Topic: Annual E3 Award Nominees Announced

[StrikerObi]

Take a look at who will be competing for the annual E3 Awards!

The official E3 Awards nominees have been announced. Every year the ISDA holds awards for the many games presented at E3. This year there are a total of 15 categories to be won. Here they are.

Best of Show

• Full Spectrum Warrior (Pandemic/THQ for Xbox)
• Gran Turismo 4 (Polyphony Digital/Sony Computer Entertainment for PlayStation 2)
• Half-Life 2 (Valve/Vivendi Universal Games for PC)
• Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft for Xbox)
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (UbiSoft for All Platforms)

Best Original Game

• Boktai (Konami for Game Boy Advance)  
• Evil Genius (Elixir Studios/Vivendi Universal Games for PC)
• Fable (Big Blue Box/Microsoft for Xbox)  
• Full Spectrum Warrior (Pandemic/THQ for Xbox)
• The Movies (Lionhead Studios/Activision for PC)

Best PC Game

• Call of Duty (Infinity Ward/Activision for PC)
• Deus Ex: Invisible War (Ion Storm/Eidos for PC/Xbox)
• Half-Life 2 (Valve/Vivendi Universal Games for PC)  
• Halo PC (Gearbox/Bungie/Microsoft for PC)
• Sims 2 (Maxis/Electronic Arts for PC)

Best Console Game

• Fable (Big Blue Box/Microsoft for Xbox)
• Full Spectrum Warrior (Pandemic/THQ for Xbox)
• Gran Turismo 4 (Polyphony Digital/Sony Computer Entertainment for PlayStation 2)  
• Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft for Xbox)
• Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (UbiSoft for All Platforms)

Best Peripheral / Hardware

• Driving Force Pro (Logitech for PlayStation 2)
• EyeToy (Sony Computer Entertainment for PlayStation 2)
• GeForce FX 5900 (Nvidia for PC)
• Helix Gaming Device (Tapwave)
• Radeon 9800 (ATI for PC)

Best Action Game

• Call of Duty (Infinity Ward/Activision for PC)
• Half-Life 2 (Valve/Vivendi Universal Games for PC)
• Halo 2 (Bungie/Microsoft for Xbox)
• Medal of Honor: Rising Sun (Electronic Arts for All Console Systems)
• Unreal Tournament 2004 (Epic Games/Infogrames for PC)

Best Action/Adventure Game

Jak II (Naughty Dog/Sony Computer Entertainment for PlayStation 2)
• Ninja Gaiden (Tecmo for Xbox)
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (UbiSoft for All Platforms)
• Starcraft: Ghost (Blizzard/Vivendi Universal Games for All Console Systems)
• Viewtiful Joe (Capcom for GameCube)

Best Fighting Game

• Dead or Alive: Online (Tecmo for Xbox)
• Onimusha Blade Warriors (Capcom for PlayStation 2)
• Soul Calibur II (Namco for All Console Systems)  
• Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution (Sega for PlayStation 2)

Best Role Playing Game

• Deus Ex: Invisible War (Ion Storm/Eidos for PC/Xbox)
• Fable (Big Blue Box/Microsoft for Xbox)
• Final Fantasy X-2 (Square-Enix for PlayStation 2)
• Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic (BioWare/LucasArts for PC/Xbox)  
• Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (Troika Games/Activision for PC)

Best Racing Game

• F-Zero GX (Amusement Vision/Nintendo for GameCube)
• Gran Turismo 4 (Polyphony Digital/Sony Computer Entertainment for PlayStation 2)
• Need for Speed Underground (Electronic Arts for All Platforms)
• Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (Nintendo for GameCube)
• Project Gotham Racing 2 (Bizarre Creations/Microsoft for Xbox)

Best Simulation Game

• Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight (Microsoft for PC)
• Full Spectrum Warrior (Pandemic/THQ for Xbox)
• Secret Weapons over Normandy (Totally Games/LucasArts for PC/PS2/Xbox)
• Sims 2 (Maxis/Electronic Arts for PC)
• The Movies (Lionhead Studios/Activision for PC)

