CATEGORIES AND NOMINEES ANNOUNCED FOR SPIKE TV'S "VIDEO GAME AWARDS 2004"
HOSTED BY SNOOP DOGG

"Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," "Halo 2" and "Half-Life 2" Lead The Way with 5 Noms Each

Musical Performances Include SUM 41, Ludacris and

First Ever Live Performances By Snoop Dogg and The Doors

2nd Annual Awards Take Place LIVE Tuesday, December 14 in Los Angeles

NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 16, 2004 - Spike TV today announced the categories, nominees and several performances scheduled for the 2nd annual VIDEO GAME AWARDS. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar Games), Halo 2 (Microsoft) and Half-Life 2 (Vivendi Universal Games) top this year's nominees list with five nominations each. To reflect the video game industry's expanding influence upon popular culture, this year, Spike TV has added new award categories such as "Designer of the Year," and "Best New Technology." Winners for this year's awards will be revealed at the Spike TV's VIDEO GAME AWARDS 2004, hosted by Snoop Dogg premiering LIVE from Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday, December 14 at 9 PM ET/8C.

"Video games have come a long way since the days of crude graphics and synthesized sounds. Games have totally come of age and gaming is now a multi-billion dollar industry," says Albie Hecht, president of Spike TV. "Spike TV's bringing out the heavy gaming hitters with Snoop Dogg leading the way to celebrate the excitement and ingenuity of video games and the creative minds behind the games that have captivated gamers over the past year."

In addition to handing out awards in 24 categories, Spike TV's VIDEO GAME AWARDS 2004 will feature musical performances including SUM 41, Ludacris and for the first time ever, a special live performance by Snoop Dogg and the remaining members of The Doors singing "Riders on the Storm."

Nominees of Spike TV's VIDEO GAME AWARDS 2004 were determined by the Video Game Awards Advisory Board, made up of a group of gaming industry experts. Winners will be determined by votes from the Advisory Board and consumer voting. Viewers will exclusively determine the winner in three award categories -- these are the Fan Favorite awards of "Most Addictive Game" and "Best Gaming Website" as well as the Viewers Choice award of "Best Gaming Publication." Voting for this year's nominees on SpikeTV.com starts today, Nov. 16 and runs through Dec. 14. Fans logging onto SpikeTV.com can view clips of nominated games and other streaming video and information leading up to the show. For the first time this year, fans who are Virgin Mobile subscribers will be able to vote for Spike TV's VIDEO GAME AWARDS 2004 nominees directly from the Virgin Extras Menu on their wireless phones.

Following are the categories and nominees for Spike TV's VIDEO GAME AWARDS 2004 (nominees listed in alphabetical order):

GAME OF THE YEAR
Burnout 3: Takedown (Electronic Arts)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar Games)
Half-Life 2 (Vivendi Universal Games)
Halo 2 (Microsoft Game Studios)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Konami)

BEST GAME BASED ON A MOVIE
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay (Vivendi Universal Games)
GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (Electronic Arts)
Spider-Man 2 (Activision)
Star Wars: Battlefront (LucasArts)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A HUMAN-FEMALE
Brooke Burke - Need for Speed Underground 2 (Electronic Arts)
Judi Dench - Goldeneye: Rogue Agent (Electronic Arts)
Carmen Electra - Def Jam: Fight For New York (Electronic Arts)
Jennifer Garner - Alias (Acclaim)
Heidi Klum - James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (Electronic Arts)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A HUMAN-MALE
Vin Diesel - The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (Vivendi Universal Games)
Hugh Jackman - Van Helsing (Vivendi Universal Games)
Samuel L. Jackson - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar Games)
Christopher Lee - GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (Electronic Arts)
Tobey McGuire - Spider-Man 2 (Activision)

HOTTEST VIDEO VIXENS
Tina Armstong - Dead or Alive Ultimate (Tecmo)
Carmen Electra - Def Jam: Fight For NY (Electronic Arts)
BloodRayne - BloodRayne 2 (Majesco Games)
Luba Licious - Leisure Suit Larry: Magda Cum Laude (Vivendi Universal Games)
Rachel Teller (played by Brooke Burke) - Need for Speed Underground 2 (Electronic Arts)

GTO PONTIAC BEST DRIVING GAME
Burnout 3: Takedown - (Electronic Arts)
NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup - (Electronic Arts)
Need For Speed Underground 2 - (Electronic Arts)

BEST SPORTS GAME
ESPN NFL 2K5 (Sega)
Madden NFL 2005 (Electronic Arts)
NBA Ballers (Midway)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 (Electronic Arts)
Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (Activision)

