Nathan Drake and a rather evil super computer (and sometime potato) have topped the nominees for the 15^th annual Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) awards.

"Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception" led this year's nods with 12 nominations, while "Portal 2" got 10. Other multiple award nominees included "L.A. Noire" (with nine), "Batman: Arkham City," "Battlefield 3" and "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim," which all got six.

The awards, one of the more prestigious in the gaming industry, will be handed out on Feb 5 during the D.I.C.E. summit in Las Vegas in a ceremony hosted by actor Jay Mohr. CBS-owned gaming site GameSpot has been named as an exclusive partner and will stream the awards live online.

The complete list of nominees can be found after the break.

Add Web television to awards season.

The International Academy of Web Television has announced nominees for the inaugural IAWTV awards, with Felicia Day's "The Guild" and drama series "RCVR" topping the list.

"RCVR" racked up a dozen nominations. The show focuses on covert government agents that try to suppress the truth about extraterrestrial encounters and hunt humans selected by an alien species to act as channels for advanced technologies. "The Guild," a long-running Web series that is arguably the field's most popular, picked up nine nominations.

The awards will be presented in Las Vegas on Jan. 12, alongside the Consumer Electronics Show.

A full list of the nominees can be found after the break.

Spike TV's annual Video Game Awards program always tends to divide the gamer audience, which grumbles about the flashy nature of the programming, but the event is still very much a can't miss event among those players.

With several announcements of new game franchises, including Epic Games' "Fortnight" and Sony/Naughty Dog's "The Last of Us" making bows this year, it's a second E3 of sorts. But the real focus is on the awards.

This year's crop were a fairly worthy bunch. While there's always room for disagreement (many fans thought Mark Hamill's Joker in "Batman: Arkham City" was robbed), there's really not a clunker in the bunch – a far cry from the early incarnations of the VGAs, which were often seen as out of touch and an attempt to solely capitalize on the money surrounding the industry.

This year, game makers mixed with the celebrities, with Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto (creator of Mario, Zelda and Donkey Kong, among others) making a surprise appearance to accept the first Video Game Hall of Fame award.

Among the current crop of titles, Bethesda's "Skyrim" took home the Game of the Year trophy, while Valve's "Portal 2" swept five categories and "Batman: Arkham City" dominated four.

A complete list of the winners is after the break.

Ricky Gervais' biting (some might say mean-spirited) hosting gig at last year's Golden Globes probably guaranteed he won't be asked back in the near future in any official capacity. But that doesn't necessarily mean he's through with the awards show.

Gervais, on his blog, has floated the idea of live-streaming a podcast during this year's show, offering his own brand of commentary and ego-deflation to the proceedings.

The comedian stopped short of saying he would absolutely do the live-stream, but noted a few friends he'd love to have join him if he did. See the (obscenity filled) post below:

I've had one of my big ideas. 

What do you think of this?

A live 3 hour podcast during The Golden Globes. Me and a few chums (like Louis CK, Chris Rock, Karl Pilkington, John Stewart, Larry David popping in and out) doing our own alternative commentary.

People at home can have the telly on with the sound down listening to us online say things that no broadcaster could get away with.

No one could do a fucking thing.

The biggest live webcast ever? Who knows? Who cares? What's fun is the shit we might come out with. No money. No sponsor. No guide lines. Fuck me I can't wait.

Gervais ruffled feathers in 2011 by attacking the Golden Globes own dubious history and suggesting that some nominations were made solely to boost ratings.

That said, he made it clear from the beginning that he refused to acknowledge any sacred cows as host, with one pre-show ad that aired on Comedy Central ending with him saying "I'll be there, insulting them, throughout," Gervais says at the end. "Trying to make 'em cry. That's good to watch."

Award season in the video game industry is underway.

The Writer's Guild of America has put out a call for submissions for its Video game writing award, which will be presented alongside similar nods for film and television writing Feb. 19. Submissions are being accepted through Dec. 1.

This will be the fifth year the Guild has recognized storytelling in video games. To be eligible, the title must have been released between Dec 1, 2010 and Nov. 30, 2011.

Previous WGA Videogame Writing Award winners include: Dead Head Fred (written by Dave Ellis and Adam Cogan) in 2008, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (writers Haden Blackman, Shawn Pitman, John Stafford and Cameron Suey) in 2009, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (written by Amy Hennig) in 2010, and most recentlyAssassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Story by Patrice Desilets, Jeffrey Yohalem, Corey May; Lead Script Writer:Jeffrey Yohalem; Script Writers: Ethan Petty, Nicholas Grimwood, Matt Turner) in 2011.

Earlier this year, Christopher Tin won the first Grammy award for a song featured in a video game. Now the floodgates may be about to open.

