Gears Of War Tops G-Phoria Game Awards

Last night North American game-related cable TV channel G4 announced the winning games in the latest iteration of its viewer-voted G-Phoria awards, including six nods for Epic Games' ever popular Gears of War, including Game of the Year. In addition, the Xbox 360 shooter also took home awards for Best Graphics, Best New Character (Marcus Fenix), Best Voiceover (The Mighty Rasta as “Augustus ‘Cole Train’ Cole”), Best Action Game, and Best Multiplayer Game. The awards marked the latest accolades for the action title, which top honors at both the Game Developers Choice Awards and the Annual Interactive Achievement Awards earlier this year. Epic's lead designer Cliff Bleszinski appeard via satalite during the ceremony to accept the awards on behalf of the Gears of War team. Commented Bleszinski: “This is absolutely unbelievable. I’d hoped we’d win something but to sweep in all the categories we were nominated is just phenomenal and a tremendous honor. I want to thank every single gamer out there who voted for us.” The only other game to receive multiple awards during the event was Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, which came away with plaudits for Best RPG and the Stride Longest Lasting Game Award. Other titles recognized during the celebration were Guitar Hero II for Best Soundtrack, The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles for Best Douwnloadable Content, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars for Best Strategy Game, Pokemon Diamond & Pearl for Best Handheld Game, Wii Sports for Best Sports Game, and Dead Rising for Most Original Game. Finally, G-Phoria voters lifted Microsoft's Xbox 360 up with the award for Best System, while Tecmo's Kasumi won acclaim for her role in Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 with the Hottest Babe award. Ubisoft's Wii launch title Red Steel was bestowed with the dubious honor of Most Deserving of a Uwe Boll Movie.