Best Sports Game

• Amped 2 (Microsoft for Xbox)
• Madden NFL 2004 (Electronic Arts for All Platforms)  
• NFL 2K4 (Visual Concepts/Sega for PS2/Xbox)
• SSX 3 (Electronic Arts for All Console Platforms)
• Tony Hawk's Underground (Neversoft/Activision for All Console Platforms)

Best Strategy Game

• Evil Genius (Elixir Studios/Vivendi Universal Games for PC)  
• Homeworld 2 (Relic/Vivendi Universal Games for PC)
• Pikmin 2 (Nintendo for GameCube)  
• Rise of Nations (Big Huge Games/Microsoft for PC)
• Rome: Total War (Creative Assembly/Activision for PC)

Best Puzzle/Trivia/Parlor Game

• The EyeToy Games (Sony Computer Entertainment Europe for PlayStation 2)
• Karaoke Revolution (Harmonix/Konami for PlayStation 2)
• Mario Party 5 (Nintendo for GameCube)
• Nintendo Puzzle Collection (Nintendo for GameCube)
• Xbox Music Mixer (Microsoft for Xbox)

Best Multiplayer Online

• City of Heroes (Cryptic Studios/NCSoft for PC)
• EverQuest II (Sony Online for PC)
• Final Fantasy XI (Square Enix for PC/PlayStation 2)
• Mythica (Microsoft for PC)
• Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided (Sony Online/LucasArts for PC)
• World of Warcraft (Blizzard/Vivendi Universal Games for PC)

There you have it, the full E3 Awards 2003 Nominee list. The winners will be announced on Tuesday, June 10th.

[Ian Sane]

Well Half-Life 2 is a shoe-in for Best of Show.  It has a good buzz going and, most important of all, it's a PC game that wasn't playable at the show.  Not being playable is like a requirement for winning Best of Show.

Next year Nintendo should have NOTHING playable and hide everything behind closed doors and then they'll win absolutely every E3 award.

[Mingesium]

where is Wario Ware?

[Jonnyboy117]

IanSane is totally right.  I wonder how many years it's been since a playable game won Best of Show.

To be clear, a game does TECHNICALLY have to be playable in order to get nominated.  That is to say, either the critics or a developer must be able to manipulate the game in real-time.  What this amounts to is that critics actually judge the games based on the same videos that any showgoer can see, and then they get taken backstage where some programmer moves the character around for a few seconds, just to make the game eligible.  They don't at all judge these games on the playable portion, because the playable part isn't a demo at all...it's just the game as it stands in development.  It's full of bugs, unfinished art, and all manner of problems that the developer doesn't want the public to see.  You can bet that most of these games aren't even truly "playable", in that their gameplay hasn't been incorporated yet.  It's just a tech demo with a movable character.

If these awards were fair, the games would have to be judged on the playable portion alone, and critics would have to be able to play the games, not just some developer who knows which rooms and moves won't crash the system.  In a perfect world, the games would have to be playable to everyone at E3 in order to be eligible, but I'm trying to compromise here.

[SatansNemesis]

And the game should be required to have a release date in this year. How about a bunch of fans/news groups and anyone else who went to E3 get together and form the underground E3 awards. The requirements could be as follows: Must be playable on show floor, must be planned for release this fiscal year, must either be the first time in playable form or have a signifigant change since the last E3 (so games cant win more than once in a row unless it has had a complete turnaround in quality or public support). Long live the Underground E3 Awards!

[StrikerObi]

Quote
Originally posted by: SatansNemesis
And the game should be required to have a release date in this year. How about a bunch of fans/news groups and anyone else who went to E3 get together and form the underground E3 awards. The requirements could be as follows: Must be playable on show floor, must be planned for release this fiscal year, must either be the first time in playable form or have a signifigant change since the last E3 (so games cant win more than once in a row unless it has had a complete turnaround in quality or public support). Long live the Underground E3 Awards!

If games needed to be "released this year" then all the devs/pubs would just say "yeah it'll be out this year" and just delay it later.

[JB]

Xbox Music Mixer is nominated in the Best Puzzle/Trivia/Parlor Game category. What the..? Xbox Music Maker isn't even a game at all!

[Spyjuice10]

xbox has games worthy of awards (besides halo 1/2)? what the bloody...?

