designed it. "You get information about Need for Speed when you're playing Need for Speed," he says. "That was really key to us." Criterion is also seeing in-game comments used more than expected, though it "usually degenerates into a load of swearing." As for what's next, Sullivan says DLC is the current focus, though Criterion wouldn't mind making either another Need for Speed or Burnout title, or any other genre for that matter. "We made Black before, and everybody wants us to make Black 2. As long as it's fun and it suits the strengths of the studio, we're interested in making any kind of game. We always joke and say we'll make a game about jelly, or make a game about horses, or tennis or whatever it is. If it fun and it fits with what Criterion stands for, then we'll pretty much make anything."
Liveblogging the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards
Well, we've been watching UFC for the past hour, and we're totally ready to knee the Spike Video Game Awards in the face. By which, of course, we mean "give our expert analysis, keeping you informed on breakout news that comes from the event while occasionally making fun of the oblivious celebrity presenters." Joining me for this event is Benjamin Gilbert and Xav de Matos. I'm not entirely sure they've covered a gaming awards show before, so I wholly expect one of them to be broken by the end of the proceedings. Kevin, our fairly seasoned veteran, is on the show floor, giving us first-hand scoops. Jump past the break to follow our coverage, and make sure to leave a comment with your own clever, possibly even pithy observations. Watch: The 2009 Spike TV Video Game Awards
Reminder: Spike VGAs air tonight, debut of Gears 2, GTAIV and more
Reminder that tonight, at 9:00PM eastern on Spike TV, the Spike Video Game Awards will be airing and among the various awards that'll be handed out will be exclusive debuts of highly anticipated games. GTAIV's Lost and Damned episodic content will be shown, Fight Night Round 4 will be debuted, Brutal Legend will fight its way on stage and even more. Xbox.com also informs us that sometime during the VGAs we'll find out "what's next for Gears of War 2". Hmm, DLC much? The big reveals go down tonight at 9:00PM eastern on Spike TV.[Thanks, Spartan5565]
Wii games appear in nominee list for Spike TV's 2007 Video Game Awards
It's hard to take a game awards show seriously that has a "Most Addictive Game Fueled by Dew" category. We don't really think that Spike TV's Video Game Awards are really meant to be taken too seriously, though, so we suppose it's okay. When it comes to the VGAs, it just isn't surprising when the nominees for the "Game of the Year" and "Best Xbox 360 Game" are exactly the same. It's also interesting that 3/4 of the "Game of the Year" group fall in the "Best Shooter" bunch. Let's not forget, though, that Spike is a channel for men, and men like to shoot stuff, cause they're all just badass and burly like that. Oh well, at least (as pointed out by our big daddy blog, Joystiq) Madden wasn't nominated for "Game of the Year" this time around.Color us shocked, but the Wii actually got some love lukewarm feelings from the VGAs this year. Wii Sports was nominated for the highly esteemed "Most Addictive Game Fueled by Dew" category, and Super Mario Galaxy was put into the "Best Action Game" group. And, uh ... that's about it, unless you count multiplatform titles and those in the "Best Wii Game" bunch.Check after the break to see the full list of nominees.
