The 14th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.

[ProjectPat2280]

Its that time of year again, the time we find out what game(s) truly stand above the rest. The 14th annual Interactive Achievement Awards are set to kick off Thursday night, February 10th during the DICE summit and will be shown on G4, February 12th at 4pm. The show will again be hosted by Jay Mohr.

The Interactive Achievement Awards are the closest thing the video game industry can get to the Oscars in terms of "prestige" as the awards are not voted on by fickle minded fans(like Spikes award show), but by developers and other industry professionals. The Interactive Achievement Awards are presented by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Science and are presented annually at the DICE summit.

With all of that said, here are the nominees for the 14th annual Interactive Achievement Awards:



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

 

[Crockett]

What's great is that Bioware's co-founders Ray Muzyka & Greg Zeschuk will be inducted into IAA's "Hall of Fame".

 

[KALEL114]

I think RDR is going to be the big winner here. Man, I wish I could have finished that game. I wonder why Kinect Sports go a nod, but not Dance Central? I thought it was the better game between the two. Is it not technically a casual game?

 

[Wolfwood]

I'm kind of glad Angry Birds made it into the Game of the Year list. While I don't think it should win, I feel it deserves a nod for achieving the cultural impact that it had. Plus, honestly, most addictive freaking game I've played in years.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

Call Of Duty: Black Op's and Alan Wake? ...Really?
Isn't Limbo a platformer?

 

[Soapy]

Limbo's more of a puzzely type of game.

 

[Crockett]

Here are the winner for the IAAs.
http://www.vg247.com/2011/02/11/2011-interactive-achievement-awards/

Outstanding Achievement in Animation: God of War III

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction: Red Dead Redemption

Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering: Heavy Rain

Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering: Red Dead Redemption

Outstanding Character Performance: Red Dead Redemption

Family Game of the Year: Dance Central

Racing Game of the Year: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

Outstanding Achievement in Story: Mass Effect 2

Role Playing / MMO Game of the Year: Mass Effect 2

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming: Heavy Rain

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music: Heavy Rain

Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack: Rock Band 3

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design: Limbo

Adventure Game of the Year: Limbo

Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay: Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty

Action Game of the Year: Red Dead Redemption

Sports Game of the Year: FIFA 2011

Fighting Game of the Year: Super Street Fighter IV

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year: Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty

Portable Game of the Year: God of War: Ghost of Sparta

Casual Game of the Year: Angry Birds HD

Social Game of the Year: CityVille

Lifetime Achievement Award: Bing Gordon

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction: Red Dead Redemption

Game of the Year: Mass Effect 2

Pioneer Award: Bill Budge

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

I think they nailed it, great to see ME2 walk away with the GOTY. This year had some really strong titles but that one I walked away from having to pull my jaw off the floor.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Wow, really surprised Redemption didnt take overall GoTY even though it took home more awards than its competitors. I was sure that was going to be this years best title. It really only was a competition between ME2 and RDR. ME2 was a fantastic game tho, so well deserved win for Bioware.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

http://kotaku.com/#!5757383/jay-mohr-serenades-kotaku-jokes-about-video-games-activision-and-nintendo

Short video of IAA host Jay Mohr prior to last nights award show. I love his Christopher Walken impersonation. He was pretty good last year so id expect the same from this year.


Here are a few of Kotakus favorite lines of his from last nights show:

Mohr addressing the audience:
"The sideburns and neckbeards seem to be particularly well groomed tonight."


Mohr on Ubisoft's Michael Jackson Wii game:
Michael Jackson the Experience provided everyone with their own signature white glove. This year they are re-releasing a special edition which gives every person a chance to sleep with a 12-year-old boy.


Mohr on award presenter Blizzard's Rob Pardo:
"When Rob Pardo gives you an award for game design it's legitimizing. When Zach Effron gives you an award for acting... it's confusing. It's like Pigpen giving you a bath."


Mohr on the technology of gaming:
"This has been an amazing year for technological advancements. The Xbox 360 had Kinect. The PS3 had the Move and the geniuses at Nintendo introduced a red one. Come on Nintendo. Try!


Mohr on Call of Duty: Black Ops hate:
"We have to talk about Call of Duty: Black Ops. Congratulations Activision, it's the biggest game since the last one you made. You're like James Cameron. You make one hit after another and absolutely no one wants to work with you."

 

[Soapy]

I thought for sure with such an early release last year Mass Effect would be forgotten come awards time. It's really great seeing it get the recognition it deserves.

 

[Sgt.Pepper]

Glad that Mass Effect 2 won the GOTY award.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

I thought for sure with such an early release last year Mass Effect would be forgotten come awards time. It's really great seeing it get the recognition it deserves.

No way, Mass Effect was WAAYYY to good to be forgotten, at least not by the AIAS. It was a fantastic game.

 

[Alchemyst]

No way, Mass Effect was WAAYYY to good to be forgotten, at least not by the AIAS. It was a fantastic game.

yeah and it practically brought more attention to itself by being released for the Playstation 3 finally. It's also had alot of DLC come out since the game had originally released.