The Academy today announced the nominations for the GAME British Academy Video Games Awards. 48 different games have been recognised and together they represent some of the most popular, innovative and cutting-edge creativity in today’s gaming industry.
- Batman: Arkham City and L.A. Noire lead with eight BAFTA nominations
- Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and LittleBigPlanet 2 each garner six nominations
- Portal 2 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim follow with five and Deus Ex: Human Revolution with four
Batman: Arkham City and L.A. Noire are both nominated for Artistic Achievement, Best Game, Design, Original Music, Performer and Story. In addition, Batman: Arkham City is nominated for Action and Audio Achievement. L.A. Noire also got the nod for Debut Game and Game Innovation. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and LittleBigPlanet2 both received nominations for Artistic Achievement and Performer. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception was also nominated for Action, Audio Achievement, Original Music, and Story. LittleBigPlanet 2 received additional nods for Design, Family, Game Innovation, and Online-Multiplayer.
Portal 2 is nominated for Action and Performer. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim received nominations for Artistic Achievement and Original Music, and both games are also nominated for Best Game, Design, and Story. Deus Ex: Human Revolution received nods for Action, Original Music, Story and Strategy. Assassin’s Creed Revelations and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 both have three nominations. Bastion, Battlefield 3, Dance Central 2, Dark Souls, FIFA 12, From Dust, Kinect Sports 2, Monstermind, The Nightjar, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Super Mario 3D Land, and Total War: SHOGUN 2 all received two.
This year’s new categories garnered nominations for the following games:
Debut Game: Bastion, Eufloria, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, L.A. Noire, Monstermind, and Rift.
Online-Browser: Gardens of Time, I Am Playr, Monstermind, Resistance 3, Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, and The Sims Social.
Online-Multiplayer: Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, Battlefield 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Dark Souls, Gears of War 3, and LittleBigPlanet 2.
Performer: Aaron Stanton (Cole Phelps) – L.A. Noire, Mark Hamill (The Joker) – Batman: Arkham City, Nolan North (Nathan Drake) – Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, Stephen Fry (Narrator) – LittleBigPlanet 2, Stephen Merchant (Wheatley) – Portal 2, and Togo Igawa (Diplomat, Advisor and Military General) – Total War: SHOGUN 2.
Other nominated games include: Child of Eden, Dead Space iOS, Dead Space 2, DiRT 3,F1 2011, Football Manager 2012, Ghost Recon Shadow Wars, LEGO Pirates of The Caribbean, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, Magnetic Billiards: Blueprint, Mario Kart 7, Peggle, Quarrel, Raymans Origins, and Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012.
This year’s Awards will also include the publicly-voted category – the GAME Award of 2011. The shortlist was compiled by a panel of gaming journalists and enthusiasts, and comprises of Batman: Arkham City, Battlefield 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, FIFA 2012, L.A. Noire, Minecraft, Portal 2, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. Voting is now live at www.baftagameaward.com.
While the Academy recognises those individuals at the top of their field, it also nurtures the developers of tomorrow by recognising up-and-coming talent. This year’s nominations for the BAFTA Ones To Watch Award in association with Dare to be Digital are Dreamweaver, Joust! and Tick Tock Toys.
The GAME British Academy Video Games Awards will take place on Friday 16 March at the London Hilton on Park Lane and, for the fourth year running, will be hosted by comedian and gamer Dara O’Briain.
For information on either buying tickets or about the Awards in general, visit BAFTA’s website at www.bafta.org/games/awards or contact Kelly Smith on [email protected].
Downloads
[[MEDIA:{"FILE":"http:\/\/static.bafta.org\/files\/2012-game-bafta-video-games-nominations-1384.doc","CAPTION":"Download this press release Word doc","NAME":"2012 GAME BAFTA Video Games Nominations Press Release [Word]","FILESIZE":"97280"}]]]
[[MEDIA:{"FILE":"http:\/\/static.bafta.org\/files\/2012-game-bafta-video-games-nominations-1383.pdf","CAPTION":"Download this press release PDF","NAME":"2012 GAME BAFTA Video Games Nominations Press Release [PDF]","FILESIZE":"163626"}]]]
Further Information
For more information please contact Kristoff Clark at freud communications
Tel: 020 3003 6472
Email: [email protected]
About BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public. In addition to its Awards ceremonies, BAFTA has a year-round Learning & Events programme that offers unique access to some of the world’s most inspiring talent through workshops, master classes, lectures and mentoring schemes, connecting with audiences of all ages and backgrounds across the UK, Los Angeles and New York. BAFTA relies on income from membership subscriptions, individual donations, trusts, foundations and corporate partnerships to support its on-going outreach work. For further information, visit www.bafta.org.
About the judging process
Games were entered by both developers and publishers into all the categories listed in this release and were initially voted on by BAFTA’s video games members and a carefully selected list of industry experts via a secure website.
The titles garnering the most votes went through to specialist juries who receive the games prior to making their nominations.
Each juror signs confidentiality papers and casts their votes on paper. The results in each category are not known until the envelope is opened on the night.
About GAME
GAME is Europe’s leading specialist retailer of pc and video game products. Since the start of trading in 1991 with 11 stores in the UK, it has grown both organically and through acquisition to a chain of over 1,300 outlets in January 2009. It operates stores in ten countries, supported by eCommerce websites. Online retail is located at www.game.co.uk. For further corporate information, log onto www.gamegroup.plc.uk.