[sycomonkey]

Well, Nintendo failed to have the bang it had the last two years.  I mean, last year there was Metroid and Zelda and Mario.  This year all we have really in that department is Mario Kart.  Granted, next year we'll have Mario 128, and if it's half as good as the subtle hype that it's allready getting, then it will dominate next year's show, especially if Nintendo is smart and keeps everything tight and secret until like, the second day of E3 2004.

Nintendo is also not conviencing people about Connectivity.  FF:CC is the only game that I've heard of so far that peopel were geniunly excited by the GBA funtionality, instead of it feeling like a gimmick.

And what's with all the FPS sequels?  Halo 2, Half Life 2.  It's a little odd...  Even Nintendo whipped out with a FPS (geist).  Hrm.  

[Grey Ninja]

That list is the biggest bunch of crap I have ever seen.  Where is Metal Gear Solid?  Where is Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles?  Where the hell is Geist?  Where the hell are the PLAYABLE games?

[JB]

After last year, I'm surprised the PSP isn't nominated in the best hardware category. ;-)

[GaimeGuy]

Geist.. and FF.. not in most original? O_o  Yep,  I agree with TEH SEXXIES MAN.  Screw these awards.

[nolimit19]

"Jonathan says: Once again, the lists are dominated by video-only games. That's it, I no longer care what these guys say is the best. Games are meant to be played, and if you can't play a game, you can't say whether it's good or not. Screw these awards."

this man says it all.

[Illini4]

Ok, i know, this is going to sound dumb, but who is the ISDA?  

I mean, Entertainment Weekly had a piece in their magazine about "The Best Video Games EVERY!" and, well, I just didn't take it very seriously.  That is like asking someone from Hawaii about frost bite.  So, does this ISDA really have any idea what they are doing, or are they just trying to be "cool" now that video games make more money than movies?  

I agree with EVERYONE when I see the amazing number of games Xbox has nominated.  Right, Xbox is going to have a lot of hits.  Sure, and my porsche is in the shop.  

I know Nintendo didn't have an amazing year, but actually it was very good.  I mean, no way it could ever live up to last years.  But Nintendo really blew their load with Mario-Zelda-Metroid in one show.  But hey, the new Mario Kart!  The new Star Fox being done by Namco!  Final Fantasy back on the big N!  They brought 3 huge franchises to the show again!  Nintendo has been saying for the past year that this year they would be pushing conectivity.  They did!  Pac-man really showed that.  So even though Nintendo got snubbed by these ISDA twats, I hope it doesn't send the message to the non-nintendo'ers that N is dead.  

BTW, I agree, where the hell is Twin Snakes?  Man, lets her some sweet slow lovin' for Silicon Knights!  

[Mode 7]

Jonathan, and the others who rally under his banner, are totally right. E3 Awards carry a meaningless weight, much like many other awards (such as Oscars and Grammies, to name a couple). I'm very disapointed by these hacks. I thought last year was bad enough when Doom III won for best game. Yeah, it looks good on a video, but whoopty-doo. Tie me up to my workstation for a few days and I'll come up with something that looks that good--doesn't mean squat until someone actually gives it the thumbs and has a good time of it.

While no one had any real surprises or massive bombs (even Sony's big bomb, the PSP, was only on paper and not even in so much as an art portfolio), there was stuff that was actually playable that I bet was far more worthy of a nomination. Halo 2? That won't be out for two more years, at least.

[Gonmon]

Yeesh. I'd have to agree with everyone here on both things: Nintendo seems to have gotten snubbed on all their titles (Where's all the GBA and 3rd/2nd Party games?!) and it seems that gameplay has nothing to do with winning anymore.

Forget these awards... and for now, all we can do is hope for SpaceWorld2003...

[GaimeGuy]

*crosses fingers that Nintendo has been holding back all their big stuff for  a Spaceworld this year......*  

[BrianSLA]

It looks like 2003/2004 will be the year(s) of the Xbox. 4 out of the 5 in the Best Game ( Half Life 2 is Xbox bound ). 2 out of 5 for Best original game. 4 out of 5 for best Console game. 3 out 5 for best action game. I gotta say that " Full Spectrum Warrior " game looks amazing...  much better than Blackhawk Down and more realistic too.  

[oohhboy]

Blackhawk Down is a travesty of Justice.

