ACADEMY OF INTERACTIVE ARTS AND SCIENCES (AIAS) ANNOUNCES FINALISTS FOR THE 7th ANNUAL INTERACTIVE ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

Videogame Industry's Most Prestigious Award Show to Take Place at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas on March 4

CULVER CITY, CA – (February 13, 2004) – The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), the professional organization of the interactive entertainment industry, today announced the finalists for the 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, which will be held at Rain in the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, March 4, 2004.

The Academy will present awards in 36 craft, console, computer, and online categories. Award highlights include an overall "Game of the Year" and Game of the Year in different genres, as well as the prestigious Hall of Fame Award. Electronic Arts led the finalist count with 29, followed closely by Ubisoft and Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA) with 23 and 21 finalists respectively.

"We are looking forward to recognizing truly outstanding achievement in videogames at our 7th Annual Awards event," said Gordon Bellamy, Executive Director of the AIAS. "The developers and publishers who will be honored at this event have helped to establish the videogame industry as the fastest growing form of entertainment throughout the world."

Including the five nominations for handheld game of the year, Nintendo has fifteen in total, eight of which are for Zelda: The Wind Waker. This pales in comparison to Prince of Persia's thirteen, which bagged the most nominations, by far.

Here is an abbreviated list of the categories in which a Nintendo-developed game is nominated for. For the full list of all the catagories and nominees, visit the AIAS awards page.

Overall Game of the Year

• Command & ConquerTM: Generals, published by Electronic Arts, developed by Electronic Arts

• Call of DutyTM, published by Activision, developed by Infinity Ward

• Max PayneTM 2: The Fall of Max Payne, published by Rockstar Games, developed by Remedy Entertainment

• Prince of Persia: The Sands of TimeTM, published by Ubisoft, developed by Ubisoft Montreal

• Ratchet & ClankTM: Going Commando, published by SCEA, developed by Insomniac Games

• Rise of NationsTM, published by Microsoft, developed by Big Huge Games

• SSX 3, published by Electronic Arts, developed by EA Canada

• Star Wars®: Knights of the Old RepublicTM, published by LucasArts, developed by Bioware Corp.

• The Legend of Zelda®: The Wind Waker, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo

Console Game of the Year

• Prince of Persia: The Sands of TimeTM, published by Ubisoft, developed by Ubisoft Montreal

• Ratchet & ClankTM: Going Commando, published by SCEA, developed by Insomniac Games

• SSX 3, published by Electronic Arts, developed by EA Canada

• Star Wars®: Knights of the Old RepublicTM, published by LucasArts, developed by Bioware Corp.

• The Legend of Zelda®: The Wind Waker, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo

Outstanding Innovation in Console Gaming

• Eye ToyTM, published by SCEA, developed by SCEA

• Prince of Persia: The Sands of TimeTM, published by Ubisoft, developed by Ubisoft Montreal

• SSX 3, published by Electronic Arts, developed by EA Canada

• Star Wars®: Knights of the Old RepublicTM, published by LucasArts, developed by Bioware Corp.

• The Legend of Zelda®: The Wind Waker, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

• Prince of Persia: The Sands of TimeTM, published by Ubisoft, developed by Ubisoft Montreal

• The Legend of Zelda®: The Wind Waker, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo

• Jak IITM , published by SCEA, developed by Naughty Dog

• Ratchet & ClankTM: Going Commando, published by SCEA, developed by Insomniac Games

• Final Fantasy® X-2, published by Square Enix, developed by Square Enix

Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering

• Prince of Persia: The Sands of TimeTM, published by Ubisoft, developed by Ubisoft Montreal

• The Legend of Zelda®: The Wind Waker, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo

• Jak IITM, published by SCEA, developed by Naughty Dog

• SSX 3, published by Electronic Arts, developed by EA Canada

• Ratchet & ClankTM: Going Commando, published by SCEA, developed by Insomniac Games

Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering

• The Legend of Zelda®: The Wind Waker, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo

• Star Wars®: Knights of the Old RepublicTM, published by LucasArts, developed by Bioware Corp.

• Prince of Persia: The Sands of TimeTM, published by Ubisoft, developed by Ubisoft Montreal

• Jak IITM, published by SCEA, developed by Naughty Dog

Outstanding Achievement in Character and Story Development

• Prince of Persia: The Sands of TimeTM, published by Ubisoft, developed by Ubisoft Montreal

• The Legend of Zelda®: The Wind Waker, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo

• Star Wars®: Knights of the Old RepublicTM, published by LucasArts, developed by Bioware Corp.

• Ratchet & ClankTM: Going Commando, published by SCEA, developed by Insomniac Games

• Beyond Good & EvilTM, published by Ubisoft, developed by Ubisoft

Console Platform Action Adventure Game of the Year

• Jak IITM, published by SCEA, developed by Naughty Dog

• Prince of Persia: The Sands of TimeTM, published by Ubisoft, developed by Ubisoft Montreal

• Ratchet & ClankTM: Going Commando, published by SCEA, developed by Insomniac Games

• The Legend of Zelda®: The Wind Waker, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo

• Viewtiful JoeTM, published by Capcom, developed by Capcom Production Studio 4

Console Children's Title of the Year

• Mario Party® 5, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo

• SpongeBob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom, published by THQ, developed by Heavy Iron

• Backyard Basketball, published by Atari, developed by Humongous

• Tak and the Power of Juju, published by THQ, developed by Avalanche

Console Racing Game of the Year

• Burnout 2: Point of Impact, published by Acclaim, developed by Criterion Games

• F-Zero® GX, published by Nintendo, developed by Amusement Vision

• Mario Kart®: Double Dash!!TM, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo

• Need for Speed Underground, published by Electronic Arts, developed by EA Canada

• Project Gotham Racing® 2, published by Microsoft, developed by Bizarre Creations

Handheld Game of the Year

• Mario & LuigiTM Superstar Saga, published by Nintendo, developed by Alpha Dreams

• Advance Wars 2, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo

• Fire EmblemTM, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo

• Final Fantasy® Tactics Advance, published by Nintendo, developed by Square Enix

• Pokémon Ruby, published by Nintendo, developed by Nintendo