Check out Inside Gaming’s latest episode on the Machinima Inside Gaming channel on YouTube.  The new episode features a surprise or two, say hi to (former) G4TV guy, Mr. Sark, as he joins Inside Gaming, and also news about Pandemic Studios & Saboteur, updates to Xbox Live & PSN, and breaking rumors about Activision’s new studio Sledgehammer’s possible involvement with a prequel to Modern Warfare 2.

Not to mention great sneak peeks at Final Fantasy XXIII, Dante’s Inferno, Infamous 2, Dead Space 2, and BF Bad Co. 2.

Don’t forget also about the Inside Gaming Awards. This coming Friday’s episode of Inside Gaming will announce all the nominees and categories. But if you don’t want to wait until then for more details about the Awards, the categories list and the list of nominees? Well, check out the press release below:

MACHINIMA.COM TO DEBUT THE WORLDS LARGEST VIDEO GAME AWARD SHOW ON YOUTUBE

The “Inside Gaming Awards” Created for Global Gaming Audience Los Angeles, CA – November 24, 2009 – Machinima.com – the premier online video entertainment network for gamers – announces a new video game award show — the “Inside Gaming Awards”. Theawards will take place on December 11th 2009, the night before the Spike TV Video Game Awards, and will provide a celebration and alternative look at the recent year in gaming. The “Inside Gaming Awards” has been created to specifically appeal to the vast community of global gamers that are online as evidenced by the 60 million monthly video views that Machinima.com delivers.

The “Inside Gaming Awards” will form two special editions of the “Inside Gaming” series. The first special will broadcast on November 27th, 2009 with “Inside Gaming’s” host “The Dead Pixel” launching over 90 nomination videos across 18 categories including: Game of the Year; Best Game Cinematography; Best Trailer; Best Multiplayer; Best Art Direction; Best Control; Best Replayability; Best Indie Game; Best DLC (Downloadable Content); Best Downloadable Game; Most Original Game; Best Game Innovation; Best Original Score; Most Compelling Character; Best Weapon; Best Narrative; Best Sound Design; and Best Animation.

Nominees will be eligible for two separate awards – the official industry “Inside Gaming Award” and a “Gamer’s Choice Award”, which will be chosen by community votes between the dates of Nov. 27th and December 7th. Community votes will be counted based on the number of views each nomination video receives during the two week voting period. (For a complete list of nominees please reference the appendix of this release).

The second special of the “Inside Gaming Awards” will air on December 15th and will be a special show to report on the winners and other industry news from the official “Inside Gaming Awards” private event to be held at the Redbull House, Santa Monica on Friday, December 11th.

All of the “Inside Gaming Awards” special shows will be launched as a part of the normal “Inside Gaming” series schedule and be available on Machinima.com’s YouTube channel. The Machinima channel on YouTube (YouTube.com/machinima) is the #1 most popular entertainment channel of all time on YouTube with more than 700 million video views, it is by far the largest audience of video game fans in the world and the new “Inside Gaming Awards” was created specifically for this dedicated global community.

“The paradigm has shifted — we are seeing huge numbers of gamers on the web which the staggering growth of the machinima channel on YouTube channel truly validates. Given this, it was natural for us look for more ways to deliver interesting and unique original gaming content that would satisfy this expansive gaming audience that lives online” said Machinima.com CEO and Chairman, Allen DeBevoise.

“Inside Gaming and its host, “The Dead Pixel”, has become a leading voice for gamers on the web delivering a unique and notable gaming news show with a strong comedic edge. We are thrilled to leverage one of our flagship brands to create this awards show that will recognize those creators and innovators who continue to raise the bar in video games“

“Video Game related content is a big growth area on YouTube. Machinima.com has grown its audience to become a top destination for gamers on YouTube and is currently the number one YouTube entertainment channel,” said Kevin Yen, Director of Strategic Partnerships for YouTube.

Inside Gaming has delivered comprehensive coverage of the most important industry and consumer events including E3, PAX, GamesCom, and Comic Con. Inside Gaming’s coverage of each of the major events of 2009 has delivered an average of 15 million video views during the week of the respective events and has delivered unmatched marketing opportunities for advertisers associating with the Machinima.com Network during such events. Inside Gaming will cover approximately 20 events of interest to gamers in 2010.

Since the company’s inception, Machinima.com has rapidly expanded to provide comprehensive and compelling entertainment content focused on gaming within the core 18 – 34 demographic and generates more than 60 million video views per month across its network, making it the number one entertainment destination for gamers, developers, publishers and fans. The word “Machinima” is a loose hybrid of the words “machine” and “cinema” and is used to describe the process of creating realtime animation by manipulating a videogame’s real-time engine and assets.

