The Last of Us wins an armful of E3 Game Critics Awards

Naughty Dog and Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation 3-exclusive The Last of Us won five categories from this year's E3 Game Critics Awards, including Best of Show, Best Original Game, and Best Console Game. The annual Game Critics Awards recognizes standout games and hardware that appear at each year's E3 trade show, and typically highlight some of the biggest and most anticipated upcoming releases. Over 30 mainstream and enthusiast publications vote on the winners. The Last of Us beat out Assassin's Creed III, Dishonored, Halo 4, and Tomb Raider this year for the Best of Show award. Naughty Dog, best known for its popular Uncharted series, also won the Best Action/Adventure Game award and a Special Commendation for Sound thanks to The Last of Us. Other titles that won multiple awards -- no other game won more than two -- include Harmonix's Dance Central 3 (Best Social/Casual Game, Motion Simulation Game), 343 Industries' Halo 4 (Best Action Game, Online Multiplayer), Ubisoft's Watch Dogs (Special Commendations for Graphics, Innovation), and Firaxis' XCOM: Enemy Unknown (Best PC Game, Strategy Game). Nintendo's Wii U won the Best Hardware/Peripheral award, though the category wasn't too competitive this year -- other nominees included Astro's A50 Wireless Gaming Headset, John Carmack's Rift VR Headset, Sony's Wonderbook, and Activision's Skylanders: Giants figures. The full list of 2012 E3 Game Critics Awards follows: Best of Show The Last of Us (Naughty Dog/SCEA for PlayStation 3) Best Original Game The Last of Us (Naughty Dog/SCEA for PlayStation 3) Best Console Game The Last of Us (Naughty Dog/SCEA for PlayStation 3) Best Handheld/Mobile Game Sound Shapes (Queasy Games/SCEA for PSVita, PS3) Best PC Game XCOM: Enemy Unknown (Firaxis Games/2K Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) Best Hardware/Peripheral Wii U (Nintendo) Best Action Game Halo 4 (343 Industries/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360) Best Action/Adventure Game The Last of Us (Naughty Dog/SCEA for PlayStation 3) Best Role Playing Game South Park: The Stick of Truth (Obsidian Entertainment/THQ for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) Best Fighting Game Injustice: Gods Among Us (NetherRealm Studios/WBIE for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U) Best Racing Game Need for Speed Most Wanted (Criterion Games/EA for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) Best Sports Game FIFA Soccer 13 (EA Canada/EA Sports for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) Best Strategy Game XCOM: Enemy Unknown (Firaxis Games/2K Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) Best Social/Casual Game Dance Central 3 (Harmonix/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360) Best Motion Simulation Game Dance Central 3 (Harmonix/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360) Best Online Multiplayer Halo 4 (343 Industries/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360) Best Downloadable Game Unfinished Swan (Giant Sparrow/SCEA for PlayStation 3) Special Commendations for Graphics Star Wars 1313 (LucasArts for TBD Platforms) Watch Dogs (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) Special Commendation for Sound The Last of Us (Naughty Dog/SCEA for PlayStation 3) Special Commendation for Innovation Watch Dogs (Ubisoft Montrea`l/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)