Watch the 2012 VGAs on Xbox Live with SmartGlass Enhancements

[Shawn Zipay]

The 2012 VGAs kick off tonight at 9PM (EST; 6PM PST) on Spike TV. If you don't have Spike, Microsoft will allow for Xbox Live members to watch the event live through their Xbox 360 consoles. In addition, those with the Xbox SmartGlass app will get an "unique second screen experience".

If you don't yet have SmartGlass, you can download the app for Windows, Windows Phone, Android, and iOS.

The VGAs will also be simulcast on MTV2, MTV Tr3s, Spike.com, and GameTrailers.com.

(via Major Nelson)

[K-16]

I wonder how many countries accessed the VGAs through Xbox Live when it aired live? Despite being listed as one of the countries to have it streamed, Canada apparently didn't get access to the Xbox Live/SmartGlass experience. It also seems that much of Europe didn't get access to it either, judging from comments from the U.K. , Ireland, and the Netherlands in Major Nelson's blog. How many countries outside of the US gained the voting and "second screen" features? What was GameTrailers' list of countries supposed to mean?

I know it will be up later on Xbox Live VOD, but I fail to see why anyone would care if they can't vote through SmartGlass (which also likely means VOD won't provide the SmartGlass experience since it isn't live at that point). From what it sounded like, those who didn't get access had a different dashboard, as in there is no link to get to the VGA stream, nor were there any live events listed in the Live Event Viewer. Furthermore, it doesn't seem to be a technical issue, but rather a legal issue for Canadians judging from what Major Nelson could be implying (if I am interpreting his words correctly).