The GAME BAFTA Video Game Awards 2011
Posted on Friday March 18, 2011, 11:19 by David Scarborough in Infinite Lives
If you thought the glamour of award season was well and truly over, then you were sorely mistaken, readers. First of all, there's the Empire Awards next Sunday, and besides, The GAME BAFTA Video Game Awards was back in town this week, celebrating the biggest entertainment industry in the world and honouring some of the most talented developers in the business - by cramming them in a ballroom chock full of c-list celebrities.
Thumb-busting titles competing for the golden gongs this year included Mass Effect 2, Heavy Rain, Call of Duty: Black Ops (or Blops, as the kids call it), Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Red Dead Redemption. In fact, the nomination lists were stuffed full of equally deserving titles, even finding room for edgy arcade game LIMBO on the list (buy it now – it’s the sort of independent gem to rarely get recognition).
This year’s awards were hosted, once again, by Irish funnyman, gaming crusader, and regular Empire Awards host Dara O’Briain, bringing with him a laidback charm to suit the fairly low-key bash. Not that he had much to work with, as the likes of Gemma Atkinson, a Stig and the woefully awkward quartet otherwise known as Blue were doling out the statues. It was down to Sir Ben Kingsley to bring along a flicker of star wattage, as he presented Lionhead’s Peter Molyneux (having worked with the developer of Dungeon Keeper on Fable III) with the Academy Fellowship.
We’re getting ahead of ourselves, though. The big winner of the night was Quantic Dream’s Seven-inspired Heavy Rain, bagging three awards for Music, Story and Technical Innovation. A massive achievement for David Cage and his team back in France, proving that there is a market for risky, adult-themed story-driven titles.
It was an unmatched coup, as no other game managed to attain more than one award. EA, however, will be happy with their strong haul, with titles Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Mass Effect 2 scooping the Best Multiplayer, Sound and Game trophies respectively for their cabinet. And particular kudos goes to Mass Effect 2, as we can’t help but agree with the Academy’s top gong going to the intricate and epic sci-fi masterpiece (less planet mining next time though, eh?).
The evening zipped along without any real surprises or shocks, or anything that could be traditionally classed under ‘entertainment’. And as the rather sedate ceremony came to a close, Blops was awarded the GAME Award, as voted by the public (which, given the island-sized pile of money it’s made, wasn’t particularly gob-smacking), while Super Mario Galaxy 2 took the Gameplay prize and God of War III got its bloody mitts all over the Artistic Achievement trophy.
It was then down to O’Briain to make the last of his funnies as the audience finishing quaffing on their fizzy stuff and made their way to the after-show party. While the awards themselves couldn’t have found more deserved hands this year (the lack of Red Dead Redemption was purely down to Rockstar’s rather snobbish decision to exclude itself from consideration, after GTA IV was snubbed in 2009), here’s hoping that 2012 packs a little more HP into the ceremony’s lifebar.
