2005 E3 Game Critics Awards Nominees Announced

The 2005 nominees for the Best of E3 Game Critics Awards have been announced, communicating the picks of the nomination committee that is made up of representatives from the largest gaming-focused media outlets in America, as well as some of the most prolific freelancers in the industry. The Best of Show category included Monolith's F.E.A.R., a horror-tinged first-person shooter; Epic's Gears of War, a graphically impressive Xbox 360 game; Maxis' Spore, Will Wright's next epic project; Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, the long-awaited "realistic Zelda" for GameCube; and Microsoft's Xbox 360 system itself. Spore was the most-nominated game, with nods in Best Original Game, Best PC Game, and Best Simulation Game in addition to its Best of Show slot. Three other games were nominated in three categories apiece: F.E.A.R. got nods Best of Show, Best Action Game, and Best PC game; Gears of War was nominated in Best of Show, Best Action Game, and Best Console Game, while Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was nominated in Best of Show, Best Action/Adventure Game, and Best Console Game. Other multiple nominees were Age of Empires III, Battlefield 2, Black, Burnout Legends, City of Villains, Mario Kart DS, Nintendogs, Okami, Shadow of the Colossus, and the Xbox 360. A full list of nominees is available at the Game Critics Awards page, where the winners will be announced on the evening of June 7th, in conjunction with a live broadcast on cable channel Spike TV.