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7th Game Developers Choice Nominees Announced

H

h0l211

Member
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12669

'Organizers have revealed that that Clover Studio's Okami and Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion lead the list of nominated games for the 7th annual Game Developers Choice Awards with each game receiving four nods, including for 'Best Game'.

In addition to the aforementioned Okami and Oblivion, Best Game nominations also recognized Microsoft and Epic Games' Gears of War, as well as Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Wii Sports.'

Rest of nominations are there too, also:

'The 7th annual ceremony will be hosted by Double Fine founder and 2006 award recipient Tim Schafer (Psychonauts, Grim Fandango, Full Throttle), and will feature entertainment by MC Chris and video game humorists Mega64.'

Best Game

Gears of War (Epic Games / Microsoft Game Studios)
- Cliff Bleszinski, Michael Capps, Rod Fergusson

Okami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)
- Atsushi Inaba, Hideki Kamiya

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Game Studios / 2K Games/Bethesda
Softworks)
- Todd Howard

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo EAD / Nintendo)
- Eiji Aonuma, Satoru Iwata, Shigeru Miyamoto

Wii Sports (Nintendo)
- Satoru Iwata, Shigeru Miyamoto, Keizo Ohta, Takayuki Shimamura, Yoshiaki
Yamashita


Audio

Company of Heroes (Relic Entertainment / THQ)
- Crispin Hands, John Johnson, Jennifer Lewis, John Tennant

DEFCON: Everybody Dies (Introversion Software)
- Alistair Lindsay, Michael Maidment

Guitar Hero II (Harmonix Music Systems / RedOctane)
- Jeff Allen, Eric Brosius, Izzy Maxwell

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend (Crystal Dynamics / Eidos Interactive)
- Troels Folmann, Karl Gallagher, Mike Peaslee, Gregg Stephens

LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment)
- Kemmei Adachi, Tomonobu Kikuchi, Kouji Niikura, Nobuyuki Shimizu


Character Design

Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix)
- Hideo Minaba, Hiroshi Minagawa, Akihiko Yoshida

LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment)
- Tsutomu Kouno, Keigo Tsuchiya

Okami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)
- Mari Shimazaki, Sawaki Takeyasu, Kenichirou Yoshimura

Rayman Raving Rabbids (Ubisoft Montpellier Studio / Ubisoft Entertainment)
- Michel Ancel, Charles Beirnaert, Hubert Chevillard, Florent Sacre

Viva Pinata (Rare / Microsoft Game Studios)
- Ryan Stevenson


Game Design

Bully (Rockstar Vancouver / Rockstar Games)
- Michael Skupa

Okami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)
- Hideki Kamiya

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Game Studios / 2K Games/Bethesda
Softworks)
- Todd Howard

Viva Pinata (Rare / Microsoft Game Studios)
- Justin Cook, Gregg Mayles

Wii Sports (Nintendo)
- Keizo Ohta, Takayuki Shimamura, Yoshiaki Yamashita


Technology

Company of Heroes (Relic Entertainment / THQ)
- Drew Dunlop, Shelby Hubick, David Swinerd, Ian Thomson

Dead Rising (Capcom Entertainment)
- Shinya Ikuta, Tomofumi Ishida, Yasuhide Sawada, Tomohiro Ueda

Gears of War (Epic Games / Microsoft Game Studios)
- Michael Capps, Ray Davis, Tim Sweeney, Daniel Vogel

Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis (Rockstar San Diego / Rockstar Games)
- Ted Carson, Eugene Foss, Wil Paredes, Steve Reed

Wii Sports (Nintendo)
- Takuhiro Dohta, Takeshi Miyamoto, Keizo Ohta, Kenta Sato


Visual Arts

Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix)
- Isamu Kamikokuryo, Hideo Minaba, Akihiko Yoshida

Gears of War (Epic Games / Microsoft Game Studios)
- Jerry O'Flaherty, Chris Perna

Okami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)
- Naoki Katakai, Kenichirou Yoshimura

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Game Studios / 2K Games/Bethesda
Softworks)
- Matthew Carofano, Christiane Meister, Istvan Pely

Viva Pinata (Rare / Microsoft Game Studios)
- Ed Bryan, Ryan Stevenson


Writing

Bully (Rockstar Vancouver / Rockstar Games)
- Dan Houser, Jacob Krarup

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (Funcom / Aspyr Media)
- Dag Scheve, Ragnar Tørnquist

Sam & Max Episode 1: Culture Shock (Telltale Games / GameTap)
- Brendan Ferguson, Dave Grossman, Steve Purcell

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Game Studios / 2K Games/Bethesda
Softworks)
- Ken Rolston

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo EAD / Nintendo)
- Kyogoku Aya, Nate Bihldorff, Mitsuhiro Takano

New Studio

Gastronaut Studios (Small Arms)
- Jacob Van Wingen, Don Wurster

Iron Lore Entertainment (Titan Quest)
- Paul Chieffo, Jeff Goodsill, Brian Sullivan

Naked Sky Entertainment (RoboBlitz)
- Joshua Glazer, Tian Mu, Sam Thibault

Ready At Dawn Studios (Daxter)
- Didier Malenfant, Andrea Pessino, Ru Weerasuriya

Wadjet Eye Games (The Shiva)
- Chris Femo, Dave Gilbert, Peter Gresser, Ian Schlaepfer
 
J

John Harker

Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
FF12 doesn't get enough Best Game nominations, and Zelda doesn't win enough of them.
 
