The nominees for the annual Game Critics Awards, essentially a “best of E3” type of thing, have been announced. It should be noted that PlayStation 3 and Revolution were deemed “ineligible” for Best of Show, because judges could not experience “hands-on” play.
BY CATEGORY
Best of Show
– F.E.A.R. (Monolith Productions/Vivendi Universal Games for PC)
– Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Games Studio for Xbox 360)
– Spore (Maxis/Electronic Arts for PC)
– The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo for GameCube)
– Xbox 360 (Microsoft)
Best Original Game
– Indigo Prophecy (Quantic Dream/Atari for PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox)
– Nintendogs (Nintendo for Nintendo DS)
– Okami (Clover Studios/Capcom for PlayStation 2)
– Shadow of the Colossus (SCEI/SCEA for PlayStation 2)
– Spore (Maxis/Electronic Arts for PC)
Best PC Game
– Age of Empires III (Ensemble Studios/Microsoft Games Studios for PC)
– Battlefield 2 (Digital Illusions/Electronic Arts for PC)
– F.E.A.R. (Monolith Productions/Vivendi Universal Games for PC)
– Prey (Human Head Studios/3D Realms/2K Games for PC)
– Spore (Maxis/Electronic Arts for PC)
Best Console Game
– Black (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts for PlayStation 2, Xbox)
– Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Games Studios for Xbox 360)
– Okami (Clover Studios/Capcom for PlayStation 2)
– Shadow of the Colossus (SCEI/SCEA for PlayStation 2)
– The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo for GameCube)
Best Handheld Game
– Burnout Legends (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts for PSP)
– Infected (Planet Moon Studios/Majesco Games for PSP)
– Mario Kart DS (Nintendo for Nintendo DS)
– Nintendogs (Nintendo for Nintendo DS)
– SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo (Zipper/SCEA for PSP)
Best Peripheral / Hardware
– Game Boy Micro (Nintendo)
– Gizmondo (Tiger Telematics)
– PlayStation 3 (Sony Computer Entertainment/ Nvidia/IBM)
– Xbox 360 (Microsoft)
Best Action Game
– Battlefield 2 (Digital Illusions/Electronic Arts for PC)
– Black (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts for PS2, Xbox)
– Call of Duty 2 (Infinity Ward/Activision for PC, Xbox 360)
– F.E.A.R. (Monolith Productions/Vivendi Universal Games for PC)
– Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft for Xbox 360)
Best Action/Adventure Game
– Okami (Clover Studios/Capcom for PlayStation 2)
– Peter Jackson’s King Kong (UbiSoft for All Platforms)
– Shadow of the Colossus (SCEI/SCEA for PlayStation 2)
– The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo for GameCube)
– Ultimate Spider-Man (Treyarch/Activision for GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox)
Best Fighting Game
– Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects (Nihilistic/EA for GC/PS2/Xbox/PSP)
– Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (Paradox/Midway Games for PlayStation 2/Xbox)
– Soul Calibur III (Namco for PlayStation 2)
– The Con (Think and Feel/Sony for PSP)
Best Role Playing Game
– City of Villains (Cryptic Studios/NC Soft for PC)
– Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (Level 5/Square Enix for PS2)
– Hellgate: London (Flagship Studios/Namco for PC)
– Kingdom Hearts II (Square Enix for PS2)
– The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Software for PC / Xbox 360)
Best Racing Game
– Burnout Legends (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts for PSP)
– Burnout Revenge (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts for PlayStation 2/Xbox)
– Full Auto (Pseudo Interactive/Sega for Xbox 360)
