During a special titled “G-Phoria 2006” on August 8, North American game-related cable TV channel G4 announced the winning games in the latest iteration of its
G-Phoria awards, including major plaudits for
Oblivion.
G4 viewers voted - via the G4 website, or on their SMS-enabled cell phones - for titles representing various categories and video game genres. Viewers also participated in G4’s live chat rooms during the voting process and the actual broadcast.
Of those titles earning the most tallies, games for the Xbox 360 proved the platform of the evening, garnering six game “bests” including the award for “Game of the Year”, which was given to 2K Games and Bethesda Softworks' role-playing epic,
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
Oblivion, which was also released for the PC, took top honors with in other categories as well, including “Best Graphics” and “Best Role-Playing Game”.
Other Xbox 360 titles recognized at the event included Ubisoft's
Ghost Recon Advanced War Fighter for “Best Multiplayer Game”, Activision's
Call of Duty 2 for “Best Shooter”, and Electronic Arts'
Fight Night Round 3 for “Best Traditional Sports Game”.
PlayStation 2 titles took home four awards, including a pair given to Square Enix's
Kingdom Hearts II for “Best Voice Over” and “Best Soundtrack”. RedOctane's popular rhythm game
Guitar Hero won for “Most Original Game”, while SCEA's
Shadow of the Colossus took home the award for “Best Action Game”.
Nintendo came away with just two awards for the evening, one each for its GameCube and Nintendo DS platforms.
Mario Baseball won the award for “Best Alternative Sports”, while
Mario Kart DS took home the lone handheld award for “Best Handheld Game”.