BEST FIGHTING GAME
Def Jam: Fight For New York (Electronic Arts)
Dead or Alive Ultimate (Tecmo)
Fight Night 2004 (Electronic Arts)
Mortal Kombat: Deception (Midway)
WWE: Smackdown! vs. Raw (THQ)

BEST ACTION GAME
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar Games)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Konami)
Ninja Gaiden (Tecmo)

BEST FIRST PERSON ACTION
Doom 3 (Activision)
Far Cry (Ubisoft)
Halo 2 (Microsoft Game Studios)
Half-Life 2 (Vivendi Universal Games)
Unreal Tournament 2004 (Atari)

BEST SONG IN A VIDEO GAME
Chingy - "I Do" Need for Speed Underground 2 (Electronic Arts)
Green Day - "American Idiot" Madden NFL 2005 (Electronic Arts)
Jimmy Eat World - "Pain" Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (Activision)
Terror Squad -"Lean Back"- Need for Speed Underground 2 (Electronic Arts)
Will I Am -"GO" NBA Live 2005 (Electronic Arts)

BEST SOUNDTRACK
GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (Electronic Arts)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar Games)
Halo 2 (Microsoft Game Studios)
Katamari Damacy (Namco)
Madden NFL 2005 (Electronic Arts)

DESIGNER OF THE YEAR
Sam Houser and Rockstar North, for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar Games / Rockstar North)
Tomonobu Itagaki and Team Ninja, for Ninja Gaiden (Tecmo / Team Ninja)
Jason Jones and Bungie Studios, for Halo 2 (Microsoft Game Studios / Bungie Software)
Hideo Kojima for Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Konami / KCEJ)
Alex Ward and Criterion, for Burnout 3: Takedown (Electronic Arts / Criterion)

MOST ADDICTIVE GAME- VIEWER'S CHOICE
Burnout 3: Takedown (Electronic Arts)
City of Heroes (NCsoft)
Donkey Konga (Nintendo)
Katamari Damacy (Namco)
The Sims 2 (Electronic Arts)

BEST GAMING PUBLICATION-FAN FAVORITE
Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)
Game Informer
Official Playstation Magazine
Official Xbox Magazine
GMR

BEST GAMING WEB SITE-FAN FAVORITE
www.1up.com
www.gamespot.com
www.gamespy.com
www.ign.com
www.shacknews.com

BEST MILITARY GAME
Call of Duty: Finest Hour (Activision)
Conflict: Vietnam (Global Star Software)
Full Spectrum Warrior (THQ)
Rome: Total War (Activision)
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (THQ)

BEST PC GAME
Doom 3 (Activision)
Half-Life 2 (Vivendi Universal Games)
Rome: Total War (Activision)
The Sims 2 (Electronic Arts)

BEST WIRELESS GAME
CBS Sportsline Baseball 2004 (Mforma)
Jamdat Sports NFL 2005 (Jamdat Mobile)
Might and Magic (Ubisoft - Gameloft)
National Treasure (Starwave)

BEST GRAPHICS
Doom 3 (Activision)
Half-Life 2 (Vivendi Universal Games)
Halo 2 (Microsoft Game Studios)
Ninja Gaiden (Tecmo)

BEST NEW TECHNOLOGY
Half-Life 2 engine (Vivendi Universal Games / Valve)
Nintendo DS (Nintendo)
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 (NVIDIA)
Spherex XBOX 5.1 Surround Sound System (Spherex Inc.)

BEST HANDHELD
Astro Boy: Omega Factor (Sega)
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (Nintendo)
Metroid: Zero Mission (Nintendo)
Pokemon FireRed Version (Nintendo)

BEST MASS MULTI-PLAYER GAME
City of Heroes (NCsoft)
Everquest II (Sony Online Entertainment)
Final Fantasy XI (Square Enix)

BEST RPG
The Bard's Tale (InXile Entertainment)
Fable (Microsoft Game Studios)
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (Atlus Co.)
X-Men Legends (Activision)
Sponsors of Spike TV's VIDEO GAME AWARDS 2004 are America Online, Campbell's(r) Chunky Soup, Dentyne Tango(tm), Pontiac, Mountain Dew, RadioShack, Taco Bell(r) and Virgin Mobile.

Spike TV President Albie Hecht will serve as the Spike TV's 2004 VIDEO GAME AWARDS Executive Producer. Casey Patterson is Co-Executive Producer with Scott Fishman and Magda Liolis as Producers. Jim Burns is the Executive in Charge of Production for Spike TV.

Spike TV, the first network for men, is available in 87 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), owns and operates the following television programming services -- MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, mtvU, VHI, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN, MTV INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 12 digital services, all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.

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