- Game Developers Choice Awards
-
The Game Developers Choice Awards are annually presented by the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games.[1] Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were presented from 1997 to 1999.[2]
The 2009 award presentation was held March 25, 2009, at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California, USA.[1]
Contents
Nomination and voting process
In 2007, gamasutra.com took over management of the awards from the IGDA.[3] An advisory board selected by the editors of gamasutra.com and Game Developer magazine oversees the selection process.
Nominations are accepted from those registered gamasutra.com users confirmed by Choice Award organizers[who?] to be game developers, and from the advisory board. Once the nomination process is complete, the advisory board identifies five finalists for each regular category.
The recipients of the Lifetime Achievement, First Penguin (Pioneer since 2007) and Maverick awards are selected by the advisory board. For the other awards, a vote open to all those who participated in the nomination process chooses a recipient from each category's finalists.[4]
List of winners
Note: Years listed are when award was received for work released in the previous calendar year.
Game of the Year/Best Game
The Best Game award recognized the overall best game released during the previous calendar year, as interpreted by the members of the Game Developers Association.
- 2011: Red Dead Redemption
- 2010: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
- 2009: Fallout 3
- 2008: Portal
- 2007: Gears of War
- 2006: Shadow of the Colossus
- 2005: Half-Life 2
- 2004: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- 2003: Metroid Prime
- 2002: Grand Theft Auto III
- 2001: The Sims
Best Debut Game
The Best Debut Game Award recognizes the best game from any development studio which released its first publicly available title during the calendar year. This was formally known as the New Studio of the Year Award. In years prior to 2008, the award was awarded to the studio name, as opposed to the game title.
- 2011: Mojang AB (for Minecraft)
- 2010: Runic Games (for Torchlight)
- 2009: Media Molecule (for LittleBigPlanet)
- 2008: Realtime Worlds / Microsoft Game Studios (for Crackdown)
- 2007: Iron Lore Entertainment (for Titan Quest)
- 2006: Double Fine Productions (for Psychonauts)
- 2005: Crytek (for Far Cry)
- 2004: Infinity Ward (for Call of Duty)
- 2003: Retro Studios (for Metroid Prime)
- 2002: Bohemia Interactive Studio (for Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis)
- 2001: Counter-Strike team (for Counter-Strike)
Best Handheld Game
Best Handheld Game Award recognizes the overall best game commercially released on any handheld platform.
- 2011: Cut the Rope
- 2010: Scribblenauts
- 2009: God of War: Chains of Olympus
- 2008: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Best Downloadable Game
Best Downloadable Game Award recognizes the overall best game released on console or PC platforms specifically and solely for digital download - with an emphasis on smaller, more 'casual'-friendly titles.
- 2011: Minecraft
- 2010: Flower
- 2009: World of Goo
- 2008: flOw
Best New Social/Online Game
- 2010: FarmVille
Excellence in Audio
The Excellence in Audio award recognizes the overall excellence of audio in a game, including sound effects, musical composition, sound design, orchestration.
- 2011: Red Dead Redemption
- 2010: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
- 2009: Dead Space
- 2008: BioShock
- 2007: Guitar Hero II
- 2006: Guitar Hero
- 2005: Halo 2
- 2004: Call of Duty
- 2003: Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
- 2002: Halo: Combat Evolved
- 2001: Diablo II
Excellence in Game Design
The Excellence in Game Design award recognizes the overall excellence of design in a game, including gameplay, mechanics, puzzles, play balancing and scenarios.
- 2011: Red Dead Redemption
- 2010: Batman: Arkham Asylum
- 2009: LittleBigPlanet
- 2008: Portal
- 2007: Wii Sports
- 2006: Shadow of the Colossus
- 2005: Katamari Damacy
- 2004: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
- 2003: Battlefield 1942
- 2002: Grand Theft Auto III
- 2001: Deus Ex
Best Technology
The Technology award recognizes the overall excellence of technology in a game, including graphics programming, artificial intelligence, networking and physics.
- 2011: Red Dead Redemption
- 2010: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
- 2009: LittleBigPlanet
- 2008: Crysis
- 2007: Gears of War
- 2006: Nintendogs
- 2005: Half-Life 2
Excellence in Visual Arts
The Excellence in Visual Arts award recognizes the overall excellence of visual art in a game, including animation, modeling, art direction and textures.
- 2011: Limbo
- 2010: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
- 2009: Prince of Persia
- 2008: BioShock
- 2007: Gears of War
- 2006: Shadow of the Colossus
- 2005: World of Warcraft
- 2004: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
- 2003: Kingdom Hearts
- 2002: ICO
- 2001: Jet Grind Radio
Excellence in Writing
The Excellence in Writing award recognizes the quality of writing in a game, including story, plot construction, dialogue and branching narratives.
- 2011: Mass Effect 2
- 2010: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
- 2009: Fallout 3
- 2008: BioShock
- 2007: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- 2006: Psychonauts
- 2005: Half-Life 2
- 2004: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- 2003: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
Game Innovation Spotlights
The Game Innovation Spotlights recognize games that demonstrate innovation and push the boundaries of games as an expressive medium. Multiple awards are given each year.
