Spike TV today announced it nominees for its annual Video Game Awards show dubbed “VGA TEN” this year, celebrating it’s 10th year. Oly and I were honored to cover the event for you last year, and this year we are doing it again! The highly anticipated event is expected to draw a crowd of gaming fans from all over.

This year’s show will be hosted by Samuel L. Jackson, who’s recent appearance in last summer’s record breaking movie, “Marvel’s The Avengers” as Nick Fury is nothing short of awesome! He previously hosted the VGAs 3 times in 2005-2007.

“I’m thrilled to once again preside over the biggest night of gaming,” said Jackson. “And to all the gamers out there – you better circle the date right now and not make any plans that night – you don’t want to be that one guy among your friends who misses this show.”

This year’s confirmed musical talent will be Grammy award winning artists Linkin Park, performing “Castle of Glass” as featured in “Medal of Honor: Warfighter”, as well as a performance by Tenacious D.

Leading “VGA TEN,” with seven nominations each are “Borderlands 2″ and “Journey” Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed III,” is not far behind with six nominations while Bethesda Softworks’ “Dishonored,” EA’s “Mass Effect 3,” and Telltale Games’ “The Walking Dead: The Game” all have five nominations each.

Below are several of the nominees and categories for Spike TV’s “VGA TEN.” For a full list, please go to VGA.spike.com.

Game of the Year

“Assassin’s Creed III” (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal)
“Dishonored” (Bethesda Softworks/Arkane Studios)
“Journey” (Sony Computer Entertainment/thatgamecompany)
“Mass Effect 3” (Electronic Arts/BioWare)
“The Walking Dead: The Game” (Telltale Games)

Best Action Adventure Game

“Assassin’s Creed III” (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal)
“Darksiders II” (THQ/Vigil Games)
“Dishonored” (Bethesda Softworks/Arkane Studios)
“Sleeping Dogs” (Square Enix/United Front Games)

Best Shooter

“Borderlands 2” (2K Games/Gearbox Software)
“Call of Duty: Black Ops II” (Activision/Treyarch)
“Halo 4” (Microsoft Studios/343 Industries)
“Max Payne 3” (Rockstar Games)

Studio of the Year

343 Industries
Arkane Studios
Gearbox Software
Telltale Games

Most Anticipated Game

“BioShock Infinite” (2K Games/Irrational Games)
“Grand Theft Auto V” (Rockstar Games)
“South Park: The Stick of Truth” (THQ/Obsidian Entertainment)
“The Last of Us” (Sony Computer Entertainment/Naughty Dog)
“Tomb Raider” (Square Enix/Crystal Dynamics)

Spike TV’s 2012 Video Game Awards will air Friday, December 7, 6pm PST and will also be broadcast live on MTV2, MTV Tr3s, online livestream, and console.