The “Inside Gaming Awards” Official Nominees for 2009

Game of the Year

  1. Batman Arkham Asylum (Eidos/Warner Bros, Rocksteady Studios)
  2. Borderlands (2K Games, Gearbox Software)
  3. Halo 3: ODST (Microsoft, Bungie)
  4. Modern Warfare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)
  5. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Sony, Naughty Dog)

Best Trailer

  1. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (Konami)
  2. Halo 3: ODST (Microsoft, Bungie)
  3. Modern Warfare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)
  4. Star Wars: The Old Republic (LucasArts/BioWare)
  5. Resident Evil: The Dark Side Chronicles (Capcom)

Best Multiplayer

  1. Borderlands (2K Games, Gearbox Software)
  2. Left 4 Dead 2 (Valve, distributed by EA)
  3. Modern Warfare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)
  4. Street Fighter IV (Capcom)
  5. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Sony, Naughty Dog)

Best Narrative

  1. Assassin’s Creed 2 (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)
  2. Brutal Legend (EA, Double Fine)
  3. Halo 3 ODST (Microsoft, Bungie)
  4. Modern Warfare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)
  5. Uncharted 2 (Sony, Naughty Dog)

Best Art Direction

  1. Assassin’s Creed 2 (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)
  2. Batman Arkham Asylum (Eidos/Warner Bros, Rocksteady Studios)
  3. Borderlands (2K Games, Gearbox Software)
  4. Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Ignition Entertainment, VanillaWare)
  5. The Saboteur (EA, Pandemic)

Best Animation

  1. Assassin’s Creed 2 (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)
  2. Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eidos/Warner Bros, Rocksteady Studios)
  3. Brutal Legend (EA, Double Fine)
  4. Street Fighter IV Capcom)
  5. Uncharted 2 (Sony, Naughty Dog)

Best Game Cinematography

  1. Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)
  2. Batman Arkham Asylum (Eidos/Warner Bros, Rocksteady Studios)
  3. Brutal Legend (EA, Double Fine)
  4. Modern Warfare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)
  5. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Sony, Naughty Dog)

Best Replayability

  1. Borderlands (2K Games, Gearbox Software)
  2. Fat Princess (Sony, Titan Studios)
  3. Left 4 Dead 2 (Valve, distributed by EA)
  4. Modern Warefare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)
  5. Street Fighter IV (Capcom)

Best Indie Game

  1. Auditorium (Cipher Prime)
  2. Groov (Funkmasonry Industries)
  3. I MAED A GAM3 W1TH ZOMBIES 1N IT!!!1 (Ska Studios)
  4. Osmos (Hemisphere Games)
  5. Zeno Clash (ACE Team)

Most Compelling Character

  1. Eddie Riggs ‐ Brutal Legend (EA, Double Fine)
  2. The Joker – Batman Arkham Asylum (Eidos/Warner Bros, Rocksteady Studios)
  3. Nathan Drake – Uncharted 2 (Sony, Naughty Dog)
  4. Ezio – Assassin’s Creed 2 (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)
  5. “Gay Tony” Prince – GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony (Rockstar, Take Two Interactive)

Best DLC (best content pack/expansion content)

  1. Burnout Paradise – Big Surf Island (EA, Criterion)
  2. Call of Duty: World at War – Map Packs (Activision, Treyarch)
  3. Fallout 3 – Expansions (Bethesda)
  4. Gears of War 2 – All Fronts Collection (Microsoft, Epic Games)
  5. Grand Theft Auto IV – Expansions (Rockstar Games, Rockstar North)

Best Downloadable Game (games only available digitally for purchase or free download)

  1. Battlefield 1943 (EA, DICE)
  2. Fat Princess (Sony, Titan Studios)
  3. Flower (Sony, thatgamecompany)
  4. Plants vs. Zombies (PopCap)
  5. Shadow Complex (Chair Entertainment, Microsoft)

Best Control

  1. Halo 3 ODST (Microsoft, Bungie)
  2. Left 4 Dead 2 (Valve, distributed by EA)
  3. Modern Warfare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)
  4. Red Faction: Guerrilla (THQ, Volition)
  5. Street Fighter IV (Capcom)

Most Original Game

  1. 1 vs. 100 (Microsoft)
  2. Borderlands(2K Games, Gearbox Software)
  3. Demon’s Souls (Atlus)
  4. Plants vs. Zombies(PopCap)
  5. Scribblenauts (Warner Bros, 5th Cell)

Best Game Innovation

  1. 1 vs. 100 ‐ Massively Multiplayer Online game show with real prizes (Microsoft)
  2. Demon’s Souls ‐ Multiplayer integration (Atlus)
  3. DJ Hero ‐ Turntable controller (Activision, FreeStyleGames)
  4. Red Faction: Guerrilla ‐ Environmental destruction system (THQ, Volition)
  5. Tony Hawk Ride – Experimentation with motion control (Activision, Robomodo)

Best Original Score

  1. Assassin’s Creed 2 (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)
  2. Brutal Legend (EA, Double Fine)
  3. Halo 3: ODST (Microsoft, Bungie)
  4. Modern Warfare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)
  5. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Sony, Naughty Dog)

Best Weapon

  1. Nano Rifle ‐ Red Faction: Guerrilla (THQ, Volition)
  2. Silenced pistol ‐ Halo: ODST (Microsoft, Bungie)
  3. Hidden gun ‐ Assassin’s Creed 2 (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)
  4. AC ‐ 130 ‐ Modern Warfare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)
  5. Clementine – Brutal Legend (EA, Double Fine)

Best Sound Design

  1. Brutal Legend (EA, Double Fine)
  2. Borderlands (2K Games, Gearbox Software)
  3. Left 4 Dead 2 (Valve, distributed by EA)
  4. Modern Warfare 2 (Activision, Infinity Ward)
  5. Uncharted 2 (Sony, Naughty Dog)