San Francisco, Calif. - Organizers have revealed the nominees for the tenth annual Game Developers Choice Awards, peer-based video game industry awards. Nominations this year are led by Naughty Dog's
Uncharted 2, with seven nominations. The title is closely followed by five nominations for Thatgamecompany's evocative downloadable game
Flower, and four nominations for Ubisoft Montreal's well-received Renaissance action game sequel
Assassin's Creed II.
In addition to the aforementioned Uncharted 2 and
Assassin's Creed II, this year's
Game Of The Year nominations are rounded out by BioWare's
Dragon Age: Origins, From Software's
Demon's Souls, and Rocksteady Studios'
Batman: Arkham Asylum. Other multiple nominees include notably diverse titles such as PopCap's
Plants Vs. Zombies and Infinity Ward's
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
The changes in today's game industry are well represented in the Game Developers Choice Awards this year by the inclusion of multiple iPhone titles (including Flight Control and
Spider: The Secret Of Bryce Manor) as nominations in existing categories, as well as console downloadable titles such as Q Games'
PixelJunk Shooter and RedLynx's
Trials HD. Organizers have also further diversified the awards by adding a Best New Social/Online Games category this year, with both Facebook and free-to-play online games competing for the new prize.
The Game Developers Choice Awards are open to any video game, with no restrictions or payment for game submission, and Main Competition finalists are chosen via a combination of open game industry nominations and the votes of the leading creators in the Choice Awards Advisory Committee. Starting this year, winners are now being selected by the Game Developers Choice Awards-specific International Choice Awards Network (ICAN), which is a new invitation-only group comprised of 500 leading game creators from all parts of the video game industry. Choice Awards organizers believe that, in tandem with their goal of having the most focused, impartial awards in the game industry, this additional voting transparency will further boost the awards' reputation.
The complete list of nominees for the 10th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards are as follows:
Best Game Design
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Rocksteady)
Assassin's Creed 2 (Ubisoft Montreal)
Flower (Thatgamecompany)
Uncharted 2 (Naughty Dog)
Plants Vs. Zombies (PopCap)
Best Visual Art
Borderlands (Gearbox Software)
Uncharted 2 (Naughty Dog)
Assassin's Creed II (Ubisoft Montreal)
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Infinity Ward)
Flower (Thatgamecompany)
Best Technology
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Infinity Ward)
Red Faction: Guerrilla (Volition)
Uncharted 2 (Naughty Dog)
Killzone 2 (Guerrilla Games)
Assassin's Creed II (Ubisoft Montreal)
Best Writing
Brutal Legend (Double Fine)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Rocksteady Studios)
Dragon Age: Origins (BioWare)
Uncharted 2 (Naughty Dog)
Halo 3: ODST (Bungie)
Best Audio
Uncharted 2 (Naughty Dog)
Dragon Age: Origins (BioWare)
Rock Band: The Beatles (Harmonix)
Flower (Thatgamecompany)
Brutal Legend (Double Fine Productions)
Innovation
Scribblenauts (5th Cell)
Flower (Thatgamecompany)
Uncharted 2 (Naughty Dog)
Plants Vs. Zombies (PopCap)
Demon's Souls (From Software)
Best Debut
The Maw (Twisted Pixel)
League Of Legends (Riot Games)
Spider: The Secret Of Bryce Manor (Tiger Style)
Torchlight (Runic Games)
Zeno Clash (ACE Team)
Best Downloadable Game
Plants Vs. Zombies (PopCap)
Trials HD (RedLynx)
PixelJunk Shooter (Q Games)
Shadow Complex (Chair Entertainment)
Flower (Thatgamecompany)
Best New Social/Online Game
Restaurant City (Playfish)
Farmville (Zynga)
Dungeon Fighter Online (Neople/Nexon)
Free Realms (Sony Online Entertainment San Diego)
Bejeweled Blitz (PopCap)
Best Handheld Game
Scribblenauts (5th Cell)
Flight Control (Firemint)
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (Rockstar Leeds/Rockstar North)
Spider: The Secret Of Bryce Manor (Tiger Style)
Legend Of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (Nintendo EAD)
Game Of The Year
Uncharted 2 (Naughty Dog)
Dragon Age: Origins (BioWare)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Rocksteady Studios)
Demon's Souls (From Software)
Assassin's Creed II (Ubisoft Montreal)
In addition to the awards for individual games, the Game Developers Choice Awards committee is in the process of announcing its Special Award recipients. Most recently, it was announced that this year's Pioneer Award is being given to Valve's Gabe Newell for his work in co-creating vital PC digital download service Steam, and helping to make possible some of the most important video games of the past two decades -- from the Half-Life series through Portal to Team Fortress and beyond. Information on the winners of the Ambassador and Lifetime Achievement Special Awards -- as well as the identity of this year's Game Developers Choice Awards host -- will be revealed in the near future.
Winners in all major categories will be honored at the Game Developers Choice Awards show, open to over 3,000 of the world's leading video game developers, and taking place Thursday, March 11th at 6:30 pm at the Moscone Convention Center during the 2010 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. For more information about the 10th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards, check out the official website at http://www.gamechoiceawards.com - and for information about the 2010 Game Developers Conference, please visit the official GDC website at http://www.gdconf.com.