BioShock Infinite, Uncharted 3 Lead Game Critics Awards Nominations

Irrational Games' BioShock Infinite and Naughty Dog's Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception earned four nominations each from Game Critics Awards' annual Best of E3 picks, leading other notable contenders that were showcased at this month's E3 industry convention in Los Angeles. BioShock Infinite was nominated in the categories best of show, best original game, best PC game and best action-adventure game. Uncharted 3's nominations include best of show, best console game, best action-adventure game and best online mulitplayer game. The BioShock and Uncharted franchises are no strangers to the Game Critics Awards, which are judged by North American game critics. The original BioShock won best action-adventure game in 2007 and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves won best in show, best console game and best action-adventure game in 2009. id Software's Rage came away with the most E3 Game Critics Awards last year, capturing three awards, but the game only received one nomination this year in the best action game category. Last year's best of show award didn't go to a piece of software, rather the newly-unveiled Nintendo 3DS portable. Other notable nominations for 2011 include Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham City, Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider, Supergiant's Bastion and Ubisoft's From Dust among many other titles. Publishers Electronic Arts and Sony led nominations this year, with 14 nominations each. The full list of nominees is below: Best of Show - Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady/WB Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games/2K Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog/SCEA for PlayStation 3) Best Original Game - Bastion (Supergiant Games/WB Games for PC, Xbox 360) - BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games/2K Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - From Dust (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - Journey (Thatgamecompany/SCEA for PlayStation 3) - Sound Shapes (Queasy Games/SCEA for PSVita) Best Console Game - Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady/WB Games for PS3, Xbox 360) - Mass Effect 3 (Bioware/EA Games for PS3, Xbox 360) - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda for PS3, Xbox 360) - Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix for PS3, Xbox 360) - Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog/SCEA for PlayStation 3) Best Handheld/Mobile Game - Contre Jour (Mokus/Chillingo/EA for iPad, iPhone) - Mario Kart (Nintendo/Nintendo for 3DS) - Sound Shapes (Queasy Games/SCEA for PSVita) - Super Mario (Nintendo EAD Tokyo/Nintendo for 3DS) - Uncharted: Golden Abyss (SCE Bend Studio/Naughty Dog/SCEA for PSVita) Best PC Game - Battlefield 3 (DICE/EA Games for PC) - BioShock Infinite (Irrational Games/2K Games for PC) - End of Nations (Petroglyph Games/Trion Worlds for PC) - Star Wars: The Old Republic (Bioware Austin/EA Games for PC) - Torchlight 2 (Runic Games/Perfect World for PC) Best Hardware - PlayStation Vita (Sony Computer Entertainment) - Rocksmith (Ubisoft San Francisco/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - Sony 3D Display (Sony Computer Entertainment) - Wii U (Nintendo) - Zoom for Kinect (Nyko) Best Action Game - Battlefield 3 (DICE/EA Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Infinity Ward/Sledgehammer/ATVI for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - Gears of War 3 (Epic Games/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360) - Prey 2 (Human Head Studios/Bethesda for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360) - Rage (id Software/Bethesda for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360) Best Action/Adventure Game - Assassin's Creed: Revelations (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360) - Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady/WB Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - BioShock infinite (Irrational Games/2K Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog/SCEA for PlayStation 3) Best Role Playing Game - Dark Souls (From Software/Namco Bandai Games for PS3, Xbox 360) - Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (Big Huge Games/38 Studios/EAP for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360) - Mass Effect 3 (BioWare/EA Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin/EA for PC) - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) Best Racing Game - Driver: San Francisco (Ubisoft Reflections/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - Forza 4 (Turn 10 Studios/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360) - Mario Kart (Nintendo/Nintendo for 3DS) - Need for Speed:The Run (EA Black Box/EA Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii) - Wipeout 2048 (Studio Liverpool/SCEE for PSVita) Best Fighting Game - Skullgirls (Reverge Labs/Autumn Games for PS3, Xbox 360) - Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online Edition (Iron Galaxy Studios/Capcom for PS3, Xbox 360) - Street Fighter X Tekken (Capcom/Capcom for PS3, Xbox 360, PSVita) - Soul Calibur V (Namco/Namco Bandai for PS3, Xbox 360) - Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Namco Bandai Games for Arcade) - WWE 12 (Yuke's/THQ for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii) Best Sports Game - FIFA Soccer 12 (EA Canada/EA Sports for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - Madden NFL 12 (EA Tiburon/EA Sports for PS3, Xbox 360) - NBA 2K12 (Visual Concepts/2K Sports for PS3, Xbox 360) - SSX (EA Canada/EA Sports for PS3, Xbox 360) - UFC Undisputed 3 (Yuke's/THQ for PS3, Xbox 360) Best Strategy Game - Age of Empires Online (Gas Powered Games/Microsoft Studios for PC) - End of Nations (Petroglyph/Trion Worlds for PC) - From Dust (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - Skulls of the Shogun (Haunted Temple Studios for PC, Xbox 360) - Trenched (Double Fine/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360) Best Social/Casual Game - Dance Central 2 (Harmonix/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360) - Disneyland Adventures (Frontier Developments/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360) - Rocksmith (Ubisoft San Francisco/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - Rhythm Heaven (TNX/Nintendo for Wii) - Sound Shapes (Queasy Games/SCEA for PSVita) Best Motion Simulation Game - Dance Central 2 (Harmonix/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360) - Fruit Ninja Kinect (Halfbrick/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360) - Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster (Double Fine Productions/WB Games for Xbox 360) - The Gunstringer (Twisted Pixel Games/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360) - The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo for Wii) Best Online Multiplayer Game - Battlefield 3 (DICE/EA for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Infinity Ward/Sledgehammer/ATVI for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - Gears of War 3 (Epic Games/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360) - Star Wars: The Old Republic (BioWare Austin/EA for PC) - Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (Naughty Dog/SCEA for PlayStation 3) Best Downloadable Game - Bastion (Supergiant Games/WB Games for PC, Xbox 360) - From Dust (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (Fuelcell Games/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360) - Journey (Thatgamecompany/SCEA for PlayStation 3) - Papo & Yo (Minority/SCEA for PlayStation 3)