- 2011: Minecraft
- 2010: Scribblenauts
- 2009: LittleBigPlanet
- 2008: Portal
- 2007: Line Rider; Ōkami; Wii Sports
- 2006: Nintendogs; Guitar Hero
- 2005: Donkey Konga; I Love Bees; Katamari Damacy
- 2004: EyeToy: Play; Viewtiful Joe; WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!
- 2003: Animal Crossing; Battlefield 1942; Medal of Honor: Allied Assault; The Thing
- 2002: Black and White; Grand Theft Auto III; ICO; Majestic; Rez
- 2001: Counter-Strike; Crazy Taxi; Deus Ex; Jet Grind Radio; No One Lives Forever
Special Awards Recipients
Lifetime Achievement Award
The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes the achievements of a developer who has impacted games and game development.
- 2011: Peter Molyneux (God games)
- 2010: John Carmack (Doom series)
- 2009: Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear series)
- 2008: Sid Meier (Civilization series and many different simulators)
- 2007: Shigeru Miyamoto (creator of Mario, Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda)
- 2006: Richard Garriott (Ultima)
- 2005: Eugene Jarvis (Defender and Robotron: 2084)
- 2004: Mark Cerny (SEGA, Sonic the Hedgehog)
- 2003: Gunpei Yokoi (1941–1997) (Game Boy, Super Mario Land series, Metroid series)
- 2002: Yuji Naka (Sonic the Hedgehog)
- 2001: Will Wright (Sim games)
The Pioneer Award
Known as the First Penguin award until 2007, the Pioneer Award celebrates individuals who developed a breakthrough technology, game concept or gameplay design.
- 2011: Yu Suzuki
- 2010: Gabe Newell
- 2009: Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy (founders of Harmonix)
- 2008: Ralph Baer (inventor of the Magnavox Odyssey)
- 2007: Alexey Pajitnov (creator of Tetris)
- 2006: Don Woods, Will Crowther (creators of the early text game Adventure)
- 2005: Richard Bartle (co-creator of MUD, ancestor to MMOs)
- 2004: Masaya Matsuura (founder of NanaOn-Sha, pioneer of music/game integration)
- 2003: David Crane, Larry Kaplan, Jim Levy, Alan Miller, Bob Whitehead (founders of Activision)
- 2002: Hubert Chardot (creator of Alone in the Dark)
- 2001: Chip Morningstar and Randy Farmer (creators of Lucasfilm's Habitat)
Ambassador Award
Formally known as the IGDA Award For Community Contribution.
- 2011: Tim Brengle and Ian Mackenzie
- 2010: Jerry Holkins, Mike Krahulik and Robert Khoo
- 2009: Tommy Tallarico
- 2008: Jason Della Rocca
- 2007: George Sanger
- 2006: Chris Hecker
- 2005: Sheri Graner Ray
- 2004: Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk
- 2003: Doug Church (Eidos Interactive)
- 2002: Jeff Lander
- 2001: John Carmack
Retired awards
The following award categories have been retired or replaced with a different focus.
Character Design
The Character Design award recognizes the overall excellence of non-licensed character design in a game, including originality, character arc and emotional depth.
- 2007: Ōkami
- 2006: Shadow of the Colossus
- 2005: Half-Life 2
Excellence in Level Design
- 2003: Metroid Prime
- 2002: ICO
- 2001: American McGee's Alice
Excellence in Programming
- 2004: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
- 2003: Neverwinter Nights
- 2002: Black and White
- 2001: The Sims
Original Game Character of the Year
- 2004: "HK-47" from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- 2003: "Sly Cooper" from Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
- 2002: "Daxter" from Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
- 2001: "Seaman" from Seaman
Maverick Award
The Maverick Award recognizes the current achievements of a developer who exhibits independence in thought and action while experimenting with alternate/emerging forms of digital games.
- 2007: Greg Costikyan
- 2006: Mike Dornbrook, Eran Egozy, Greg LoPiccolo, and Alex Rigopulos (Harmonix Music Systems)
- 2005: Matt Adams, Ju Row Farr, and Nick Tandavanitj (Blast Theory)
- 2004: Brian Fiete, Jason Kapalka, and John Vechey (PopCap Games)
References
- ^ a b "Game Developers Choice Awards". http://www.gamechoiceawards.com/. Retrieved February 2009.
- ^ "Archive". http://www.gamechoiceawards.com/archive.htm. Retrieved February 2009.
- ^ "Press Release:THE 2008 GAME DEVELOPERS CHOICE AWARDS". December 20, 2007. http://www.gamechoiceawards.com/pr/pr_2007_1220.htm. Retrieved February 2009.
- ^ "rules and regulations". http://www.gamechoiceawards.com/rules.htm. Retrieved February 2009.
External links
Categories:- Video game awards
- Awards established in 2001
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
