The Spike Video Game Awards is known for a lot of things -- celebrity appearances, band performances, surprise trailer reveals -- but very rarely do you viewers experience a genuine shock when it comes to awarding Game of the Year. This year, however, that's exactly what happened last night when Telltale Games walked away with the top honor for their episodic video game series "The Walking Dead."

The five chapter series, which revolves around an escaped convict named Lee trying to keep himself and a young girl named Clementime alive, not only took home Game of the Year honors at the show, but also earned Telltale Games a Studio of the Year award for its work. The game also picked up several other awards, including Best Adapted Video Game, Best Performance By a Human Female (Melissa Hutchison as Clementine), and Best Downloadable Game.

The acclaim couldn't come at a better time, as Telltale Games is on the verge of releasing a retail packaged version of the game for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, due this Tuesday. The regular edition retails for $29.99, and a special edition, which features exclusive cover art by series artist Charles Adlard and a reprint of the first 48 issues of the acclaimed comic book series by creator Robert Kirkman and artists Tony Moore and Adlard, retails for $69.99.

"The Walking Dead" is available now for download on PC/Steam, Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.