BAFTA Nominations 09

Tuesday 10th February/... The Academy today announced the nominations for the GAME British Academy Video Games Awards which this year feature 39 different games and reflect the growing diversity of games capturing the public’s imagination. This year’s host Dara O’Briain, an avid gamer himself, recently described these times as a ‘golden age’ in video games, and this year’s nominations showcase the breathtaking imagination and creativity of the development talent working in the Video Games industry today. The Awards recognise the very best in artistic, creative and technical innovation in video games, and will be held at the London Hilton on Park Lane on March 10.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, GTA IV, and Fable II were all nominated in Action & Adventure, Story & Character and Best Game. Call of Duty also received nominations in Artistic Achievement, Gameplay, Multiplayer and Use of Audio. In addition, GTA IV was recognised in Gameplay, Use of Audio and Technical Achievement. Fable II was also nominated in Original Score and Technical Achievement. LittleBigPlanet received recognition in Artistic Achievement, Casual, Original Score, Technical Achievement and Use of Audio. Assassin’s Creed, Dead Space, and Fallout 3 have garnered four nominations each, while Gears of War 2, Rock Band, and Super Mario Galaxy all have three.

The British Academy recognises creative achievements across Film, Television and Video Games and the synergies between these three art forms of the moving image could not be better exemplified than by the designer of year’s Boom Blox, nominated in the Casual category. In addition to his prodigious film credits and his highly successful television serial Band of Brothers, Steven Spielberg can now add a BAFTA Video Games nomination to his credits.

Other nominated games include Advance Wars: Dark Conflict, Buzz! Quiz TV, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, FIFA 09, Football Manager 2009, Geometry Wars: Galaxies, God of War: Chains of the Olympus, Guitar Hero: World Tour, Left 4 Dead, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Mario Kart Wii, Mass Effect, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Motorstorm Pacific Rift, Ninjatown, Patapon, Prince of Persia, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Pure, Race Driver: GRID,  Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution, SingStar Vol. 2, SOCOM: US Navy Seals Tactical Strike, Soul Bubbles, Spore, Tomb Raider: Underworld,  Viva Piñata: Pocket Paradise and Wii Fit.

This year’s Awards will include the one publicly-voted award of the evening – the GAME Award of 2008. Its shortlist was compiled by a panel of games journalists and gaming enthusiasts, and comprises Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Fallout 3, Gears of War 2, GTA IV, Guitar Hero: World Tour, Left 4 Dead, LittleBigPlanet, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Wii Fit and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. Voting is now live at www.baftagameaward.com

Whilst the Academy recognises those individuals at the top of their game, it also wishes to nurture the developers of tomorrow by recognising up-and-coming talent.  The nominations for BAFTA’s new talent award, The BAFTA Ones To Watch Award in association with Dare to be Digital are Boro-Toro, Origamee and VegeMe.

This year’s Fellowship, the highest accolade the Academy bestows is being received by legendary Pong creator and Atari founder Nolan Bushnell.

A FULL LIST OF ALL NOMINATIONS ACCOMPANIES THIS RELEASE

Notes to editors:

About BAFTA:

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is the UK’s leading organisation dedicated to the recognition and promotion of excellence in the fields of the moving image. Renowned for its high profile Film & Television Awards ceremonies, the prestigious BAFTA mask has long been seen as a symbol of excellence.

About the judging process:

Games were entered by both developers and publishers into all the categories listed in this release and were initially voted on by BAFTA games members and a carefully selected list of industry experts via a secure website. The titles garnering the most votes went through to specialist juries who received the games approximately six weeks prior to making their nominations. Each juror signs confidentiality papers and casts their votes on paper. The results in each category are not known until the envelope is opened on the night.

About the GAME Award of 2008

Each panellist was sent a list in advance of the top selling games sold in GAME stores in 2008 and selected their top 10 plus up to three more suggestions of their own.  These results were collated and a shortlist of 20 was drawn up. The panel then convened on January 22 2009 at BAFTA and after various stages of discussion, reached a shortlist of 10 for the public to vote upon. Voting is live at www.baftagameaward.com and is open to anyone to vote from around the world.

The panel: 

Johnny Minkley - Eurogamer, Alex Wiltshire - Edge, Steve Boxer - The Guardian, Jason Bradbury - The Gadget Show, Jonathan Weinberg - News of the World, Adam Rosser - Radio Five Live, Michael French - MCV & Develop, Martin Stanford - Sky News, Ross Atherton - PC Gamer, Jon Hicks - Official Xbox Magazine, Tim Clark - Official Playstation Magazine, Neil Long - Official Nintendo Magazine, Nick Cowen – The Daily Telegraph, Keith Chegwin – gamer,  Rhianna Pratchett - writer and freelance Margaret Robertson.

About GAME:

GAME is Europe’s leading specialist retailer of pc and video game products. Since the start of trading in 1991 with 11 stores in the UK, it has grown both organically and through acquisition to a chain of over 1,300 outlets in January 2009. It operates stores in ten countries, supported by eCommerce websites. Online retail is located at www.game.co.uk.

