Gaming awards are a bit like the movie awards. Everyone
would love to win a Golden Globe, but the one everyone aspires to win is the
coveted Oscar. A month ago, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
named what it believes to be the games of the year. Gears of War walked away the undeniable
winner, and many were expecting the game to share similar success at the 7th
annual Game Developers Choice Awards held at GDC—and that it did.
Epic Games and Microsoft Game Studios' Xbox 360 shooter Gears of War was the recipient of three
honors for Best Game, Technology and Visual Arts. Following close behind with
two awards each were Clover Studios and Capcom Entertainment's Okami and Nintendo's Wii Sports.
Like the Oscars, the Game Developer’s Choice Awards is a peer-based,
open nomination awards program in the industry where honors are bestowed to
developers by developers. Nominations were free of charge and open to all IGDA
members, ensuring that the nominees reflect the international development
community's opinions. In contrast, the AIAS awards require that all nominees
must be a part of its membership pool, which requires a fee.
Some game companies feel that paying a fee to the AIAS for
the sake of a chance at being considered for an award is a waste of resources.
This is why Okami was never up for
any award at the AIAS, as Capcom has publically stated that
it does not see the value of a paid-to-participate award.
“A Game Developers Choice Award is like no other award
presented in our industry, as it is the only prize that gives the community the
chance to appreciate and honor individual developers,” said Jamil Moledina,
Executive Director of the Game Developers Conference. “By celebrating our
visionaries by name, we give the audience and the public at large a chance to
give credit where credit is due.”
The recipients for the 7th annual Game Developers Choice
Awards are:
Best Game:
- Gears of War (Epic
Games / Microsoft Game Studios)
- - Cliff Bleszinski, Michael Capps, Rod Fergusson
Audio
- Guitar Hero II
(Harmonix Music Systems / RedOctane)
- - Jeff Allen, Eric Brosius, Izzy Maxwell
Character Design
- Okami (Clover
Studio / Capcom Entertainment)
- - Mari Shimazaki, Sawaki Takeyasu, Kenichirou Yoshimura
Game Design
- Wii Sports
(Nintendo)
- - Keizo Ohta, Takayuki Shimamura, Yoshiaki Yamashita
Technology
- Gears of War (Epic
Games / Microsoft Game Studios)
- - Michael Capps, Ray Davis, Tim Sweeney, Daniel Vogel
Visual Arts
- Gears of War (Epic
Games / Microsoft Game Studios)
- - Jerry O'Flaherty, Chris Perna
Writing
- The Legend of Zelda:
Twilight Princess (Nintendo EAD / Nintendo)
- - Kyogoku Aya, Nate Bihldorff, Mitsuhiro Takano
New Studio
- Iron Lore Entertainment (Titan
Quest)
- - Paul Chieffo, Jeff Goodsill, Brian Sullivan
Innovation (awarded to all)
- Line Rider
- - Bostjan Cadez
- Okami (Clover
Studio / Capcom Entertainment)
- - Atsushi Inaba, Hideki Kamiya
- Wii Sports
(Nintendo)
- - Keizo Ohta, Takayuki Shimamura, Yoshiaki Yamashita
Recipients for the evening's special awards were:
- Community Contribution
- George "The Fat Man" Sanger
See the full list of nominees and winners here.
“Once again, the Game Developers Choice Awards have shown
that gaming greatness can be found within every type of game -- from the most
hardcore of experiences, to those that have brought all new audiences into our industry's
fan base,” said Jason Della Rocca, Executive Director, IGDA. “Each year, I am
humbled by what our members can do with this great art form.”
Personally, it’s great to see Okami get the recognition that
it deserves. Sadly, the developer group behind the game, Clover Studios, will
never collectively get to enjoy the award as Capcom dissolved the studio for
some insensible reasons. Luckily, some of those developers have formed Seeds, a
sort of game developer supergroup. If you haven’t played Okami yet, I highly
recommend you pick up a copy. It’s one of those games that will still remain
beautiful years from now.