A

argon

Member
I'm surprised Zelda wasn't nominated for Game Design or Character Design. Twilight Princess surpassed every Zelda game in those areas, IMO.
 
L

Like the hat?

Banned
my picks:

Best Game
Okami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)

Audio
LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment)

Character Design
Okami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)

Game Design
Okami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)

Technology
Dead Rising (Capcom Entertainment)

Visual Arts
Okami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)

Writing
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo EAD / Nintendo)

New Studio

dunno.
 
U

underfooter

Banned
Why is TP nominated for writing? A lot of the text was mundane advice or tips, and the storyline didn't do anything....well.....every single other Zelda game hadn't done already.
 
D

DOBERMAN INC

Member
My picks :)

Best Game (FFXII if nominated)


The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Game Studios / 2K Games/Bethesda
Softworks)
- Todd Howard

Audio

Company of Heroes (Relic Entertainment / THQ)
- Crispin Hands, John Johnson, Jennifer Lewis, John Tennant

Character Design

Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix)
- Hideo Minaba, Hiroshi Minagawa, Akihiko Yoshida

Game Design

Okami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)
- Hideki Kamiya


Technology


Gears of War (Epic Games / Microsoft Game Studios)
- Michael Capps, Ray Davis, Tim Sweeney, Daniel Vogel


Visual Arts

Okami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)
- Naoki Katakai, Kenichirou Yoshimura


Writing

Bully (Rockstar Vancouver / Rockstar Games)
- Dan Houser, Jacob Krarup

New Studio

didn't play any of those
 
O

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
argon said:
I'm surprised Zelda wasn't nominated for Game Design or Character Design. Twilight Princess surpassed every Zelda game in those areas, IMO.
Click to expand...

Seriously. Although I'm a fan of Zelda story, I was actually surprised to see it get nominated in the writing category.
 
pr0cs

pr0cs

Member
I wonder how many of the people who vote in this thread actually played all of those titles.
Pointless to give your pick unless you've actually tried all those games.
 
S

Safe Bet

Banned
puck1337 said:
Lots of Viva Pinata love. Don't know if I agree with the character design nomination...
Click to expand...
I agree more with it's Character Design Nomination than it's Gameplay Nomination...

Those little pinatas were so freakin cute...
 
O

Open Source

Banned
pr0cs said:
I wonder how many of the people who vote in this thread actually played all of those titles.
Pointless to give your pick unless you've actually tried all those games.
Click to expand...

I wonder how much your statement could be applied to the nomination and selection process itself.
 
E

ElectricBlue187

Member
only ones I'm not sure about are Game Design and New Studio because I didn't like the nominees (I have played all of these)

Best Game

Gears of War (Epic Games / Microsoft Game Studios)
- Cliff Bleszinski, Michael Capps, Rod Fergusson

Audio

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend (Crystal Dynamics / Eidos Interactive)
- Troels Folmann, Karl Gallagher, Mike Peaslee, Gregg Stephens

Character Design

Rayman Raving Rabbids (Ubisoft Montpellier Studio / Ubisoft Entertainment)
- Michel Ancel, Charles Beirnaert, Hubert Chevillard, Florent Sacre

Game Design

Viva Pinata (Rare / Microsoft Game Studios)
- Justin Cook, Gregg Mayles

Technology

Company of Heroes (Relic Entertainment / THQ)
- Drew Dunlop, Shelby Hubick, David Swinerd, Ian Thomson

Visual Arts

Okami (Clover Studio / Capcom Entertainment)
- Naoki Katakai, Kenichirou Yoshimura

Writing

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (Funcom / Aspyr Media)
- Dag Scheve, Ragnar Tørnquist

New Studio

Gastronaut Studios (Small Arms)
- Jacob Van Wingen, Don Wurster
 
S

Safe Bet

Banned
Agreements with Viva's Game Design Nomination from hardcore gamers?

Makes it easy to understand why the game failed...
 
B

beelzebozo

Jealous Bastard
belvedere said:
Clover all the way.

Someone give these guys the credit they deserve.
Click to expand...

any awards bestowed upon clover should have been (or, perhaps, were) attached to viewtiful joe. still their most creative--and best--game.
 
D

Dr.Hadji

Member
Aren't these the guy who gave SotC the award for best game? I have a feeling they'll go for the new sensation found in Wii sports over whatever misguided feelings they have for a dead studio sent to its grave "unjustly". Some of those nominations makes me wonder if Okami is getting nothing more than pity nominations. Character Design? Weakest part of the ingame art IMO. Game Design?

