Topic: 10th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards Announced

[Bloodworth]

Nintendo fans may be disappointed with the results.  -Updated with a triumphant press release from Nintendo.

Last night at the Annual DICE Summit in Las Vegas, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences announced the winners of the 10th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.  Gears of War was the big winner this year, taking eight of the thirty awards.      

Nintendo wins include three awards for Wii Sports, one award for Zelda, and one award for Brain Age.      

The awards are listed below, with Nintendo's wins in bold.    

Overall Game of the Year-- Gears of War
 Also nominated:
 Wii Sports
 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
 Guitar Hero II
 Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

   

Computer Game of the Year-- Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
 Also nominated:
 Company of Heroes
 Battlefield 2142
 Prey
 Age of Empires III: The Warchiefs

   

Console Game of the Year-- Gears of War
 Also nominated:
 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
 Wii Sports
 Guitar Hero II
 Viva Pinata

   

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming-- Wii Sports
 Also nominated:
 Brain Age
 Gears of War
 Viva Pinata
 LocoRoco

   

Outstanding Achievement in Animation-- Gears of War
 Also nominated:
 Daxter
 Lego Star Wars II
 Rayman Raving Rabidds
 Fight Night Round 3

   

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction-- Gears of War
 Also nominated:
 Final Fantasy XII
 Call of Duty 3
 Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas
 Viva Pinata

   

Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack-- Guitar Hero II
 Also nominated:
 SingStar Rocks!
 FIFA '07
 Marc Ecko's Getting Up
 Scarface

   

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition-- LocoRoco
 Also nominated:
 Call of Duty 3
 Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
 Black

   

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design-- Call of Duty 3
 Also nominated:
 Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
 Company of Heroes

   

Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance - Male-- Gears of War
 Also nominated:
 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
 Bully
 Lego Star Wars II
 Daxter

   

Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance - Female-- Viva Pinata
 Also nominated:
 Saints Row
 Desperate Housewives
 Bully
 Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

   

Outstanding Achievement in Story and Character Development-- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
 Also nominated:
 Sam & Max Episode 1: Culture Shock
 Saints Row
 24: The Game
 Dreamfall: The Longest Journey

   

Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering-- Wii Sports
 Also nominated:
 Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
 Gears of War
 Company of Heroes

   

Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play-- Gears of War
 Also nominated:
 Call of Duty 3
 Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
 Chromehounds
 Battlefield 2142

   

Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering-- Gears of War
 Also nominated:
 Viva Pinata
 Resistance: Fall of Man
 Call of Duty 3
 Company of Heroes

   

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design-- Wii Sports
 Also nominated:
 Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
 Company of Heroes
 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
 Brain Age

   

Sports Game of the Year-- Tony Hawk's Project 8
 Also nominated:
 MLB '06L The Show
 NBA 2K7
 FIFA '07
 NBA '07

   

Strategy Game of the Year-- Company of Heroes
 Also nominated:
 Star Wars: Empire at War
 Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II
 Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends
 Medieval II: Total War

   

First Person Action Game of the Year-- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas
 Also nominated:
 Resistance: Fall of Man
 Prey
 Half Life 2: Episode 1
 Black

   

Fighting Game of the Year-- Fight Night Round 3
 Also nominated:
 Mortal Kombat: Armageddon
 WWE Smackdown VS Raw 2006
 Tekken Dark Ressurection

   

Racing Game of the Year-- Burnout Revenge
 Also nominated:
 Test Drive Unlimited
 Excite Truck
 Full Auto 2: Battlelines
 Need for Speed: Carbon

   

Role-Playing Game of the Year-- Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
 Also nominated:
 Final Fantasy XII
 Final Fantasy III DS
 Titan Quest
 Phantasy Star Universe

   

Children's Game of the Year-- LocoRoco
 Also nominated:
 Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team
 Disney's Kim Possible: What's the Switch
 Over the Hedge
 Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning

   

Action/Adventure Game of the Year-- Gears of War
 Also nominated:
 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
 Saints Row
 Daxter

   

Handheld Game of the Year-- Brain Age
 Also nominated:
 LocoRoco
 Elite Beat Agents
 New Super Mario Bros.
 Lego Star Wars II

   

Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year(No Winner Shown At Print)
 Nominees:
 Eve Online: Revelations
 Guild Wars: Nightfall
 Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach
 Auto Assault

   

Family Game of the Year-- Guitar Hero II
 Also nominated:
 Rayman Raving Rabidds
 Viva Pinata
 Lego Star Wars II
 Brain Age

   

Simulation Game of the Year(No Winner Shown At Print)
 Nominees:
 Microsoft Flight Simulator X
 Sid Meier's Railroads!
 Tourist Trophy

   

Downloadable Game of the Year-- Bookworm Adventures
 Also nominated:
 Mystery Case Files: Prime Suspects
 Virtual Villagers: A New Home
 Diner Dash: Flo on the Go
 Plantasia

   

Mobile Game of the Year-- Orcs & Elves
 Also nominated:
 Tropical Madness
 Duckshot
 Brothers in Arms 3D

 Nintendo followed up this afternoon by issuing a press release touting the nominations and awards they received.    

