The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences has revealed its nominees for the 14th annual Interactive Achievement Awards, with Rockstar's
Red Dead Redemption leading the field with nine nominations, including Game of the Year.
The iPad's
Angry Birds HD became the first iOS title to receive a Game of the Year nod this year, earning nominations for Outstanding Innovation and Casual Game of the Year as well. The iPhone version of Rovio's game launched in November 2009, but the AIAS considered the HD version as a separate game, allowing its nomination.
Other nominees for the academy's top award include Sony's
God of War III which earned six total nominations, Activision's
Call of Duty: Black Ops with five total nominations, and EA's
Mass Effect 2 with five nominations.
Namco Bandai's
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West made a surprisingly strong showing with six nominations, including Animation, Character Performance, Story and Adventure Game of the Year.
"2010 saw many great achievements in interactive entertainment,” said AIAS president Martin Rae. “Great games are found everywhere - this year’s nominations illustrate the depth and breadth of our game experience for titles from core consoles, browsers and personal entertainment devices like the iPhone.”
Winners will be announced at a ceremony hosted by returning host Jay Mohr during the 2011 DICE Summit on Thursday, February 10, and broadcast two days later on cable network G4.
A full list of nominees in 26 categories follows:
Family Game of the Year
Dance Central | Microsoft Game Studios/MTV Games | Harmonix Music Systems
Kirby's Epic Yarn | Nintendo | Good-Feel/HAL Laboratory
LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4 | Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment | Traveller's Tales
Rock Band 3 | MTV Games | Harmonix Music Systems
SingStar Dance | Sony Computer Entertainment America | SCE London Studio
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising | THQ | Relic Entertainment
Sid Meier's Civilization | V 2K Games | Firaxis
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty | Blizzard Entertainment | Blizzard Entertainment
Supreme Commander 2 | Square Enix Gas | Powered Games
Toy Soldiers | Microsoft Game Studios | Signal Studios
Outstanding Achievement in Animation
Call of Duty: Black Ops | Activision | Treyarch
ENSLAVED: Odyssey to the West | Namco Bandai | Ninja Theory
God of War III | Sony Computer Entertainment America | SCE Santa Monica Studio
Red Dead Redemption | Rockstar Games | Rockstar San Diego
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction | Ubisoft | Ubisoft Montreal
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Alan Wake | Microsoft Game Studios | Remedy Entertainment
ENSLAVED: Odyssey to the West | Namco Bandai | Ninja Theory
God of War III | Sony Computer Entertainment America | SCE Santa Monica Studio
Kirby's Epic Yarn | Nintendo | Good-Feel/HAL Laboratory
Red Dead Redemption | Rockstar Games Rockstar San Diego
Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering
Call of Duty: Black Ops | Activision | Treyarch
God of War III | Sony Computer Entertainment America | SCE Santa Monica Studio
Heavy Rain | Sony Computer Entertainment America | Quantic Dream
Medal of Honor | Electronic Arts | Danger Close/Digital Illusions CE
Metro 2033 | THQ | 4A Games
Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering
Dance Central | Microsoft Game Studios/MTV Games | Harmonix Music Systems
Kirby's Epic Yarn | Nintendo | Good-Feel/HAL Laboratory
Red Dead Redemption | Rockstar Games | Rockstar San Diego
Super Mario Galaxy 2 | Nintendo | Nintendo
Super Scribblenauts | Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment | 5th Cell
Outstanding Character Performance
ENSLAVED: Odyssey to the West - Monkey | Namco Bandai | Ninja Theory
God of War III - Kratos | Sony Computer Entertainment America SCE Santa Monica Studio
Mass Effect 2 - Male Shepard | Electronic Arts | Bioware
Red Dead Redemption - John Marston | Rockstar Games | Rockstar San Diego
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty - Tychus Findlay | Blizzard Entertainment | Blizzard Entertainment
Outstanding Achievement in Story
Alan Wake | Microsoft Game Studios | Remedy Entertainment
ENSLAVED: Odyssey to the West | Namco Bandai | Ninja Theory
Heavy Rain | Sony Computer Entertainment America | Quantic Dream
Mass Effect 2 | Electronic Arts | Bioware
Metro 2033 | THQ | 4A Games
Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies | Nintendo | Square Enix
Fable III | Microsoft Game Studios | Lionhead Studios
Fallout: New Vegas | Bethesda Softworks | Obsidian Entertainment
Mass Effect 2 | Electronic Arts | Bioware
