First of all, I voted for Captain Toad.
Second of all, there's no double standards at play at all. The rule is, we say, "Can I play this?" and if they say yes and let us play it, it's eligible. If they say no, it's not eligible. I was able to play Bloodborne, I was not able to play Xenoblade. Pretty straightforward. Reasonable people can disagree on the merits of that rule, but it's applied universally.
The 29 judging publications for the 2014 Game Critics Awards: Best of E3 are proud to announce this year's nominees, comprised of 47 products on display at E3 2014. Winners will be announced on Tuesday, July 1.
FAST FACTS:
Which game publisher and console picked up the most nods? Click here to find out with our fast fact breakdown by game, publisher and system.
Best of Show
- Alien: Isolation (Creative Assembly/Sega)
- Batman: Arkham Knight (Rocksteady/WBIE)
- Evolve (Turtle Rock/2K Games)
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Monolith/WBIE)
- No Man's Sky (Hello Games)
- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Best Original Game
- Destiny (Bungie/Activision)
- Evolve (Turtle Rock/2K Games)
- No Man's Sky (Hello Games)
- Splatoon (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo)
- Sunset Overdrive (Insomniac/Microsoft Studios)
Best Console Game
- Alien: Isolation (Creative Assembly/Sega)
- Batman: Arkham Knight (Rocksteady/WBIE)
- Destiny (Bungie/Activision)
- Evolve (Turtle Rock/2K Games)
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Monolith/WBIE)
Best Handheld Game
- Murasaki Baby (Ovosonico/Sony Computer Entertainment)
- Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth (Atlus/Atlus)
- Super Smash Bros. for 3DS (Sora/Namco-Bandai/Nintendo)
- Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call (Square-Enix/Square-Enix)
Best PC Game
- Civilization: Beyond Earth (Firaxis/2K Games)
- Dragon Age: Inquisition (Bioware/EA)
- Evolve (Turtle Rock/2K Games)
- Far Cry 4 (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Best Hardware
- Alienware Alpha (Alienware)
- Oculus Rift (Oculus VR)
- PlayStation TV (Sony Computer Entertainment)
- Project Morpheus (Sony Computer Entertainment)
Best Action Game
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Sledgehammer Games/Activision)
- Destiny (Bungie/Activision)
- Evolve (Turtle Rock/2K Games)
- Far Cry 4 (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Best Action/Adventure Game
- Alien: Isolation (Creative Assembly/Sega)
- Assassin's Creed Unity (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
- Batman: Arkham Knight (Rocksteady/WBIE)
- Sunset Overdrive (Insomniac/Microsoft Studios)
- The Order: 1886 (Ready at Dawn/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Best RPG
- Bloodborne (From Software/Sony Computer Entertainment)
- Dragon Age: Inquisition (Bioware/EA)
- Fable Legends (Lionhead/Microsoft Studios)
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Monolith/WBIE)
- Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth (Atlus/Atlus)
Best Fighting Game
- Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- (Arc System Works/Aksys Games)
- Killer Instinct Season 2 (Iron Galaxy Studios/Microsoft Studios)
- Mortal Kombat X (NetherRealm Studios/WBIE)
- Persona 4 Arena Ultimax (Arc System Works/Atlus)
- Super Smash Bros Wii-U (Sora/Namco-Bandai/Nintendo)
Best Racing Game
- Driveclub (Evolution/Sony Computer Entertainment)
- Forza Horizon 2 (Playground Games/Microsoft Studios)
- The Crew (Ivory Tower/Reflections/Ubisoft)
Best Sports Game
- FIFA 15 (EA Canada/EA Sports)
- NHL 15 (EA Canada/EA Sports)
- Madden NFL 15 (Tiburon/EA Sports)
Best Strategy Game
- Civilization: Beyond Earth (Firaxis/2K Games)
- Grey Goo (Petroglyph/Grey Box)
Best Social/Casual
- Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes (Avalanche/Disney Interactive)
- Fantasia: Music Evolved (Harmonix/Disney Interactive)
- LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham (TT Games/WBIE)
- Mario Maker (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo)
- Yoshi's Woolly World (Good-Feel/Nintendo)
Best Online Multiplayer
- Battlefield: Hardline (Visceral/EA)
- Destiny (Bungie/Activision)
- Evolve (Turtle Rock/2K Games)
- Splatoon (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo)
- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Best Indie
- Axiom Verge (Tom Happ)
- CounterSpy (Dynamighty)
- Below (Capy Games)
- No Man's Sky (Hello Games)
- Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Game Studio)
Games With Multiple Nominations
Six Nominations:
Evolve
Four Nominations:
Destiny
Rainbow Six: Siege
Three Nominations:
Alien: Isolation
Batman: Arkham Knight
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
No Man's Sky
Two Nominations:
Civilization: Beyond Earth
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Far Cry 4
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
Splatoon
Sunset Overdrive
Publisher Breakdown
2K Games - 8 nominations
WBIE - 8 nominations
Ubisoft - 8 nominations
Sony Computer Entertainment - 7 nominations
EA - 6 nominations
Microsoft Studios - 6 nominations
Nintendo - 6 nominations
Activision - 5 nominations
Atlus - 3 nominations
Hello Games - 3 nominations
Sega - 3 nominations
Disney - 2 nominations
Nominee Breakdown by Platform
(Multiplatform games are counted in all appropriate platform tallies. Information based on announced platforms for each game/product as of 6/24/14.)
PlayStation 4: 26 Games
Xbox One: 25 Games
PC: 24 Games
PlayStation 3: 16 Games
Xbox 360: 15 Games
PlayStation Vita: 7 Games
Wii-U: 6 Games
Nintendo 3DS: 4 Games
Please note the following games were not made playable to Game Critics judges and therefore disqualified from award consideration: The Division; Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain; The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
The winners will be announced next week.
http://gamecriticsawards.com/nominees.html