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By Michael Lopez

It takes a brave celebrity to admit their "nerdiness" and attend a video games award show. But this past weekend brought out plenty of famous faces, all eager to celebrate the year's greatest button mashers. Yup, the Spike TV VGA's were back in business and they delivered one heck of a show.

The 2011 ceremony was hosted by Chuck star Zachary Levi, who definitely showed he was "game" to participate in some irreverent skits. His grand entrance included a mashup of scenes from Call of Duty, LEGO Star Wars, and Batman: Arkham City. Levi even "flew" onto the stage carrying a prop from Portal 2.

"I'm jazzed about hosting the awards," Zachary said prior to the event. "As a gamer, I definitely want to bring as much legitimacy and respect to the game community as I possibly can."

And across the web, most fans seemed pleased with the VGA's outcome. The massively popular Modern Warfare 3 won for Best Shooter, Mortal Kombat took home Best Fighting Game, and Batman: Arkham City won a slew of honors, including Best Adapted Video Game, Best Xbox 360 Game, and Best Action Adventure.

Arkham even attracted the attention of MMA faves Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler. They proudly declared their love of the Bat and his clown-faced nemesis, when they announced The Joker as the VGA Character of the Year.

Family Guy’s Seth Green drew huge applause when he brought Shigeru Miyamoto on stage. The Nintendo mastermind accepted the night’s Hall of Fame Award for his company’s The Legend Of Zelda series. Humble as ever, the gaming icon simply said,

"None of this would be possible without you, and all of us at Nintendo are humbled by your support."

Tony Hawk also brought the crowd to their feet when he stepped up to the podium. Interestingly, he wasn't there to promote one of his famous skateboarding titles. Instead, he debuted never-before-seen clips from the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man game.

Comedy played a big part in the night too. Kevin Jonas spoofed himself in a commercial for a fake game called Wall Climb and web star Felicia Day cracked up App fans with her hilarious take on the Fruit Ninja craze.

Believe it or not, there were even some musical segments mixed in too. The Black Keys proved their gaming geekiness by taking the stage and performing their hit song Lonely Boy.

And as far as the 2011 Game of the Year? That nod went to the role-playing smash, The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. Universally praised across the board, it’s sold seven million copies in the last month and is certain to wind up in quite a few stockings come Christmas time.

What was your favorite video game of the year? Sound off in the comments or @MTV3.

Tags Award Shows, Batman: Arkham City, Blogger: Michael Lopez, Celebrities, Eddie Alvarez, Felicia Day, Fruit Ninja, Kevin Jonas, Modern Warfare 3, Mortal Kombat, Nintendo, Seth Green, Shigeru Miyamoto, Spike TV, The Black Keys, The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, The Legend of Zelda, Tony Hawk, VGAs, Video Game Awards, video games, Zachary Levi

By Michael Lopez

What does a season of colder weather and shorter days bring? More excuses to stay indoors and play video games! Not that we condone a life spent solely in front of the controller. But if you choose to go down that route for the next few months, here are some great button-crunching titles to look out for!

Dead Island – What's a new season without a shotgun blasting zombie game? Fall's hottest "undead" title of the is undoubtedly Zombie Island. Released this past Tuesday, the breakthrough RPG has been heavily praised the critics (even getting compared to the Fallout series). Plus, you're killing monsters in the tropics. What can be cooler than that?

FIFA Soccer 12 – EA's hugely popular futbol line is at it again, but with plenty of new improvements to boot. Now with features like Tactical Defending and Precision Dribbling, mastering the black-and-white ball has never been easier. There's also enhanced additions to the Online Mode and tons of graphical improvements to players like Landon Donovan and Cristiano Ronaldo (though sadly no little "Leo"). Look for it on September 27.

Batman: Arkham City – Now we've been hyping this title since way back at E3. The long-awaited sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum is finally hitting shelves on October 18 and it's not a moment too soon. All of your favorite Gotham City bad guys will make appearances, including The Joker, Two-Face, and Mr. Freeze. Even more interesting is the news that players can control both Robin and Catwoman in this new adventure.

Saints Row: The Third – We know, we've already done a whole post on Saints Row 3, but we just have to mention it again. SR3 now has an official release date of November 15 and there have actually been some developments since our last story. THQ has now announced that they will be releasing a "Smooth Criminal" version of the brawler game, which includes sunglasses, cuff links, and a hip-hop inspired soundtrack.

Super Mario 3D Land – Yes, amidst the zombie shoot-em-ups and carjacking titles, you knew we had to throw a Mario game in here. Nintendo's famous plumber is coming to the 3DS and he's bringing his entire cast of colorful characters with him. Expect high-jumping Yoshi levels, co-operative Luigi play, and the return of Mario's famous Tanooki suit when this hits stores in late November.

Which video games are you most looking forward to this fall? Sound off in the comments or @MTV3.

Tags Batman: Arkham City, Blogger: Michael Lopez, Dead Island, FIFA Soccer 12, Hot Stuff, Saints Row The Third, Super Mario, Super Mario 3D Land, video games