THE NOMINATIONS

ACTION & ADVENTURE

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Development Team

Infinity Ward/Activision

Dead Space

Glen Schofield, Chuck Beaver, Bret Robbins

Electronic Arts/Electronic Arts

Fable II

Development Team

Lionhead Studios/Microsoft Game Studios

Grand Theft Auto IV

Development Team

Rockstar North/Rockstar Games

Prince of Persia

Ben Mattes, Jean-Christophe Guyot

Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Entertainment

Tomb Raider: Underworld

Noah Hughes, Pat Sirk, Toby Gard

Crystal Dynamics/Eidos

ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT

Assassin's Creed

Jade Raymond, Patrice Desilets, Claude Langlais

Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Entertainment

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Development Team

Infinity Ward/Activision

Dead Space

Ian Milham

Electronic Arts/Electronic Arts

Gears of War 2

Development Team

Epic Games/Microsoft Games Studios

LittleBigPlanet

Kareem Ettouney, Mark Healey, Leo Cubbin

Media Molecule & XDev Studio Europe/Sony Computer Entertainment

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Yoji Shinkawa

Kojima Productions/Konami Digital Entertainment

BEST GAME

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Development Team

Infinity Ward/Activision

Fable II

Development Team

Lionhead Studios/Microsoft Game Studio

Fallout 3

Todd Howard, Emil Pagliarulo, Istvan Pely

Bethesda Game Studio/Bethesda Softworks Europe

Grand Theft Auto IV

Development Team

Rockstar North/Rockstar Games

Rock Band

Alex Rigopulos, Eran Egozy, Mike Dornbrook

Harmonix Music Systems/MTV Games

Super Mario Galaxy

Development Team

Nintendo/Nintendo

CASUAL

Boom Blox

Development Team

Electronic Arts LA/Electronic Arts

Buzz! Quiz TV

David Amor, Andrew Eades, Lee Clare

Relentless Software & XDev Studio Europe/Sony Computer Entertainment

Guitar Hero: World Tour

Development Team

Neversoft/Activision

LittleBigPlanet

Mark Healey, Dave Smith, Pete Smith

Media Molecule & XDev Studio Europe/Sony Computer Entertainment

SingStar Vol. 2

Vera So, Gillian Connole, Kevin Mason

SCE London Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment

Wii Fit

Development Team

Nintendo/Nintendo

GAMEPLAY

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Development Team

Infinity Ward/Activision

Grand Theft Auto IV

Development Team

Rockstar North/Rockstar Games

Left 4 Dead

Gabe Newell, Mike Booth, Chet Faliszek

Valve/Valve

Mario Kart Wii

Development Team

Nintendo/Nintendo

Rock Band

Alex Rigopulos, Dan Teasdale, Tracy Rosenthal-Newsom

Harmonix Music System/MTV Games

Super Mario Galaxy

Development Team

Nintendo/Nintendo

HANDHELD

Geometry Wars: Galaxies

James Brooksby, Jim Mummery

Doublesix/Sierra

God of War: Chains of the Olympus

Development Team

Ready at Dawn & SCE Santa Monica Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Development Team

