The Video Game Awards (as well as G-Phoria, another game award show presented by the former video game channel G4) have been heavily criticized since its inception (the first one in particular was universally panned for numerous reasons). One common criticism is that the VGAs are merely a popularity contest. This means that console games are more likely to win or be nominated over PC games. Another controversy is that the VGAs tend to ignore games released for the Nintendo GameCube and Nintendo in general. Thier Anti-Nintendo policies were basically proven as fact when Super Mario Galaxy wasn't nominated for Game of the Year, even though it was the second best reviewed game of all time, scoring higher than all the other games on the list by most critics.
In the very first VGAs, Halo on the PC won the best shooter category when it was technically a two year old game ported to another system by this point and should have been an invalid choice. Also in the first VGAs, during one year's shooters nominee preview, they spelled SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs "SOCMO." A similar situation arose the next year when Samuel L. Jackson repeatedly referred to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as "Grand Theft Auto 2", though San Andreas is the fifth game in the series. The game was also shown as "Grand Theft Auto 3: San Andreas" when displayed. [1]
Another common criticism is too much focus on the celebrities than the games, as well as the general tackiness of the show. According to some, the organizers also over emphasize on things that visually attract audiences, rather than anything actually relevant to video games.
The 2005 awards had also received criticism for having nominations for Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie and 50 Cent: Bulletproof (the latter of which was nominated for game of the year, despite being panned by critics and gamers alike). Both games had just been released when the special had aired, but after the filming, citing the possibility that the show was merely used as an advertising campaign for both games. The same could likely go for letting the TNA iMPACT! video game having a sneak peak at the awards, and possibly not letting WWE video games get nominated, since TNA iMPACT! is a Spike show, in hopes of avoiding more competition.