The 10th Annual Spike Video Game Awards are now behind us, and while in past years we have criticized the shows awards but applauded its ability to secure some pretty high profile exclusives Diablo 4 Gold
, this year was almost a complete role reversal. While the trailers on display during the event were still intriguing there was a significant lack of new or unexpected "stuff" on display, even if there was plenty of trailers to go around.

Save for the reveal of The Phantom Pain -- a game that may or may not be Metal Gear Solid 5 -- gamers knew exactly what they were going to get out of the show. Yes, it was nice to see some of BioShock Infinite's sandbox-esque gameplay and to better understand when Gears of War: Judgment resides in the timeline, but this show is usually the winter E3, and it really wasn't this year.

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That could be due to a lack of content -- a byproduct of the generational transition from PS3 to PS4, Xbox 360 to 720, and so on and so forth -- or it could just be that the mystery titles are not yet ready for public criticism. A similar sentiment was felt after E3, with most coming away with the impression that if developers showed their in-development projects they would, at the same time, be forced to discuss Sony and Microsoft's new consoles.

Nevertheless, this is an awards show we are talking about after all, and on that front we were pleasantly surprised to see some of the year's standout titles receive some recognition. Even more surprising is the fact that new IPs or smaller franchises were able to come away with hardware in some pretty high profile categories. Games like Journey and Dishonored were able to beat out the likes of Assassin's Creed 3 and Borderlands 2 -- something we could never imagine happening even one year ago.

But most impressive of all is the fact that The Walking Dead -- a downloadable title that is arguably more an emotionally moving experience than a game -- was able to come away with Game of The Year. Granted, the competition might not have been as stiff (where was Diablo4?), but giving The Walking Dead the highest honor of the night makes a bold statement cheap Diablo IV Gold.