Spike’s 2008 Video Game Awards have come and gone. According to the vocal forumites, whose opinion we depend on for guidance, we don’t have our Oscars equivalent just yet. Some call them foul-mouthed, narrow-minded haters (not me of course), but I agree with their verdict this time. Admittedly that’s based on what little I actually got to watch. The show began at 2am my time, which meant my lasting power was already pretty minimal. However, what little I would’ve watched was cut down mercilessly thanks to Spike themselves. The only way those dastardly enough to live outside the US could tune in was through the Spike website’s live feed, and somehow that managed to completely screw up my PC’s audio codecs. Since I only fixed that at the ungodly hour of 4am, I have unashamedly thrown my hat into the ring of the 2008 VGA haters. Go away Spike, and leave my audio drivers in peace, you fiends.

One of the good things to come out of this nefarious excuse to watch Jack Black make a willing prat out of himself was the highly agreeable choice to award Best Studio to England’s own Media Molecule. Of course if they were Scottish, like Rockstar North, I’d call them Britain’s own Media Molecule. Being able to claim stuff that isn’t actually ours is why the British Empire was invented. In any case, let’s raise our flags, sing songs about ol’ Queenie, slap our bottoms, and down straight five cups of scolding Earl Grey in celebration of Sackboy’s glorious triumph (this is how the traditional British victory is celebrated).

Still, it’s not all Sunday roasted crumpets and bottles of Irish tea for Media Molecule. Unfortunately, the boys and girls from Guildford have not seen the sales a quality title like LittleBigPlanet merits. So far it’s approaching 500k in the US, whilst here in the UK it’s nearer the 200k mark. It’s an inauspicious start for Sackboy considering the heavy expectations burdening his burlap shoulders. Of course, it’s almost certainly a slow burner with bucket loads of potential future commercial success, but nonetheless it is a little worrying right now. The good news is that the excellent create-a-planet themed ads have finally hit British TV, most notably during the much desired X Factor Final’s ad break*. It seems more than a coincidence that Sackboy’s back in the top ten of this week’s UK sales chart.

*I read that somewhere, honest. I also read Alexandra won, and I also read that I’m glad she did.