AIAS Awards winners show Gears of War as the biggest game of 2006
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences announced the winners of the 10th Annual AIAS’ last Friday. The big winner this year was Gears of War from Epic Games, who swept the AIAS Awards with eight awards. They boasted beating the Nintendo Wii for recognition by games industry peers: “Getting sales is great, making the game we wanted and having people buy it and enjoy it is fantastic. But having our peers say it’s the best game of the year? That’s insane. We beat the Wii.”
This year’s awards were not without controversy, as Capcom recently made headlines over the AIAS’ exclusion of their prized games, Okami and Dead Rising. The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (sponsors of the AIAS Awards), however, maintains their position that a publisher must be a paid member of the AIAS in order for their games to be considered for nomination. Okami and Oblivion are set to go head-to-head for honors at the all-inclusive GDC Awards this March.
Below is a full list of the nominees, with the winners bolded:
Overall Game of the Year:
Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Wii Sports (Nintendo/Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Guitar Hero 2 (Harmonix/Activision/Red Octane)
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks/2K Games)
Console Game of the Year:
Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios) The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Wii Sports (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Guitar Hero 2 (Harmonix/Activision/Red Octane)
Viva Piñata (Rare/Microsoft Game Studios)
Computer Game of the Year:
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks/2K Games)
Company of Heroes (Relic/THQ)
Battlefield 2142 (D.I.C.E./Electronic Arts)
Prey (Human Head Games/2K Games)
Age of Empires III: The Warchiefs (Ensemble Studios/Microsoft Game Studios)
Outstanding Innovation in Gaming:
Wii Sports (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Viva Piñata (Rare/Microsoft Game Studios)
LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Handheld Game of the Year:
LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Elite Beat Agents (Nintendo/Nintendo)
New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (TT Games/Lucas Arts)
Outstanding Achievement in Animation:
Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Daxter (ReadyatDawn/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (TT Games/Lucas Arts)
Rayman Raving Rabidds (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft)
Fight Night Round 3 (EA Sports/Electronic Arts)
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction:
Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix/Square Enix)
Call of Duty 3 (Treyarch/Activision)
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Viva Piñata (Rare/Microsoft Game Studios)
Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack:
Guitar Hero 2 (Harmonix/Activision/Red Octane)
SingStar Rocks! (Sony Computer Entertainment London/Sony Computer Entertainment)
FIFA ‘07 (Electronic Arts Canada/Electronic Arts)
Marc Ecko’s Getting Up (The Collective/Atari)
Scarface (Radical Entertainment/Sierra Entertainment)
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition:
Call of Duty 3 (Treyarch/Activision)
LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks/2K Games)
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Ubisoft Shanghai/Ubisoft)
Black (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts)
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design:
Call of Duty 3 (Treyarch/Activision)
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks/2K Games)
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Redstorm Studios/Ubisoft Paris/Ubisoft)
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Ubisoft Shanghai/Ubisoft)
Company of Heroes (Relic/THQ)
Outstanding Character Performance - Male:
Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent(Ubisoft Shanghai/Ubisoft)
Bully (Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games)
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (TT Games/Lucas Arts)
Daxter (ReadyatDawn/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance - Female:
Saints Row (Volition/THQ)
Desperate Housewives (Liquid Entertainment/Buena Vista Games)
Viva Piñata (Rare/Microsoft Game Studios)
Bully (Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games)
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks/2K Games)
Outstanding Achievement in Story and Character Development:
Sam & Max Episode 1: Culture Shock (GameTap/Telltale Games)
Saints Row (Volition/THQ)
24: The Game (Sony Online Entertainment/2K Games)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (Funcom/Aspyr)
Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering:
Wii Sports (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks/2K Games)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Company of Heroes (Relic/THQ)
Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play:
Call of Duty 3 (Treyarch/Activision)
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Redstorm Studios/Ubisoft Paris/Ubisoft)
Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Chromehounds (From Software/Sega of America)
Battlefield 2142 (D.I.C.E./Electronic Arts)
Update: The full list of winners follows…
Overall Game of the Year: Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Console Game of the Year: Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Computer Game of the Year: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks/2K Games)
Outstanding Innovation in Gaming: Wii Sports (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Handheld Game of the Year: Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Outstanding Achievement in Animation: Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction: Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack: Guitar Hero 2 (Harmonix/Activision/Red Octane)
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition: LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design: Call of Duty 3 (Treyarch/Activision)
Outstanding Character Performance - Male: Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance - Female: Viva Piñata (Rare/Microsoft Game Studios)
Outstanding Achievement in Story and Character Development: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering: Wii Sports (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play: Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering: Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design: Wii Sports (Nintendo/Nintendo)
Sports Game of the Year: Tony Hawk’s Project 8 (Neversoft Entertainment/Activision)
Strategy Game of the Year: Company of Heroes (Relic/THQ)
First-Person Action Game of the Year: Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Fighting Game of the Year: Fight Night Round 3 (EA Sports/Electronic Arts)
Racing Game of the Year: Burnout Revenge (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts)
Role-Playing Game of the Year: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks/2K Games)
Children’s Game of the Year: LocoRoco (Sony Computer Entertainment/Sony Computer Entertainment)
Action/Adventure Game of the Year: Gears of War (Epic Games/Microsoft Game Studios)
Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year: Guild Wars: Nightfall (Arena Net/NCsoft)
Family Game of the Year: Guitar Hero 2 (Harmonix/Activision/Red Octane)
Simulation Game of the Year: Microsoft Flight Simulator X (Microsoft Game Studios/Microsoft Game Studios)
Downloadable Game of the Year: Bookworm Adventures (PopCap/PopCap)
Mobile Game of the Year: Orcs and Elves (Fountainhead Entertainment/Electronic Arts Mobile)
