A WoW Insider reader revealed that a visual effects artist who won an Oscar at last night's Academy Awards for his work on "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is a guild leader in "World of Warcraft." Steve Preeg, who's also worked on the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," plays a Rogue in the game. Not sure how he finds the time, but congrats to Preeg on his sweet loot. [WoW Insider]

Here's a quick walk down the red carpet of last week's 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, shot with a handheld flipcam by me. How many important game developers can you spot? (I'm sure I missed some -- many familiar faces whose names I don't know.

(Videos not viewable by users logging in from Canada or the U.K.)

"LittleBigPlanet" wins big: The 12th annual Interactive Achievement Awards, hosted by comedian Jay Mohr, were held on Thursday night near Las Vegas. Voted on by about 300 members of the gaming industry by secret ballot, here are your winners: Read more...

PS3 exclusive "LittleBigPlanet" received 10 nominations for the 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, and will be duking it out with "GTA IV," "Left 4 Dead," "Fallout 3" and "Metal Gear Solid 4" for Overall Game of the Year. Read more...

Slowly the rest of entertainment is realizing there's genuinely good writing being done in video games, and today the Writers Guild of America released their list of nominees for best video game writing in 2008...so everyone can start complaining about them.

Read more...

Later today I will post my list of my 10 favorite gaming moments of 2008. I've done the same thing each of the last three years.

These lists do not list my favorite games of the year. Instead they list the moments in games I least want to forget: high points of 40 hour treks, spectacular surprises in silly little pet training and puzzle games.

These are the moments when games allow great things to happen -- allow you to make great things happen -- that any other form of entertainment can't hope to accomplish.

Here are my lists for 2005, 1006 and 2007. Ready for some nostalgia? Read more...

If you didn't catch the annual Spike Video Game Awards on TV Sunday night, we rounded up a few images from stock supplier photo Getty Images to show you what you missed from the star-studded event.

Make the jump to see photos of host Jack Black, various celebrities (Megan Fox, 50 Cent, Mike Tyson), game developers (Hideo Kojima, Will Wright, Ted Price) and nearly-nude models covered in body paint (yet again). But there were also some men sporting just tighty whities to balance it out this year. Take a look, if you dare... Read more...

The Spike Video Game Awards ceremony was held last night and "Grand Theft Auto IV" emerged as the big winner.

I was one of the judges, so you can credit or blame me for the list of winners below. I haven't compared it to my ballot yet, but I can tell you that I voted for a different game for VGA GOTY. Still, not a bad list of winners!

(All nominees listed. Winners noted in italics.)

Game of the Year
Gears of War 2
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
*Grand Theft Auto IV*
LittleBigPlanet
Fallout 3

The rest of the categories are after the jump. Read more...

On Tuesday we reported that Jack Black will host the Spike Video Game Awards, an event that will host gameplay footage premieres of some major titles.

But, you asked, what about the painted naked women? How could they not be returning? I got an answer. Read more...

I heard there were going to be major announcements and surprises at Spike's Video Game Awards on December 14th. I was told there'd be major appearances -- even after I told the organizers that I, a VGA judge, would not be able to attend.

So we're getting... Jack Black as a host. World premiere gameplay footage from Black's "Brutal Legend" game. "God of War III" gameplay footage of some sort. And more. On Spike on December 14th.

Plus the winners of Awards I voted in. Not bad!

More details and game debuts announced in the press release below: Read more...