Spike TV's "Video Game Awards" returns this year with a 5th anniversary celebration that will honor the year's greatest achievements in gaming. This year, HALO 3 and BIOSHOCK lead the way, with seven nominations apiece, including Game of the Year.

Spike TV's 2007 "Video Game Awards" tapes Friday, Dec. 7th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and will premiere Sunday, Dec. 9th (9:00-11:00 pm, ET/PT).

Nominees for the awards were determined by the VGA Advisory Council, made up of a group of the most well-respected experts in the industry who, for the first time in history, will also determine the show's winners. Games released between Nov. 16, 2006 and Dec. 1, 2007 were eligible for nomination. Fan voting, however, will not be left out, as the winner in the Most Addictive Game category will be solely determined by the fans. Voting for the award begins today exclusively at www.vga.spiketv.com, and will close Saturday, Dec. 8.

The nominees for Spike TV's 2007 "Video Game Awards" are:

* Game Of The Year
BIOSHOCK (2K Games/ 2K Boston -- 2K Australia)
HALO 3 (Microsoft Game Studios/ Bungie Studios)
THE ORANGE BOX (Valve/ Valve)
MASS EFFECT (Microsoft Game Studios/ BioWare)

* Studio Of The Year
2K Boston/ 2K Australia
Bungie Studios
Valve
Harmonix

* Best Shooter
HALO 3 (Microsoft Game Studios/ Bungie Studios)
CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE (Activision/ Infinity Ward)
THE ORANGE BOX (Valve/ Valve)
BIOSHOCK (2K Games/ 2K Boston -- 2K Australia)

* Best RPG
MASS EFFECT (Microsoft Game Studios/ BioWare)
ETERNAL SONATA (Namco Bandai Games/ tri-Crescendo)
FINAL FANTASY TACTICS: THE WAR OF THE LIONS (Square Enix/ Square Enix)
SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI: PERSONA 3 (Atlus/ Atlus)

* Best Military Game
CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE (Activision/ Infinity Ward)
TOM CLANCY'S GHOST RECON ADVANCED WARFIGHTER 2 (Ubisoft/ Red Storm Ent. -- Ubisoft Paris)
WORLD IN CONFLICT (Sierra/ Massive Ent.)
TOM CLANCY'S RAINBOW SIX VEGAS (Ubisoft/ Ubisoft Montreal)

* Best Individual Sports Game
SKATE (Electronic Arts/ EA Black Box)
TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 08 (Electronic Arts/ EA Tiburon)
TONY HAWK'S PROVING GROUND (Activision/ Neversoft)
VIRTUA TENNIS 3 (Sega/ Sega-AM2)

* Best Handheld Game
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: PHANTOM HOURGLASS (Nintendo/ Nintendo)
FINAL FANTASY TACTICS: THE WAR OF THE LIONS (Square Enix/ Square Enix)
PUZZLE QUEST: CHALLENGE OF THE WARLORDS (D3Publisher/ Infinite Interactive)
SYPHON FILTER: LOGAN'S SHADOW (Sony Computer Ent./ Sony Bend)

* Best Graphics
BIOSHOCK (2K Games/ 2K Boston -- 2K Australia)
CRYSIS (Electronic Arts/ Crytek)
CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE (Activision/ Infinity Ward)
MASS EFFECT (Microsoft Game Studios/ BioWare)

* Best Game Based On A Movie Or TV Show
THE SIMPSONS GAME (Electronic Arts/ EA Redwood Shores)
NARUTO: RISE OF A NINJA (Ubisoft/ Ubisoft Montreal)
THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE: SHADOWS OF ANGMAR (Midway Games -- Turbine/ Turbine)
JOHN WOO PRESENTS STRANGLEHOLD (Midway Games/ Midway Games)

* Best Rhythm Game
ROCK BAND (MTV Games/ Harmonix)
GUITAR HERO III: LEGENDS OF ROCK (Activision/ Neversoft)
JAM SESSIONS (Ubisoft/ Plato)
GUITAR HERO ENCORE: ROCK THE 80S (Activision/ Harmonix)

* Best Driving Game
FORZA MOTORSPORT 2 (Microsoft Game Studios/ Turn 10 Studios)
PROJECT GOTHAM RACING 4 (Microsoft Game Studios/ Bizarre Creations)
DIRT (Codemasters/ Codemasters)
NEED FOR SPEED PROSTREET (Electronic Arts/ EA Black Box)

* Best Action Game
GOD OF WAR II (Sony Computer Entertainment/ SCE Studios Santa Monica)
ASSASSIN'S CREED (Ubisoft/ Ubisoft Montreal)
SUPER MARIO GALAXY (Nintendo/ Nintendo)
RATCHET & CLANK FUTURE: TOOLS OF DESTRUCTION (Sony Computer Ent./ Insomniac Games)

* Best Team Sports Game
MADDEN NFL 08 (Electronic Arts/ EA Tiburon)
NHL 08 (Electronic Arts/ EA Canada)
NBA 2K8 (2K Sports/ Visual Concepts)
WINNING ELEVEN: PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2007 (Konami/ Konami)

* Best Soundtrack