Wired Rave Awards Nominees Announced

The nominees for the Wired Rave Awards, a set of accolades given out by the influential tech magazine, have been announced, including those singled out for the Game Developer category. Nominated by editors at Wired, the five nominees represent their choices for the most important visionaries and leaders within the gaming industry, some of whom get relatively little individual recognition from the mainstream press. The nominees are Jack Emmert, for Cryptic Studios' superhero-themed MMORPG City of Heroes; Gabe Newell, for Valve Studios' long-awaited FPS sequel Half-Life 2, Pete Parsons, for Bungie's wildly successful Xbox shooter Halo 2, Keita Takahashi, mastermind of Namco's unusual hit Katamari Damacy, and Alex Ward, for Criterion Games' adrenaline-filled driving game Burnout 3. "These nominees are an eclectic mix of people who are changing the world by doing something truly new," said Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine. "They’re the innovators who have thrilled and inspired us and shown us what is possible." The Wired Rave Awards will be presented at the Fillmore theater in San Francisco on February 22nd, and the winners will be featured in the March 2005 issue of Wired Magazine.