The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences has announced the list of nominees for the 10th annual Interactive Achievement Awards, which will take place in a gala presentation at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Vegas next month. I'll be there.
Gears of War led the nominations with ten nods in categories like Overall Game of the Year, Console Game of the Year, etc. Twilight Princess and Oblivion did okay too, with six nominations each. What's really surprising, to me anyway, is that Wii Sports is also up for Game of the Year. It's a long shot, but hey. It's probably more likely to take the Innovation award.
Elite Beat Agents is up for portable game of the year, but against Brain Age and New Super Mario Bros. it's gonna be a tough fight.
The press release, plus the major categories, are after the jump. The full list can be found here.
10th ANNUAL
INTERACTIVE ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS SHIFTS INTO HIGH
GEAR
* *
GEARS OF WAR DOMINATES WITH 10
NOMINATIONS
CALABASAS, CA – January 22, 2007 – Epic
Games’ blockbuster shooter, Gears of War lead all games grabbing 10 nominations from The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) who announced the finalists for the 10th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. Bethesda Software’s fantasy role-playing game, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and the latest installment of the Nintendo classic, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess each nabbed six nods from the academy. The awards ceremony will be held on Feb. 8 in the “The Joint” at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in
Las Vegas and will be hosted by comedian, actor and video game enthusiast, Jay
Mohr.
Following is a partial list of finalists;
the complete list of finalists is available at www.interactive.org:
- Overall Game of the Year:
· Gears of War (P: Microsoft Game Studios, D: Epic Games, Producer: Rod Ferguson, Game Director: Michael Capps,
Creative Director: Cliff Bleszinski)· Wii Sports (P: Nintendo, D: Nintendo,
Executive Producer: Satoru Iwata, Producer: Katsuya Eguchi, Game Directors:
Keiza Ohta, Takayuki Shimamura, Yoshikazu
Yamashita)· The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (P: Nintendo, D: Nintendo, Producer: Shigeru Miyamoto,
Game Director: Eiji Aonuma, Executive Producer: Satoru
Iwata)· Guitar Hero 2 (P: Activision/Red Octane,
D: Harmonix, Producer: John Tam,
Game Director: Daniel Sussman, Creative Director: Josh
Randall)· Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (P: 2K Games,
D: Bethesda Softworks, Executive Producer: Todd
Howard) 2. Console Game of the
Year:· Gears of War (P: Microsoft Game Studios, D: Epic Games, Producer: Rod Ferguson, Game Director: Michael Capps,
Creative Director: Cliff Bleszinski)· The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (P: Nintendo, D: Nintendo, Producer: Shigeru Miyamoto,
Game Director: Eiji Aonuma, Executive Producer: Satoru
Iwata)· Wii Sports (P: Nintendo, D: Nintendo,
Executive Producer: Satoru Iwata, Producer: Katsuya Eguchi, Game Directors:
Keiza Ohta, Takayuki Shimamura, Yoshikazu
Yamashita)· Guitar Hero 2 (P: Activision/Red Octane, D: Harmonix, Producer: John Tam, Game Director: Daniel Sussman, Creative
Director: Josh Randall)· Viva Piñata (P: Microsoft Game Studios, D: Rare, Producer/Game Director/Creative Director: Greg
Mayles) 3. Computer Game of the
Year:· Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (P: 2K Games,
D: Bethesda Softworks, Executive Producer: Todd
Howard)· Company of Heroes (P: THQ, D: Relic, Producer/Game Director: John
Johnson, Creative Director: Sean Dunn)· Battlefield 2142 (P: Electronic Arts, D: D.I.C.E.)· Prey (P: 2K
Games, D: Human Head Studios,
Producer: Timothy S. Gerrtisen, Game Directors: Ted Halsted and Chris
Rhinehart)· Age of Empires III: The Warchiefs (P: Microsoft
Game Studios, D: Ensemble Studios,
Producer: Wally Wachi, Creative Director: Sandy
Petersen) 4. Outstanding Innovation in Gaming:
· Wii Sports (P: Nintendo, D: Nintendo,
Executive Producer: Satoru Iwata, Producer: Katsuya Eguchi, Game Directors:
Keiza Ohta, Takayuki Shimamura, Yoshikazu
Yamashita)· Nintendo Brain Age (P: Nintendo, D: Nintendo, Producer: Shinya Takahashi,
Game Director: Kouichi Kawamoto, Creative Directors: Kouichi Kawamoto, Noriko
Kitamura, Masamichi Sakaino, Shinji Kitahara, Yoshinori Katsuki, Tadashi
Matsushita, Masura Nishida)· Gears of War (P: Microsoft Game Studios, D: Epic Games, Producer: Rod Ferguson, Game Director: Michael Capps,
Creative Director: Cliff Bleszinski)· Viva Piñata (P: Microsoft Game Studios, D: Rare, Producer/Game Director/Creative Director: Greg
Mayles)· LocoRoco (P: Sony Computer Entertainment, D: Sony Computer Entertainment, Producer/Game
Director/Creative Director: Tsutomo
Kouno) 5. Handheld Game of the
Year:· LocoRoco (P: Sony Computer Entertainment, D: Sony Computer Entertainment, Producer/Game Director/Creative Director:
Tsutomu Kouno)· Elite Beat Agents (P: Nintendo, D: Nintendo, Producers: Shinya Saito and Masako Harada, Game Director/Game Designer: Keiichi
Yano)· New Super Mario Bros. (P: Nintendo, D: Nintendo, Producer: Hiroyuki Kimura,
Game Director: Shigeyuki Asuke, Design Director: Masanao
Arimoto)· Nintendo Brain Age (P: Nintendo, D: Nintendo, Producer: Shinya Takahashi,
Game Director: Kouichi Kawamoto, Creative Directors: Kouichi Kawamoto, Noriko
Kitamura, Masamichi Sakaino, Shinji Kitahara, Yoshinori Katsuki, Tadashi
Matsushita, Masura Nishida)· Lego Star Wars II (P: LucasArts, D: TT Games, Producer: Loz Doyle, Game
Director: Jon Burton, Creative Director: James
Cunliffe)“The discussion and debate among the panel concerning the nuances of each genre/award category reflects the commitment of the Academy’s peer panelists to critically evaluate each other’s work and to recognize great achievement,” said Joseph Olin, president, AIAS. “The Interactive Achievement
Awards is dedicated to acknowledging the people who create these innovative and excellent games.
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Since 1998, the Interactive Achievement Awards have recognized outstanding games, individuals and development teams that have contributed to the advancement of the multi-billion dollar worldwide entertainment software industry. All nominated titles in each category are played and evaluated by members of the peer panel. Interactive
Achievement Award recipients are then determined by a vote of qualified Academy members, which is secret, conducted online and supervised and certified by eBallot. The integrity of the system, coupled with a broad-based voting population of AIAS members, makes the
Interactive Achievement Awards the most credible, respected and recognized awards for interactive entertainment software.