The Recording Academy has announced a restructuring of its awards that will put games on equal footing with film and television for the first time.

Four categories now openly welcome video game music:

• * The Music for Visual Media (Motion, Television, Video Game Music, or Other Visual Media)

• * Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media (Motion, Television, Video Game Music, or Other Visual Media)
• * Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (Motion, Television, Video Game Music, or Other Visual Media)
• * Best Song Written for Visual Media (Motion, Television, Video Game Music, or Other Visual Media)

"Every year, we diligently examine our Awards structure to develop an overall guiding vision and ensure that it remains a balanced and viable process," said Neil Portnow, president and CEO of The Academy. "After careful and extensive review and analysis of all Categories and Fields, it was objectively determined that our Grammy Categories be restructured to the continued competition and prestige of the highest and only peer-recognized award in music."

Tin's Grammy, for the track "Baba Yetu," sort of snuck a gaming song in the back door last year. Though it first appeared in 2005's "Civilization IV," the song wasn't eligible until it appeared on an audio recording in 2009. This rule change eliminates that eligibility hurdle.

Grammy officials say they've never had a problem with including video game music. Rather, they say, publishers never bothered to submit entries. With the changes, they're hoping to change that.

"Many people from the game community have been asking us to create a special category for games over the years, but the main reason we haven't is because we have received very few entries from game publishers," Bill Freimuth, vice president of The Academy, told IndustryGamers

The Emmy Awards may be over for this year, but the door is already opening for 2011.  

The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences today began accepting entries for the 2011 International Digital Emmy Awards. These are awards meant to recognize excellence in content that is created on non-traditional platforms, such as the Internet, mobile products and interactive TV. The content must originate outside of the U.S.

There are three categories to the awards:

Digital Program: Children & Young People
Digital Program: Fiction
Digital Program: Non-Fiction

This year’s awards went to the U.K.’s “Primeval Evolved” for Fiction, New Zealand’s “Reservoir Hill” in the Children and Young People category and “Digital Revolution” – also from the U.K. – for Non-Fiction.

Entry forms are available at the Academy’s Website.

There are a lot of “Best of show” awards given out at E3, but none carry the weight of the Game Critics Awards. Respected journalists from major publications team together for these honors, voting on the best games and hardware collectively.  

This year’s winners have been announced – and it’s Nintendo’s 3DS handheld gaming system that walked away with the “Best of Show” award. id Software’s “Rage” and Valve’s “Portal 2” both earned multiple awards in sub-categories.  (In order for a game to be eligible for an award, publishers are required to give judges hands-on time with the E3 demo. This is to ensure that games are actually playable and not just canned video presentations.)

The full list of winners (after the break):

This Sunday’s Academy Awards are different than ones of previous years. While previous Oscar ceremonies had plenty of offerings for film fans, the iPhone was never the force it is now.  

With the app explosion has come a series of widgets that can help enhance the viewing experience – and help build pre-show excitement. We’ve put together a short list of ones that seem a natural fit for the show – some officially tied to the show, some that are just fun distractions for film fans. Prices are noted in the listings.

The Oscars (free) - The official 2010 Oscars App from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Includes the ability to share pics over Twitter & Facebook and view trailers for all nominated films.

The Oscar Guide & The Razzie Guide (free) - Comprehensive histories of the awards shows that celebrate the best – and worst – Hollywood has to offer. All award categories are included and each has a robust search engine.

The Streamy Awards might not have the name recognition of the Academy Awards or the Emmys, but when it comes to Web television, they’re the highest honor a series can receive.  

The International Academy of Web Television rolled out this year’s list of nominees today – and “The Bannen Way” and “The Guild” led the pack with seven nominations each. “Easy to Assemble,” a comedy about previously successful actors who now work at IKEA, earned six nods. (UPDATE: "Easy to Assemble" creator Illeana Douglas checked in to note that the show actually has seven noms, as its show within a show - "Sparhusen" received a nod for best music.)

I’ll have a story about the nominations in tomorrow’s daily edition, but there just wasn’t room to list 'em all. (Not surprising when you consider there are 34 categories.). That full list is after the break.

Web television is still very much a field in its infancy, but it has some truly remarkable programming. “The Guild,” last year’s winner for best comedy and a nominee again this year, might sound like it’s written for a niche audience (following the lives of a group of hapless online gaming addicts), but its humor is universal. (Personal note: My wife, who largely rolls her eyes and mocks me when I try to get her to watch anything with nerd cred is a huge fan of the show.)

“Kevin Pollack’s Chat Show” is often more entertaining than anything in the late night wars. And “Auto-Tune the News” is quickly gaining a following among news junkies. If you haven’t yet bothered exploring original episodic Web series, here’s a list that might change your mind about the medium – with links to their pages to make it even easier.