Full list of nominees and winners:
ACTION
• WINNER: Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
Gaëlec Simard
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Patrick Bach, David Goldfarb
Electronic Arts/DICE
• BioShock 2
Jordan Thomas, Zak McClendon
2K Games/2K Marin
• Call of Duty: Black Ops
Dave Anthony, Corky Lehmkuhl, Jason Blundell
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch
• God of War III
Stig Asmussen, Todd Papy, Steve Caterson
Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Santa Monica Studio
• Halo: Reach
Marcus Lehto, Joe Tung, Alex Cutting
Microsoft Games Studios/Bungie
ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT
• Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
Mohamed Gambouz
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal
• Call of Duty: Black Ops
Colin Whitney, Brian Anderson, Dominique Drozdz
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch
• WINNER: God of War III
Stig Asmussen, Ken Feldman, Cecil Kim
Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Santa Monica Studio
• Heavy Rain
David Cage, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe
• LIMBO
Arnt Jensen, Morten Bramsen
Xbox Live Arcade/Playdead Games
• Mass Effect 2
Development Team
Electronic Arts/BioWare
BEST GAME
• Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
Vincent Pontbriand
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal
• FIFA 11
David Rutter, Kaz Makita, Gary Paterson
Electronic Arts/ Electronic Arts Canada
• Heavy Rain
David Cage, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe
• LIMBO
Arnt Jensen, Dino Patti, Mads Wibroe
Xbox Live Arcade/Playdead Games
• WINNER: Mass Effect 2
Development Team
Electronic Arts/BioWare
• Super Mario Galaxy 2
Koichi Hayashida, Yoshiaki Koizumi, Takashi Tezuka
Nintendo/Nintendo
FAMILY
• Dance Central
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios & MTV Games/MTV & Harmonix
• Kinect Adventures
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Good Science Studio
• WINNER: Kinect Sports
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Rare
• Kinectimals
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Frontier Developments Ltd
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
Development Team
Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment/TT Games
• Toy Story 3
John Blackburn, Jonathan Warner, Jeff Bunker
Disney Interactive Studios/Avalanche Software
GAMEPLAY
• Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
Patrick Plourde
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal
• God of War III
Stig Asmussen, Todd Papy, Adam Puhl
Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Santa Monica Studio
• Heavy Rain
David Cage, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe
• LIMBO
Arnt Jensen, Jeppe Carlsen, Peter Buchardt
Xbox Live Arcade/Playdead Games
• Mass Effect 2
Development Team
Electronic Arts/BioWare
• WINNER: Super Mario Galaxy 2
Koichi Hayashida, Yoshiaki Koizumi, Takashi Tezuka
Nintendo/Nintendo
HANDHELD
• WINNER: Cut the Rope
Efim Voinov, Semyon Voinov
Chillingo/Zeptolab
• God of War: Ghost of Sparta
Development Team
Sony Computer Entertainment/Ready at Dawn & SCE Santa Monica Studio
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
Development Team
Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment/TT Games
• Professor Layton and the Lost Future
Akihiro Hino
Nintendo/Level 5 Games
• Sonic Colours
Development Team
SEGA/Sonic Team
• Super Scribblenauts
Joseph M Tringali, Marius Fahlbusch, Jeremiah Slaczka
Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment/5th Cell
MULTIPLAYER
• Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
Yann le Guyader
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Patrick Bach, David Goldfarb
Electronic Arts/DICE
• Call of Duty: Black Ops
Mark Gordon, Dan Bunting, David Vonderhaar
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch
• Halo: Reach
Marcus Lehto, Joe Tung, Alex Cutting
Microsoft Games Studios/Bungie
• WINNER: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
Development Team
Electronic Arts/Criterion Games
• Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
Development Team
Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment
ORIGINAL MUSIC
• Alan Wake
Petri Alanko
Microsoft Games Studios/Remedy
• Fable III
Russell Shaw
Microsoft Games Studios/Lionhead Studios
• WINNER: Heavy Rain
Normand Corbeil
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe
• James Bond 007: Bloodstone
Richard Jacques