Goty goes to, Wii Sports because its the new hotness or Oblivion because people feel that the grand vision of the ElderScroll series has finally hit a sweet spot.
 
C

Campster

Do you like my tight white sweater? STOP STARING
I'm going to go about this all Oscar prediction style, giving my estimates on what will win not based on personal preference but rather what my guess would be that a whole hoard of game developers would vote for.

Best Game - This'll come down between Gears and Oblivion, no question. Wii Sports got a nod here because of what it supposedly symbolizes, but it has virtually no chance of winning. Okami and Zelda are not only essentially the same game, but the same game based on the same pattern.

Audio - In a just world, DEFCON would win for its masterful use of sound and music as a means of generating pathos. But that's assuming a huge number of game developers have played the game, which isn't necessarily true. So I'm going to give this one to Guitar Hero II, if only because it is a game nearly everyone enjoys with a soundtrack that has something for just about everyone. I have no earthly idea why Tomb Raider is on this list, and while Company of Heroes had nice sound I don't think it's anything to swoon over, especially in comparison to DEFCON or GH2. LocoRoco had some really catchy tunes, but you get sick of them very shortly.

Character Design - Honestly, I think it's going to be a close race between Okami and Viva Pinata, with the edge going to Okami. Ancel's characters in Rayman are amazingly quirky and cute, but aren't renouned for their artstyle the way Viva and Okami are. Final Fantasy XII has a nice take on traditional anime characters, and LocoRoco has lovable blobs of cute, but again - only Okami and Viva Pinata are really well known for their art styles above everything else, and I think that's what will give them the edge in this category.

Game Design - I'm leaning towards Oblivion here, if only because of the sheer vastness of the design. All the entertaining stories I heard posted online about leaving a poisoned apple on someone's person only to have a thief steal it, eat it and die, all the interesting emergent gameplay dynamics due to the physics engine, all of the amazing "oh my god that was so cool" unrepeatable moments all point to this game winning. That said, if Oblivion doesn't win I'm nearly certain it will go to Bully. Wii Sports' take on its subject matter is too simplistic from a design perspective, Okami is basically just Zelda, and Viva Pinata is known for being cute and fun, not amazingly expressive or deep.

Technology - This one's going to come down to "engine power vs creative inputs." If Wii Sports is going to pick up an award anywhere, it'll be here as a symbol of what the Wii represents - utilizing those fancy pants controllers to create exciting new experiences. If not, it'll be Gears, representing awesome graphical prowess. Which will win when voted on by developers and not the unwashed hordes? I'll be interested in finding out, but I lean towards Gears given the voting audience.

Visual Arts - Okami, hands down. Viva Pinata is pretty, and I could see it as an upset victor. But nothing else compares - Gears is just too brown-grey and rubble-y for its own good, Final Fantasy XII is too married to the traditional FF look to win, and Oblivion is technically proficient but artistically sorta ugly.

Writing - I'm giving the edge to Bully, here. Dreamfall's writing was excellent and I wouldn't be surprised if it won, but the game was lackluster overall and I don't know how many developers play (new) adventure games on the PC these days. Sam and Max is wonderfully funny, but lacks a certain punch. Oblivion's nomination is sort of pointless, as is Zelda's.

New Studio - Having only played Roboblitz and Small Arms out of the games from the studios nominated, I don't feel that confident on this one. But Ready at Dawn made a solid but not all that inventive PSP game for Daxter. Wadjet Eye's Shivah is an indie adventure game about a Rabbi solving a murder - too out of the mainstream to get many votes, no matter how awesome of an adventure game I hear it is. Iron Lore's Titan Quest was a passable Diablo clone. Gastronaut's Small Arms was a Live Arcade Smash Brothers style fighting game. Naked Sky's Roboblitz was a cute action puzzler. Of these, I'd wager that either Ready at Dawn or Iron Lore will walk away with the award, if only based upon the ease of accessibility to their games.
 
E

evilromero

Member
Wii Sports deserves every award it can get. In my opinion the best game of 2006. GoW is great, but it just doesn't have the overwhelming sensation of actually feeling the game that Wii Sports does. Hell, I love both. Okami, not so much. Bored me to tears. I had to force my way through.
 
D

Duderz

Banned
These guys seem to have a better grasp than AIAS does.

Although, I definitely wouldn't nominate Okami for best design.
 
I

Ike

PissBOX, PeeS2, or Toiletcube
Gears over Zelda for artistic design?

No, Zelda was only outdone last year by Okami.
 
D

dirtmonkey37

flinging feces ---->
Why does DR get nominated for technology? Is this because it was the first title to make use of CAPCOM's unified MT game-engine framework?
 
H

Hitler Stole My Potato

Banned
ram said:
too much OBLIVION - i mean - best writing? come on...
Click to expand...

Go to a bookshop in Oblivion and start reading. There's an insane ammount of literature in the game and a lot it is quite good. The crazy Tolkien-esque level of detail in the Elder Scrolls series is what makes it one of my favorite game universes.

There's a lot of excellent writing in the game but a good chunk of it is actually written in the books.
 
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