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm | Blizzard Entertainment | Blizzard Entertainment
Outstanding Innovation in Gaming
Angry Birds HD | Chillingo | Rovio
Dance Central | Microsoft Game Studios/MTV Games | Harmonix Music Systems
Heavy Rain | Sony Computer Entertainment America | Quantic Dream
LIMBO | Playdead | Playdead
Red Dead Redemption | Rockstar Games | Rockstar San Diego
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood | Ubisoft | Ubisoft Montreal
Fable III | Microsoft Game Studios | Lionhead Studios
Heavy Rain | Sony Computer Entertainment America | Quantic Dream
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty | Blizzard Entertainment | Blizzard Entertainment
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm | Blizzard Entertainment | Blizzard Entertainment
Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack
Dance Central | Microsoft Game Studios/MTV Games | Harmonix Music Systems
DJ Hero 2 | Activision | FreeStyleGames
Gran Turismo 5 | Sony Computer Entertainment America | Polyphony Digital
Rock Band 3 | MTV Games | Harmonix Music Systems
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood | Ubisoft | Ubisoft Montreal
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 | Electronic Arts | Digital Illusions CE
LIMBO | Playdead | Playdead
Medal of Honor | Electronic Arts | Danger Close/Digital Illusions CE
Red Dead Redemption | Rockstar Games | Rockstar San Diego
Social Networking Game of the Year
CityVille | Zynga | Zynga
Family Feud | iWin/Backstage Technologies | iWin/Backstage Technologies
FrontierVille | Zynga | Zynga
Nightclub City | Booyah | Booyah
Ravenwood Fair | Lolapps | Lolapps
Adventure Game of the Year
Alan Wake | Microsoft Game Studios | Remedy Entertainment
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood | Ubisoft | Ubisoft Montreal
ENSLAVED: Odyssey to the West | Namco Bandai | Ninja Theory
Heavy Rain | Sony Computer Entertainment America | Quantic Dream
LIMBO | Playdead | Playdead
Sports Game of the Year
FIFA Soccer 11 | Electronic Arts | EA Canada
MLB 10: The Show | Sony Computer Entertainment America | SCE San Diego
NBA 2K11 | 2K Sports | Visual Concepts
NHL 11 | Electronic Arts | EA Canada
Racing Game of the Year
Gran Turismo 5 | Sony Computer Entertainment America | Polyphony Digital
ModNation Racers | Sony Computer Entertainment America | United Front Games/SCE San Diego
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit | Electronic Arts | Criterion
Split/Second | Disney Interactive Studios | Black Rock Studio
Fighting Game of the Year
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift | Aksys Games | Arc System Works
EA Sports MMA | Electronic Arts | EA Tiburon
Super Street Fighter IV | Capcom | Capcom/Dimps
UFC 2010 Undisputed | THQ | Yuke's Co.
Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood | Ubisoft | Ubisoft Montreal
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 | Electronic | Arts Digital Illusions CE
Call of Duty: Black Ops | Activision | Treyarch
Halo: Reach | Microsoft Game Studios | Bungie
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty | Blizzard Entertainment | Blizzard Entertainment
Action Game of the Year
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 | Electronic Arts | Digital Illusions CE
Call of Duty: Black Ops | Activision | Treyarch
God of War III | Sony Computer Entertainment America | SCE Santa Monica Studio
Halo: Reach | Microsoft Game Studios | Bungie
Red Dead Redemption | Rockstar Games | Rockstar San Diego
Portable Game of the Year
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies | Nintendo | Square Enix
God of War: Ghost of Sparta | Sony Computer Entertainment America | SCE Santa Monica Studio/Ready at Dawn
Infinity Blade | Epic Games | Chair Entertainment
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future | Nintendo | Level-5
Valkyria Chronicles II | Sega | Sega
Casual Game of the Year
Angry Birds HD | Chillingo | Rovio
Bejeweled 3 | PopCap Games | PopCap Games
Kinect Sports | Microsoft Game Studios | Rare
Pac-Man Championship Edition DX | Namco Bandai | Namco Bandai
Plants vs. Zombies | PopCap Games | PopCap Games
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood | Ubisoft | Ubisoft Montreal
ENSLAVED: Odyssey to the West | Namco Bandai | Ninja Theory
LIMBO | Playdead | Playdead
Mass Effect 2 | Electronic Arts | Bioware
Red Dead Redemption | Rockstar Games | Rockstar San Diego
Game of the Year
Angry Birds HD | Chillingo | Rovio
Call of Duty: Black Ops | Activision | Treyarch
God of War III | Sony Computer Entertainment America | SCE Santa Monica Studio
Mass Effect 2 | Electronic Arts | Bioware
Red Dead Redemption | Rockstar Games | Rockstar San Diego
