Geoff Keighley will present the 2020 Game Awards to the best games from this past year on December 10th. But first, let’s travel back in time to his earlier awards show gig, the Spike Video Game Awards, and see what was big in gaming in… 2010.
2010 sat at the exact midway point in the lifecycle for the PS3 and Xbox 360, making it an uncommonly good year for video games. But a slew of classic games were introduced for all three consoles and the PC that year.
Leading the way was Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption, which captured “Game of the Year,” as well as “Best Original Score,” “Best DLC,” and “Best Song in a Game.” Red Dead’s closest competitor in 2010 was definitely Mass Effect 2, which earned “Studio of the Year” honors for BioWare, along with “Best Xbox 360 Game” and “Best RPG.”
The other big story of the night was God of War III. Ten years on, it’s been overshadowed by other games in the franchise (including the 2018 reboot), but Kratos’s third adventure did win “Best PS3 Game” and “Best Graphics.” Not to be outdone, the PSP’s God of War: Ghost of Sparta took home the “Best Handheld Game” prize.
Unlike Sony’s continued commitment to the God of War franchise, Blizzard has all but abandoned the the StarCraft series in 2020. However, that uncertain future couldn’t stop StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty from flying high in 2010 as the winner of “Best PC Game” and “Best Performance by a Human Female” (for Tricia Helfer’s role as Sarah Kerrigan) at the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards.
Amazingly, even the ceremony’s crop of solo winners are still fondly remembered a decade later (and many of them can be found scattered throughout the Video Game Canon’s Top 1000 too). That list includes Super Mario Galaxy 2 (“Best Wii Game”), Limbo (“Best Independent Game”), Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (“Best Action Adventure Game”) and Rock Band 3 (“Best Music Game”).
A complete list of all the winners and nominees from the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards can be found after the break.