NINTENDO HONORED FOR INNOVATION AS IT RIDES A WAVE OF COMMERCIAL SUCCESS

   

Video Game Industry Insiders Grant Wii and Nintendo DS Awards as The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for Wii Hits 1 Million Sales Milestone

   

REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 9, 2007 - The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences has honored Nintendo with five Interactive Achievement Awards, including Outstanding Innovation in Gaming for Wii Sportsā„¢. The hugely popular Wii title won three awards, while The Legend of ZeldaĀ®: Twilight Princess and Brain Ageā„¢: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day each took home honors. This critical recognition comes on the heels of dramatic commercial success, as the Wii version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess just crossed the 1 million sales mark in the United States, making it the fastest-selling launch title for any new video game system since Super MarioĀ® 64 for NintendoĀ® 64 some 10 years ago.

   

The awards were presented the night of Feb. 8 at the academy's annual Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain summit in Las Vegas. The awards are among the most respected in the interactive entertainment community.

   

"These awards, granted by a group of our industry peers, demonstrate that it's possible to please both new and experienced game players," says Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. "To see honors given to games as varied as Twilight Princess, Wii Sports and Brain Age tells us the industry hungers for new ideas and great games. We believe both Wii and Nintendo DS are specifically equipped to deliver those experiences."

   

Nintendo received 19 nominations in 11 different gaming categories, and came home with five awards. The complete list of Nintendo's Interactive Achievement Awards is as follows:

   

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming: Wii Sports

   

Outstanding Achievement in Story and Character Development: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

   

Outstanding Achievement in Game-Play Engineering: Wii Sports

   

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design: Wii Sports

   

Hand-Held Game of the Year: Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day

[Bloodworth]

Well folks, there's always the GDC awards next month.

I find it a little strange how Zelda's only win is for story.  That's not exactly what Nintendo usually focuses on.  

Also, it is sad indeed that Brain Age beat out EBA and Mario, but that paired with all of the Wii Sports awards shows just how powerful Nintendo's new casual markets can be.

[Entroper]

Well, here's one huge Nintendo fan who's not at all disappointed.  I see a lot of categories that Wii games just wouldn't be eligible for (online play, graphics engineering, etc.)

The Wii took home some very solid wins.  Outstanding innovation in gaming?  Possibly the most important category here.  Outstanding gameplay design?  Outstanding gameplay engineering?  C'mon, let's hear it for Wii Sports!

TP still picked up story and character development, and was nominated for three game of the year categories.  It lost all of them to Gears of War, but no one can deny GoW's excellence.  Nintendo has done an awesome job, and I'm glad that there are companies besides Nintendo capable of producing outstanding games, too.  More fun for me when I can eventually afford a 360.    

[Acefondu]

No PS3 wins, I think Nintendo fans have nothing to complain about compared to Sony fans. They both come out almost exactly the same time and Nintendo has 2 winners to show for it, Sony has 0.

[Ian Sane]

The last time a game exclusive to a Nintendo console won Console Game of the Year was Ocarina of Time.  In the meantime three other 3D Zeldas have been released as has Metroid Prime which is one of the top ten games on game rankings.  Nintendo seems to have not won since this decade started which also so far has been Nintendo's weakest decade in terms of mainstream recognition.  Gears of War isn't a bad choice but it seems that Nintendo is constantly getting snubbed because, well, they're just not as popular as they used to be.  Too often it seems that a Nintendo game will come out and get fantastic reviews but it'll then be totally forgotten about once everyone's best of the year awards come around.

At least Twiligh Princess was nominated and Nintendo did get some well deserved awards.  But I'm itching to see Nintendo win GotY again.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

For a game to win in Innovation, Gameplay Engineering, and Game Design to not win overall is fishy.  (games are played, not watched or judged by screenshots, last I recall).

Goes to show that you need GRAPHICS AND ONLINE MULTIPLAYER to be an AIAS winner from now on.

[and lol, GoW has adventure?]

[GoldenPhoenix]

Gears of War winning not only game of the year, but artistic direction? ROFL, I'm sorry but these awards are pretty ridiculous. Not only that but it was nominated for most innovative title? Talk about a bias, these awards have it in spades!

[Smoke39]

I thought that was weird, too, Phoenix.  What was innovative in Gears of War, like, at all?

I think TP deserved a few more awards.

[Mario]

Quote
Racing Game of the Year-- Burnout Revenge
Also nominated:
Test Drive Unlimited
Excite Truck
Full Auto 2: Battlelines
Need for Speed: Carbon

WOW V8 Supercars 3 aka Toca Race Driver 3 not even nominated? It must not have come out in America. It's quite possibly the best racing game ever made.

[Djunknown]

Quote
C'mon, let's hear it for Wii Sports!

Yaaaay!

[IceCold]

WiiSports is my GoTY. I guess it couldn't win in an awards show like this, but at least they gave token support in the other categories.

I'm scratching my head over Gears of War for artistic direction..