Video games go live for awards show

A felon will host, a model who posed nude in Playboy will be on the red carpet, and "the most destructive band in history" will play on the first major live video game awards show, airing today in the US.

The Video Game Awards may be seen as a coming-of-age for the games business, and Spike executives say they hope their awards will become the gold standard for an industry becoming more and more like Hollywood with each passing year.

But to be safe, in a world where an errant nipple at halftime of a football game can lead to congressional hearings on broadcast indecency, Spike will broadcast the awards to its potential audience of 86 million homes on a 20-second delay.

Spike TV taped the show last year and broadcast it at a later date, making this year's show its first live game awards program.

Rapper Snoop Dogg, convicted of a drug offence in 1990, will host. No stranger to gamers, he "appeared" in the game "True Crime: Streets of L.A." and performed on the soundtrack for "Need for Speed Underground 2."

Playboy model Brooke Burke will work the red carpet and the recently-reunited Motley Crue, called "the most destructive band," by VH1, will perform.

"We really want this to be a showcase for what is the new Hollywood," said Albie Hecht, president of Spike TV and executive producer of the awards show.

The show sold out its advertising inventory as of last Thursday and signed on eight sponsors including Taco Bell, America Online and Pontiac.

Three games led the nominations, "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," "Halo 2" and "Half-Life 2." All three were released in the last two months, and between them have generated retail sales of more than $500 million.

Last month, "San Andreas" and "Halo" accounted for roughly three in every 10 video games sold in the United States, further proof that just like Hollywood, the video game business is one driven by hits.

The 24 categories included the obvious, like Game of the Year and Best Song from a video game, as well as ones more geared to young men, such as "Hottest Video Vixens" and "Most Addictive Game."

- REUTERS