Activision Blizzard UK/ Bizarre Creations
• Mass Effect 2
Jack Wall
Electronic Arts/BioWare
• Super Mario Galaxy 2
Koji Kondo
Nintendo/Nintendo
SOCIAL NETWORK GAME
• Bejeweled Blitz
Jon David, Heather Hazen, Jason Kapalka
Popcap Games/Popcap Games
• Farmerama
Tobias Reisberger, Jan-Michel Saaksmeier, Marten Schröder
Bigpoint/Bigpoint
• FIFA Superstars
Development Team
EA Sports/Playfish
• WINNER: My Empire
Development Team
Playfish/Playfish
• Zoo Mumba
Tobias Reisberger, Eduard Röhrich, Jan-Michel Saaksmeier
Bigpoint GMBH/Bigpoint GMBH
• Zuma Blitz
Isaac Aubrey, Jon David, Jason Kapalka
PopCap Games/PopCap Games
SPORTS
• WINNER: F1 2010
Development Team
Codemasters/Codemasters Birmingham
• FIFA 11
David Rutter, Kaz Makita, Gary Paterson
Electronic Arts/ Electronic Arts Canada
• Football Manager 2011
Development Team
SEGA/Sports Interactive
• Gran Turismo 5
Development Team
Sony Computer Entertainment/Polyphony Digital Inc
• International Cricket 2010
Development Team
Codemasters/Trickstar Games
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2011
Shingo Takatsuka, Naoya Hatsumi, Jon Murphy
Konami/Winning Eleven Productions
STORY
• Alan Wake
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Remedy
• BioShock 2
Jordan Thomas, Zak McClendon
2K Games/2K Marin
• Call of Duty: Black Ops
Dave Anthony, Craig Houston
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch
• Fallout: New Vegas
John Gonzalez, Eric Fenstermaker, Travis Stout
Bethesda Softworks/Obsidian Entertainment
• WINNER: Heavy Rain
David Cage, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe
• Mass Effect 2
Development Team
Electronic Arts/BioWare
STRATEGY
• WINNER: Civilization V
Jon Shafer, Dorian Newcomb, Brian Wade
2K Games/Firaxis
• Fallout: New Vegas
Josh Sawyer, Frank Kowalkowski, Justin Reynard
Bethesda Softworks/Obsidian Entertainment
• FIFA Manager 11
Gerald Köhler, Cord Westhoff, Bernhard Maiberg
EA Sports/Bright Future
• Napoleon Total War
Development Team
SEGA/Creative Assembly
• Plants vs. Zombies XBLA
George Fan, Matt Lee Johnston, Ty Roberts
PopCap Games/PopCap Games
• Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
Development Team
Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment
Technical Innovation
• Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
Stéphane Girard, Stephane Assadourian
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal
• Call of Duty: Black Ops
Adam Rosas, Dominique Drodz, Scott Bean
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch
• Halo: Reach
Marcus Lehto, Joe Tung, Alex Cutting
Microsoft Games Studios/Bungie
• WINNER: Heavy Rain
David Cage, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe
• Kinectimals
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Frontier Developments Ltd
• Super Mario Galaxy 2
Koichi Hayashida, Yoshiaki Koizumi, Takashi Tezuka
Nintendo/Nintendo
Use of Audio
• Alan Wake
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Remedy/14.05.10
• Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
Mathieu Jeanson
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal/19.11.10
• WINNER: Battlefield: Bad Company: 2
Stefan Strandberg
Electronic Arts/DICE/05.03.10
• Call of Duty: Black Ops
Brian Tuey, Chris Cowell
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch/ 09.11.10
• DJ Hero 2
Development Team
Activision Blizzard UK LTD/Freestylegames/22.10.10
• LIMBO
Martin Stig Andersen
Xbox Live Arcade/Playdead Games/21.07.10
BAFTA Ones to Watch Award in association with Dare to be Digital
• Mush
Henry Hoffman, Ahmed Zaman, Matthew Dennis, Katherine Killick, Greg O'Brien
(Angry Mango)
• Sculpty
Druhin Mukherjee, Fabien Roussot, James Long, Fraser Littlejohn, Ronan Suess
(Team Tickle)
• WINNER: Twang
Jocce Marklund, Annette Nielsen, Linus Nordgren, Marcus Heder, Thomas Finlay
(That Game Studio)
GAME Award of 2010
(The only award to be voted for by the public)
• WINNER:Call of Duty: Black Ops
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch
• Dance Central
Microsoft Games Studios & MTV Games/MTV & Harmonix
• FIFA 11
Electronic Arts/ Electronic Arts Canada
• Halo: Reach
Microsoft Games Studios/Bungie
• Heavy Rain
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe
• Limbo
Xbox Live Arcade/Playdead Games
• Mass Effect 2
Electronic Arts/BioWare
• Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
Electronic Arts/Criterion Games
• Red Dead Redemption
Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego
• Super Mario Galaxy 2
Nintendo/Nintendo
ACADEMY FELLOWSHIP
• Peter Molyneux
