GDCA 2012 Nominees Revealed

GDCA 2012 Nominees Revealed

The 12th annual Game Developers Choice Awards, an award show where game developers give honor among themselves. It may sound a little selfish, but promise us, it’s not at all, in fact the judges lean towards the innovative rather than the bombastic. It’s purely a few hours of appreciation for the amount of work that goes into their games, a far more appreciative attitude than that of the Spike TV Video Game Awards.

Last year the awards were streamed online for those that could not make it to San Francisco, California where the Game Developers Conference is held. It’s safe to assume they will be streamed once again this year, but that information has yet to be revealed.

A list of the nominees for all ten categories were released today, which you can find below.

Bastion, Supergiant Games’ first title, released on XBLA earlier this year, is nominated for 5 awards. The game you (probably) didn’t play, Ubisoft’s Rayman: Origins is nominated for “Best Visual Arts”. Up for the “Game of the Year” award, arguably the hardest to choose is The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Portal 2, Batman: Arkham City, and Dark Souls. I’m sure some would argue the idea of rewarding FromSoftware for the punishment they gave out is terrifying and wrong, but their tactics to chastise players who got their hands on the game early deserves an award itself.

The Game Developers Choice Awards will be held on March 7.

 

Best Game Design
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios)
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo)
Portal 2 (Valve)
Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady Studios)
Dark Souls (FromSoftware)

Innovation

Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure (Toys For Bob)
Portal 2 (Valve)
Bastion (Supergiant Games)
Johann Sebastian Joust (Die Gute Fabrik)
L.A. Noire (Team Bondi)

Best Technology

Battlefield 3 (DICE)
L.A. Noire (Team Bondi)
Crysis 2 (Crytek Frankfurt/UK)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios)
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (Naughty Dog)

Best Handheld/Mobile Game

Tiny Tower (NimbleBit)
Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo)
Jetpack Joyride (Halfbrick)
Infinity Blade II (Chair Entertainment)
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (Capy Games/Superbrothers)

Best Audio

Bastion (Supergiant Games)
LittleBigPlanet 2 (Media Molecule)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios)
Dead Space 2 (Visceral Games)
Portal 2 (Valve)

Best Downloadable Game

Stacking (Double Fine)
From Dust (Ubisoft Montpellier)
Bastion (Supergiant Games)
Outland (Housemarque)
Frozen Synapse (Mode 7)

Best Narrative

Portal 2 (Valve)
The Witcher 2 (CD Projekt RED)
Bastion (Supergiant Games)
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (Naughty Dog)
Saints Row: The Third (Volition)

Best Debut

Supergiant Games (Bastion)
Team Bondi (L.A. Noire)
Re-Logic (Terraria)
BioWare Austin (Star Wars: The Old Republic)
Eidos Montreal (Deus Ex: Human Revolution)

Best Visual Arts

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (Naughty Dog)
Rayman Origins (Ubisoft Montpellier)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios)
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (Ignition Japan)
Battlefield 3 (DICE)

Game of the Year

Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady Studios)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios)
Portal 2 (Valve)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Eidos Montreal)
Dark Souls (FromSoftware)

Source: PR Newswire