– Mario Kart DS (Nintendo for Nintendo DS)
– Need for Speed Most Wanted (Electronic Arts for All Platforms)
Best Simulation Game
– Nintendogs (Nintendo for Nintendo DS)
– Sims 2 (Electronic Arts for All Consoles)
– Spore (Maxis/Electronic Arts for PC)
– The Movies (Lionhead Studios/Activision for PC)
– Trauma Center: Under the Knife (Atlus Co. for Nintendo DS)
Best Sports Game
– Blitz: The League (Midway for PS2/Xbox)
– Madden NFL 06 (EA Sports/Electronic Arts for All Platforms)
– Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland (Neversoft/Activision for All Platforms)
– Top Spin 2 (2K Sports for Xbox 360)
– Virtua Tennis: World Tour (Sega for PSP)
Best Strategy Game
– Age of Empires III (Ensemble Studios/Microsoft for PC)
– Civilization IV (Firaxis Games/2K Games for PC)
– Company of Heroes (Relic/THQ for PC)
– Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends (Big Huge Games/Microsoft for PC)
– Star Wars Empire At War (Petroglyph Games/LucasArts for PC)
Best Puzzle/Trivia/Parlor Game
– EyeToy: Kinetic (SCEE London Studio/SCEA for PS2)
– Mario Party 7 (Hudson/Nintendo for GameCube)
– Meteos (Q Entertainment/Nintendo for Nintendo DS)
– We Love Katamari (Namco for PS2)
– Yoot Saito’s Odama (Vivarium/Nintendo for GameCube)
Best Online Multiplayer Game
– Auto Assault (NetDevil/NCSoft for PC)
– Battlefield 2 (Digital Illusions/Electronic Arts for PC)
– City of Villains (Cryptic Studios/NCSoft for PC)
– SOCOM 3: U.S. NAVY SEALs (Zipper Interactive/SCEA for PS2)
– Star Wars Battlefront II (Pandemic Studios/LucasArts for PC, PS2, Xbox)
Games/Hardware With Multiple Nominations
Four Nominations
Spore
Three Nominations
Battlefield 2
F.E.A.R.
Gears of War
Nintendogs
Okami
Shadow of the Colossus
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Two Nominations
Age of Empires III
BLACK
Burnout Legends
City of Villains
Mario Kart DS
Xbox 360
Publisher Breakdown
16 Nominations
Electronic Arts (+5 from 2004, +10 from 2003)
12 Nominations
Nintendo (+1 from 2004, +6 from 2003)
8 Nominations
Microsoft (-1 from 2004, -5 from 2003)
Sony Computer Entertainment (Same as 2004, +2 from 2003)
4 Nominations
Activision (-2 from 2004, -3 from 2003)
3 Nominations
Capcom (Same as 2004, +1 from 2003)
Namco (new)
NCSoft (new)
Vivendi-Universal Games (-2 from 2004, -5 from 2003)
Take-Two Interactive (new)
2 Nominations
LucasArts (Same in 2004, -2 from 2003)
Midway (+1 from 2004, +2 from 2003)
Sega (new)
Square-Enix (new)
1 Nomination
Atari (new)
Atlus (new)
Majesco (new)
Tiger Telematics (new)
THQ (-2 from 2004, -4 from 2003)
UbiSoft (-3 from 2004, -1 from 2003)
Breakdown By Platform
PC — 29 (-1 from 2004, +3 from 2003)
PS2 — 26 (Same as 2004, +4 from 2003)
Xbox — 14 (-12 from 2004, -6 from 2003)
Xbox 360 — 12 (new)
GCN — 12 (-6 from 2004, -2 from 2003)
DS — 12 (+9 from 2004, n/a in 2003)
PSP — 11 (+9 from 2004, n/a in 2003)
Judges consist of staff from the following publications: TIME, Newsweek, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, Business 2.0, Maxim, Vibe, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Gannett News Service, San Jose Mercury News, Seattle Post, Computer Gaming World, Electronic Gaming Monthly, Game Informer, Gamepro, GameSpot, GameSpy, Comcast GamesNet, Hollywood Reporter, IGN, Official PlayStation Magazine, Official Xbox Magazine, PC Gamer, PSM, UGO.com, Yahoo! Games Domain, Bell Canada GamesMania, Game-Revolution, CNN/Money, G4TV, Electric Playground.
We’ll be sure to bring you the results on June 7th, 2005 when they are announced. Remember, the Advanced Media Network also has its own awards coming up, so stay tuned for ’em.мне очень нравится
