God Of War Sweeps Interactive Achievement Awards

The winners of the 9th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards have been announced at a ceremony in “The Joint” at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas during the D.I.C.E Summit yesterday. Hosted by comedian Jay Mohr, the awards were dominated by Sony Computer Entertainment America’s God of War which won seven awards, including overall Game of the Year and Console Game of the Year. Harmonix’s rhythm action game Guitar Hero also performed exceedingly well with five awards, including Outstanding Innovation in Gaming. Sony Computer Entertainment Interactive’s Shadow of the Colossus won three awards, including Outstanding Achievement: Art Direction, while Digital Illusions’ Battlefield 2 also won three awards, including PC Game of the Year. GAMES OF THE YEAR Overall Game of the Year: God of War (P: SCEA, D: SCEA-Santa Monica) PC Game of the Year: Battlefield 2 (P: Electronic Arts, D: Digital Illusions) Console Game of the Year: God of War (P: SCEA, D: SCEA-Santa Monica) OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT Outstanding Innovation in Gaming Guitar Hero (P: Red Octane, D: Harmonix) Outstanding Achievement: Animation God of War (P: SCEA, D: SCEA-Santa Monica) Outstanding Achievement: Art Direction Shadow of the Colossus (P:/D: Sony Computer Entertainment America) Outstanding Achievement: Soundtrack Guitar Hero (P: Red Octane, D: Harmonix) Outstanding Achievement: Original Music Composition God of War (P: SCEA, D: SCEA-Santa Monica) Outstanding Achievement: Sound Design God of War (P: SCEA, D: SCEA-Santa Monica) Outstanding Achievement: Story and Character Development Call of Duty: Big Red One (P: Activision, D: Treyarch) Outstanding Achievement: Gameplay Engineering ***TIE*** Nintendogs (P: Nintendo, D: Nintendo EAD) Guitar Hero (P: Red Octane, D: Harmonix) Outstanding Achievement: Online Game Play Battlefield 2 (P: Electronic Arts, D: Digital Illusions) Outstanding Achievement: Visual Engineering Shadow of the Colossus (P: SCEA, D: SCEI) Outstanding Achievement: Game Design Guitar Hero (P: Red Octane, D: Harmonix) Outstanding Character Performance: Male God of War (P: SCEA, D: SCEA-Santa Monica) Outstanding Character Performance: Female Jade Empire (P: Microsoft, D: BioWare) GENRE AWARDS Sports Game of the Year SSX On Tour (P: Electronic Arts, D: EA Canada) First-Person Action Game of the Year Battlefield 2 (P: Electronic Arts, D: Digital Illusions) Role-Playing Game of the Year Jade Empire (P: Microsoft, D: BioWare) Fighting Game of the Year Soul Calibur III (P:/D: Namco) Action/Adventure Game of the Year God of War (P: SCEA, D: SCEA-Santa Monica) Racing Game of the Year Need for Speed: Most Wanted (P: Electronic Arts, D: EA-Vancouver) Children's Game of the Year We Love Katamari (P:/D: Namco) Downloadable Game of the Year Wik: Fable of Souls (P: Microsoft, D: Reflexive) Family Game of the Year Guitar Hero (P: Red Octane, D: Harmonix) Simulation Game of the Year The Movies (P: Activision, D: Lionhead Studios) Strategy Game of the Year Civilization IV (P: 2K Games, D: Firaxis) Massively Multiplayer/Persistent World Game of the Year ***TIE*** City of Villains (P: NCsoft, D: Cryptic Studios) Guild Wars (P: NCsoft, D: ArenaNet) Handheld Game of the Year Nintendogs (P: Nintendo, D: Nintendo EAD) Cellular Game of the Year Ancient Empires II (P:/D: Glu Mobile) As previously noted, a number of favorably reviewed 2005 titles, such as Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 and Majesco’s Psychonauts were not been included in the list of nominees, as the publishers in question are not AIAS members and/or have not paid the $1,000 submission fee for separate nominations to the awards.