Nintendo/Nintendo

Patapon

Development Team

Pyramid & SCE Japan Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment

Professor Layton and the Curious Village

Development Team

Nintendo/Nintendo

Soul Bubbles

Olivier Lejade, Omar Cornut, Frederick Raynal

McKensleep/Eidos

MULTIPLAYER

Buzz! Quiz TV

David Amor, Andrew Eades

Relentless Software& SCE XDev Studio Europe/Sony Computer Entertainment

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Development Team

Infinity Ward/Activision

Gears of War 2

Development Team

Epic Games/Microsoft Games Studios

Left 4 Dead

Gabe Newell, Mike Booth, Chet Faliszek

Valve/Valve

Mario Kart Wii

Development Team

Nintendo/Nintendo

Rock Band

Alex Rigopulos, Kasson Crooker

Harmonix Music System/MTV Games

ORIGINAL SCORE

Assassin's Creed

Jade Raymond, Patrice Desilets, Claude Langlais

Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Entertainment

Dead Space

Development Team

Electronic Arts/Electronic Arts

Fable II

Development Team

Lionhead Studios/Microsoft Game Studios

Fallout 3

Todd Howard, Emil Pagliarulo, Istvan Pely

Bethesda Game Studio/Bethesda Softworks Europe

LittleBigPlanet

Kenneth Young, Mark Healey, Leo Cubbin

Media Molecule & XDev Studio Europe/Sony Computer Entertainment

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Harry Gregson-Williams

Kojima Productions/Konami Digital Entertainment

SPORTS

FIFA 09

Andrew Wilson, David Rutter, Gary Paterson

EA Canada/Electronic Arts

Football Manager 2009

Development Team

Sports Interactive/SEGA

Motorstorm Pacific Rift

Development Team

Evolution Studios/Sony Computer Entertainment

Pure

Jason Avent, Jim Callin, Craig Gabell

Black Rock Studios/Disney Interactive Studios

Race Driver: GRID

Development Team

Codemasters Studios/Codemasters

Wii Fit

Development Team

Nintendo/Nintendo

STRATEGY

Advance Wars: Dark Conflict

Development Team

Nintendo/Nintendo

Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3

Development Team

EA Los Angeles/Electronic Arts

Ninjatown

Shawn Smith, Brandon Curiel, Jeremy Pope

Venan in conjunction with Casmere Productions & Shalinamals/Southpeak Games

Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution

Development Team

Firaxis Games/2K Games

SOCOM: US Navy Seals Tactical Strike

Development Team

Slant Six Games & SCE Foster City Studio/Sony Computer Entertainment

Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise

Gary Richards, Paul Machacek, Joe Humfrey

Rare/THQ

STORY AND CHARACTER

Assassin's Creed

Jade Raymond, Patrice Desilets, Claude Langlais

Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Entertainment

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Development Team

Infinity Ward/Activision

Fable II

Development Team

Lionhead Studios/Microsoft Game Studios

Fallout 3

Todd Howard, Emil Pagliarulo

Bethesda Game Studio/Bethesda Softworks Europe

Grand Theft Auto IV

Development Team

Rockstar North/Rockstar Games

Mass Effect

Casey Hudson, Drew Karpyshyn, Derek Watts

Bioware/Electronic Arts

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT

Assassin's Creed

Jade Raymond, Patrice Desilets, Claude Langlais

Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Entertainment

Fable II

Development Team

Lionhead Studios/Microsoft Game Studios

Fallout 3

Todd Howard, Guy Carver

Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks Europe

Grand Theft Auto IV

Development Team

Rockstar North/Rockstar Games

LittleBigPlanet

Alex Evans, Dave Smith, Leo Cubbin

Media Molecule & XDev Studio Europe/Sony Computer Europe

Spore

Development Team

Electronic Arts Montreal/Electronic Arts

USE OF AUDIO

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Development Team

Infinity Ward/Activision

Dead Space

Don Veca

Electronic Arts/Electronic Arts

Gears of War 2

Development Team

Epic Games/Microsoft Games Studios

Grand Theft Auto IV

Development Team

Rockstar North/Rockstar Games

LittleBigPlanet

Kenneth Young, Mark Healey, Leo Cubbin

Media Molecule & XDev Studio Europe/Sony Computer Entertainment

Super Mario Galaxy

Development Team

Nintendo/Nintendo

BAFTA ONE'S TO WATCH AWARD in association with Dare to Be Digital

Boro-Toro

Adam Westwood, Graham Ranson, Yves Wheeler, Matthew Booton, Owen Schwehr (DarkMatter Designs)

Origamee

Richard Barlow, Alberto Fustinoni, Jonathon Holmes, Kevin Dunlop, Jade Law

(Blue Skies)

VegeMe

Guo Lin, Gao Ting, Zhang Jun, Laing Wei, Alexander Syminton (Ctrl_D)

GAME Award of 2008

(The only award to be voted for by the public)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

Infinity Ward/Activision

Fallout 3

Bethesda Game Studio/Bethesda Software Europe

Gears of War 2

Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios

Grand Theft Auto IV

Rockstar North/Take Two Interactive

Guitar Hero World Tour

Neversoft/Activision

Left 4 Dead

Valve/Valve

LittleBigPlanet

Media Molecule & XDEV Studio Europe/SCEE

Professor Layton and the Curious Village

Nintendo/Nintendo

Wii Fit

Nintendo/Nintendo

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

Blizzard Entertainment/Activision

Notes to editors:

About BAFTA:

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is the UK's leading organisation dedicated to the recognition and promotion of excellence in the fields of the moving image. Renowned for its high profile Film & Television Awards ceremonies, the prestigious BAFTA mask has long been seen as a symbol of excellence.

About the judging process:

Games were entered by both developers and publishers into all the categories listed in this release and were initially voted on by BAFTA games members and a carefully selected list of industry experts via a secure website.

The titles garnering the most votes went through to specialist juries who received the games c 6 weeks prior to making their nominations.

Each juror signs confidentiality papers and casts their votes on paper. The results in each category are not known until the envelope is opened on the night.

About the GAME Award of 2008

Each panellist was sent a list in advance of the top selling games sold in GAME stores in 2008 and selected their top 10 plus up to 3 more suggestions of their own.  These results were collated and a shortlist of 20 was drawn up. The panel then convened on January 22 2009 at BAFTA and after various stages of discussion, reached a shortlist of 10 for the public to vote upon. Voting is live at www.baftagameaward.com and is open to anyone to vote from around the world.

The panel:

For further corporate information, log onto www.gamegroup.plc.uk.GAME is Europe's leading specialist retailer of pc and video game products. Since the start of trading in 1991 with 11 stores in the UK, it has grown both organically and through acquisition to a chain of over 1,300 outlets in January 2009. It operates stores in ten countries, supported by eCommerce websites. Online retail is located at www.game.co.uk.

About GAME:

GAME is Europe’s leading specialist retailer of pc and video game products. Since the start of trading in 1991 with 11 stores in the UK, it has grown both organically and through acquisition to a chain of over 1,300 outlets in January 2009. It operates stores in ten countries, supported by eCommerce websites. Online retail is located at www.game.co.uk.