Shocking result from Nintendo and just simply unbelievable. This list is just damned. The organisers have really out done themselfs this time. Maybe this general disapointment about E3 is related to the ever dopping standards of the awards, which now is offically: Wothless.

People may think "Ohh Nintendo didn't get enough awards so your whining, Boo whoo", but I would not like an award that Nintendo won based on a video. Man, what has happened. If the industry continues like this.... who knows....  

[thecubedcanuck]

I cant believe all the moaning about the list.
Nintendo got exactly what it deserved with its dismal showing. Maybe this will open few eyes at head office and show them that thier games and thier style are not well recieved anymore.
I am so sick of Zelda, Mario, Pokemon, what is with this crap. Cant Nintendo move on and get with the times.
I am glad I own all 3 consoles, because my gamecube is pretty much worthless at the moment.

[Illini4]

The Cubedcanuck why would you even bother buying a Nintendo system if you are tired of Zelda and Mario?  Those two games WILL always be on their system (excluding Virtual Boy), and those two games will always be awesome.  I would not chalk this up to Nintendo having a bad show.  I am going to buy 4-5 of the games they had there.  Thats not bad considering more games will also come out this year.  Just because they showed off 2 of the greatest games of all time last year (Metroid and Wind Waker) doesn't mean this year was a bust.  

You want to talk bust, walk through the Xbox game aisle at your vid game store.  Funny how they showed off some games by Rare, i am sure the current Xbox owners grandchildren will enjoy those games (since they won't be coming out for some time).  Funny too, is Rare was working on most of those games while under Nintendo's payroll and watchful eye, and they STILL haven't come out with a game for the gigantic crap box.  

Does anyone know what the deal is with that "ghoulies" game by Rare, was it really that BAD?  

[thecubedcanuck]

Quote
You want to talk bust, walk through the Xbox game aisle at your vid game store.

Well lets see, my local blockbuster has 2 full isles of PS2 games, 1 full isle of x-box games and 1 shelf of cube games.
My local Rogers video ( a huge Canadian chain) no longer carries gamecube titles, extremely poor rentals was the reason.
My local Microplay (another huge Canadian chain) has also stopped carrying Gamecube games, stating the same reasons.
I also notice that our futureshop, our bestbuy, and wallmart have the smallest game section reserved for gamecube.

So please understand my feelings are NOT the minority.

Quote
The Cubedcanuck why would you even bother buying a Nintendo system if you are tired of Zelda and Mario?

I did like them both prior to this years releases. I hated sunshine, and have givin up on WW because of sheer boredom. WW is clearly geered towards children as it is one of the easiest games I have ever played in my life.

I have a cube for the RE series and Eternal darkness, and hopefully twin snakes and true crime are worth buying.
As for games made by Nintendo , I have to say other than wave race, I have no interest at all in them. My tastes have drifted away from what Nintendo has to offer, simple as that.

[Ian Sane]

"Well lets see, my local blockbuster has 2 full isles of PS2 games, 1 full isle of x-box games and 1 shelf of cube games.
My local Rogers video ( a huge Canadian chain) no longer carries gamecube titles, extremely poor rentals was the reason.
My local Microplay (another huge Canadian chain) has also stopped carrying Gamecube games, stating the same reasons."

Well I wouldn't take the selections at video stores as any sort of indication of the strength of the Gamecube library.  Most of those stores decided that the Gamecube would fail from the get-go and as a result never had a good Gamecube selection.  Naturally this resulted in poor rentals.  It was a self-fulfilling prophesy.  I imagine if those stores made an effort to attract Gamecube owners from the beginning they would have better rentals.  I rarely rent games because most video stores have never, EVER even tried to accomodate me.

[JB]

The main problem with the list is that most of the games on the list were not playable at E3, which is a requirement for a nomination, but only shown in video form.  Developers have found a loophole in the rules which allows a non-playable game to be nominated.  

Not just Nintendo had a bad E3 this year, so did the PS2 and X-Box.  The PC had the best showing this E3.

[Knuckles_69]

To me these awards mean nothing. I don't really care what THEY think is good. Also the xbox is nominated for alot of games even though it sucks ass. It has 1 good game now (halo) and soon will have another (halo 2). THose are the only games keeping xbox alive if microsoft didn't release halo with the luanch xbox would have sold nothing. Anyways I choose which I like not some ass awards.